Bucs aquire Snyder- What's Doumit's future?

The Pirates had another busy trade deadline, but unlike years past, this year there were no salary dumps or accumulation of prospects. The Pirates made three trades today and all appear to be good baseball moves. The Pirates acquired catcher Chris Snyder and minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco from the Arizona Diamondbacks, in exchange for Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby and D.J. Carrasco.

They also sent closer Octavio Dotel to the Los Angeles Dodgers for right hander James McDonald and minor league outfielder Andrew Lambo and also sent Javier Lopez to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right hander Joe Martinez and outfielder John Bowker. Give the Pirates some credit for being able to sign some veteran relievers in the off-season that they were able to turn into young arms.

The biggest move of the day though was acquiring Snyder. It also now leaves a big question on what to do with Ryan Doumit. Snyder has the reputation of being one of the games better defensive catchers, something the Pirates were desperately in need of. He should be able to help the pitching staff out as well, as Snyder is know for being able to handle a staff, something Doumit wasn't capable of. The Pirates did well with this move. While Snyder doesn't do much as an average hitter, his offensive numbers are comparable to Doumit's, who doesn't offer much of anything.

Snyder is hitting .231 on the year, while Doumit is only hitting .258. Snyder's hit ten homers and driven in 32 runs, while Doumit has hit eight homers and driven in 32. The improvement though is defensively. Snyder is known for being a glove man and has a good arm behind the dish, while Doumit is the worst catcher in the game today. Doumit won't be behind the plate very often (Thank God) anymore and the Pirates young pitchers will benefit from it.



What do you do now with Doumit though? It's a shame that his fragile self got hurt again right before the deadline or there is a good chance he would have got dealt. The immediate plan is to make him the everyday right fielder and that is just an awful idea. In six seasons as a pro, Doumit has done absolutely nothing to warrant regular playing time, yet the Pirates keep finding ways to get his "bat" into the lineup. What bat?

Doumit has had one decent year offensively as a pro, in 2008 when he hit .318. That same season, he also set career highs in homers (15) and RBI's (69). Still very below average numbers though. Yet, the Pirates continue to run him out there and bat him in the middle of the order often when his track record clearly shows he's not a talented offensive player. He's hit over .260 only one other time (.274 in 2007), reached double digits in homers only one other time (10 in 2009) and other than his 69 RBI season of 2008 has never driven in more than 40 runs in a season. Not to mention he is a huge liability no matter where you put him on the field defensively.

It's a shame the Pirates are thinking about putting him in right field. You have to feel bad for Lastings Milledge. First he has to platoon with Ryan Church, who was hitting .180 on the season and now he will lose at bats to Doumit. Once he started playing everyday again, all Milledge has done is hit. When guys are on base, Milledge drrives in runs, hitting over .380 with runners in scoring position, something Doumit would know nothing about.

It's a disgrace to keep giving Doumit at bats. Now that the Pirates have better talent, they should run their best eight guys out there on a nightly basis. There is nothing wrong with having Doumit as a bench player, getting a spot start every now and then, but he shouldn't be getting regular playing time.

Why the revolving Lineups?

Before I get into this, I read a couple different draft experts ranking the draft.  Two had the Pirates as the best draft, one had them ranked second and the other fourth.  That's a real good sign that things are turning in the right direction, providing they sign their picks. One said, "How can you not like what the Pirates have done?  They get the top two arms in the draft."  I like to hear praise like that.

Now onto today's issue.  Is anyone besides me tired of seeing a different lineup every game?  Let the talent play.  That's why they are starters.  I'm all for giving a guy a day off every now and then, but how can John Russell expect his regulars to hit with any type of consistency when they aren't playing consistently?  You don't need to keep your bench guys real fresh when they don't produce

It often appears that JR is picking his lineup out of a hat.  Guys like Crosby and Aki don't need regular AB's.  The other thing that drives me crazy is that every time someone seems to be going good for a couple days, he finds himself on the bench.

Clement started swinging the bat good, hitting the ball hard and suddenly he didn't play for four days.  Delwyn Young goes 2-4 with a homer and double then doesn't play.  This has happened all season.  I'm surprised he has the sense to keep writing Cutch's name in there everyday.  This is not the way to handle young players, especially when the team isn't going anywhere.

Suddenly, the conspiracy theorists are out.  Now we hear that Neil Huntington is telling JR who to play everyday.  I can't believe this is happening, or the Pirates are in much worse shape than even I thought.  I don't think either guy looks at scouting reports or anything.  I truly believe JR is just guessing everyday and hoping he gets lucky with the right eight guys.

Also I've heard Huntington is sabotaging the team.  For what?  To cost himself his job?  While I've been very happy with the guys he's brought in via trade the guys he brought in via free agency haven't been so good.  To his defense, he wasn't going after good free agents, he was going after cheap bodies to fill spots.  he was hoping to get lucky with a guy or two the same way he did with Garrett Jones.  Now isn't the time anyways to load up with free agents.  It is the time though to see exactly what you have with some of these guys and you can't do that by not playing them.

It's a little to late to be tanking it.  Don't give them that much credit.  If they were that smart, we would have David Price, Steven Strasburg and Bryce Harper as well.  The fact is that they are trying to win.  It's taking some time, but I'm still liking what I see down on the farm.

Russell has tried everything from batting the pitcher 8th to moving Cutch all around the order.  I really believe JR is out of options and just flipping the coin on guys.

To JR's defense (and that will be the only time those words will EVER come out of my mouth), his third baseman has 12 RBI's in the middle of June and his current right fielder having 17.  His five bench guys have a total of 46 so it doesn't get much better.

Right now this lineup stinks after the first 4 hitters.  However, he has to keep playing Laroche and Milledge.  Sitting them down every other game doesn't help one bit.

While it's true JR doesn't have the talent right now and maybe he should get the chance to see this rebuild through, I'm still not convinced he's the man for the job.  Pull the trigger on his job and bring in a more established manager like a Willie Randolph or a Phil Garner. This just is flat out not working.

Around the Diamond- Part 3- Second Base

Well Ryan Doumit had another big hit last night after I suggested they start batting him seventh.  No pressure on him now.  It's on to Part Three of my position by position analysis.  Both catcher and first base need upgrades.  Though if Doumit keeps hitting and Garrett Jones becomes the everyday first baseman, then those positions have immediately upgraded.

It's on to second base, which just happens to be the worst position, both offensively and defensively on the diamond.  So far, we've seen Aki Iwamura, Bobby Crosby and Delwyn Young see time there.

Let's start with Aki.  The nicest way to say it is that this guy sucks.  What is it about that Pirates uniform that just brings out the worst in good ball players?  I don't feel like looking up the exact numbers at the moment, but you know how bad he's been.  What is he like 4 for his last 60 after his gift triple last night?

On the season, Aki is hitting a whopping .166/2hr/8rbi.  YET, JR keeps throwing him out there and YET JR keeps batting him lead off.  I can't explain this at all.

What's more disturbing, is what happened to his range defensively?  If you watched him in Tampa, this guy was a talented ball player and a pretty good second baseman.  Now, he can't catch the ball if it's not hit right at him.  He also may be the worst in the league at turning the double play.  There is no way, the Pirates did the proper homework on his knee injury last season.  There has to be some effects from that.

Looking at the other two offensively, Crosby is hitting .236/1/6 in limited time, but he has shown he can't play second base as well.  Young is hitting .246/1/9.  We know from last season that he isn't really a second baseman, but what's funny is that he is better defensively than the other two.

What to do?  First, get Aki out of the lineup.  However, they won't do that, because then they would be admitting to a mistake.  I'd say deal him, but he has little trade value now.  Either put him on the bench or outright release him and eat the money.

Who should play second then?  Right now, I'd say give the job to Young.  He's no worse defensively than the others and at least he offers something offensively.  They can mix in spot starts with Crosby and Aki, but give DY the majority of the time.

Option two is to give Neil Walker a long look here.  I'd be more in favor of this, but Neil Huntington made it clear that Walker will only be a corner utility guy.  Really? then what was the point of having him play a lot of middle infield this year at AAA?  Why is he up here then if he is going to be mostly a bench player?  The reasoning just doesn't make much sense.

Option three is probably the most popular and that means calling Pedro Alvarez up and moving Andy Laroche to second.  I would be in favor of that, but the only problem is that we don't know if Andy can play second.  I think he could but that doesn't always translate.  Also, Laroche has done nothing to lose his job right now at third base.

I'd like to see Young or Walker get a ton of at bats here in the short term.  Either way, they have to get Aki out of the lineup.  Though you know as well as I do that JR will run him out there every day and bat him lead off.

There is no immediate help in the minors, but keep your eye on Josh Harrison, who was acquired in the Grabow/Gorzo deal, and Jim Negrych, the former Pitt star.  Both are currently at Altoona and performing well.  Harrison is hitting over .300 and has a very good glove.  Negrych is back on the map as a prospect.  The power hasn't returned but is also having a pretty solid season, driving in 22 runs while hitting .275 so far. Other than that, they really don't have another second base prospect in the system.

Bucs win a series in Miller Park

Wow.  First time in four seasons a series win in Milwaukee. Back to back exciting games.  I will write a bigger post tomorrow but my thoughts on today are:

-Maholm- struggled in the first but overall rebounded to give them a solid outing.  If our starters can keep getting into the seventh the way Karstens and Maholm did, then this team has a chance to compete most nights.  A big IF though.

-Good to see Andy show a little pop.  He's swinging a real hot bat and should stay in the 2 hole all year.

-Cutch had a great game- 4 hits and 2 HR.  We will see more of this the rest of the year.

-Good work by the bullpen the last 2 nights, even though Lopez (yesterday) gave up the Fielder bomb and Dotel blew the save today.  Those things will happen.

-How does Aki not knock down the McGhee grounder in the 10th.  He was positioned perfectly.

- Another lousy strike zone by a home plate umpire against the Bucs.  it's getting to be a trend.  If Dotel gets the strike 3 call on Mcghee then the game is over.  Laroche got punched out on a much worse pitch.  It's been happening all season.  Pitchers haven't been getting calls and Pirates hitters are getting the same pitches called.

- Russell not bunting Crosby in the 14th?  Don't agree with that but they won the game.

-Not to defend Doumit, but right when his bat is coming around, JR gives him a day off?  I don't want to hear about a day game after a night game, because he always catches Doumit in those situations.

To hear our post game recap.  Today featuring Randy Gore, click HERE

Around the Diamond- Shortstop

Here could be one of the true battles in camp for playing time. Ronny Cedeno is pencilled in as the starter, but don't be surprised to see free agent signee Bobby Crosby to steal some playing time.  Cedeno is the much better defensive shortstop, but Crosby has been a hot topic of camp so far.

His bat has been very good.  That's more likely a sign that he will be a candidate for Mr. March instead of a good season though. After winning the 2004 American League Rookie of the Year, the 30-year old Crosby hasn't come close to a productive season since.  He has only hit above .240 once since then and after his 22 homer rookie season, he has yet to return to double digits.  Much of that has been due to injury, but maybe he's healthy and can be productive for the Bucs.

Crosby is the type of low risk- high reward signing that Neil Huntington has made during his first three years on the job.  There's nothing wrong with that approach.  If he pans out then great, if not then no big loss to the organization.

I'd still like to see what Cedeno can do playing everyday, but having Crosby around could turn into a good thing.  Argenis Diaz has been sent to AAA, but there is a small chance he could get a look this season.  His glove is very smooth, but his bat is severly lacking (sounds like a shortstop that was around for the last decade).

Position Grade Compared to the rest of the League- D-  -Very unproven and looks to be light hitting.  One of these guys needs to step up and put a stranglehold on the job and hopefully have a good season.  Not much offensive help in the minors either, but what I want most from whoever gets the job is to simply catch the ball.

If you are keeping track.  Here are the grades so far. Not too promising on paper.
Catcher- C
First base- D-
Second Base- C+
Third Base- C+
Shortstop- D-

Around the Diamond- Third Base

Let's switch our attention to the hot corner.  The Pirates had too be somewhat happy with the progression Andy Laroche made throughout the 2009 season.  The younger Laroche became one of the best defensive third baseman in the league, after struggling initially out of the gate.

At the plate, his bat shows some pop and he showed that he can handle the bat at times at the big league level.  The first thing the Bucs need from him this season is consistency.  He entertained some prolonged slumps last season, something a young hitter will experience.  He needs to take the next step and put it all together.

He only wound up hitting .258 last season, but eliminate the slumps this season and we could see that number jump to around the .285 mark.  As I said looking at the first basemen, the corner spots must produce runs.  The power wasn't there for Andy last season, hitting only 12 dingers, but several of his team high 29 doubles hit the top of the wall, so they could easilly turn into homers this season.  That's just wishful thinking on my part, but one would have to think Laroche has to turn in a .285/20/80 type season to remain the everyday man.

Yes Pedro Alvarez is looming and looks great this spring.  He has no chance to come up before June 1, so it's imperitive for Laroche to get off to a sizzling start or the decision on Alvarez may become an easy one for Pirates management.

The job is Laroche's.  Like all the other infield positions, Bobby Crosby could see a few starts.  Ramon Vazquez (while he's still here) is also in the mix for a few spot starts throught the season.  Neil Walker could also steal some playing time.

Position Grade Compared to the rest of the league-  C+ - Laroche is serviceable and pretty much like every other position on the diamond, if he has a breakout season then it becomes a strength of the club.  My guess is that he has an average type season and we see Pedro Alvarez sometime in late June- early July.  If for anything, that the Pirates will desperately need his power bat.  this would regulate Laroche to a utility man for the time being.

Around the Diamond- Second Base

Looking at the second base job, which was a mess after the Freddy Sanchez trade (which will turn out to be a great trade), the Bucs sured up the position by acquiring Akinori Iwamura from the Tampa Rays, shortly after the World Series last season.

This improves the position significantly.  While not an all-star, Iwamura is a solid glove man and he can handle the bat.  As long as he is healthy, Iwamura should do well batting in the 2-hole behind Andrew McCutchen.

Iwamura is a career .281 hitter, with little power.  Coming off knee surgery, I also don't look for him to do much in the running game.  What he can do though is have professional at bats.  He will be good at hitting behind the runner and moving guys up.  He should be a surprise to most Pirates fans that aren't used to seeing good fundamental baseball being played.

Aki will get most of the time this season and could be spelled by the likes of Bobby Crosby and Delwyn Young.  Ramon Vazquez, coming off a lousy 2009 is still in camp, but is a good bet to be dealt before the season begins.  Neil Walker is still in camp as well and has started taking ground balls at second.

One thing to keep an eye on is Pedro Alvarez.  When he gets the call this season, will Andy Laroche start to play some second base?  Easier said than done.  Look for Aki to stay there for the long haul this season.  he also could always be moved at the deadline if the team feels Laroche can play a solid second base

Position Grade compared to the rest of the league-  C+ -  A little above average.  Headed in the right direction, but no help from down on the farm.  Overall, a very thin position in the organization

Around the Diamond- First Base

Let's move from behind the dish to first base and look at what the Bucco's will offer this season.  The job is unproven Jeff Clement's to lose.  I have always been a fan of the power potential of the former #3 overall pick Clement.  Now that he could be given a full-time opportunity, along with a short porch in right field, it could mean big things for Clement.

In 75 career games, Clemet has homered only seven times, but I expect a solid 25 dingers out of him if he holds onto the job. The Pirates desperatley need some power in the middle of the lineup.

 Defensively, he looks good so far; so hopefully that won't be a problem.  If Clement fails to win the job, Garrett Jones will shift from right field to first base, opening up a compettion for the starting job in right.

Throught the season, Bobby Crosby could also see some playing time at the position.  Steve Pearce also has an outside shot of making the team.  Management likes his versatility- he can also play right field (although not very well).  Pearce still has an option left so let's hope he is destined for Indianapolis.  He doesn't do anything for me.  He had a long look and didn't impress.

Position Grade Compared to the rest of the league-  D-  - Well below average.  You have to have run production from the corner infield spots and right now the Pirates just don't have it.  As much as I like Clement getting the shot, he also has yet to prove he can be a legitimate run producer.  If he does, the position could suddenly become a strength.