Winter Meetings So far

The Pirates made some news and got this offseason off to a hot start, or at least a controversial start.

First, it is undeniably good when your team is not picking up players in the Rule 5 draft.  It means your team is pretty good.  Or at least trying to win. 

Second, losing Deolis Guerra is no big deal.  Sure it is better to have him than the money, but if he ended up on the team it meant something went wrong in the bullpen. 

Third, today's signing of Juan Nicasio is good.  He is a mid 90's guy for the pen that can throw multiple innings and maybe spot start if needed.  The pen needed some help.  Melancon is the closer and Watson the set up man.  The back end is set (baring a trade of course).  Jerrod Hughes has his role as the ground ball guy locked up too.  The Pirates still have Caminero from last year, but lost Soria and Bastardo.  Nicasio will take a spot in the pen that needs him to be more than just the long man.  The final two spots could be Scahill and Holdzkom, but neither of those guys is a sure thing.  The Pirates did pick up Knudson in the off season, but if you get waived from the Tigers pen, well, it says something.  The Pirates did also claim Jorge Rondon, who throws hard, but his lack of success is not inspiring.  And they paid money for Webster, but he seems to be starting depth.  Nicasio then gives experience, velocity, and reliability to a bullpen that looks shaky so far. 

Fourth, the Walker trade is the main thing.  Neil Walker was traded to the Mets for Jon Neise.  Now, the Pirates gave up the better player, but I think it was a decent deal.  Neise does help replace some of the losses in the starting rotation.  Burnett is retired, and Locke is only okay.  Many are pointing out the similarities between Locke and Neise, but remember those similar stats are with Locke getting the support of one of the best defenses in baseball, and Neise had the Mets.  Yes, the defense that cost the Mets multiple games in the World Series.  He should improve with the Pirates as he gets ground balls.  It is noteworthy that he is lefty as well.  Morton was awful against left handed hitters this year, and Neise could be a Morton replacement.  He is also cheaper than Walker.

Walker is better and worth more wins, but Walker is the worst option for the Pirates infield right now.  Kang showed he deserves a place in the everyday line up.  But Harrison does too.  He hits and does not strike out much and frankly adds a bit of hustle and crazy that can change ball games.  But Kang is better at third than Harrison.  Mercer, the worst hitter of the group, is the best defender and the defense gets so-so with Mercer not at short.  Thus, the obvious place for Harrison is second.  It is his best defensive spot.  Also Alen Hanson is ready to be a major league back up (I don't ever see him as much more than this), so there is some insurance at second base.  Max Moroff is probably only a year away, so your future is coming. 

Walker was not worth resigning next off season.  Trading him in-season would probably have hurt team chemistry, and probably would not have brought back major league ready returns.  We all expect the Pirates to be in the playoff hunt, and you don't give up a second baseman for prospects when you are trying to make the playoffs.  So, this is probably his highest value for a trade right now.  They got a pitcher that will be part of the rotation and has World Series experience.  It was not necessarily an equal value trade, but it was the best trade the Pirates could make.  So they made it rather than take nothing next year. 

Winter Meetings 2010 - Part 2

The Pirates have been busy just as they promised. Two major signings have taken place since the last update.

Kevin Correia signed a deal worthy about 4 million a year for two years. However, I sort of doubt that the Pirates will keep him around for two years. If he has a decent year, I think the Pirates will shop him mid year. Still this signing is excellent. Correia is a solid pitcher and a clear up grade over Zack Duke. This also takes a lot of pressure off of James McDonald as I think this bumps McDonald to the 4th slot and Correia takes the 3rd slot with Ohlendorf at 2 and Malholm at 1. I also think that this means Brad Lincoln starts off in AAA, as I am pretty sure he has some options left. Jeff Karstens is probably back in the pen, Daniel McCutchen may still have a shot at the pen, but might be in AAA himself or traded by opening day. If you are going to get J.J. Hardy someone has to go. I think it spells bad news for Charlie Morton as well because in all probability Scott Oleson is your 5th starter.

The Pirates also signed Matt Diaz to play corner outfield for the Pirates. This guy is 32 and his deal is a two year deal, but it is only about 2 million a year. Reasonable. Diaz can hit lefties, but has struggled against righties. Last year was bad for him, but his career average is about .301. Probably not going to get that high as he is aging. Some are worried that this is not any better than Milledge. Milledge had a higher OBP and AVG against lefties than Diaz, although they had the same Slugging percentage. Milledge is much younger and would have been a little cheaper. I for one and much happier with Diaz. There are three main reasons.
One, Diaz is tradable. There was a lot of interest in Diaz when he was non-tendered from many teams. Diaz has a decent year and those teams like the Yankees are going to be willing to trade for him. Milledge was not tradable because of his bad reputation.
Two, Diaz has more power. Milledge had no power. It was completely gone last year, and I think the Pirates did not see it coming back. He has always underachieved in the power department. He is about at the age where you can say that what you see is what you get. The PIrates desperately need power.
Three, Milledge just did not try and that sort of attitude eats a team away. Milledge loafed in the outfield and often on the basepaths. I can remember at least two clear instances of bad defense from Milledge costing the Pirates games. I mean basic stuff like rout running and hitting the cutoff man. Add in all the times he failed to advance when he should have, got thrown out at third costing the team a run, and other dumb stuff and Milledge had to go. Diaz is going to be a player who knows how to run the bases and play defense. It is a shot in the arm of professionalism that the Pirates can use.

This does make getting rid of Doumit in a trade and near must.

All in all the Pirates are having a good meeting. I believe they still have one spot open on the 40 Man and the Rule 5 Draft is tomorrow.

Winter Meetings 2010 - Part 1

The first updates from the Winter Meetings are in, and the big news is the signing of Scott Olsen. This fills one starting pitcher role. They really could use another unless they feel comfortable with Jeff Karstens as a number 5 guy. So, I think there is still hope for a Webb, Francis, or another like that to be signed. I am not a fan of Scott Olsen. I wish they had not signed him at all. It is like getting another Lastings Milledge. An upside, but a real bad attitude and lack of effort that will rear its head.

Of course the Pirates are still trying to trade Ryan Doumit. I have some confidence that somewhere the Pirates will get this done, but it won't be a great deal. Still just getting rid of him to make room on the 25 man roster is important.

The Pirates are also still talking to the Twins. I like J.J. Hardy, and he is better than Cedano, but I am not sure I want to part with real prospects to get him.

Apparently goal number 1 is young starting pitching which I doubt will come in trades. Olsen might fight that bill, but I think it means the Pirates are going to take a pitcher in the Rule 5 draft.

Jennifer Langosh gives us some more names that I hope don't come to the Pirates. She mentions Kenshin Kawakami as a possible trade pick up. Apparently at a cheap price without a real prospect loss. I think his best days are behind him. I guess if we got him for nothing, it would be hard to complain, but really, give me Jeff Francis. She also mentions a couple of possible short stops in addition to JJ Hardy including Jason Bartlett (numbers getting worse), and Cardinal short stop Brendan Ryan (numbers were never good in the first place). I prefer to keep our internal pieces and wait one more year for D'Arnaud and Mercer and see if we can get Cedano to just hit .250.