With two trades already under his belt, it's clear that Pirates' GM Neal Huntington is intent on setting the trade market this year rather than waiting for it to be set by someone else. With Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan already shipped elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dejan Kovacevic reported Thursday that the Pirates' are now "pushing" for a trade of their only 2009 All-Star, second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez is in the midst of a nice bounceback season after a shoulder injury ruined most of last year for him. He's currently hiting .315/.355/.477 with 25 doubles and six homers, looking much more like the National League's 2006 batting champ than the player that hit .271/.298/.371 last year. The biggest obstacle to a deal right now is probably the $8 million vesting option for 2010 that would make him a pricey acquisition if he gets to 600 plate appearances this year, something he's likely to do with 329 plate appearances in 74 games this year.
On the heels of two trades and a report by FanHouse's Ed Price last week that the Pirates are also open to trading relievers John Grabow and Matt Capps, it should be incredibly clear that Huntington and the Pirates' front office has their eyes firmly set on the future.
The Morgan and McLouth trades were very unpopular with Pirate fans, but a trade of Sanchez who's arguably the Pirates' most popular player right now, might actually cause protests at PNC Park. It's unfortunate for the new management; they really seem to be trying a different approach than previous front offices in Pittsburgh, but all of the ill will directed at the old management teams has just been transferred to them. That's even though they were left with a smoking crater of a team that will take years to fix.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-09-2009 @ 5:24PM
gronk said...
It's business as usual in Pittsburgh. Anyone who can command more than minimum wage gets a ticket out of town. Down bother the front office about wins. Just keep delivering those profit-sharing checks.
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7-09-2009 @ 5:53PM
nickcherryl said...
Send him to the Red Sox Nation, they could use a good team player, the Blue Jays can send that 10 and 3 picture our way too.
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7-10-2009 @ 11:13PM
Xzavier said...
What a load of crap. The minute a player becomes the least bit respectable, they're put on the trading block and sent away for a few AA players who won't do anything to help now. I keep reading all this stuff about all those players in the minors. I must ask who cares? Those guys won't be playing for years. They need to win now. We can't wait around until 2013 or whatever. I thought Bob Nutting said when he fired Littlefield that he wasn't satisfied with the play on the field. My question is why Huntington still has a job, the play isn't any better and they're further away from a winning season than they were when he was hired. This whole organization is an embarrassment. Their draft pick was a stupid signability pick, the kind they said they wouldn't do when they came in. I doubt they'll ever have a winning season ever again at the rate they're going.
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7-16-2009 @ 9:48PM
uxercise said...
send fredy sanchez to giants, san francisco they have one legged outfield thats blind pirates like player who cant help them maybe they can throw in armondo rios pirates takem
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