Some stray thoughts left from yesterday, that I wanted to turn into bits and bytes…

• I’ve become very frustrated since these trade went down, but not in the way you might think.  I’m frustrated with the attitude of the casual Pirates fan.  The way I see it, the strategy that Neal Huntington is taking of blowing it all up is something that has needed to happen for years.  I touched on this yesterday, but Dave Littlefield never quite got there.  He would trade a few high priced veterans for prospects, and then trade for Matt Morris or sign Jeromy Burnitz.  What NH is doing is the right strategy, and its refreshing to see it happen.  I’m finally rooting for a baseball team that is heading in the right direction.  But it’s frustrating to me that most fans poo-poo every move, seeing it as more of the same.  Seeing it as cheap ownership selling off valuable assets for .25 cents on the dollar.  Its going to take time for this strategy to bear out in the form of wins at the major league level, but it is almost undoubtedly the right strategy to take.   I want more casual fans who aren’t following our minor league system to realize that.
• I was expressing this frustration to my girlfriend, and she posed the question of how many of these guys we acquired are likely to see PNC Park next season.  By my count, we’ve acquired 21 players in 7 trades dating back to the Nady/Marte trade last year.  Roughly 10 of those are almost certain to be in Pittsburgh at some point next year, with 3 more who could make it to the show before next season ends, depending on how quickly they develop.
• Now that Wilson and Sanchez are gone, the question I’m left with is who is next to go?  There are rumors today of a possible John Grabow trade, but his potential type A free agent status clouds that a bit.  Anyway, my suspicion is that he does get traded, but that he is the last to go between now and the end of the season.  In the off-season though, I’d watch Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, and Paul Maholm as players who could potentially be moved.  Doumit is injury prone, and when you consider that Tony Sanchez is the catcher of the future and JJ’s strong play this year, I would not be surprised if Doumit is moved.  Duke and Maholm are a bit more complicated, but the bottom line is that we have a glut of mid to back of the rotation starters, and no advanced middle infield prospects.  Either Duke or Maholm, but probably not both, could potentially be moved to bring back a middle infielder.
• Another thing I failed to put in yesterday’s post is the money saved in those trades.  As a very rough estimate, the Pirates current payroll commitments for next year total about $35 Million.  Using this years payroll as a baseline, that leaves $15 Million that could be spent on free agent signings for next season.  What they do with it is anybody’s guess, but the biggest glaring holes as we head into next season are middle infield and starting pitching.  I would be shocked to see them sign a big name, big money free agent to a long term contract, but given the economy and that many teams may be trying to shed payroll, don’t be shocked it some or all of that money is committed to one of those areas in a two or three year deal.
• Pat Lackey has an excellent post over at WHYGAVS about where this leaves the team for the rest of this season.  I suggest you read it.  I agree with almost everything he says in that post.

Tags: Dave Littlefield, Neal Huntinton, trade