The Pirates are currently sitting well below the .500 mark at 45-and-58, good for sixth in the NL Central and after their recent fire-sale things aren’t going to be getting better anytime soon. The Pirates aren’t stupid, though.
Neal Huntington, the Bucs’ general manager isn’t stupid either. Unlike most of the other mid-market teams, the Pirates refuse to be mediocre simply to appease their fan-base. The Pirates have a plan, a plan that worked for the Devil Rays, and they’re sticking too it.
The Pirates are building a squad for as soon as 2011, but more than likely the 2012 and 2013 seasons. When viewed through this paradigm, all of these nonsensical trades seemingly start to make sense.
Trade 1: Bye-Bye Nyjer!
The Pirates sent Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett to Washington for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan. Morgan’s a 29-year old with a game that’s almost solely predicated on speed. Sean Burnett, a former first round pick, has yet to put it together and is already 27.
In Milledge, the Pirates received a 24-year old head-case with unlimited potential. Whether or not the Pirates will be able to “fix” Lastings Milledge is debatable, but if they do, they’ll have a 5-tool player that’ll just be entering his prime. In addition to Milledge, the Pirates acquired Joel Hanrahan and his 95mph heater. Hanrahan’s almost 28, but was a nice add-on to the trade.
Trade 2: Ciao Nate!
The Pirates recently inked Nate McLouth to a 3-year deal in order to avoid arbitration but then decided to shoot him off to Atlanta. Like Morgan, McLouth is a player that’ll be on the downturn of his career when the Pirates hope to contend.
In return, the Pirates received a few very interesting prospects. With McLouth’s incredibly affordable contract, the Pirates probably could have gotten more, but their haul was still fairly decent.
The soon to be 22-year old Gorkys Hernandez has shown flashes of brilliance, but sputtered in his second pro-season. Hernandez’s 2009 season hasn’t been much better, and it’s clear that his plate-approach needs some work, but all of the tools are there. At the very least, the Pirates netted a terrific defender with plus speed in center-field.
Charlie Morton probably doesn’t factor into the Pirates long-term plan, but Jeffrey Locke certainly does. Locke was Atlanta’s second round pick in the 2006 June draft, and Baseball America had him ranked as Atlanta’s 7th best prospect going into 2009. Neither Locke nor Hernandez have impressed in 2009, but the talent’s definitely there.
Trade 3: Dead Weight LaRoche
Adam LaRoche’s contract expired at the end of the 2009 season and there was probably very little chance of the Pirates re-upping with him. Instead, they received a couple of young, solid, prospects from Boston. Neither Diaz nor Strickland possess all-star quality potential, but both are under 23-years old and add depth to the Bucs minor-league system.
Trade 4: Freddy Sanchez to the Giants
Sanchez is on the wrong side of 30 and at first glance, this trade was thought to be little more than a salary dump. Later in the day the details did come out, and the Bucs netted top-50 prospect, Tim Alderson. The Giants have a plethora of young arms, but this is still fairly surprising. Alderson has great stuff, and while he’s probably not a number 1, he should definitely slide comfortably into the number 2 or 3 slot in the Pirates rotation.
Alderson’s a 20-year old already in AA, but has failed to put up the consistent strike-out numbers that were expected of him. Maybe the Giants know something about Alderson that the public doesn’t, but this seems to be a steal for the Pirates.
Trade 5: Jack Wilson & Ian Snell to Seattle
Considering the Pirates gave up the light-hitting Wilson and the inconsistent Ian Snell, they brought in an incredibly solid “prospect.” Ronny Cendeno isn’t that prospect but rather just a body to fill space for the time being. Jeff Clement however, has the potential to excel if given regular playing time. Unfortunately for Clement, things never clicked in Seattle but a fresh start in Pittsburgh may be just what he needs. Clement’s already 26, and has seemingly been Seattle’s top-prospect forever. By the time Pittsburgh expects to contend, Clement should be smack-dab in the middle of his power prime.
Along with Clement and Cedeno, the Bucs acquired the Mariners’ 2008 3rd-rounder in Aaron Pribanic, their 5th rounder in Brett Lorin, along with Nathan Adcock. Pribanic and Lorin are both interesting pitching prospects with solid upside, and should contribute to the Major League squad by 2012.
Trade 6: John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Cubs.
Giving up Gorzelanny for Hart is seemingly a wash; both are the same age, and presumably would have filled the same role on the Pirates staff. Jose Ascanio is still only 25, but has battled control problems throughout his career. He throws in the mid-90′s and should settle in nicely to a middle relief role. The final piece of the trade was Josh Harrison, a 22-year old middle-infielder in High-A. Harrison’s shown some promise, along with some decent speed, and a very solid eye.
Putting It All Together…
Huntington has acquired enough raw-talent in the past year to put Pittsburgh in a very good situation. Pittsburgh already had a few pieces in place, but their farm system was notoriously top-heavy with McCutchen and Alvarez leading the way.
So It’s The Future, Already? Thanks, Time Machine!
The Infield Cornerstones:
Pedro Alvarez should be playing third base by next fall, and maybe even this fall. He’s killing AA pitching, and is undoubtedly the Pirates best prospect.
Andy LaRoche, acquired last year in the Jason Bay deal, has unlimited potential that he’s yet to capitalize on. Both LaRoche and Ryan Doumit should be in their prime when the Pirates expect to contend, but both may also find themselves traded by that point. Unlike Nyjer Morgan and Nate McLouth, you’d expect LaRoche and Doumit to improve with age rather than decline.
The Outfield Corner Stones:
The Morgan Deal freed up the outfield for Andrew McCutchen, another uber-prospect. McCutchen has been holding his own in his first big-league season, hitting .281 and surprisingly managing to keep his K% below 20%.
The two corner outfield slots should be filled by the head-case duo: Lastings Milledge and Jose Tabata.
Back-up plans do not come any more solid than Steve Pearce and Brandon Moss. Robbie Grossman, the Bucs’ 2008 6th rounder is also in the pipe-line and should be a solid contributor. Grossman is definitely the “other” option in the Pirates farm-system, and has the potential to outshine Tabata and Milledge.
Finally, The Pitching.
The pitching is iffy, but Huntington is procuring enough depth to ease the tension. Pitching is almost impossible to predict anyways, so depth is always an asset.
Alderson was a key pick-up for a system that already included Brad Lincoln and Bryan Morris, both of whom have underwhelmed via idiocy or injury, thus far. Danny Moskos also provides another interesting option.
At the very least, Pittsburgh should be able to field at least three solid pitching options, along with 2 veterans to complete their staff.
A Note:
It seems as though very few general managers have the gonads to pull something like this off. Up here in Toronto, it’s been painful to watch J.P. Ricciardi chase his tail around in circles. Teams like the Blue Jays and Pirates will not compete without trading away their best players, finishing poorly, and taking those high draft picks and converting them into solid prospects. Ricciardi however seems content finishing at .500 year after year, essentially guaranteeing that he’ll miss out on the game-changing prospects and giving him yet another reason to draft players with less talent, but are closer to the show.
What J.P. and these other General Managers don’t seem to understand is that a fan base is willing to sit through 3 or 4 years of awful baseball if they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s much more enjoyable than watching a team that’ll play .500 baseball each and every year without the slightest shot of ever competing with the Red Sox and Yanks of the baseball-world.
