January 12, 2007
Pirates at First
Dave Littlefield is still looking for a first baseman:
From accounts on both sides, the Pirates and Atlanta never have gotten as close to a deal as they did Dec. 6, when Braves general manager John Schuerholz backed away from a proposal to swap LaRoche for closer Mike Gonzalez.
Since then, the sides have exchanged other proposals, with Atlanta's wish being Gonzalez plus another player, possibly center fielder Chris Duffy. The Pirates' position on that, as one team official put it, was that "we'd be creating two holes to fill one." The Braves also might entertain taking a starter for LaRoche, but the Pirates are highly reluctant to part with any of their top four: Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm and Tom Gorzelanny.
As someone inside the industry but outside either organization put it, "Doesn't look like there's a match."
And that seems to be the problem with all Pittsburgh's possible trading partners. There's not good match of talent. I'm sorry, this problem shouldn't be that difficult to solve. Littlefield is spending much too much time on an easy to fix position (first base) when the rest of his club isn't very good. It's like spending days trying to fix a leaky faucet when there's a hole in the roof. Why not give someone like Adam Boeve a shot? Or instead of going after a 27 year old major leaguer with an iffy career, scour the minors for someone stuck behind an established veteran (think Ryan Howard two years ago). Putting the organization on hold because you need to land a first basemen is a very poor strategy for running a team.
Update: Ross Hooten writes:
Indianapolis Indians fans would also remind Mr. Littlefield that one of our own is still available to play regularly in PNC Park: Brad Eldred
Unfortunately for the Indians, Eldred was lost for the 2006 season in April with a wrist injury. The Pirates might recall that Eldred hit 12 homers in 55 major league games in 2005.
http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=434660
I'm a Reds fan so I guess the Pirates are thinking with Eldred that they'd rather not have an Adam Dunn style player in the middle of their lineup.
Here's a link with Eldred's complete minor league stats. There's lots of things you can do to fill a first base hole. Sometimes even in your own system.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:32 AM
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What?! Littlefield using a poor strategy for running the Pirates? Crazy!
In other news, the sun rose in the east this morning...
I can not believe that Littlefield has seemingly not made any inquiries regarding Arizona's Chris Carter. It seems like a match made in heaven. The D-backs already asked about Mike Gonzalez (with Chad Tracy as the return), so there is an interest there. Carter is young, left-handed, has had success at AAA, has excellent plate discipline (not that the Pirates care much about that), and is currently blocked by Conor Jackson.
What are you waiting for, Dave?!
Maybe Sid Bream is still available ? i heard he's been spending his seasons taking notes from Fred McGriff and the Tom Emansky instructional videos.
Maybe they should see what Detroit wants for Chris Shelton.
Personally, I think Brad Eldred's ship has sailed. I never thought much of him to begin with, but last year should have been his shot. Instead, the Pirates went with the PR move and traded for Casey. Then Eldred got hurt. I doubt Eldred ever sees much MLB time again.
Regarding the Pirates searching for a minor league 1B who's blocked from the majors, I recall reading a story I think by a Pittsburgh reporter who suggested Casey Rogowski from the Sox who's blocked by Konerko and Thome. Never heard anything about it from the Sox side, though.
The other side of the coin is that the Braves are valuing LaRoche too highly. You're right, he's got an iffy track record, last year looks like a classic career year, why not trade him now while his value is highest? They've got Scott Thorman ready to go.
Hey, maybe Craig Wilson would fit the bill...