Looking at the Pirates Trade Options

With yesterday's minor acquisition of reliever Sean Gallagher from the San Diego Padres, I got asked many times today, "Why would the Pirates acquire a reliever when their bullpen is so good?"

Quite simply, the answer is that the bullpen won't be as good for long because potentially as many as three Pirates relievers could be on the move before the July 31st trading deadline.  Gallagher then becomes a healthy arm that John Russell can use for the rest of the reason.

Here are the best candidates to be dealt by the deadline.

5. Ryan Church- Church signed a one-year, $1.5 mil deal in the off-season.  While he has underachieved big time as a Pirate, some contender will look to acquire an extra left handed bat off of the bench.

4. Ryan Doumit- Doumit should be priority one to deal, but the Pirates love him way too much.  He is in the second year of a three year, $11.5 mil deal that includes a club option for 2012.  The Pirates must realize that this guy can't not handle a major league pitching staff and send him packing.  He has done nothing in his six seasons as a Pirate that warrants him being a part of the future.

The time has likely passed to get a decent return on Doumit, but some American League team might be able to use him as a DH, so there is a chance he can be dealt.

3. Brendan Donnelly-  He will likely be in demand.  He signed a one year, $1.5 mil deal this past off-season, so money won't be an issue here. Several teams could use a reliable reliever that has pitched for contenders in the past.  The bad part about dealing guys such as Donnelly is that they typically don't fetch much in return.

2. Octavio Dotel- Dotel has had a solid season, but with all-star Evan Meek sitting as the closer in waiting, Dotel is a good bet to get dealt.  His contract isn't much of an issue.  Dotel signed a one year, $3.25 mil deal with a club option for next season at $4.5 mil that certainly won't be picked up by any team.  More than a handful of teams would love to acquire a power arm to use down the stretch run.

Other guys to keep an eye on include Zach Duke, Paul Maholm and Andy Laroche. One of the pitchers, hopefully Duke will be dealt, but the guy most likely to be traded is.............

1. DJ Carrasco-  Carrasco has value to teams as he can eat innings and pitch in any role a contender will need.  He signed a minor league deal in the off-season, so another team won't be assuming salary.  However, while I feel Carrasco is a sure bet to go, it's another case where you shouldn't expect the Pirates to get much in return for him.

Exciting Walk-Off Win- Can The Bucs Build Off It?

Big win for the Bucs last night. If you missed any of it, you can hear my Lexycast by clicking HERE.

Lastings Milledge came through with the walk-off single and he deserves a ton of credit, but a ton of credit also needs to go to Andrew McCutchen.  After his two-out single to left, Cutch's steal of second turned out to be the big play of the game.

Now several people have stolen 50 or 60 bases, but it takes a special type of player to steal that bag, in that situation, when everyone in the ballpark and everyone in both dugouts know you are running.  Not only that, he stole it easy.

After the steal, Milledge came through with a very good at bat.  He's probably the only Bucco I would want up in that situation.  He proceeded to spoil four, two-strike pitches, before working the count full and then delivering the walk-off single up the middle for the Bucco win.

Zach Duke gave the team another tremendous start, I have since backed off my criticism of him.  He looks great and the ball just seems to be coming out of his hand much better.  That's the big thing I noticed last night.  His delivery and arm slot is real consistent right now.

If Duke keeps it up, he very well could become the ace the Pirates desperately need.  His trade value is increasing by the start. Usually, this would excite me, but with a team lacking effective starting pitching and a team with the lowest payroll in the majors; could this be a time to lock Duke up long term?

The bullpen was horrific last night, unable to find the strike zone.  Joel Hanrahan looked good, with his fastball in the 95-98 mph range, but even he walked a batter.  Javy Lopez- 2 walks without throwing a strike and Brenden Donally also walked in a run. Although, Angel Hernandez didn't do these guys any favors.  He's the worst ump in the league, with the most inconsistent strike zone.

Octavio Dotel blew his first save after giving up a leadoff triple on a fastball right down the middle, but give him some credit to get out with the game tied 3-3.

Now with the team at 5-5, coming off a big win at home; it's time they build off that and string together a few in a row.

NOTES
-Ross Ohlendoff was placed on the 15 day DL, retroactive to April 12th.  He will come off on April 27th.  Daniel McCutchen was called back up to take Ohlendorf's spot tonight.  I think he will fare better than he did in his first start in Arizona.

-Andy Laroche is not in tonight's lineup as he left last nigh'ts game in the second inning with back spasms.  He was replaced by Bobby Crosby last night. Delwyn Young gets the start at third tonight.

-Pedro Alvarez hit his fourth homer of the season last night for Indy (made two errors though). Jose Tabata has an eight-game hit streak and is hitting .351. For all you Ryan Doumit haters, Tony Sanchez is hitting over .370 at Bradenton.  I will start doing my minor league reports again sometime this week.

-Pirates are ranked 17th in hitting with a .249 team avg.  They have averaged 4.3 runs per game and their team OPS is .716

- They rank 30th in pitching with a team ERA of 6.93.  Opponents are hitting .302 off them.  That's a little misleading though.  If you take the poor outings of Hyden Penn, Charlie Morton, Brian Burres and McCutchen away, they have a team ERA of 4.01.  Not too bad of a job.  Now the other guys have to start pitching better.

-Penn cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA Indy.

-I sit next to all the scouts at the games and lucky me, there was Dave Littlefield, scouting for the Cubs.  For his sake I hope he's better at that job than his last.

-  I should have something up for tomorrow as well.  Until then, LET"S GO BUCS.  You can listen to my Lexycast of tonight's game, which should be up 15-20 minutes after the last pitch.

Opening Day Success

Well I'm getting to this much later than I wanted to but what an opening day.  The Buccos performence was great in an 11-5 victory over the Dodgers, but among the longballs and solid effort from Zach Duke and the backend of the bullpen the main thing I took away from this one was the crowd.

 I attend 20-30 games a season, pretty much every season and at no time in the last 10-15 seasons, have I felt the energy at PNC Park that I did yesterday afternoon.  It made you happy to be a Pirates fan for a change.  I am often very critical of Pirates fans for their constant complaining and whining and general lack of baseball knowledge, but that wasn't the case yesterday afternoon.

It wasn't just due to it being opening day either.  There was a general positive energy through out the fourth largest crowd in PNC Park history.  The only sad part is that the energy and the size of the crowds will start to fade away, likely beginning with tomorrow night's game against the Dodgers.

As for the game, atleast for one day, we got a glimpse of what kind of potential talent this team could have if a ton of what if's come true.  While they will still finish with an 18th consecutive losing record, you could see that just maybe this team could turn the corner one day.

Offensively, they did it all.  Three bombs, including no doubters from Garrett Jones and Ryan Doumit. They utilized their speed, with Andrew McCutchen and Ronny Cedeno swiping bags.  They got timely hitting for a change when Ryan Church hit a two out pinch hit double that cleared the bases.  Lastings Milledge doubled and Jeff Clement reached base three times as well. Maybe as good as a game they may have offensively as a team all season.

They played solid defense as well. Clement played a solid game at first base in his first major league game there.  Milledge made a nice running catch in left and overall, the team made all the plays they should make.

On the hill,  Duke gave the team a decent start and the bullpen pitched well, especially the last 2 1/3 innings.  Brenden Donally got out of a jam with a couple of strikeouts and Octavio Dotel threw the ball extremely well.

Even manager John Russell had an impact.  Atleast for one day, he pushed all the right buttons.  Lifting Duke after five innings with the bases loaded was probably the call of the game.  He wanted to break the game open and he trusted his bullpen.  Even batting the pitcher eighth paid off for a day.  Would Ronny Cedeno have come through the way Ryan Church did?  Probably not.  I still don't like McCutchen hitting second, but it didn't have an impact yesterday.  In fact, it seemed to work out the way JR envisioned it.  Cedeno reached base a couple times and Cutch got at bats with men on base.

So be happy Bucco fans, your team looked great yesterday.  Don't over react though and raise expectations.  It is what it is- one win, that's it, but hey first place for a day, Right?

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Joel Hanrahan Shut Down

It didn't take long for the Bucco's to make some news after pitchers and catchers reported to Bradenton.  Neil Huntington announced today that set up man Joel Hanrahan will be shut down due to elbow tightness.

Early reports say their is no structural damage and he will just be shutdown for the time being.  However, if Hanrahan is still feeling discomfort in the next two to three weeks, then it's the three words no pitcher ever wants to hear- Dr. James Andrews.

Even if Hanrahan can pitch through the pain, he should be considered doubtful to open the season with the Bucs.  Hanrahan was the Bucs most effective reliever after being acquired from the Nats in the Nyjer Morgan deal.  Opposing hitters batted only .160 off Hanrahan in August and September.  During that span he had a 0.42 ERA.

I liked the back end of the pen, with Hanrahan and Evan Meek setting up Octavio Dotel.  I expect Brenden Donelley to move into Hanrahan's role and DJ Carrasco to get a bigger workload as well.

Since he will likely begin the season on the DL, there is one more job availbale.  I don't expect NH to attempt to sign anyone else, he will just go with the guys he has.  While not big names, the Pirates do have a little depth in the bullpen this season.

Busy week for Bucs

A busy couple of weeks of moves for the Buccos.  The Bucs signed Ryan Church to a 1yr/1.5mil deal as a fourth outfielder.  I like the move.  Could be a good bench guy.  He is a good fit for the Pirates.  He hits left handed, something they desperately need.  He also plays solid defense and could play everyday if Jeff Clement doesn't work out at first base and they have to move Garrett Jones there.  He was often injured last season, splitting time between the Mets and Braves, combining to hit .273.  Church only hit four homers last season, but did hit 15 in 2007 with Washington.  Not a splashy type of signing, but teams need good bench guys also.

The Bucs also signed a couple relievers in D.J Carassco and Brenden Donnelly.  Carrasco is 32 and will earn a 950k base salary if he makes the squad.  He had a god year with the White Sox last season, posting a 3.76 era in 93.3 innings pitched.  Intresting that Carrasco and Brian Bass (who also signed a minor league deal with the Bucs) were 1&2 in the majors last season in innings pitched by relievers.

Donnelly was signed to a major league deal for 1yr/1.35mil.  He is a bit of a risk, coming off Tommy John surgery in 2007.  He saw his first big league action since 07 last year with the Marlins and was very effective, posting an era under 1.5 in slightly over 25 innings pitched.

The Bucs are also very close to signing Octavio Dotel.

The Pirates also cleared a spot for Donelly on the 40 man roster by dealing Brian Bixler to the Indians for ss Jesus Brito.  I don't know much about him but he is 22 and hit .353 combined between the Indians Rookie and Short Season teams.

I believe for Dotel to be signed, another spot on the 40 man must be cleared.  The likely guy in my mind to be released or dealt is Steve Pearce.

Again, not big named relievers, but the bullpen should be a bit more reliable this season.

One funny note is that with the signings of Donnelly, Carrasco and Chris Jakubauskas- that gives the Bucs three pitchers that used to pitch  in the Frontier League.  Probably three too many.