Pirates' Manager John Russell Benches Ryan Doumit Mid-Game

When the Pirates cleaned house before the trade deadline last month, they left their roster mostly with young players trying to get established (Andrew McCutchen, Lastings Milledge) and career fringe guys trying to prove they belong in the big leagues (Delwyn Young, Garrett Jones). The one exception to this is Ryan Doumit; currently the longest tenured Pirate with 384 games in black and gold since 2005.

Doumit, however, is apparently not pleased with this arrangement. During last night's 8-6 loss in Miwaukee, Doumit did something mid-game that caused manager John Russell to pull his starting catcher from the lineup in the fourth inning. No one's talking, but Russell made it clear that it wasn't injury-related and that he was very disappointed in Doumit. At this point, though, it seems likely that whatever happened is stemming from Doumit's displeasure with the trades made by the Pirates earlier this summer.

It's strange that this is happening now; as I noted yesterday, the Pirates are playing much, much better in the past week and a half. They've still got a long ways to go, but at the very least it seems like the Pirates are moving in the right direction for the first time in a while. It's easy to understand why Doumit would be upset to see the players he moved through the minors with traded away, but the team isn't actually all that much worse for the wear right now.

If Doumit is making a power play for a trade, he's certainly doing it at the worst time for the Pirates. He suffered a broken wrist earlier in the season and is currently only hitting .219/.255/.406 just a year after a breakout season in which he hit .318/.357/.501 with 15 homers. He's very injury prone (he's never had more than 465 plate appearances in a season) and his latest injury has left questions about his power, so it's hard to imagine that he'd draw much interest in a potential trade.

Should they decide to move Doumit, the Pirates certainly have depth at the catcher position with Jason Jaramillo and Robinzon Diaz able to fill the position immediately and 2009's first round pick Tony Sanchez performing well in the low minors and expected to move quickly through the system. Still, it's unlikely the Pirates are looking to move him with his value as low as it is. I suppose we'll see in the next two months whether or not Doumit intends to force their hand.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-29-2009 @ 9:55PM

geezerearl said...

Probably angling 4 a trade 2 the Nationals.

8-30-2009 @ 12:00AM

fouritiswritten said...

ship him to the minors and let him sit

8-30-2009 @ 1:41AM

mintrubble71 said...

Can't really hold it against him even though it wasn't very professional. Being on the Pirates must be incredibly frustrating. Watching all the talent around you get traded away year after year.

8-30-2009 @ 2:47AM

David said...

Doumit should realy feel grateful he is in the majors at all. Everything about his skill, makeup and stamina are questionable. Isn't it incredable that someone making even MLB minimal wages can complain about anything. Teammates come and go. Oh well. Got a phone? Call them. Grow a pair Ryan. Suck it up and thank the Lord for the ability you do have. And most of all thank someone for sticking with you and be grateful for a MLB job. Man I wish I could make those dollars playing a GAME and traveling.

8-30-2009 @ 9:38AM

Hey their Boski said...

When you read of all the slumps many of the "steroid" players are going through, Manny, Ortiz, Rodriguez, one area that will be interesting to watch is as the long season winds down, if they have anything left in the tank. The longer the season, the heavier the bat, the weaker the arm and so forth.

Macsbaby7@aol said...

Gee Ryan ... maybe you weren't good enough to be traded! With another team you would probably be on the bench. At least you've been playing in the burgh. You sound like Doug and Wendy Whiner.

8-30-2009 @ 1:25PM

chilco said...

Demote him to waterboy and batboy and make him read a book or two about real pirates of yore such as Roberto Clemente, Manny Sanguillen,& Bill Mazeroski.

8-30-2009 @ 4:23PM

David S. said...

Guys like Doumit get paid millions to do their job -- when they don't, they have to pay the consequences. Tough to work up much sympathy for this slacker -- he won't be in the umemployment line anytime soon.