So I just watched Aramis Ramirez blast homerun #24 on the season for the Cubs. A no-doubter to center. Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino took one step to his left, stopped, and just continued to stare in at home plate. By the way, it was a grand slam, and gave the Cubbies a 6-4 lead in the 8th.
Nothing like pouring salt in the wound to us Pirates fans. This, the day after our presumed 3rd baseman of the future decides he doesn’t like the $6 million dollar signing bonus he agreed too, and he, and his agent Scott Boras, want a new contract. Without a new contract, Alvarez says he will not play. The final outcome of this story will be determined next month. However it plays out, either accepting the fact he agreed to the contract, or the Pirates giving him a larger signing bonus, the young man has already tainted his relationship with the few true Pirate fans remaining.
But watching the Ramirez homerun a few minutes ago, I decided I wanted to chime in with my thoughts on the Pirates trades this year before the July 31st deadline. Even a month after the fact, my opinions are exactly the same as they were then. While it’s a bummer, the trades had to be done. For these simple facts.
outlaw trail the treasure of butch cassidy free The Pirates were not a winning team with them. Yes, I’ll agree they were a far better team than what we have now. Now we are a last place team, then we were a lower 3rd or the division team. The outfield, collectively, was one of the tops in the majors in all offensive categories. Wonder if McLouth wouldn’t have cooled off had he continued to have Bay and Bady hitting behind him.
While no one could have predicted the pitiful display our starting pitching showed this year, it opened the glaring hole of the lack of pitching depth this organization had. First round picks Bradley, Burnett, Van BenSchoten, Bullington and Moskos are painful to even think about. This organization needed help, and I think we got it. Well, got some.
And there is the fact that Nady wasn’t going to be resigned, and Bay was our best trade chip. I think the Pirates did what they had to do, and got a nice return.
I still like the Nady/Marte trade better. We got uberprospect Jose Tabata, who it was rumored that, had the offer been made last year for Nady/Marte straight up for Tabata, the Pirates would have made that deal. Instead, we also got three young starting pitchers. Karstens may be MLB depth, nothing more than a 5th starter. But, to finish out the remainder of this year, we needed guys like that. Ohlendorf and McCutcheon are promising prospect who just might thrive in the NL. I’m looking forward to seeing what they bring to the table.
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two tickets to paradise divx Jason Bay brought us a top-arm pitcher, a top 3rd base prospect, a toolsy outfielder, and a power arm with closer mentality. I still feel the same as I did at the time of the trade… I wasn’t overly impressed. Now watching LaRoche struggly mightly, Hanson demoted to the minors, Moss struggling in the outfield and at the plate, and Morris shut down for the remainder of the season…I just feel the Pirates could have done better. Something more on the lines of what the Mariners gave up for Eric Bedard.
All that being said, the Pirates traded from an area of depth, and I think the trades will put the Pirates a step ahead next year, rather than the constant step behind, like the Ramirez trade. Moss may be a starter, Morgan and Duffy are still knocking on the door, our top two prospects, McCutcheon and Tabata, are outfielders, and there is still Pearce, Michaels, and possible Doumit to consider.
Here’s my fear…Snell and Gorzo rediscover the Ace potential in 2009…and we don’t have near the offense to back up our pitching staff. Yikes.
erad67
on Aug 28th, 2008
@ 11:57 pm:
We don’t know for a fact that Nady wouldn’t have signed. From the P-G reporting it sounded like he was never offered a contract and frequently went out of his way to say he would like to stay. But given his recent production and who his agent is, it would probably have taken Nady overriding Boras to stay. Many of us also have assumed that OF was an area of depth, but that may not be. Pearce showed that he may not be ready yet and there is no guarantee he ever will be. In abt 620 ABs over AA he has 18 HRs. He started last year in A-ball for a reason. McCutchen as well may never amount to what we hope he will. Even if he can duplicate the best he’s ever done in the minors at the major league level, we are looking at a guy who hits about .290 with 15 HRs, 25 SBs, and a .360 OBP while playing good D. Very solid, but not not what you’d think from all the hype surrounding him. Then again, he is young and maybe as he gets older will generate more power.
I don’t know if we’ll ever see Snell and Gorzo duplicate last season, but a nice rebound from this year I can def see.
Hopefully everything will work out and maybe we got lucky in the trades …. but “lucky” isn’t a word usually attached to the Pirates.
DrewRit21
on Aug 29th, 2008
@ 12:15 am:
Moss has at times looked poor at the plate, and at other times looked very good. In the end, his average and numbers are acceptable for where he is at.
salemPirate
on Aug 29th, 2008
@ 9:02 am:
Gosh, I agree pretty much overall with all the comments! Amazing what an attitude I have with jake gone!!!
I have never understood the hype over li’l Roche. He has never been able to hit MLB pitching and looks absolutely lost most of the time at the plate. His defense is worse than advertised. Still, he is young and may reach the expectations set for him. I can remember Mike Schmidt struggling in his first year to break through the mendoza line and he turned out quite well.
Karstens is a #5 pitcher, but we all know we need help up and down the rotation. We just can’t set the bar too high for him. Mr. Wonderful may turn out to be adequate. McCutheon the pitcher may be the sleeper of the bunch, but has so far been less than impressive.
I think Drew has Moss pegged pretty well. He should be another Nady in a few years, just in time to be traded away for another prospect or two.
The jewel of these trades should turn out to be Tabata. His attitude changed considerably once he got to Altoona. Like McCutcheon the outfielder, he may never put up any real power numbers, but the kid has the potential to be a real fixture in the outfield.
Could the Pirates have gotten more for what they traded? I don’t think so. Three potential starting pitchers and a very young toolsy outfielder for Nady & Marte would be hard to beat. Moss appears adequate and if li’l Roche develops, the Pirates did well. I do believe we can forget about Hansen anywhere in the foreseeable future. Morris upgraded the minor’s starting pitching, but is far, far away from PNC.
As an aside to Bill—–thanks for trying to keep the site up. Without comments the past couple of days this site would be dead.