It's Time for the Pirates to go All-In

BoSoxInjection.com

Well I didn't want to write about Jon Lester but I'm going to now.  The Pirates are seen as the favorites to get Jon Lester now and this shocks me.  I'm not going to embed tweets because I'm typing like a maniac and Lester could be traded literally any second.  But the Pirates are actually serious suitors for Lester and I'm all for it.

I'm not going to look up his stats because we all know he's ridiculously good.  He's not even human in the playoffs, he just obliterates everything and everyone.  The question that everyone is asking is what the price is going to be for a rental like Lester.  The answer is steep.

Lester is one of the best pitchers in the league and even a rental version of that is going to require top prospects.  And by that I mean that I mean some combo of Josh Bell, Nick Kingham and Alen Hanson plus more.  Sound steep?  Well guess what.  They should do it.

Look at all of those prospects.  Are they really going to break the future?  Are any of those prospects really impact prospects for the Pirates?  The answer is no.  Bell is blocked by the outfield of the future.  Yes, he could move to first base but how do you know he's going to succeed there?  Nick Kingham is a #3 starter at best.  We have plenty of those in the system.  Alen Hanson has been suspended by the Curve multiple times this season.  Do any of these guys have a huge impact for the Pirates?  No they just don't.

So why can't we trade these prospects?  There is no acceptable answer for that.  Trading prospects is an inexact science.  The Phillies traded 3 top prospects for Cliff Lee and none of those prospects made a big impact in the show.  But then the Brewers traded similar top prospects for Zack Greinke and those players are now leading the Royals into playoff contention.  It's risky but it's a risk the Pirates have to take.

You have a farm system for two reasons.  To develop prospects to contribute for you and to trade prospects to acquire talent that can contribute for you.  It's time for the Pirates to do the latter and start parting with prospects.  They have the best farm system in baseball and trading some prospects is not jeopardizing the future.  The future is now.  It's time to put on the big boy pants and make a big deal to help the present team.  And I hope that's what NH does today.  Only time will tell.