Pirates Steal Justin Morneau

Justin Morneau is a Pirate



The Pittsburgh Pirates just made me very very happy.  Happy days are here again after acquiring Justin Morneau for a slim jim aka Alex Presley.  Words cannot describe how happy I am about this trade.  There were months of speculation about this deal and it finally happened.  I'm just surprised by how little we gave up for him.

Morneau is a former AL MVP and a former AL HR Derby winner.  He is no where near that caliber any longer but he is still good with the bat.  This season he is hitting .259/.315/.426 OPS .741.  He has also clobbered 17 homers and 74 RBIs on the year with no protection.  He also has hit 9 of the homers in the month of August.  So he's hot.  The best part about Morneau is that he hits the righties very well and will actually hold up his end of the platoon, which Garrett Jones has not.  He has protection now too.  All he had was Joe Mauer in Minny.  Now he has Cutch, Pedro, and Byrd hitting in front of him.  He's gonna see better pitches so he's going to hit better you would think.  He also has a shorter porch in right field.  And of course, he's moving to the NL.  Everything points to him having a better time in Pittsburgh.

The best part about this trade is that we gave up basically nothing for him.  Presley was going to be DFA'd next season anyways and we have tons of depth in the outfield.  Giving him up does nothing to our future and will not come back to bite us.

This trade is a trade the Pirates didn't have to make but really bolstered the lineup.  For all you people out there yelling about Nutting being cheap look dumb.  He's going to pay Morneau, an unnecessary upgrade, $2.5 million the rest of the month.  This lineup has now surpassed the Reds in my opinion and is right up there with the Cardinals.  There is no one place where you can say the lineup is weak and there is an easy out.  Teams with those lineups win in the playoffs.  If the pitching holds up, this Morneau trade could be the difference between an early playoff exit and a world series appearance.  Bravo Neal Huntington.

Pirates trade for Marlon Byrd and John Buck

Byrd is having a breakout year

Well, remember when we all wanted the Pirates to make a trade and I wrote my treatise on why it was not dumb to overpay? That was apparently a waste of time as today the Pirates paid a steep price for Marlon Byrd and John Buck.  It was reported earlier today that Byrd was claimed on waivers and it was speculated that it was either the Pirates or Reds that claimed him.  The Reds were stupid enough not to block him from us and we in turn claimed him.  John Buck is just a throw in to give the Mets salary relief but he will serve as a nice backup and bench bat for Russell Martin.  This is a trade that should've happened before July 31 but I'm happy it got done now.

 

 

Byrd is having a career year and hasn't skipped a step (that was my concern in July).  He's dominating baseball with a slash of .285/.330/.518 OPS .848 with 21 bombs.  How you like that for a #5 hitter?  He was a guy that I was really hoping the Pirates would get and now they have a huge upgrade in RF and on the bench.  Buck started off like a monster for the Mets but is now just hitting .215/.285/.367 OPS .652 with 15 HRs.  Most of those homers were in April though so it's misleading.  They are both upgrades for us so it's a good trade.  Buck and Tony Sanchez are probably even but Tony will be back in four days.  Felix Pie will be DFA'd.  Pie and Kelly Shoppach are the only ones hurt by this trade.

 

The one thing that makes me take pause is the price it took to get them.  Dilson Herrera is going to the Mets and he is a strong prospect.  He was only in West Virginia but played in the Futures Game.  He has a lot going for him but he's extremely raw.  He's a big "if" type of player but if everything does click for Dilson, NH is going to be haunted by this trade.

 

Overall I think both sides are happy.  The Mets got a good prospect for Byrd and Buck and the Pirates got a much needed offensive boost in right field.  That was the one hole they needed to fill.  Now with Jones starting to hit again and with Walker and Cutch coming on, this could be the missing link in a division winning Pittsburgh Pirates team with playoff success.  I and most of Pittsburgh are happy.

Will the Dark Knight Rise beyond 2013?

 

Recently, I've seen a lot of talk about AJ Burnett and if he could be back next season and beyond and I thought I'd throw my own thoughts into the mix

 

AJ Burnett is arguably the heart and soul of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He is the seasoned veteran and he takes no shit from anyone.  He's single handedly changed the persona of the Pirates and it is a change I have loved witnessing.  Unfortunately, I think this could be his final season wearing the P on his chest.

 

Now it's not like I want Burnett to leave.  His production is unbelievable.  Combining this season with last year, he has thrown 331 innings going 21-17 with a 3.21 ERA.  The strikeout and walk totals are fantastic too.  His K/9 is 8.7 and his BB/9 is 3.0.  That's the stuff of an ace.  So with all of that production and the unquestioned top dog status that he has, why don't I think he's coming back?  Well I have two reasons for you.

 

First reason I don't think AJ Burnett will be back is because we already have too many pitchers for next year.  Look at the rotation already under contract.  I am assuming that Wandy Rodriguez (remember him?) will accept his player option because no one is going to give him a big deal after his injury and missed time.  Liriano's option will also vest and he'll be back.  So here it is:

 

Francisco Liriano

Wandy Rodriguez

Jeff Locke

Gerrit Cole

Justin Wilson (natural starter)

 

That is the rotation I have penciled in right now and that doesn't include Charlie Morton, Jeanmar Gomez, Kyle McPherson, Jeff Karstens, and James McDonald (remember them??) who could all be tendered offers to compete with Kyle McPherson for that last spot.  Plus looking ahead to 2014, Jameson Taillon will be coming up in June with Nick Kingham not far behind.  Zoinks Scooby!  We have depth again without AJ.  What happens if AJ is placed in the rotation and Wilson stays in the pen?  Who do you take out for Taillon let alone Kingham?  You can always have injuries but you'll have guys like Gomez and Morton ready to go if they lose guys.  So the Pirates' pitching surplus is really working against Burnett.

 

Second thing that I think hurts AJ's chances of coming back next season is money.  Yes the cheap Pirates won't be able to pay him.  I'm just joking but it would take a lot to bring in Burnett.  Don't forget, the Yankees are paying most of Burnett's salary.  Would you pay him say $10 million a year for two more years of service?  I can hear a bunch of you saying he's 37 and not worth that much but consider Ryan Dempster is making $13 million a year the next two years for Boston and he'll be 37 next season.  So really, I think that would be AJ's discount.  It'd be hard to replace that leadership but I think the Pirates could sign a cheaper option if they wished for two months to warm Taillon's spot.

 

Now I have neglected a lot of things here.  Wandy could decline his player option (in which case I'm all for paying AJ to return), Morton and the rest of the gang could be non tendered to save money and room, and AJ could take a bigger discount because he loves Pittsburgh and made a ton of money in his career.  I just know how the Pirates like to operate.  I don't think they would pay that much money to an aging Burnett when they could go after cheaper options with big guns on the way.  That leadership would be really damn hard to replace though.  Here's my solution in a perfect world.  AJ honors his promise that he made before the year that he either retires or signs with Pittsburgh, retires, and becomes an assistant pitching coach next to Ray Searage.  It would be perfect.  He could continue helping the young guys like Locke, Cole, and eventually Taillon and maintain the locker room presence without taking up a roster spot from a young guy.  Would that happen?  I don't think the likelihood is very high, but it is possible.  I'm not advocating to dump Burnett by any means.  I'd love to see him back in a Pirates uniform.  I also hope they win it all this year for him and he could go out on top if he decides to go down that path.  But unfortunately, just like Bruce Wayne, I don't think there's anything left in Gotham, I mean Pittsburgh, for AJ Burnett.