Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Why Ray Olmedo, Sean Burnett, and Johnny Estrada mean nothing
Neal Huntington has been attempting to earn his paycheck over the last few days, playing a role in one move that was made, one move that was not, one move, one very depressing rumor that thankfully proved to be false, and one move that should be made.
The move that was made was outrighting Sean Burnett for assignment in order to pick 
reserve infielder Ray Olmedo off of waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. The move makes Burnett the first of the first round pitching experiments to be deemed a failure by this new management, probably just the first of several that will receive that label. Judging that particular set of pitchers (Burnett, John Van Benschoten, and Bryan Bullington) based on performance and not giving them special benefits because they happened to be high draft picks is a fair thing, but releasing them for terrible utility infielders is unnecessary.
Burnett does not seem as if he is going to turn into an effective pitcher, becoming an even softer throwing, uncertain pitcher since receiving major elbow and shouulder surgeries. He
will always receive a chance because he is left-handed, though. The Pirates should have been willing to give him that chance instead of outrighting him (Burnett has been guaranteed a non-roster invite to spring training, but he will not have a very realistic chance of making the roster) for a utility infielder who has a .228 average in limited major league experience. The Pirates are desperately trying to patch a bench and a bullpen together right now, but releasing former first round draft picks for infielders who are easier to find than a Britney Spears story on E! is not the way to go about it.
The move that Huntington did not make this week, also relating to his bench, was more interesting. When Johnny Estrada signed with the Washington Nationals over the Pirates, 
he did so because, according to him, the Nationals offered a one-year contract while the Pirates wanted one year with a club option for a second year. He then said, however, that “I came close to signing with Pittsburgh, but I really didn’t want to sign there.” That statement is just a little bit offensive and clearly displays the attitude that many free agents have towards the Pirates and the city of Pittsburgh, unfortunately. The statement was bad enough that Estrada’s agent, David Schwartz, felt a need to defend them and state that Estrada actually did not mean anything offensive by them. Well, he did, but an apology or a rephrasing is always a nice enough idea.
The signing of Estrada, if it had gone through, was the type that Huntington should be trying to make. Estrada is an established major league player who had a tough year last year and could be looking to have a bounceback season or two until he can price himself back out of the Pirates’ range. If the Pirates offered what they reportedly did (one year at $750,000 with Estrada making $1.25 million if he made the team and a club option for 2009 that could have gone as high as $5 million with incentives or as low as $2.5 million if it had been picked up), the offer was fair and would have been beneficial for both parties as Estrada could have remade his career and could have also pushed the underachieving Ronny Paulino for playing time. We should be somewhat pleased that Huntington showed an inkling of knowing what he is doing . . .
That is, we should have been. Immediately after Estrada signed, however, the Pirates were linked with Paul Bako who, thankfully, signed with the Reds instead. Bako is a
terrible baseball player who has stuck around by being a backup catcher, meaning playing as little as possible. Since the 2004 season, Bako has not hit above .209 in a season where he had more than 100 at-bats, meaning seasons of .203. .205, and .209 with one outlying season of .250 where he only had 40 at-bats. Bako is the completely wrong type of player for the Pirates to go after-he is old, has no upside, would not push any of their young players to reach greater heights, and fills one small role. That Huntington was even linked to him should be embarrassing for the team.
Most importantly, however, is the news that the Pirates and 2B Freddy Sanchez are close 
on a three year contract. If that rumor is true, Huntington would be making his most important move since becoming general manager, locking a valuable player up for a somewhat extended period of time and giving him a set payroll number instead of leaving it in the hands of an arbiter. Sanchez is one of the Pirates’ two or three best position players and certainly the most consistent, therefore meaning, as has been stated in this space before, that he should be given this extension and be made a key part of the Pirates’ ad campaign as long as it does not involve the words “We Will.”
All in all, Huntington was 2 for 4 on decisions that make sense this week, with the Sanchez negotiations and the DFAing of Burnett making sense and the talking to Bako and signing of Ray Olmedo making no sense whatsoever. Unfortunately, he will need to bat 1.000 if he hopes to have the Pirates on the brink of contention in the coming season and that does not look as if it is going to happen.
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