The Pirates Avoid Arbitration With Four Of Six

The Pittsburgh Pirates have avoided salary arbitration by coming to terms with Adam LaRoche ($7.05M), Zach Duke ($2.2M), John Grabow ($2.3M) and Tyler Yates ($1.3M).

The two remaining arbitration eligible players are Nate McLouth and Paul Maholm.  McLouth and Maholm are each asking for $3.8M, while the Pirates submitted $2.75M for McLouth and $2.65M for Maholm. 

BTW Take:

To celebrate his contract signing, Adam LaRoche should purchase Super Bowl tickets for all Pirates bloggers.  If he does have a slow April, I am sure we would all cut him some slack this year.  When you read this Adam, just email me for my mailing address.

The million plus difference in the two remaining cases almost assures the Pirates will be heading to at least one hearing, possibly two. 

 

Slide Note:

Due to a heavy workload, I will not be posting the next part of the Free Agent series for a couple days. 

 

Got A Ticket?:

Anyone who has a spare ticket to the Super Bowl, look no further.  Just email me and I will gladly accept such donations.  :)

Trade Bait Special

Here are some rumors, and me shooting holes in a few...

Jack Wilson

The Detroit Free Press is reporting the Pirates could be working on a deal with the Marlins as a precursor to a deal sending Wilson to the Tigers.

Foxsports.com reported Saturday that the Pirates are attempting to acquire catcher Matt Treanor from the Florida Marlins and then package Wilson and Treanor in a trade with Detroit.

The Insider on Pittsburgh Sports claims the following teams are interested in Wilson: Det, Tor, Bal, CLE, LAD, ATL.

 

BTW Take:

The rumors are starting to fire up as we near the winter meetings.  My advice, take it with a grain of salt.  Huntington has said he will listen to offers, but don't read too much into that statement. 

Wilson is coming off an injury plagued season, his value is quite low at this point.  Wilson will take the field at PNC this spring in a Pirates uniform.  Huntington will hold onto one of his bargaining chips until his value is back where it should be. 

Why do I think this?

Bay and Nady could have been moved last off-season, but the return would be nowhere near what was gained at the July non-waiver deadline.  Wilson fits the same mold.  For the Pirates to gain, they need to be patient and hope a bidding war arises or Jack is hitting .300 in July to improve his value.

 

Freddy Sanchez

There has been a lot of speculating on Freddy's future with the Pirates.  Follow the same line of thinking for the former batting champion.  Freddy is coming off a season where arm, shoulder and eye problems affected him throughout.  The Pirates need Freddy to be healthy and hitting if he is to have any value on the trade market.

At the end of 2008, he was once again hitting like a batting champion.  Freddy needs to start 2009 the same way proving he is healthy and boosting his value. 

Freddy is the opening day second baseman for the Pirates.  No doubt in my mind.  I won't say he will finish the year with the Pirates, but he will start the season there.

 

LaRoche

Pick the brother, and either could be traded.  The more likely of the two is Adam.  A team in need of a defensive first-bagger who can carry a BIG stick late in the season will be interested, but not until that bat starts warming up.  Adam won't be traded until he starts hitting.  If he can start early in the season, that will make his value skyrocket.  Don't wait for fireworks though.  Adam has never hit in the first couple months of the season.  Teams will wait until his offense is worth picking up.   Another deadline day deal is in order here.

Andy is another story.  IF he can hit and play defense like he has in the minors at the Major League level, he will keep the position warm for Pedro Alvarez to arrive.  If he flails early in the season, Neil Walker will be on the bus from Indy to Pittsburgh.  Don't think for a second that Andy doesn't feel Walker breathing down his neck on the 40 man roster.  If he fails with regular playing time, he will either spend time in Indy or be traded as a throw in component for another deal.

If Andy LaRoche succeeds, don't be surprised to see him move to second after Sanchez is moved.  Look for him to get some time there in spring training as well with some spot starts throughout the season to spell Freddy.

Walker was not added to the 40 man to push Andy LaRoche, but that is what he will do.  Walker was added to protect him from the rule 5 draft.

 

John Grabow

Grabow is the one Pirate that will likely be moved this off-season.  He had a good left-handed year and will garnish some attention.  As mentioned earlier, if Matt Treanor is acquired, and possibly traded to Detroit, don't be surprised if Grabow is in the deal somewhere.  Most general managers covet lefty help in the bullpen and will pay a nice price to land even an average lefty.

 

Nate McLouth

I doubt his value could get any higher. 

He should be traded. 

He may be traded.

But...

This is the Pirates we are talking about.  They will hang onto McLouth and hope he hits well to start the season and see what happens on the trade front.  He still has 2 arbitration years ahead of him so the Pirates will roll the dice and hope for more of the same offensively from their new left fielder. 

He could be a mid-season trade if the offer is good enough to land a gold glove center fielder.

 

Zach Duke

Texas has shown a lot of interest in Duke, but I doubt there will be much of a return.  If Duke goes anywhere, look to the Lone Star State.

 

Rule 5

I look for the Pirates to be active in the rule 5 draft this year.  Huntington wants to get some talent in the minors and the drafts are the way to do it.  It would not surprise me if the Pirates actually took multiple players in the Major League portion of the draft and also be quite active in the minor league portion of the rule 5 fiasco.

 

That's it for now.  I'll start doing some "off-season" posts going over rumors and such.

 

Join The Buccos Forum and leave some thoughts there.  There are quite a few entertaining characters that hang out in the forum and will likely help you bash me.  There are always plenty of topics and plenty of opinions to keep you entertained and informed.

Game 108, The Most Important Game

Vitals:

COLORADO ROCKIES (48-60)	RHP Aaron Cook (13-6, 3.46 ERA)
PITTSBURGH PIRATES (50-57)	LHP Zach Duke (4-8, 5.04 ERA)
Game Time	7:05 PM
XM	XM 185
TV	FSN

The Most Important Game:

Game 108 may be the most important game in the last 15 years for the Pirates.  This one game could determine the future of the Pirates franchise.

How could one game between two teams with losing records be the most important in recent memory for the Pirates? 

Simply put, this game will be the last one for either team before the trade deadline hits on Thursday.  With a win the Rockies may still consider themselves buyers.  Effectively two of the larger names on the radar for many teams will be removed in Fuentes and Holliday. 

With the trade of Texeira to the Angels, many teams will be looking for a big move to match the Angels acquisition.  No Holliday gives the Pirates the upper hand in listening to offers for Jason Bay.

No Fuentes means John Grabow could be considered the 3rd best reliever available.  More power to Huntington.

Suddenly Jack Wilson may have a little more worth for a team looking to solidify their team in preparation to make a run with the Angels for October glory.

Pirates players who want to keep the team together will need to win to keep the faces of the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

A Pirates win Wednesday will dilute the market and lower both Grabow's and Bay's worth.

Wednesdays game will determine what the Pirates will look like in 2009 and beyond.  Neal Huntington has to be on pins and needles and restless as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  If his team loses, he has a ton of bargaining power.  If his team wins, he loses the upper hand at the deadline and likely keeps the team together with the exception of possibly Grabow.

This may be the first time a GM not named Littlefield rooted for his team to lose a game.

 

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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.

Game 100, Not So Fast Freddy, Parkersburg, Tigers, Mets and Yankees

Vitals:

PITTSBURGH PIRATES (45-54)	LHP PAUL MAHOLM (6-6, 4.10 ERA) vs. RHP JACK CASSEL (1-0, 6.28 ERA)
HOUSTON ASTROS (46-53)	LHP PAUL MAHOLM (6-6, 4.10 ERA) vs. RHP JACK CASSEL (1-0, 6.28 ERA)
Game Time	8:05 EDT
XM	XM 188
TV	FSN

Not So Fast Freddy:

Was it just me, or during Freddy Sanchez's inside the park home run, I flashed back to Andy Russell returning a turnover back for a 93 yard touchdown against Baltimore in the 75 playoffs where the entire defense was walking next to his run asking for a lateral. That play seemed to last 15 minutes, he could have been called for delay of game.

Parkersburg:

I use to live in Parkersburg, WV from 1995 until 2000. Tonight they are highlighted on ESPN Sports Center as a finalist for Title Town, USA. I am going to beg you all to vote for Parkersburg up to the point they meet Pittsburgh in the voting. Consider this a grass roots movement to help a small town in West Virginia. Voting begins in 2 days at ESPN.com.

Tigers:

Last year Carlos Guillen did not want Jack Wilson as their shortstop, wanting a Gold Glove caliber shortstop if he was to move to 1B/3B. Now, the Tigers are once again looking for a solution at short. Hey Carlos, how do you like him now? Expect the rumors to start again soon.

Mets:

More talk on the Mets front. NJ.com and Newsday are both running articles on the Mets needs and their targeted players. Newsday believes that Bay and Nady are out of the Mets reach. NJ.com thinks the Pirates are playing for a .500 record and doesn't think the Pirates will trade with the Mets because of that. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact the Mets have nothing to deal.

Yankees:

In the same NJ.com article, they mention the Yankees are looking at Marte and Grabow. The nice thing here is Grabow's stock went skyrocketing last night when he saved Burnett's butt after a single and 2 walks loaded the bases with one out in the 6th. Any good game by any player right now boosts their stock, so this is a great thing and great timing by Grabow. Hopefully no one tanks before the deadline.

New Forum (Test):

I am playing with a new forum software, please let me know what you think of the potential new forum. The link is here and a direct link to the Pirates portion is here.

http://bucstradewinds.lefora.com/forum/category/news/page1/

http://bucstradewinds.lefora.com/forum/

Old Forum:

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Optical Illusion, Remember When and Game 98

Vitals:

PITTSBURGH PIRATES (44-53)	LHP ZACH DUKE (4-6, 4.40 ERA)
COLORADO ROCKIES (42-57)	RHP AARON COOK (11-6, 3.57 ERA)
Game Time	3:05 EDT
XM	XM 185
TV	FSN

This Doesn't Look Right:

Maybe this is why Herrera could not focus last night?

From today's Post-Gazette online:

 

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

That picture gives new meaning to "Team Chemistry". 

Remember When:

Remember a couple days ago, my optimism on the Pirates post break schedule.  Remember how I said 10-4 gets them back to .500.  Remember I said the most important thing was avoiding the June/July swoon...

Looks like the swoon is kicking in yet again.  Already 0-3 after the break, if they lose today expect a closed door meeting that will leak to all the news media.

I guess the Pirates are looking at Duke to start a 10 game winning streak...

Herrara-tic:

Herrera is anything but consistent, unless consistently out of control is considered.  I actually held out some hope for him, that was misplaced.  I am still looking for a deal to come down soon that will land a starting pitching prospect that may be able to help the rotation immediately. 

This season has been a real detriment to Jeff Andrews legacy and what he had accomplished in the last few years as a minor league pitching instructor.  Andrews is a much better coach than this pitching staff has shown.  Part of it is due to lack of quality arms.

Links:

A link courtesy of Dejan's PBC Blog on Tony Watson's performance Saturday Night.  Maybe he will get called up for Monday's starts.

Rumor:

The Yankees are stepping up their pursuit of Bay and Nady.  Also mentioned are Grabow and Marte.

From the Star-Ledger:

Minor-league outfielders Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata and pitchers such as Ian Kennedy are names that could be discussed. Melky Cabrera does not interest the Pirates, who have All-Star Nate McLouth in center field.

 

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