Pirates Fail At the Deadline (Again)

Tampa Bay.com

Tell me if you've heard this before, the Pirates make zero trades at the trade deadline.  If you're thinking that's the same thing that happened as last year, you would be correct.  And my reaction this year is the same as it was last year.  The Pirates failed.  I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed this year or last year.

Last year, the Pirates had more glaring holes last year and didn't make any moves so I guess it was last year but it's still disappointing today.  It's not disappointing that they didn't get David Price or because they didn't get Jon Lester.  No one expected us to get those guys.  We were just rumored to and I wrote more about that over on Rant Sports.  It's disappointing because the Pirates didn't fill their holes that are causing them to lose games and the teams around them did.

The team needed a relief pitcher for the seventh inning.  There is no one that is trustworthy beyond Tony Watson and Mark Melancon.  Justin Wilson blew the game last night.  Ernesto Frieri has blown several games.  Who are you going to trot out there now?  I guess those same guys so they can keep blowing games.

The team needed a right handed bat off of the bench.  They have the worst offense in the national league against left handed hitters.  Unless you plan on calling up Jose Tabata again, that's not going to change.  So I guess we will send out the same old lineup that will continue to not hit lefties.

And on top of that, other teams in the central upgraded.  The Cardinals upgraded their rotation with John Lackey.  The Brewers upgraded their offense with Gerardo Parra.  The Pirates upgraded nothing.  I'm not sure how we can expect the Pirates to still outplay both of these teams.  Well, I think the Brewers are going to fall out of contention, but the Cardinals aren't.  They got better and opened up a spot for their own version of Gregory Polanco.  Can we beat that team?  Only time will tell.

I'm hoping that the Pirates will be able to do something in July again like they did last year, but it is just really hard to defend the team when there were some pretty good buyer trades today on the market.  Especially, with players the Pirates could have used, such as Emilio Bonifacio and James Russell going to the Braves.  I believe in this management team and I believe in the Pirates but this is a big, big blow for anyone's confidence in the Pirates.