FanPost

Is the McLouth trade the start of domino effect?

Here's a good piece on Bob Smizik's blog about what effect the McLouth trade may have on the rest of the team. I know a lot of you don't really like a lot of Smizik's work, but this articles raises some great questions about the direction of this Pirate team. Who's next in line after McLouth? Is it time to blow the whole thing up? Here's the piece.

Personally, I don't disagree with many of the points Smizik makes. We could get A LOT of good, yound prospects back for Wilson, LaRoche, Sanchez and Doumit. The only part I disagree with is trading Doumit. While there's no doubt that Doumit would probably yield us the greatest return in a trade, Doumit could be the one piece you keep from the current club that could be part of the next winning team, in my opinion. Doumit isn't exactly young at 27, but he's definitely not old, either, and he's just now coming into his own with his breakout season last year (he could've broken out a lot sooner if had not been for Jim Tracy's obsession with Ronnie Paulino. Terrible.) Also, Doumit is this team's only power source right now. JJ and Robi have filled in nicely, but honestly, I think they are playing over their heads right now. They are starting to come back to earth a little bit, and they have no power whatsoever, combining for a whopping 2 HR. I think one day they could be starters in the majors, but not anytime soon. Also, this year's first rd pick, C Tony Sanchez, is a good player and could be in the majors within a couple of years, but he is no sure thing. If his bat doesn't come around, he won't be the answer at catcher, either, as scouts have said he will be a career back-up catcher if he doesn't improve offensively. Unless the Pirates expect Alvarez to be up next year, Moss to turn it around, and Pearce to have a major power resurgence, where is our power going to come from in 2010? I have no problem with trading Wilson, LaRoche and Sanchez because they are older, they will bring back some quality prospects (especially if teams are desperate for them), and most importantly, they won't be around with the next winning Pirates team. I think Doumit could be. I think 2011 is a realistic goal to be competitive team again. We're not going to compete this year, we're not going to compete next year, but by 2011, with the prospects that we have, we could be very close in 2011. I know the Pirates are going to listen to offers for every single player on our roster, and Huntington will pull the trigger on any trade if the package is too good to refuse, but I think we should keep Doumit because a power-hitting, switch-hitting catcher is very hard to come by nowadays, and he has a good chance to be a part of the next good Pirate team in a couple of years.

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