The Pirates have had a busy day, just not as impact full as some wanted but it has been busy. The Pirates were able to get Wandy Rodriguez as we all know. Now they add Former All -Star 1st baseman from the Miami Marlins Gaby Sanchez for Gorkys Hernandez. They picked up Travis Snider from Toronto for Brad Lincoln. This was the deal that has most people frustrated. Then the Pirates traded Casey McGehee to the Yankees for pitcher Chad Qualls.
The McGehee deal is harmless, he was fine as a defensive first baseman, but has done nothing with the bat in weeks. Gaby Sanchez was a nice pickup, though he has struggled this season. The Previous few seasons have been good, and they have him for multiple seasons. This gives the Bucs depth on the bench and at first to help out Jones. Wandy was a great deal but that was before today so lets move on.
The Big one. Travis Snider is the Pedro Alvarez of Toronto. A guy with huge upside, he’s only 24, and lastly..they Pirates have him for 4 or 5 more seasons. It’s a guy the Pirates have been pursuing all season long from all reports I have seen and heard. The frustration with Pirate fans is the fact that this guy has Potential, but he’s not a crazy good bat right now. The problem I have is the fact that some people have stated and reported that the Pirates missed out on Shane Victorino because they would not give up Lincoln. As if it was a straight up deal Lincoln for Victorino. As you will hear later and for days to come, that was not the case.
And Another thought that I was reading on Twitter this afternoon. The fact that some think this will be a one done opportunity for the Bucs. Like this will be one of the only seasons they can compete. This is not the only season this team will compete. No one in the Central got that much better during the dead line, and in most cases, they all got worse. The Cubs are not going to compete for a championship next season or for a little while. And the Cardinals have some older players that are considered key’s to their team. The Brewers gave away their best pitcher and the Reds picked up a rental, so essentially next season, they will be the same. So this window that the Pirates have is not shrinking. They have an opportunity going forward to compete more often and that still includes this season. Did they get Hunter Pence, Victorino, or Chase Headley? No But that has more to do with the asking prices. I read a quote from the Dodgers ownership group today. It read something along the lines of, the hell with money, make the team better. That would be nice, but not even close to realistic for the Pirates.
This team will continue to compete and at a high level. Will they win a World Series, probably not. Will they compete for a playoff spot? Absolutely. This team made a 15 game upgrade from 2 years ago to last season. This season, they are 15 games over .500. If the season stopped now, a 30 game improvement from last year. It would be great to go out and spend like crazy, but at what cost. The Pirates would have to not only give up future top of rotation players, because, lets face it, that is all they have to trade along with take on huge amounts of salary. So…let’s just all back away from the edge of the Clemente Bridge, take a deep breath, and enjoy the rest of the season. In the Immortal words of Kevin Bacon, “Remain calm…All is well”
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