Winter Meeting Recap

Thanks to a wonderful site called Woot I have been sidetracked from writing.  Woot was kind enough to have a 3 day Woot-off during the Winter meetings.  Sorry people, my geek life takes precedence occasionally.

Now, onto the recap.

No Mo Ro Pa:

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies swapped catchers.  Ronnie Paulino was sent to the Phillies for a return of Jason Jaramillo.

BTW Take:

Looking at stats alone, it seems Jaramillo has a better eye in the minors based on his walk numbers alone.  Beyond walks, there minor league stats aren't much different. 

The sad think for Ronnie, he went from being a backup catcher to Ryan Doumit to potentially being blocked by Carlos Ruiz and Lou Marson.  People seem to think Paulino is a good hitting catcher.  He never showed a .310 average was in him while playing in the minors.  Remember it took a few injuries to even get a shot in Pittsburgh. 

He was praised for his handling of pitchers, but his defense was lousy and his offense came back to earth after his fluke of a .310 season as a rookie.  A .280 minor league hitter does not turn into a .310 MLB hitter.  Paulino also earned a tag of being lazy, whether he deserved that tag or not is something you can decide.

Jaramillo was considered a top prospect not long ago.  He is only a year younger than Paulino.  This seems to be a trade to grant Paulino his wish of a trade while getting a player back that Russell has managed in the past and was very high on.  More or less, a slacker for a hard worked.

 

Rule 5:

The Pittsburgh Pirates took Donnie Veal in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft.

In the Minor League portion, the Pirates did something unusual, grabbing players from the Latin Summer Leagues.  The players taken in the Minor League portion are Andres Santos ( 22, New York Yankees) Rafael Quintero (21, Cleveland Indians), Gerardo Esparza (21, Seattle Mariners). The first two were in the DSL, Esparza in Venezuela.

BTW Take:

Veal seems to be a solid pickup.  He has had some tough times over the last 3 years off the diamond.  If he can get his game together, this guy could be a steal.  I found this article on his personal problems over the last 3 years.  He lost both his parents, his mother to cancer and his father to a diving accident.

The minor league pickups I have not found much on, but the fact the Pirates went outside the norm makes these moves even more impressive in a creative kind of way.  Dejan has a nice little write up on this in the PBC Blog, the 6:05 update.

 

Free Agent Signing:

The Pirates are on the verge of signing a 2 year contract with Ramon Vazquez. 

BTW Take:

Everyone seems to think this is a precursor to a Jack Wilson or Freddy Sanchez trade.  I have my doubts.  This has the smell of a move to have an additional option if Andy LaRoche or Neil Walker can't take the Hot Corner.  Vazquez could play third or Freddy could move back to third if both prospects fail to make the grade.  Vazquez has played 255 games at third.

Just because rumors swirl about a Wilson trade doesn't make Vazquez the next shortstop.

 

Bixler a Marlin?:

Rumors swirl about the Marlins being interested in Brian Bixler.

BTW Take:

I'd hate to see Bixler go.  I had the opportunity to see Bixler play in College.  If you asked me to give a CHP (Can He Play) rating, I would say he can play.  I think he struggled with the initial call up.  Don't be surprised if he doesn't perform worlds better in his next call up.

 

McCutchen To Pittsburgh:

In one of Huntington's press meetings, he made a statement McCutchen will "likely" be on the MLB roster sometime in 2009.

BTW Take:

I am anxious to see what he can do.

 

The BIG News:

The Pirates are in discussions to sign extensions with Maholm, McLouth and Doumit.

BTW Take:

McLouth and Maholm make sense.  Doumit scares me with his injury history.  Last season he stayed mostly healthy, but I'd like to see him do it again before dropping a long term deal on him.

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.