Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Early Pirate trade talks
There is an article in the Post-Gazette today about how the Pirates’ four main trade pieces have improved their stock, suggesting that the selling attitude that pervades the Pirates around June or July will hit once again. There is no problem with that, as Dejan ended one mailbag last week by predicting that the outfield on August 1 will be Nate McLouth in left field, Andrew McCutchen in center field and Steve Pearce in right field. The only issue is whether or not this management knows what it is doing in terms of trades.
This was, of course, the group that had agreed to trade Jason Bay to Cleveland for almost nothing until suddenly coming to its senses, at a time that coincidentally came immediately after word of the potential trade had leaked to the public, and rejecting the deal. The trade that was in place was for Kelly Shoppach (a backup catcher) and Franklin Gutierrez (an outfielder who shows some potential). Andy Marte was also included in one stage of the discussions. Frankly, that is not enough for a player who, prior to last season, had been one of the preeminent offensive producers in baseball. Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly apparently didn’t appreciate the fact that to trade a player after the worst season of his career is never a wise decision.
Just as importantly, however, they didn’t trade Damaso Marte, the left-handed reliever coming off a dominating season. Marte never will fetch more than he would have last December. Yes, it’s important to try to put a winning team on the field, but one relief pitcher is usually not the difference between a winning and a losing team, particularly if that pitcher can net two or three solid prospects in return. For proof of that, look at the trade of Salomon Torres, for whom the Pirates received relief prospects Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. Roberts has been kicked around at AA Altoona, but Salas has been dominant at Indianapolis, giving up one run in 16 innings pitched and averaging a strikeout an inning.
The decision to not trade Marte may prove a somewhat costly one, particularly if the team that he is dealt to takes his ERA into consideration, but holding on to some players has its advantages, something that is particularly evident in the case of OF Xavier Nady. There were questions about Nady’s hamstring as well as his ability to string together even a month of good baseball prior to this season. Thus far, he has responded to those critics by playing in most of the Pirates’ games and posting a .327 batting average with 23 RBIs. Productivity like that absolutely cannot be ignored and means that the Pirates should be able to receive a couple of valuable prospects in return for Nady, who teams were willing to surrender virtually nothing for at the winter meetings.
Then, of course, there is the player who the Pirates should not trade, left-handed reliever John Grabow. Grabow is one of the best relievers in the majors to this point in the season, finally coming through on his potential. His stuff has been awesome so far and it has shown, as he has not yet given up an earned run. Grabow is the type of player who the Pirates should try to keep around, a smart pitcher who doesn’t rely purely on power and could be valuable out of the bullpen, unlike Marte who seems to struggle when he can’t locate his blazing fastball.
Of course, this is the same management team that threw McLouth’s name into trade discussions at winter meetings, so their judgment is certainly still questionable. And, no matter what the fans want, they can’t trade the entire team, but, hopefully, they can manage to keep their eyes on the future while fielding an interesting team in the present.
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