The Pirate Problem

As part of their 2011 Cardinals preview, the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote a 2011 preview for the other teams in the NL Central.   Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote their Pirates' preview, titled "The Pirate Problem."  His article was reasonably well-informed up until this sentence:

Just a few years ago, the Pirates had an All-Star caliber outfield of Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth, but they, too, were dealt away for financial reasons, as were second baseman Freddy Sanchez and shortstop Jack Wilson.

(emphasis added)

Mr. Hummel did not cite a source for this claim.  In fairness, it isn't Hummel's job to cover the Pirates, but there's no excuse for such lazy "journalism".  (more after the jump)

First, it should be acknowledged that the Pirates have made trades for financial reasons, notably in 2003 when the Pirates were de facto forced to trade Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs.  The trade of Jason Kendall and most of his contract to Oakland in November 2004 also smelled like a salary dump, with the curious distinction that Kendall was the Pirates' second-highest paid player in 2007, even though he played for the A's.  However, given Kendall's precipitous decline after age and injuries caught up to him, that trade is defensible.  Under previous management, the Pirates have also agreed to questionable contracts, including the deferred money paid to Kendall and that owed to Brian Giles, who re-appears on the Pirates' payroll in 2011 despite retiring from the Padres last year.

But the Pirates broke up that "All-Star caliber outfield" (which somehow includes Nady, who has never been named an All-Star), for "financial reasons"???

The problem with Mr. Hummel's argument is that it ignores the fact that under Huntington and Coonelly, the Pirates have committed themselves to the first genuine ground-up rebuilding project since the streak of losing seasons began.

The trades of Nady, Bay, McLouth, Sanchez, and Wilson were clearly for baseball reasons.  Nady, Sanchez, and Wilson were all free agents (or would be free agents if their option was declined) at the end of the season they were traded, although the Pirates did offer Sanchez and Wilson extensions before deciding to trade them.  Jason Bay (by far the biggest trade chip in this group despite his noodle of an arm) wasn't in a contract year, but when even the Red Sox couldn't re-sign him, there was zero chance he would have stayed in Pittsburgh.  And centerfielder Nate McLouth was blocking a better player in Andrew McCutchen, and didn't want to move to LF.  One can fault Huntington for the (major-league) return of these trades so far, but given the number of games missed by those players after being traded, and their combined offensive output (just one All-Star caliber year, Jason Bay's 2009 season for Boston), he clearly traded them at peak value.

If the trades were made strictly for financial reasons, then why would the Pirates spend more than any other team, on the draft, over $30M, from 2008-2010?  Sure, they had low draft picks in those drafts, which would cost more money, but why would they offer later-round draftees over-slot bonuses in these drafts?  Why would the Pirates spend more than $3.2M in Latin America alone in 2010?  Mr. Hummel acknowledges some of the Pirates' expenditures on amateur talent in the article, including the new baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, but still failed to recognize that the Pirates had committed to rebuilding from the ground up.

Finally, focusing on the Pirates' major league payroll is a poor indicator of a team's finances. Half of the Pirates' starting eight graduated from the minors in the last two years; these players by definition will be cheap, as they are all pre-arbitration eligible.  A large percentage of their pitching staff is also pre-arbitration eligible, or went to arbitration for the first time in the offseason.  The bigger test will be when the current "core" becomes eligible for arbitration and/or free agency, and who is signed to extensions.  Until then, I'm willing to give the current Pirates managment the benefit of the doubt.