Not a whole lot new in the Post-Gazette's new article; it's mostly just a rehash of the now-familiar rumors about Lyle Overbay and Wily Mo Pena - and, unfortunately, Kevin Mench. Dejan Kovacevic points out that the Pirates might take a look at Troy Glaus also. He adds that even with roughly $33 million (according to Ken Rosenthal) left on Glaus' contract, the Diamondbacks would want the Bucs to take on Luis Gonzalez' $11.5 million contract for 2006 as well. (Gonzalez also has a mutual option in 2007 for $10 million.)
This actually sounded like a reasonable idea to me until I checked - Gonzalez seems younger than he is because he started hitting rather late in his career, but he's 38, and he's in decline:
- .304/.402/.532
- .259/.373/.493
- .271/.366/.459
But KFFL relays the news that Arizona is merely looking to unload one contract, not two, and that Glaus could be the guy. This makes some sense - true, Glaus' contract is only a year old, and it's not as if he has underperformed expectations. But the D-Backs have a new general manager who is probably smart enough to recognize that the team has a ton of corner infielders, with Chad Tracy already hitting well, Tony Clark coming off a good year and prospect Conor Jackson ready for a big league job. In the new free agent market, Glaus' contract, which looked insane when it was signed, suddenly seems reasonable. For the right price, he'd be a great addition for the Bucs.
Or, they could just trade for Kevin Mench.