Craig Hansen - A Sleeper?

Craig Hansen is the big - 6'6", 230 lb - flamethrower that the Bucs got from the Red Sox as part of the Jay Bay deal. Of the four guys Pittsburgh were sent in return, he's probably struggled the most, though that LaRoche kid is givng him a good run for the money.

The 25-year old native of Glen Cove, NY, used to hit the upper 90s with his heater, but with the Pirates, his velocity has dropped to 92 MPH, and he hasn't found a plate big enough to split yet.

It wasn't always that way. After a so-so frosh year at St. John's in the Big East, he became the closer as a sophomore, striking out 59 in 40-1/3 frames and saving ten games. Hansen had his coming out party during his junior season with the Red Storm.

He put together a 3-2 record with 14 saves, punching out 85 hitters in 64 innings with a 1.68 ERA, and was named a first-team All-American by Baseball America. It impressed the nearby Boston suits.

They took him with the 26th pick of the first round of the 2005 draft, and signed him to a four-year deal valued at $4M. The Red Sox also added him to the 40-man roster. Nice vote of confidence, hey?

The Red Sox assigned Hansen to the GCL briefly before sending him to the AA Portland Sea Dogs. He joined Boston for a September cup of coffee, making his debut in the show on September 19 against the Devil Rays. Hansen struck out the first man he faced, pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

He started 2006 at Portland, and after 5 appearances was shipped to AAA Pawtucket. Hansen worked 36 innings there, K'ing 26 and walking - red flag here - 19. But they called him up to Beantown anyway, and he took his lumps.

Hansen got into 38 games, and had a 6.63 ERA as a middle reliever. He struck out 30 in 38 innings and walked 15. The big guy got to start 2007 back in AAA.

He spent the year there, and his control, well, it was out of control. In 51-1/3 innings, he walked 32 and struck out 48. The Red Sox shipped him to Mesa after the season to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, where he threw very little, but did OK. In five innings, he whiffed 8 and issued just one free pass.

Hansen complained of fatigue - and his roomies beefed about his snoring - and after some tests, they found out he had sleep apnea. That was in 2006, but he soldiered through it for awhile. But after the 2007 season, he finally had surgery to correct it.

We'd like to report that the now bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Hansen immediately made a turnaround. But alas, it was more of the same ol', same ol' in 2008. He started out at Pawtucket again, and it looked promising. In 16-2/3 innings, he sent 17 batters back to the dugout empty-handed and walked five.

But the Red Sox couldn't let well enough be, and called him back up. In 32 innings of work, he gave up 23 free passes and K'ed 25. Then it was off to Pittsburgh. He walked 20! in 16 innings and only punched out seven guys.

On August 27th, Hansen was optioned to AAA Indy after he allowed four earned runs without recording an out against the Cubs the night before. Hansen was recalled on September 2nd. He had a whole two innings with the Indians to get his act back together.

So what do the Bucs have, besides a guy with a ton of potential but who's been slowly circling the drain for the past three years? Here's what Sox Prospects said about him last season:

"Hansen's fastball has historically topped out in the high 90s, and he consistently hit the mid-90s. In 2008, he's been sitting more around 92 mph. He also possesses an excellent high-80s slider, which has been somewhat of a mystery -- sometimes its absolutely dominant and other times it just isn't there."

"A fierce competitor who has struggled with adversity early in his professional career. Seems to have the tools to be a successful major league closer, just needs to work on his confidence and composure on the mound. Struggles with getting behind early in counts. When he gets first pitch strikes, he can be dominant. All in all, if Hansen can get his slider going on a regular basis, he is an MLB-caliber reliever."

Well, he best do it now.

Hansen is the textbook example of a guy that the Red Sox - and the Pirates, for that matter - wouldn't keep on the farm long enough to learn his craft. Everybody loves that power arm. And he's out of options, even before he hit his arbitration years.

We're not sure, given his track record, why Pittsburgh didn't start him out at Indy instead of throwing him right into the fire. Maybe the suits were hoping he'd show the fans that they knew what they were doing when they swung the Bay deal; maybe they just were enamored of his rifle. Could be with no options, they figured "what the heck," too.

At any rate, it's time for Craig Hansen to live up to the promise this spring. Joe Kerrigan has his work cut out for him. And we hope he's up to the task. We'd hate to see that 97 MPH heater of old painting the corner while he's in someone else's uniform.

Jay Bay, Bosox Bound

The Bucs wrangled right up to the deadline, putting together all sorts of Jay Bay configurations in an effort to land a top notch pitching prospect from the Marlins or Tampa.

After an exasperating night and day, they finally pulled the trigger, but with Boston and LA, in a 3-way deal.

The Pirates ended up with 3B Andy LaRoche, Adam's bro, OF Brandon Moss, and RHPs Craig Hansen and Bryan Morris. LaRoche, Moss and Hansen will join the Pirates for their game tomorrow in Chicago. Morris will be assigned to Class A Hickory.

> Brandon Moss, 24, an 8th round pick in 2002, is an athletic outfielder with a good arm that hits to all fields. He has slightly above average speed, and is supposed to be a solid fielder that plays the game right. It looks like they plan to plug him into Bay's LF spot.

The lefty Moss is still a work in progress, ala Steve Pearce, in that he switched from first to the OF in late 2007. In the past couple of years with the Red Sox, he's garnered 103 AB's, with a .291 average, 2 HR's, 12 RBI, 10 BB's and 31 K's. You can also count on him going down on strikes every 3 or 4 at bats.

> RHP Craig Hansen, 24, has a fastball that clocks at about 92-93 mph and touches 97. He also has a high-80s slider, which sometimes disappears. But he also struggles by getting behind early in counts. Hansen will fit right in at Pittsburgh that way.

He was used purely out of the pen by Boston, and will go as far as his command takes him. Hansen's arm is live enough to close if he can find the plate often enough.

He spent the last three years with the Sox, and was called into 74 games, covering 71-2/3 innings. Hansen had a 3-5 record and 6.15 ERA over that time. He's 1-3 with 2 saves and a 5.58 ERA in 2008.

> Bryan Morris, 21, is a RHP drafted in the first round by the Dodgers in 2005 out of junior college, and Scout.com has him ranked as LA's #11 prospect. He has a 93 MPH heater that sinks and an above average curve.

Morris underwent Tommy John surgery on Sept. 28, 2006, and just came back this season, pitching for the A Great Lake Loons. He's 2-4 with a 4.00 ERA and 1.29 WHIP as a starter there, and still obviously needs to build up arm strength.

He's projected by most baseball gurus as having middle of the rotation talent.

> Baseball Prospectus has RH Andy LaRoche, 24, listed as the Dodger's #2 prospect and a five star player. He's gotten 152 at bats in LA the past two seasons, hitting .216 with 3 HR's and 16 RBI. LaRoche has got a pretty good eye, K'ing 31 times and walking 30.

In March, LaRoche tore the ulnar collateral ligament of his right thumb, and was on the DL until May, just enough time to allow Blake DeWitt to bump him from the hot corner. To further crowd the position, Casey Blake came over from the Indians.

LaRoche showed some decent power in the minors, but hasn't flashed that muscle in the bigs. LA hasn't really given him much chance to strut his stuff.

It makes us kinda wonder just how far apart Pedro and the Bucs are in signing that contract, and if LaRoche isn't here as an insurance policy, or perhaps leverage to apply some pressure on Scott Boras.

He was drafted as a SS, so it's not a great leap of imagination to see him converted to 2B if the hot corner gets glutted.

All in all, better than the package deals floated in the past 24 hours. Pittsburgh got a couple of mid-level MLB players in Moss and Hansen - Boston got away cheap - and some slightly damaged but upside talent from LA with LaRoche and Morris.

And Pittsburgh kept Jack Splat and John Grabow around to fight for another day. So the Pirates still have their field captain and avoid another hit on the bullpen.

Still, it's disappointing to see the three heavy hitters leave town without an elite arm coming back. The suits did stick to their guns though, and wouldn't come down in price for Tampa or Florida.

Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors.com:

For 1.3 years of Bay, the Pirates receive LaRoche, Morris, Hansen, and Moss. Moss becomes the regular left fielder, LaRoche takes over at third until Pedro Alvarez is ready. When that happens, they might have a good problem on their hands. Future Pirates' outfield: Moss, McCutchen, McLouth. The pitchers are a couple of live arms at this point.

The deal necessitated some housecleaning by the Pirates.

To clear space on the 25-man roster, the Pirates optioned SS Brian Bixler back to Indy and DFA'ed RHP Frankie Osoria. CF Chris Duffy was also DFA'ed to make room on the 40-man roster. We were hoping to get something from, or at least for, him, but injuries and Nate McLouth dimmed his star.