-P- The Post-Gazette reports that efforts to trade Mike Gonzalez aren't going anywhere:
Reasonable people can disagree about whether Cabrera will develop enough to be worth trading Gonzalez. I think he will, but I can understand the arguments that he won't because he won't develop enough power and because he will lose his athleticism as he ages.
I'm not sure those arguments have much to do with Littlefield's thinking right now, though. Cabrera is already useful in a number of ways that don't have to do with power, and he is young enough to provide power later on. But Littlefield's tunnel vision will probably ultimately prevent him from acquiring a guy like Cabrera. We've all seen examples of Littlefield's tunnel vision. Once a player, such as Xavier Nady, enters Littlefield's field of vision, he never leaves. Once Kevin McClatchy tells him to get three bats, he does - and they're Sean Casey, Jeromy Burnitz and Joe Randa.
Because of his tunnel vision, Littlefield will get the player who's been (rather unfortunately, in retrospect) dubbed "Lefty McThump." Littlefield will get a corner player who's left-handed and has some reputation (probably from the distant past) for hitting for power. Littlefield's mind is probably closed to any other option, whether he's ready to admit that yet or not.
Whatever happens, it will be considerably worse for the Pirates than just trading Mike Gonzalez for Melky Cabrera and a prospect. I can pretty much guarantee that.
-P- The Brewers have offered a four-year deal to Jeff Suppan. Hopefully, the Pirates will not be tempted to top it.
-P- The Reds have acquired Jeff Conine from the Phillies for minor leaguers Brad Key and Javon Moran. Moran, an outfielder, is the only one of the two who's marginally interesting; he played respectably at Class AA last year at age 23. Still , this is pretty much just a dump by the Phillies. Why anyone would bother trading for Conine at this point is beyond me - he can't hit anymore and has become a butcher in the field. A lot of things Wayne Krivsky does are beyond me, though.
-P- The Yankees have signed Cuban infielder Juan Miranda to a four-year deal.