i can’t read it but i’m guessing it’s gammons opinion of the other offer vs. the two prospects we got + cash. unless the terms of the other offer come out it will be hard to judge.

let me make an understatement: it’s going to be an interesting few days ahead.

Gammons is no doubt the biggest blowhard of the ESPN geeks. He is the only one who ever has any scoop and he is never wrong. Personally I think he is a shill for the big team GMs and a lot of agents who love to use him as their mouthpiece. And the Pirates are easy fodder.

Peter Gammons goes out of his way to find ways to pick at the Pirate franchise. I’m sure he just made this all up. In reality, he has the same opinion of the Pirates as everyone else who follows the game..that the franchise is run by pathetic liars who would rather take your money than ever deliver on their words.

Wow you guys are really knocking peter gammons he knows more baseball than anyone here, denial is something you guys should be concerned about if the offer was better why would you not be upset. Nuttings are tight wads they need to step up and stop being all business, spring for some dough, and get off gammons case HE’s RIGHT now everyones first step is to accept it……….

the fact of the matter is LaRoche’s 7 mil is gone and we got 2 prospects for him is legit…didnt think we would get that for LaRoche.

If there was a better deal pay the stupid 2.95 million left and get the better players that’s obvious I mean its not like we don’t have the money its we don’t want to spend the money

Its just we don’t know so I guess we can’t bitch either way I see your way I hope you see miy view too

Gammons could have been fed a line. Heyman reported the Jays offered Holliday to the Mets for four psuedo-prospects and it has been denied left and right basically by everyone. Heyman of course stands by his story. This type of thing happens all the time.

The valuation of the prospect in any other offer would of course be up for debate even if we knew the names of the players. Since we don’t it is even harder to evaluate.

Even if everything Gammons reports is true then whether it was worth it to save the money and what the money will be used for is unknown.

This really seems to be a throw away bullet item filling up space from a national columnist with close ties to the team with which the Pirates traded. Nothing really to see there….. Doesn’t even really matter that the Pirates get a little extra bad press they may or may not deserve. It isn’t like it matters in the big scheme of things.

the other team involved gets pissed off that the Pirates made the deal with the Red Sox…and says…“We offered them xxxx and xxxx”…we won’t know what the package was.

Do you think we would trade sanchez and wilson to the same team such as the giants and get prospects and maybe a major league player? Just a thought since they know each other wouldnt sign unless the other one signed, you know stuff like that?

I think its just fans being fans, they feel like they need some offense because they were in a slump so they look at Laroche as a good offensive option, but we know that it was a blessing to get rid of him, and get prospects. Thats how our system works, and im guessing thats how theyre system works. 50/50

Thats what they’re calling him in Red Sox Nation, hope he hits a few over Pesky’s pole, he’ll probably see 3-4 days a week of playing time. Maybe a little rest will do him well.

He’l get his time at short in indy but I don’t see him reaching the bigs if jack gets traded he has to prove his bat, his glove is amazing so no worry about that, I’m excited to see what he does.

I’m through maybe 1/3 of the posts in this thread and I’m not anyone besides Wilbur has ever read a word Gammons has written. What is this, the PBC Blog comments thread?

if this surprises you then you better come back to earth. remember, this is the pirates, farm team for all major league teams.

Throwing out some perspective

It can be said or at least argued that LaRoche is/was one of our better hitters. Regardless of slumps, terrible first halves, tendencies to hit into double plays and hitting solo homeruns when down by 8 in the seventh inning, LaRoche is/was a top three hitter (Doumit and Cutch) on the Pirates. Surprisingly, he should’ve be. He’s a 1B. A 1B should be the best hitter on the team. However, throw him in the ring with all the other 1B across the league and hes average at best. This year he’s been below average, so even as one of our best hitters, he was one our least valuable players, especially as far as trade bait.

Therefore a salary dump (if it is that) for some marginal prospects seems like good deal to me… which leads me to

Diaz. If he is as elite a defensive shortstop as what I’ve said, then I think we will be just fine, even if he hits .250. Give me Jack 2.0, even with a weaker bat defending up the middle and surround him with bats such as Tabata, Cutch, Alvarez, Milledge and hopefully Laroche.

I think Epstein was willing to gamble that 2nd-half- Adam would resurface and IMO there is no one that hits like he can, whien he is in the 2nd-half- zone. I was very surprised a contender didn’t take that chance last year to push them over the top. So, time will tell if Epstein is a genius or not. Whether the FO was dumping salary, I would like to think of it as dumping someone who didn’t want to be in the Burgh (other to play with his brother) because of the fact that he knew that the new philosophy of dumping veterans for prosepects = no winning and thus I feel he lost his will here. It is what it is for now in Pittsburgh and while the prospects received seem to be a little weak, we didn’t have much to offer in return. Good luck to Adam and here’s to the long term plan of 2012.

I don’t know how this can qualify as a salary dump. Laroche is in the final months of an existing contract and I seriously doubt that any team he played for would try to re-sign him. While the Pirates have engaged in salary dumps in the past, the only way this can be called one is if in every case in MLB when a team trades a player they don’t intend to re-sign, and the net effect of the trade is a reduction in salary dollars. My point – all teams do this – even the ones with lots of money.

Gammons is calling it a salary dump because he knows next to nothing about the Pirates. It is understandable that he would not follow them much, but he is just pulling that opinion out of his arse.

… is more or less where I come out here, in absence of absolutely any concrete facts or evidence about what SF was offering or anyone else was offering. When we talk about “a prospect package similar in quality to the one the Red Sox offered,” we need to define “similar in quality” against its opposite, “Better than Diaz/Strickland.” I don’t know how big the “better than” group is, but I’m betting it’s a big damn group. Big enough to include scads and scads of guys who, while better than Strickland/Diaz in that micro analysis, are “similar in quality” in the macro analysis, which is to say they are “probably unlikely to be important major league players, if they even get that far.”

If that is the case, then all things are, in fact, equal, and if you don’t have to pay Adam LaRoche approx. $3m to do what Adam LaRoche does for the next 2 months, then you don’t. That’s not a salary dump/

I quit paying attention long ago, when he starting saying things like, “50 percent chance this trade goes through.” I don’t miss priceless insider info like that.

Of course the trade is a salary dump. I remember blogging here back when the Pirates traded for Mr. LaRoche that the trade wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. But today’s trade was sensational. Huntington is playing it right. If Pearce can’t cut it, he’s got Jones at first and Milledge in left. Sano’s still not going to be a Pirate, but I’m amazed at what the team got for LaRoche - Mike Lowell must be bad off. I hope LaRoche does well for the Red Sox, I think Jason’s Bay’s success actually helped the Bucs pull this deal off.
- Candymanfan aka JimBibbySweat

laroche wasnt gonna sign anyways so why keep him around? we aint goin anywhere, his contract was up at the end of the season he was hitting barely .250 and had a terrible attitude. now garrett jones can play at 1st and moss and delwin young have the corner outfield slots and they did more today than laroche has done all month. plus now we have an open roster slot and we can hopefully bring lastings millage up and seen what he can do. plus we dont gotta pay laroche a dime. and according to the post-gazette we would have had to include someone else from the major league roster to get that other package. im just glad we got laroche outta here. he wasnt helping and we can lose just as well with out him.

LaRoche was providing such awful value for his contract. Are the Pirates going to suffer the remainder of this year without him? Why not save the money? It’s not like he’s in the long or short term plans. I’m still incredulous that they found any takers, much less one who would eat the $3 mil and give up only AAAA type non-prospects.

Weren’t the Giants dumping salary when they moved Morris to the Pirates? Would anyone consider that a bad move?

Above all else, you can’t question the baseball logic of parting with LaRoche. He’s at the borderline of even being an MLB starter. How many bench players earn $7 mil/season?

but not his maddeningly inconsistent hitting.

I have no problem with this trade. We all expected it to happen. The only disappointing thing is that we were not able to get a SS prospect in return who looks more promising with the bat.

I’m still hoping for Jack and Freddy to be around for 2010, but it looks very doubtful now.

about the acquisition of Adam Laroche. How things change, huh. The Pirates weren’t gonna get much for him with his salary and him on a 1 year deal. And they didn’t. A couple of bodies to throw in their farm system. Nothing more than that. These guys aren’t prospects.

People are dreaming if they think this team is going anywhere by 2012. Unless the Pirates are sold to an owner with deep pockets to sign a few free agents. And actually keep guys like McCutcheon and Alvarez around awhile. I like that they are trying to build through the farm system. It’s about time! But you still have to be able to spend money to acquire a few free agents and to keep your homegrown talent. This ownership isn’t able or willing to do that. So all it means is a constant cycle of rebuilding.