Something Fishy, By the Bay, Getting Deep

Something Fishy:

The Sun-Sentinel is "reporting" Ryan Doumit is one of four catchers targeted by the Marlins before the deadline.

BTW Take:

The article mentions the Pirates have Paulino in the minors who was their starting catcher, inferring there is depth in the system.  They also say John Grabow would have to be part of the deal.  Two problems, Paulino (last I checked) was on the DL and working his way back.  Second, Paulino has fallen out of favor with management and coaches. 

Of all the players on the Pirates, the one that is least likely to be moved is Doumit.  He is still controlled for 3 more years, so the Marlins would have to absolutely sell the farm to get him.  I don't see that happening and I do not see Huntington trading away useful parts for the future just for a few more bodies in the minors considering the lack of depth at catcher in the minors.

Doumit does not get moved, at least until he has less that 2 years guaranteed with the team left.  There is no way he is moved before 2010 trade deadline.

Bay By The Bay?:

Dejan reports at the PG that Tampa and other parties are in deep trade talks over Jason Bay.

BTW Take:

Bay to the Rays makes sense for both teams, considering Bay is signed through next season, he is not a rental to Tampa.  Tampa has a DEEP farm.  Perfect match.  Let's see what happens.

It's Getting Deep:

Joe Starkey at the Trib has a good column up on what should happen before the deadline with an excellent quote from Doug Mientkiewicz:

"The franchise has to get deeper," said Mientkiewicz, who has experienced big-league baseball's high-revenue (Boston, New York) and low-revenue (Minnesota, Kansas City) districts. "They have to get a lot more talent in the minor-league system to be competitive. I think we're all seeing now that this franchise is very limited in talent at the higher levels.

"The only way you're going to get better as a big-league team is to get deep in the minor leagues. You have to be 28 to 35 (players) strong in order to be competitive."

"This isn't a one-year project," Mientkiewicz said. "You have to give them time, because the people who were here before were ... "

With that, Mientkiewicz just shook his head...

Quote from a reader:

Understand the concept that the team has to get more prospects. TBay probably is only team right now able to pry Bay. My point is Bay is ONE veteran they should keep, at least until next August because without him, Nate and Doumit become weighted down with expectations. Pirates will not get ANYONE in trade or FA with Bay value and character in next 4-5 years. Tabata may be high ceiling but also very high risk. Pirate fans are so used to seeing players dumped, their mindset has become "let's trade away all our vets and start over". ...that being said, I honestly believe Huntington has had no intention of keeping Bay from day one and he will be dealt today or Wed....this team got an o.K. return for Nady/Marte, but they really could have got more( I live in Trenton area and have seen all 4 play). THey will take less for Bay and 3 years from now, Nate and Doumit will be Bay today. Why? Because look at who Huntington signed and wanted to sign over the winter to long deals...Snell, Sanchez and LaRoche. He is better than Littlefield( who wouldn't be), but his prime evaluations are curious.

Update 5:32:  The above quote is from W.G.

BTW Take:

I won't publish their name, until I get an OK from them...

The Doug M. quote says it all, the system needs to get deeper to get better and stay better.  It is easy for we fans to look at Bay and want to keep him, but that does not make it the right thing for the organization in general.  Huntington needs to plan for the future and turn over every bargaining chip he can to bring water to the desert that is the Pirates minor league system.

Until there is actual talent in all levels of the franchise, there will be no long term sustained success at the major league level.  While I hate comparing to Oakland or Minnesota, they have built their franchises the right way with plenty of depth.  There are few teams the Pirates can be compared to thanks to the ineptitude of the previous front office.  Tampa has taken the right approach by drafting the best available player in the drafts, they are reaping the rewards this season.

If Huntington were to build only through the draft and keep any players of worth to stay mildly competitive, it would take 4-6 more years of losing to rebuild this franchise.  A large part of that would be luck and health as much as it would be talent and homework just to improve in 6 years.  By the time the franchise was rebuilt, Huntington would likely be out of a job.

Live Blog:

I am going to start up a live blog to run through the deadline starting today through after the deadline.  Leave some comments, questions or links in the live blog and I will have them posted as I see them.  As always, I will have the first 10 posters have unmodified posts so they can post any links or comments for trades that may come down the wire before I see them.