We are approaching one of the most exciting times of year right now for serious baseball followers, the upcoming trade deadline. During the last two seasons with the Pirates on the edge of legitimacy there were a lot of calls to buy in on the moment and sell the farm for a big name deal. We have heard big names such as Hunter Pence, Justin Upton and Shin-Soo Choo mentioned as potential trade targets. I will admit that I have been on board with just about any big name trade mentioned, if for nothing more than to break the streak and have a winning season in Pittsburgh. It is hard to believe that many were calling for Starling Marte’s call up last year to be an audition for potential trade partners. Looking back I am pleased with the approach the Pirates have taken the last two years, they could have been more aggressive maybe in 2011, but the 2012 deadline added Wandy Rodriguez, Gaby Sanchez and Travis Snider to the 2013 club. None of these were huge impact moves for 2012 or prevented the eventual collapse, but all arguably help the current team and cost little in the way of big time prospects unless you were a diehard Brad Lincoln fan.
Looking at the Pittsburgh Pirates version 2013, they do not need the mid season help to compete that the other two clubs did, but they are not without addressable needs. In my opinion, starting pitching is not a need at all right now, but a few injuries later that could be a different story. The biggest issue right now is what to do with all of the starters once guys start getting healthy. If a starter is needed, it should be done on the cheap. Two affordable options would be Bud Norris and Kevin Correia.
Houston is in a full-blown rebuild mode and has two years of control left on Norris’s contract, and probably will not be in contention before his free agent year hits in 2016. He has a career win loss record of 33-44, which is tainted by pitching in Houston his whole career, and pitching for a contender in more pitcher friendly PNC could be the change he needs. He is not the big name that would break the bank prospect wise. The familiarity of pitching in the NL Central for the majority of his career does not hurt either. Also, Houston and Pittsburgh were able to work out a deal last year for Rodriguez, maybe it could be done again.
Now, on to Correia. Many sites have it at 60 percent he is dealt to a contender by the deadline. After last years demotion to the bullpen, that he was clearly not pleased with could make him a clubhouse issue, or he could come in with something to prove. I find this move highly unlikely, but if there is no bad blood, you know what you get with Correia. He will give you some solid innings, and keep you in most games. For the bullpen, ride with what you got, as there is plenty of depth chomping at the bit down in Indy just waiting to come up. Building a bullpen seems to be Neal Huntington’s calling. As you go around the field since the Jordy Mercer promotion, I believe the infield is set, but a discussion could be had for a better utility choice than Brandon Inge to help out with lefties. Neil Walker has historically picked up his RBI totals as the season goes on, but some cheap help that can hit lefties more consistently might not hurt.
Now this is all very fluid at this time of the year and a lot can happen. Thirty days ago, I would have been arguing for a platoon mate at third with more solid number against lefties. But then Pedro Alvarez got hotter than hot and has even had some big time clutch hits against lefties, so it would seem insane right now to even entertain that notion. First base is definitely set as the Garrett Jones, Gaby Sanchez platoon is putting up great numbers and allows good flexibility off the bench. Now on to the outfield, where left field and center field are set for the foreseeable future, so I will not even discuss any possibilities there. Now we get to right field as it seems like just about everyone on the team has started games in right field to include the high-dollar free agent catcher. At the beginning of the year the Jose Tabata, Snider Platoon looked like the ticket. Snider has shown some flashes of the potential that he came in to the league with as a high draft pick in Toronto. But his .238 average and three homers are a huge hole in what should be a high offensive production position. With Tabata’s frequent injury issues, he can not be counted on for much until he proves otherwise.
There are two roads to go down to fill this need for this season and maybe the future. The first one is the huge splash move. The huge splash would be to find a way, any way to bring in Giancarlo Stanton from Miami. The other would be to look for the less sexy yet serviceable high-dollar veteran that will not cost much in the way of prospects. I would be a fan of making the splash move for Stanton and dealing significant prospects under one condition; he has to be brought in with the intention of making him a long-term offer. He is still playing off his rookie contract and has shown the potential to be one of the best power hitters in baseball. If you feel he could be locked in long term to create a super outfield of Marte, Mccutchen and Stanton that could prove to be more valuable than the potential of a Cole, Taillon anchored rotation for the next few years, then do it. Stanton brings with him some significant injury issues as he has spent more time on the disabled list than anyone would like to see, but there is no way to predict such things and could be a gamble with any player.
The other potential names on the market are Alex Rios from the White Sox, who is making $12.5 million this year with two more years of control, this may be a little rich for the Pirates taste but they could possibly get Chicago to eat some of the salary but that would probably cost more in the way of prospects. He is currently hitting .284 with 34 RBIs, which is not great, but he would be a serviceable veteran who can hit left-handed pitching, which would be a huge help in the middle of the lineup in late inning situations. Another available option is also currently playing in Chicago, but for the Cubs. Nate Schierholtz would be the way more affordable option of the two and Huntington has some history working with Theo Epstein in the past to make deals happen. At $2.25 million and one more arbitration year before free agency he would not be super high dollar or a 60-day rental, the main issue with him is that he has career numbers are about 30 points lower against left-handed pitching, and to address the teams biggest needs they need to find a way to avoid the late inning left-handed specialist when you have Alvarez, Jones and Walker in the middle of the lineup all with significant issues hitting the lefties.
It is still way to early to see where this is all going and there are a few teams out there that could fall out of contention and become sellers but these look like the most likely names to be talked about for the next few weeks at least.
