Monday, July 30, 2012

Trade Talk...

  • John Perrotto of Inside Pittsburgh Sports added two names to the trade fires. He writes that the FO has inquired about Carlos Lee of the 'Stros/Fish along with KC's Jose Majares, a LOOGY, as a second southpaw option to pair with Tony Watson.
  • Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted that the Bucs "did not seem alive on Victorino as of late last night."
  • James Krug in The Morning Bark wrote "The Pirates still desperately need a bat, and preferably one that can reach base at a high rate. Two names that excite me the most heading into Tuesday are Cleveland Indians’ OF Shin-Soo Choo and San Francisco Giants’ 1B Brandon Belt." 
  • Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review says "I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pirates pick up a bench guy and reliever. The magic dust is wearing off for Cruz and another lefty in pen would be nice."
  • Grant Bisbee of Baseball Nation pushes for a Joel Hanrahan deal, writing that "An openness to trading Hanrahan opens all sorts of doors for the Pirates, and it doesn't affect what the Pirates are hoping to build a couple of years down the line." There haven't been any closer deals yet, but they traditionally occur in the last 48 hours before the deadline when the bidding is at its heaviest for what are over-valued assets to begin with.
  • Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus on Starling Marte: "He has above-average speed and defense, but Andrew McCutchen blocks Marte in center, and his bat isn't nearly as special in a corner spot. It’s possible Marte is being showcased for a trade..." However, it appears that Marte, along with Brad Lincoln, Jameson Taillon and their top handful of elites are virtually untouchable and would require some serious return for the Bucs to even consider flipping.
  • Kevin Correia's big problem: the Pirates don't want to jerk around Brad Lincoln or burn a Jeff Locke option in August, yet need a spot starter for a game or two as they're on a 33-games-in-34-days stretch on the schedule. So KC quite likely has more value now to the Bucs as a sixth starter than he would if dealt to another team as a back-ender. He lost a little more leverage by taking his understandable trade wish public instead of talking to Neal Huntington behind closed doors. Richard Langsford of Bleacher Report thinks that Toronto, Atlanta, or Boston could be potential destination spots for him.

No comments: