That is a foul trade for the Reds . . . they couldn't get a hard throwing reliever for Casey? Instead they get a guy who might give up 40 HR next year at Great American?

The trade's bad for the Pirates too. Littlefield succeeded in his goal of wasting the 35-HR potential of 1B Brad Eldred. What a jackass.

Why would the Pirates get a 31-year-old $8.5 million free agent to be who plays 1B and has the power of a 4th OF?

Williams is a 26-year-old left-handed starting pitcher.

Could he have gotten something more?

great point, i know obviously bill james' 38 hr projection for eldred may be a bitm uch, he still has tremendous power that will no longer be starting becuase of this trade. and williams in cincy could get ugly

I like this deal for the pirates, since it helps Bay out in the lineup. Littlefield did a good job dumping Dave Williams after a year where his poor peripherals didn't hurt him too much.

I can't say Casey won't help the lineup but blocking Eldred isn't doing the team any long term good.

Given his tendency toward contact and his slowness, you don't want to bat Casey in the 2-hole. The Red Sox found out what it's like having a GIDP machine in that spot.

WRT the talk of Eldred's ~35 HR potential, I haven't seen any evidence yet that he will be able to be an everyday player in the majors. Sure he can hit 35 HRs maybe even 50, but HRs are not the only thing to consider. The cost of those HRs is that he'd likely end up with about 100 hits total and 200 strike outs.

I'd really like to think that Eldred can put up Adam Dunn numbers, but so far it looks like he's going to end up somewhere between Dave Kingman and Mark Parent.

I think letting him spend a half season at AAA will only be good for him at this point.

That said, is Casey really the answer? He does bring a lot of good things with him, and offensively he's certainly better than Jason Kendall ever was. His lack of power is a concern, but the Pirates do have 2 30 HR players right now in Jason Bay and Craig Wilson (his 2005 season has to be written off due to his injuries). The rumor is that the Pirates are going after Brian Mueller or Lyle Overbay for 3rd base. Overbay is clearly the better choice of the 2, if they can get him. He's about 5 years younger and hit 20 HRs last year vs Mueller's 10.

So, I think the value of the deal will best be judged by the other moves the Pirates make. If they can get Overbay then it might be worth it.

I don't think Eldred is ready for full-time duty yet, but he did put up 47 HR / 130 RBI / .903 OPS in 155 games last year.

Casey is a FA after 2006, so I fully expect him to be spun around at the deadline, maybe to the Red Sox or Toronto. Then Eldred will take over for good I bet.

I don't think Overbay has ever played 3rd Base and I think you meant Bill Mueller.

Casey's a one year stopgap - Eldred's not quite ready and they're not going to compete this season anyway.

John you are right on all counts. I wasn't paying close enough attention wrt the Overbay and Mueller comments.

I think Casey will be a one year stopgap provided Eldred develops a better eye for the strike zone. I don't think he'll be able to maintain his HR #s if he doesn't. If Eldred turns out to be a bust, then perhaps the Pirates will attempt to sign Casey to a multi-year deal.

Casey is from the Pittsburgh area and as everyone knows an all-around swell guy, so he can generate some much-needed goodwill for the club. And while Casey will never be a prototypical slugging 1B, he puts up solid power #s if he is healthy (44 doubles, 24 HRs in '04). That of course is a big if.

He has very good #s at PNC: .378/.459/.581 the last 3 years. Anything close to that is obviously a big upgrade for the Bucs.