who was the guy who got all upset when the pirates were trading regulars earlier this year? was it wilson?

Adam LaRoche was kind of the ringleader, but he, Wilson and Sanchez have all been ######## about the Pirates off and on this year.

Ronny Cedeno may have left the Prospect Zone a couple years ago, but shouldn't he be able to replace most of what Wilson does, even aside from the prospects?

(Hmmm. .167 / .213 / .290 this year for Cedeno. That's not very good.)

I wish Snell could have made a comeback with the Pirates. This seems like a good deal, though. They already have a pretty good catcher/first baseman, plus most of their prospects seem to be first basemen, but they need to accumulate talent before worrying about that sort of thing.

I'm not convinced Cedeno is a better player than Argenis Diaz right now; Diaz could probably put up a .500 OPS in the majors, too, and with better glovework.

There's no harm in seeing whether moving (back) to the NL brings Cedeno's bat around to a playable level, though, especially not for the Pirates. Ideally Cedeno will hit enough to man the position in 2010 and then Diaz will develop into a non-embarrassment at the plate and be able to take over in 2011.

Kind of cool that the Pirates got Clement, right?

Kind of cool that the Pirates got Clement, right?
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not really, they have Doumit who is one of the better catchers in baseball, and the Pirates have a habit of keeping good bat ok gloves out of the lineup if they have a glove catcher. Catching is the only position the Pirates have that they possess a true all star level player(I don't know about his health this season)

Wouldn't Clement hit enough for 1B? His bat seems pretty good, certainly no worse than LaRoche.

Clement's bat is very likely better than Adam LaRoche's.

I've never heard of Pribanic, Lorin or Adcock. Does anyone have an opinion? On them?

M's are wheeling and dealing -- they just sent Wladimir Balentin to the Reds (for RHP Robert Manuel)!

Pribanic is a waste of time.

Lorin is a good live arm, striking out almost 9 per 9 in high-A at age 22. He'll be a real prospect if he can maintain a good K rate at AA next year.

Adcock's been getting rocked this year with bad ratios, but High Desert is Coors Field on crack and his ratios were excellent last year, so there's upside. Lorin's the best arm of the three.

Didn't the Pirates' GM recently state that Wilson would be a part of the Pirates' future going forward? And that they were trying to work out an extension with him?

Funny -- but not unexpected -- turn of events :-)

With Doumit already on board, what does the Doumit acquisition mean for Steven Pearce? It seems like Pearce could produce an 800-820 OPS in the majors right now, and that's pretty good for the league minimum.

Wouldn't Clement hit enough for 1B? His bat seems pretty good, certainly no worse than LaRoche.


Clement's not a catcher. He's been playing 1B in AAA.

Clement's not a catcher. He's been playing 1B in AAA.

How much of that is his defense not being adequate, and how much of it is the Johjima extension?

Was more B, is more A.

Clement also had some injury issues (surgery on his knee?) that was supposedly limiting his catching duties earlier this year - I'm not sure if he's totally moved off catcher, but he's never been great defensively, from what I recall.

"With Doumit already on board, what does the Doumit acquisition mean for Steven Pearce?"

It means that he's got until the end of the season to show that he belongs as a starter.

My theory is that Coonelly has inside information that the DH rule is coming to the NL next year.

My understanding is the organization had given up on Clement's knees after the surgery, and thus his chances of sticking behind the dish; I'm not sure if they liked him defensively, but you do have to wonder. He got a chance to start the season with the big club in spring training and muffed it, as the team went with fourth-rounder Rob Johnson as the backup. Then they decided to move Clement to first in the minors. His bat could play there as a second-tier option, I guess, but it's not clear. However it plays out, that part of the deal is an odd trade for the Buccos. Otherwise I like this; it gives Pittsburgh three pitchers, at least one of whom immediately appears to have a shot at being useful at the major league level, unloads salary on a player they didn't need for 2009 (Wilson), and at least gives them depth at potentially two positions (1B/C).

If seattle's park/defense can help Washburn this much, you have to think Snell will fare much better.

"If seattle's park/defense can help Washburn this much, you have to think Snell will fare much better."

Maybe, maybe not. Snell's big issue is walks, and that's the part of a generic pitcher's game that Safeco and the M's D would be least likely to help, wouldn't it?

Pittsburgh Pirates opening day lineup: 2008

Nate McClouth- CF
Freddy Sanchez- 2B
Jason Bay- LF
Adam Laroche- 1B
Xavier Nady- RF
Ryan Doumit- C
Jose Bautista- 3B
Jack Wilson- SS
Ian Snell- P

If the Bucs deal Sanchez, then they will have dealt EVERY SINGLE STARTER from 16 months ago except for Doumit.

The questions are: is the team any better now than it was on March 31, 2008? And if not, when will they be with all of the players they've gotten back?

The questions are: is the team any better now than it was on March 31, 2008? And if not, when will they be with all of the players they've gotten back?

What's the point of shelling out big bucks for a losing season when you can have one (pretty much) for free?

I've never heard of Pribanic, Lorin or Adcock. Does anyone have an opinion? On them?

I don't know about Pribanic or Lorin. But the A-D-C-O-C-K: in last place with the Bucs, he's goin' all the way.

According to the AP, the Pirates just got Tim Alderson from the Giants for Freddie Sanchez. Not a bad haul.