One of the best times of the year is approaching again: The MLB trade deadline. As always, the rumors are floating around and the fans are saying who they want their favorite team to get. Some of them are reasonable rumors, but others are as far-fetched as possible. Instead of listing people the Pirates may go after, I want to take a look at a team’s approach at the trade deadline.
So far, the market has been a seller’s market. I mean, did you see the return that the Cubs got for Matt Garza? Garza is a good, not great, pitcher. The Rangers were willing to pay a higher price for Garza to grab him a week before the deadline. Had the Cubs held off and waited to trade Garza until the July 31 deadline, the asking price would’ve more than likely gone down.
As you know, baseball doesn’t have a salary cap. I’m personally not a fan of it, but such is life. With this thought in play, each team has to approach the deadline differently. There are large market teams, mid-market teams and small market teams.
According to Pirates Prospects, here’s how each team is categorized:
Large market teams: Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, White Sox
Mid market teams: Rangers, Diamondbacks, Tigers, Marlins, Astros, Phillies, Nationals, Blue Jays, Braves, Red Sox, Giants, Athletics
Small market teams: Brewers, Royals, Indians, Reds, Pirates, Orioles, Mariners, Twins, Padres, Rays, Cardinals, Rockies
Each of these tiers have teams that are contenders and teams that aren’t. For most of the past two decades, the Pirates have been on the latter end of the small market spectrum. This year, as well as the past two, they were on the other end.
I was in a discussion today with someone who said the Pirates need to upgrade the offense and went on to criticize Neal Huntington. Creative, right? He said that he gives credit to Huntington for his work with acquiring pitchers, but he has failed when it comes to the offense. He even went on to question whether or not the front office wants to win. For a guy that is in the front running for general manager of the year, that seems kind of harsh.
In 2011, the Pirates acquired Ryan Ludwick and Derrek Lee. Both players were acquired for practically nothing. While Ludwick broke out the following year, the deal was still the type of deal the Pirates should look to make each and every time. As for Lee, he started his Pirates stint off with a bang, but taking a pitch off the wrist stopped him in his tracks.
Now it’s understood that the Pirates were playing over their head in 2011. It was fun while it lasted for fans, but the sustainability wasn’t really there. Last year, however, it was a full-blown collapse. At the deadline, the Pirates found themselves to be in a similar situation as they were in the previous year. Names like Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino were floating around last year, as well as Chase Headley. All three players had a high-cost in order to acquire them. Again, the earlier the talk surrounds, the higher the cost is.
Huntington found himself in a tough situation. He could have “mortgaged the future” as they like to say for a two-month rental or he could have gone after lower-tier targets who cost far less. The gentleman I spoke with above said that the front office needed to trade some prospects for veterans and that was the only way to do it. For some reason, he didn’t want to listen when I said that’s exactly what they did last year.
Huntington traded good, not great, prospects in Rudy Owens and Robbie Grossman for Wandy Rodriguez. Before his injury, Rodriguez could have been in the running as the top pitcher in the rotation. The Pirates dealt Casey McGehee for Chad Qualls which didn’t work out in the Pirates favor. Granted, McGehee wasn’t producing at all for the Pirates and if not traded, he would’ve been released.
The Pirates then went on to trade Brad Lincoln to the Toronto Blue Jays for Travis Snider. While Snider has shown flashes of being the player everyone wanted, he hasn’t panned out. Again, it’s a deal I would do 100/100 times (especially looking where Lincoln is now). The other move that the Pirates made was trading Gorkys Hernandez to the Miami Marlins for Gaby Sanchez. Yes, Sanchez isn’t the All-Star that he was a couple of years ago, but for some reason, he gets a bad name. When he came to the Pirates, it was understood that he was going to be in a platoon with Garrett Jones at first base. All Sanchez has done since arriving to Pittsburgh is hammer left-handers, a.k.a. exactly what he is supposed to do.
For a small market team like the Pirates, they have to protect the future, while still thinking about the present. 2013 is their best chance to “make it” in a long, long time. That being said, would you trade your top farm talent for a two-month rental? If the Pirates make the playoffs as a wild card team, their season can be done in one game. Is it worth setting the franchise back another 10 years for that?
To me, no. The Pirates are in the right direction and have been for the past few years. Huntington has built the team up through the draft and has taken chances on some free agents. Some have panned out (Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano) and some have not (Rod Barajas, Ryan Church, Erik Bedard), but the model they are going with is how a small market team has to go by.
For example, Tampa Bay (small market) and Oakland (mid market) have both followed similar models on their way to consistent success. The man asked the last time a team won a World Series using this model (2003 Marlins), but what if they went the other way? What if they gave up their farm for a rental or two? Would they even be competitive? To say they haven’t won a title, to me at least, isn’t a fair way to put it. After all, only one team wins it and despite the failures that big-ticket teams such as the Angels, Mets and Cubs have had lately, the teams that win it more than likely have more money to spend.
Another team that was successful for a long time with this method was the Minnesota Twins (small market). Rod Gardenhire led the Twins to winning season after winnings season. Then, Joe Mauer came along. Don’t get me wrong at all, Mauer is a great player. The hometown kid grew up through the system and has dominated since his arrival. The only problem is, even with a hometown discount, it was going to take some money to lock him up. When the Twins, a small market team, did this, it pretty much took up all of the money that they could have allocated to other players and set the franchise back.
A team that didn’t make this mistake was the St. Louis Cardinals (small market). When Albert Pujols was a free agent, the Cardinals and the city of St. Louis wanted him back. The problem was the money. Even with Matt Holliday offering to take a pay cut, the Cardinals couldn’t afford him. What has happened since then? The Cardinals continue to produce a winning product and don’t have all of the money locked up in an aging veteran with injury problems.
To say the Pirates need to win right now since it’s their best chance is understandable. To think they need to mortgage the future and take themselves out of the contention for the next 20 years isn’t the way to do it.
