By Bob Smizik Thursday, 8:50 a.m.
http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/default.aspx
Trying to make some sense of the Nate McLouth trade.
For starters, let’s dismiss the notion that this deal was some diabolical scheme cooked up by owner Bob Nutting to reduce payroll. Many have advanced such a theory and it is nonsense. McLouth’s remaining salary for this season of about $1.5 million is peanuts in the scheme of the Pirates' budget. More to the point, any savings the team would make by trading him will be wiped out by the disastrous public relations effect the deal is having with the fan base.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
A banner of All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth comes down from PNC Park this morning after he was traded to Atlanta last night.
This deal was made by president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington with the express purpose of making the Pirate are better organization and giving them a greater chance of reaching contending status in the future.
That doesn’t mean the deal will that work. It could be a colossal flop, and that’s particularly so because none of the three prospects received from the Atlanta Braves is considered elite. There is not a cornerstone among the three -- pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez. Hernandez was listed by "Baseball America" as the Braves’ fourth best prospect and Locke as the seventh. Neither designation is a guarantee of anything and both are several years away from making a contribution to the Pirates. Morton, pitching well at Class AAA, is closer to contributing. But there are no guarantees with him. In 16 games, 15 starts, with Atlanta last season, he was 4-8 -- on a team that was 18 games under .500 -- with a 6.15 ERA.
So why make the deal?
The trade was the most honest statement Coonelly and Huntington have made about the Pirates’ precise level of awfulness since taking their positions in September of 2007.
What they said is this: "We stink.
"We are so bad we can’t win this year and we can’t win next year with an All-Star, Gold-Glove-winning center fielder who leads the team in home runs and RBIs and led in those categories last year."
McLouth would seem to be precisely the kind of player the Pirates would want to keep. He’s young (27) and under a club-friendly contract through 2011. The fact they decided to trade him for good but not great prospects says everything about how weak this organization is and how far from success it is. More than a year on the job, Coonelly and Huntington are still trying to rebuild the minor-league system because the organization was left in ruins by the previous management team.
One point to note here: This is not another Aramis Ramirez trade. That deal, in July of 2003, was a giveaway and done for financial reasons. This was not a giveaway and not done for financial reasons.
The negativity toward the deal, which is understandable, must be tempered by the fact there were similar reactions last July when Xavier Nady was traded to the New York Yankees and Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox. Those deals don’t look so bad today, and that’s especially so because the Pirates were not going to re-sign either when their contracts expired after this season. For all of Bay’s talk about being amenable to a deal, it would have been ludicrous for him not to test free agency and ultimately go elsewhere.
For Bay, the Pirates received, among other, Andy LaRoche and Brandon Moss. LaRoche is playing very well and Moss adequately. LaRoche could well be the team’s third baseman of the future, which could allow prize prospect Pedro Alvarez to some day be switched to first base. Moss has the look, if he sticks around, of an extra outfielder.
For Nady, the Pirates received starters Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens and top outfield prospect Jose Tabata. Ohlendorf and Karstens are part of the team’s starting rotation and pitching adequately. Without them, the pitching staff would be in shambles with, presumably, Tom Gorzelanny and Virgil Vasquez in the rotation.
This point is made to show that perhaps Huntington and Coonelly have some idea of what they’re doing.
There can be no minimizing the affect this could have on the Pirates clubhouse. There was a notable collapse last season immediately following the Nady and Bay trades and that could happen again.
As Dejan Kovacevic wrote in the Post-Gazette today, "Some of McLouth's teammates, predictably, were disappointed or outright angry."
Shortstop Jack Wilson, the longest-tenured Pirate, told Kovacevic, "It's a shock to all of us. I've been talking to a lot of the guys, and this is not going to be viewed very highly in the clubhouse by any means. We're a team, and we were battling without our catcher [injured Ryan Doumit], waiting for him to get back. To lose your best all-around player -- and that's what Nate was, in terms of power, speed and defense -- and to do it so early in the season ... that's going to be tough to get over."
The players are, however, professionals, and they will have to get over it if they want their careers to continue. They all are playing for future salaries and even in disappointment have to carry on.
In the end, this was a gamble that could fail miserably.
But it’s a gamble that also makes some sense. With McLouth, the Pirates were a losing team, and that losing could become more pronounced if their very good starting pitching declines, an not unexpected occurrence.
Huntington and Coonelly have made a bold move. It could result in them losing their jobs but it could result in the Pirates some day not only being a better team but a winning team.
Jun 03 2009
Pirates give up on present by trading McLouth
By Bob Smizik Wednesday, 7:45 p.m.
http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/default.aspx
The message from the Pirates organization today to their dwindling fan base is this:
The present be damned.
By trading center fielder Nate McLouth, their best and most marketable player, to the Atlanta Braves for three minor leaguers, the Pirates have said they have no chance of winning this season, a stance that goes against what they had been saying.
Nate McClouth breaks his bat hitting against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 9, 2009 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals beat the Pirates 2-1. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
It was a shocking and unexpected trade. McLouth, 27, was viewed as a cornerstone building block of the franchise. Not only does he lead the team in home runs and runs batted it, he led in both categories last season and won a Gold Glove for defensive excellence.
McLouth's 34 runs batted in place him fourth among National League outfielders and ahead of such notables as Ryan Braun, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Lee. His nine home runs place him tied for seventh among NL outfielders.
His trade is bound to have a pronounced negative impact on the Pirates clubhouse, much like last season when the team collapsed after the July trades of Xavier Nady and Jason Bay.
McLouth signed a three-year $15.75 million contract in February, a move that avoided salary arbitration. The contract called for him to receive $3 million this season, $4.5 million in 2010 and $6.5 million in 2011. There also was a club option for $10.65 million in 2012, with a $1.25 million buyout.
At the time of the signing, which came not too long after deals were reached with Ryan Doumit and Paul Maholm, Pirates president Frank Coonelly said, "The long-term commitments we have made to core players developed here, both this year and last year, reflect our commitment to build a strong core from within our system."
The trading of McLouth directly refutes that statement.
The decision to deal McLouth reflects the belief of Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington of just how far the Pirates are from being successful.
In discussing the trade, Huntington said, "This may be the toughest decision we have made in my time with the organization. Nate is a quality player and person but, as we have said several times, tough decisions will need to be made as we build and sustain a championship-caliber organization.
"When we signed Nate to a long-term contract, we did so with the intent on having him remain part of our core of homegrown talent. But the quality and quantity of talent we are receiving in this trade moves us closer to our goal of building that sustainable championship-caliber club and compelled us to move a very good player and an outstanding young man."
In return for McLouth, the Pirates receive pitchers Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez. Only Morton figures to be of help in the near future.
"Baseball America", the top authority on minor-league baseball, ranked Hernandez as the Braves fourth best prospect and Locke as their seventh best. Neither designation is any guarantee of future success. In projecting the Braves starting lineup for 2012, the publication listed Hernandez as a starting outfielder and Morton as the No. 5 starter. It did not list Locke.
Morton, 25, is a right-hander who is 7-2 with a 2.51 earned run average in the Class AAA International League. He was 5-2 with a 2.65 ERA in the same league last year. In 16 games with Atlanta last season, 15 of which were starts, he was 4-8 with a 6.15 ERA.
Huntington called Morton "a power right-handed starting pitcher who is excelling at Class AAA. He is close to being ready for the big leagues and has the upside to become a quality major league starting pitcher."
Locke, 21, is a left-hander who is 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA pitching in the Class A Carolina League. He was 5-12 with a 4.06 ERA last year in the South Atlantic League.
Huntington called Locke, "an intriguing young left-handed starter with the frame, athleticism and stuff to become a quality major-league starting pitcher."
Hernandez, 21, is a right-handed hitter who is batting .316 with no home runs and 19 RBIs in the Class AA Southern League. Playing in the Carolina League last year, he batted .264 with five homers and 42 RBIs.
Huntington said Hernandez is "a dynamic player who has the potential to become an above-average major league outfielder. He is a quality athlete with plus speed and plays above-average defense. He has bat speed and the upside to develop into a productive table setter."
Both Locke and Hernandez are young for their classifications, indicating a potentially high ceiling.
The Pirates have brought prize prospect Andrew McCutchen up from the minors to take McLouth’s roster spot. He will join the team tomorrow.
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