Official 2012-13 Pirates Off-Season Thread

[ulf]

Michael Sanserino ‏@msanserino
Source: Return for Pirates will be more than two players.
Retweeted by Brian McElhinny

[ulf]

So another corner outfielder who bats around .250 with no power, and a AA pitcher with an ERA around 6...great deal NH

not sure where you're getting 250 or no power from.

I saw 4 homers and a .244 average in two ML seasons, although I just now looked at his minor league stats and they're much better...still not sure it was worth trading Hanrahan for though.

I'd rather judge him on his minor league stats over his first 67 major league games.

[Rocco]

Disgraced GM/Boston native Jim Bowden thinks it's a good trade for Boston, which makes me happy.

[ulf]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS
#pirates will get 4 players in trade that is being finalized. They include sands and pimental. #hanrahan

[Idoit40fans]

Yeah that dude's opinions on players have been forever invalidated.

[ulf]

bucs sending 2 (wonder who?) and getting 4. so two more on top of Pimental and Sands. baseball america had Pimental as their #23 prospect and MiLB had him as their #15 prospect. He must not be as terrible as his era shows.

[Kraftster]

Without looking at anything, I'm surprised by the negative reactions to Sands. In my head he was still seen as a very legitimate prospect.

[Rylan]

His ERA seemed inflated. But his K's-BB's ratio was pretty good (2 to 1) and his hits per 9 was around 9. Doesn't really give up homeruns either. I am curious as to how long it will take him to make the majors though.

[Rylan]

And the only negative I have seen regarding Sands was that he had a long loopy swing. Aside from that I have only heard/seen praise about him.

[ulf]

so which OF is next to go?

[Rylan]

I am expecting Tabata to be the traded one.

[ulf]

still leaves Marte, Cutch, Sands, Jones, Snider, Presley. I think one of Snider/Jones will go

[Rylan]

Jones is good at first. Snider I think stays as the 4th, with Presley being either minors or gone with Tabata.

[Mr. Colby]

I was guessing Presley was going to be in the trade... he's not bad as a bench outfielder and we already have too many

[Mr. Colby]

Next move is to trade Jones - you watch (not necessarily a bad thing)

My guess is they'll try to deal Jones, try to turn Sands into the starting 1st baseman, then teach Gaby to play 3rd so he could be a solid backup corner infielder off the bench and start at 3rd against tough lefties

[Mr. Colby]

It'd be a mistake to dump Tabata, he's still young (so they say) and had about a calendar year's worth of time where he was among the MLB leaders in hits, before injuries and fatness derailed him... if he is getting in shape right now like he's supposed to, he could be good again.

[ulf]

wait so trade jones and move sands? Banking on Snider? I'm fine with an OF of Marte/Cutch and a Sands/Snider platoon with a Jones/Gaby split at first.

[Mr. Colby]

wait so trade jones and move sands? Banking on Snider? I'm fine with an OF of Marte/Cutch and a Sands/Snider platoon with a Jones/Gaby split at first.

I'm saying they could be looking at Sands as their Jones replacement... and use him either at 1st or in RF, depending on whether Snider or Sanchez plays.

But I'd rather they do what you're suggesting.

Tabata and Marte battle it out for PT in left, Sands and Snider in right, Jones and Sanchez at 1st. That gives you like 3 decent bench options as well.

[ulf]

wait so trade jones and move sands? Banking on Snider? I'm fine with an OF of Marte/Cutch and a Sands/Snider platoon with a Jones/Gaby split at first.

Tabata and Marte battle it out for PT in left

I'm sorry but this made me laugh. I really wanted Tabata and Presley to succeed, but I think their time is up.

[cheesesteakwithegg]

Does anyone think this was a good deal for the Pirates?

[ulf]

tough to say when we only know 3 of the 6 players involved

[Bioshock]

Okay, what the hell is going on? Why don't we know who is involved in the trade? It's been hours now. I see people on twitter saying the bucs gave up hanrahan for 4 nobody's but yet we don't even know the details of the trade? Am i missing something here?

[Rylan]

Only thing you are missing is the quick overreaction.

[Bioshock]

Only thing you are missing is the quick overreaction.

Maybe people have just stopped paying attention to the Pirates? I don't know, i can't make an assessment of this deal when 50% of it hasn't been reported. I see all this negativity and i just confuses me so far.

[beerman]

Lots of people butthurt on twitter without even knowing half the trade yet. Although my guess is nobody important is in the second half of the deal or there'd be some word by now..

I think people really overvalue Hanrahan, he's not bad by any stretch but he's not an elite reliever either so without the years of control they just weren't going to get much. I dont think they needed to move him just for the hell of it and i dont think they are. I don't see this as a salary dump either like some are crying. Sure he was owed a lot but you could probably make a good argument that he isn't worth the $7M he'll get in arbitration and saving that money and allocating it elsewhere while getting players is the best move. The same people that are bashing them saying their cheap are the same that would've been pissed if they lost him for nothing next offseason.