Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pirates didn't trade Jason Bay for Armando Rios, Ryan Vogelsong and Jody Gerut yesterday.
That, right there, tells you they had a pretty good trade deadline day, at least by their shabby standards.
Not to be critical.
The team that is best known in recent years for giving away Aramis Ramirez at the trade deadline for absolutely nothing, yesterday dealt, essentially, Sean Casey, Craig Wilson, Kip Wells, Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez for outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Shawn Chacon.
OK, the Pirates got Nady.
From here, it looks like they just about broke even.
What? You think that was the '27 Yankees that general manager Dave Littlefield was breaking up? You think he was going to build the '61 Yankees with what he had to trade? You still can't believe the St. Louis Cardinals wouldn't give up Albert Pujols for Jeromy Burnitz?
Yeah, right.
The Pirates were an awful team yesterday.
They're still an awful team today.
Spare me the crying about the Pirates giving up on Perez so quickly. Yes, he led the majors in strikeouts per nine innings in 2004 at age 22. But what did he do in 2005 at 23? Other than show up for spring training out of pitching shape and then ruin his season by kicking a laundry cart? And what did he do this season at 24? That's right, he pitched his way back to the minors by going 2-10 with a 6.63 earned run average.
"I don't think it's a case of us giving up on Perez," Littlefield said. "We just feel like we have some depth with our left-handed starting pitchers. Ultimately, we made the decision [to trade Perez and Hernandez to the New York Mets] because we like Nady that much."
That makes one of us who is thrilled at having Nady.
His statistics are eerily similar to Wilson's.
Maybe that's a little unfair. Nady is two years younger and two years cheaper. He also strikes out a lot less and plays much better defense in the outfield and at first base. But for the trade to have an impact, Nady is going to have to play like Bay -- not Rios and Gerut -- and fill one of the huge holes the Pirates have in right field and at first base. We'll see.
Casey clearly wasn't going to be the answer at first. I know what you're thinking. The Pirates couldn't get more for a .300 hitter than a Class AA pitcher? No, actually. You remember what the Pirates gave up to get Casey last winter, don't you? Dave Williams, who's pitching in the minor leagues. Casey, playing a power position, hasn't hit a home run since May 31, a span of 171 at-bats. He's making $8.5 million this season and will be a free agent at the end of the year. He's also injury-prone.
If you want to knock Littlefield for not getting enough, knock him for the Wilson-for-Chacon deal with the New York Yankees. Chacon has been terrible this season. Wilson, at least, will hit a few home runs and get on base if you can tolerate all of the strikeouts, his below-average defense and the fact he'll be a free agent at the end of the season.
And if you want to fret about a trade, fret about the one that sent Wells to the Texas Rangers for a Class AAA pitching prospect. Of all the players Littlefield moved, Wells has the best chance of jumping up and biting him in the behind. Can you say Bronson Arroyo? Jason Schmidt? Esteban Loaiza? Jon Lieber?
The toughest part of Littlefield's job as a small-market general manager -- other than having to work for Kevin McClatchy and the Nuttings -- is he has only six seasons to decide on a player before the player can become a free agent. Not all pitchers develop in six years. Arroyo, Schmidt, Loaiza and Lieber didn't. Wells certainly hasn't. But just because Wells is 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA this season and was 8-18 last season doesn't mean he won't be 15-9 next season and 21-8 in 2008.
The Pirates weren't wrong for trading Wells -- they couldn't keep investing in him and getting so little in return -- but the deal should scare them to death.
"I don't want anyone to think this was an exciting day for me," Littlefield said when the dealing finally stopped. "I don't want to be in this situation, having to make trades. I want to win games. I want to be out there trying to acquire players because we're fighting for a playoff spot."
The only way this trade deadline day will help the Pirates get to that point is if Nady turns out to be a star.
Pardon me if I'm not holding my breath.
Pardon me if I can't get past Littlefield's lame track record, his trade for Bay aside.
Nothing really has changed for the Pirates.
It doesn't matter how many Caseys and Wilsons they delete or how many Nadys and Chacons they add, the only way this team is going to win anytime soon is if its young starting pitchers -- Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm and Tom Gorzelanny -- stay healthy, keep growing together and start pitching lights out at the same time.
You know, like Perez at 22.
Not like Perez at 23 and 24.
(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525. )
No comments:
Post a Comment