Pirates Send Steve Pearce to Minors

by Charlie Wilmoth on Mar 17, 2008 2:04 PM EDT in News

Only three players have had more home runs so far this Spring than Steve Pearce, but I guess that wasn't impressive enough, as he was just sent to minor league camp (along with Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Ty Taubenheim, T.J. Beam, Marino Salas, Bryan Bullington, Brian Rogers, Brian Bixler and Luis Cruz). If Pearce had hit any more, sending him down might have become a serious embarrassment. Not that Spring Training means a whole lot, but in the last year, Pearce has done just about everything possible to prove he deserves a job in Pittsburgh.

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I'm dreaming

Dreaming that this was done early to show everyone that they were serious about it, and that Nady will indeed be starting and if you're interested in trading for Nady, make sure you know you're trading for a starter.

Dreaming.

by azibuck on Mar 17, 2008 3:38 PM EDT reply actions

How To NOT Sell Tickets

Just send Pearce and McCutchen to Indianapolis. Actually, I expect Nady to be gone before the opener and Pearce to be back in Atlanta for opening day. If that doesn't happen, it's going to be a long year. And I expect McCutchen to be in Pittsburgh by June 1 with McLouth moving to LF after Bay is traded.

by thegunner on Mar 17, 2008 3:48 PM EDT reply actions

McLouth-Morgan

Speaking of McLouth, has anyone read any more insight on who will get the starting CF gig? I have to think it's McLouth, but I haven't read much confirmation of that from management.

by Alleghenys on Mar 17, 2008 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions

No

But it would almost have to be McLouth because:

The new regime claims to be stats-oriented and McLouth's track record is superior to Morgan's.
The team needs another left-handed power hitter to take advantage of PNC Park.
McLouth has had the much better spring.

I don't think McCutchen will be up until he proves he can hit. He was helpless against right-handed pitching last season.

by bolton on Mar 17, 2008 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

McCutchen

I agree that sending Pearce down is a bad idea, but bringing McCutchen to Pittsburgh now would be disastrous.

http://whereisvanslyke.blogspot.com
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/mlb

by whygavs on Mar 17, 2008 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

No surprise

They said all along he wasn't making the team. I have no problem sending him down, he needs to play every day.

The only way to maximize your retun on Bay and/or Nady is to play them every day and hope they catch fire.

2-3 months at AAA won't hurt Pearce long term... let's be honest, considering everything it's the right move. We actually have a sliver of talent at the ML level for once, I'd rather maximize the return in trade for better long term gain.

by OmarMoreno18 on Mar 17, 2008 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

Keeping in mind

Nady has been far from a "workhorse" in the past. Last year he had a very close second to his career high at bats, a season that can be described somewhere along the spectrum from "marred" to "riddled" by injury. He's never played a "full" season, I'm not sure if he can, but he does have plus power and won't kill the team average. On defense he is a good outfielder. So no, it's not the end of the world if Pearce gets some defensive lumps down in AAA and Nady starts hot. We can then trade Nady for at least a project at best a good prospect and Pearce should do just fine in RF. Seems to be win-win in that case. If Nady starts slow, the new management better bench him or trade him for a bag of balls and bring up Pearce (assuming Pearce is doing well in Indy). If they don't, we bigger problems than Pearce starting the season in AAA.

Finally, I propose a solution (which is now probably too late to act on) of putting Nady at 3B and Pearce in RF. Now, this is far from an ideal defensive alignment, but Nady played some innings at 3B with SD (I don't know if that was an emergency or if he had minor league experience at third), and I wouldn't put it out of his abilities. He probably wouldn't be that much worse than Bautista was statistically. Then, Bautista could be what he should be, a Mackowiak-like uber utility man.

by poorboywilly on Mar 17, 2008 5:47 PM EDT reply actions

Keeping in mind, the college edition...

Pearce played some third base at the University of South Carolina...if we're being hypothetical

50 games at first base. Also appeared in 21 games at third base and is expected to start at the hot corner in 2005. Could see some duty behind the plate.
http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/pearce_steve00.html

by sludgeworm on Mar 17, 2008 6:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I know my opinion on this is not

popular, but I still think some time in the minors to work on playing the OF would be advantageous for Pearce.

I don`t buy this idea that his offensive development will suffer with some more AAA experience, either.

No, I don`t have any numbers to back this up, and I`m not into playing the numbers game. I just think the new management has a better grasp of what Steve Pearce needs to be successful for the Pirates for many years than any of us do. And until they prove me wrong and start acting like their predecessors, I`m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Regardless, with Nady`s injury history and the chances of him being traded in the near future being pretty good, Pearce may spend little time at Indy. We`ll just have to see how things play out.

Pearce is not a lock to be an MLB standout, and the organization is not going to trade Nady for a bag of balls and a bobble head doll.

by patthatt on Mar 17, 2008 11:08 PM EDT reply actions

Unfortunately.

"the organization is not going to trade Nady for a bag of balls and a bobble head doll"

He's not worth all that much, and being unreasonable now isn't going to bring Oliver Perez and the two draft picks back.

by Vlad on Mar 18, 2008 11:54 AM EDT reply actions

Idiotic

The Pirates have this insane idea that if they hold on to Nady his value might go up and they can get more later than they're being offered now, when in fact it's more likely to decline. Add in his perpetual injury problems of late and the pressing need of several teams--Mets, SD--for an Ofer, means the time to trade seems to be now.

Pearce is 25 and if he's going to reach his full potential he needs to see major league pitching on a full time basis now. And he needs experiance playing the PNC outfield with its odd configuratation, which he can't get in AAA. If that costs the Pirates even a game or two, so what?

I happened to be at the game Saturday in Dunedin. They played Gomez at 1B and DHd Paulino leaving Pearce on the bench in a road game. He got one AB. he saw one pitch. He hit it a mile over the left center fence. I'll bet they were thinking we've got to get this guy out of here before he really embarasses us.

Too late. First major blunder by the Bucco braintrust.

The downside was that seeing the game cost me my chnance to defend my championship from last year's Buc's Dugout fantasy league because that rat Charlie scheduled the draft that afternoon. That's makes you the de facto defending champ, Azi.

by rogero on Mar 18, 2008 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions

forgot to mention....

The idea that Nady has to be traded before Pearce can play RF is also nonsense. At best it's a distraction from the real issue--what is best for Pearce's development. Nady should be made the 4th OFer and back up 1B, with Pearce in RF. Pearce looks like the future, Nady is very unlikely to be. It's time to see what Pearce can do.

The Pirates resist this idea because they cling to the notion that playing Nady full time is likely to increase his value, presumably expecting him to do better than the .806 he put up in '07, easily his best numbers so far. That's unlikely with his platoon splits, which are one of the reasons he doesn't have much value--most see him as a platoon OFer.

In short, the Pirates had 3 choices. (1) play Pearce in RF, make Nady a backup at several positions, (2) trade Nady for whatever they could get to open RF to Pearce, (3) send Pearce down and play Nady in RF. They picked (3), the worst choice of the group.

My confidence in these guys is starting to ebb.

by rogero on Mar 18, 2008 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

My question is

What is the worst thing that happens if Pearce spends a couple months in Indy? He's not going to lose any of his skills, he's not going to grow too old to play (he won't be 25 till mid April), he's not going to get worse at fielding a position at which he has had only 46 putouts in the majors and minors combined, plus whatever he has gotten this spring.

I'm not going to worry until they don't bench Nady in a month or two or trade him by then in order to let Pearce start at RF, assuming he continues to play well.

by poorboywilly on Mar 18, 2008 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions

The worst thing that could happen?

He gets pissed off at the snub, sulks, underperforms, they decide not to give him the job next year as well, and he ends up bouncing around as a AAAA guy?

It's happened before. 25 is just on the edge of non-prospect, and Pearce seems like a really intensely competitive guy (he was saying last spring that he was going to be in the majors before the end of the year).

by Vlad on Mar 19, 2008 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions

this

I'm confident will not happen

by The New Guy on Mar 19, 2008 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Worst thing, take 2.

Pearce spends the best year of his career marooned at AAA, because he's peaking right now, and we spend a year with Nady putting up a .750-ish OPS in RF.

by Vlad on Mar 19, 2008 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions

this

is a certain possibility. When management realizes they won't get anything for Nady after he starts the year hitting like the below-average corner outfielder he truly is, I am afraid they will continue to let him eat up starts for far too long.

by The New Guy on Mar 19, 2008 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow, thanks

I wondered why you didn't want to defend your crown.

by azibuck on Mar 18, 2008 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Nady Had 2 Hits Today

Raising his batting average to .143 - if you can't admit the trade value of a platooning corner outfielder who hits like that, you're just being obstreporous (which is a big word f/mule-headed, for those of you in Bakerton).

by Trogluddite on Mar 18, 2008 9:37 PM EDT reply actions

The X man

We need a good innings-eater in RF!

by thegunner on Mar 19, 2008 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

Meh.

LaRoche and his LaLob can give us plenty of innings, if it comes to that.

by Vlad on Mar 19, 2008 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Still can't figure out the reason

But my only guess is that they have it in their heads that they can actually get something for Nady if he performs at mid-league rank or better as starting right fielder levels for a few months. Unfortunately...well, we all know his track record, and he's more likely to be simply rank. I agree with Vlad. These guys are human beings, and some point dissatisfaction with management becomes a potential issue. Play the best guy with the upside (Pearce), and cut your losses. There is this nagging stubbornness about Nady that has characterized several teams now. He is a fourth outfielder, and will be a very expensive one very soon.

by RichieHebner on Mar 19, 2008 4:40 PM EDT reply actions

Smizik column today

Smizik likes the new Mgt. But one thing in there hinted at something I think is being underplayed -- is it worth it long term to delay Pearce's service time? Also, I don't know how serious this is, but a buddy of mine mentioned in an email that Tampa is considering starting Longoria in AAA for the service time reason.

I think the Rays have an outside shot at contending this year depending on Kazmir's health, and how good Garza and Sonnanstine can be, so if I was a fan of theirs I'd want the best players in the lineup from day 1. The Pirates? Is it worth it to get an extra year of Pearce if it means 2-3 months less of him in 2008? I don't know the rules, but off the top of my I think yeah, maybe.

by azibuck on Mar 19, 2008 4:49 PM EDT reply actions

Hmm...

As things stand, if we kept Pearce right now, we'd control his rights through his age-30 season. For most players, that's their prime years, and he'll just be starting on the down slope when he hits FA.

Longoria is 22 this year, which means that if he started this year as the Rays' everyday 3B, he'd reach FA right after his age-27 season, when he'll probably be peaking.

Those extra three years make a huge, huge difference, in terms of the expected value of the extra season. IMO, it's a justifiable (if frustrating) move for the Rays, but much less so for us.

by Vlad on Mar 19, 2008 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions