-P- WTM's take on the trade is long-viewed as always. I agree with the vast majority of it. He says that although he would've liked to see the Pirates get more in this deal, the thought pattern behind it is radically different from and far better than Dave Littlefield's. WTM also notes that the pitchers in the deal were acquired mostly because organizational depth is such a glaring problem, and I agree. The pitching situation throughout the minors is so awful that the Pirates might have been looking at some Cleveland Spiders-type seasons in a couple years if the problem isn't addressed. Personally, I'm willing to put up with some really bad pitching if it means we can deal for upside, but the Pirates did also get a really high-upside player in this trade. Anyway, go read what WTM has to say.
-P- The Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates asked for outfield prospect Austin Jackson in the deal, but the Yankees wouldn't budge. You may recall Pat and me discussing the idea of trading Nady for Jackson and Dellin Betances in our "Dream Deals" post. Oh well--some dreams don't come true.
-P- You know, one nice side effect of this trade (and I realize this will be cold--no, frigid--comfort for those who hated it) is that it frees up a lot of money that could potentially be used to sign draft picks. There's about $2 million for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte for the rest of this year, and then $5 or $6 million for Nady next year, and then a million or more for the compensatory draft picks we won't get for Marte. This wasn't a salary dump, but the Pirates should still have about $9 or $10 million they didn't have before as a result of this trade.
I mention this because sixth-round draft pick Robbie Grossman--you know, one of the high-upside, tough-to-sign guys--came to PNC today and loved what he saw. One problem, though:
But Coonelly has said the Pirates may have a lot of extra cash to spend if they cannot soon come to terms with top pick Pedro Alvarez. That's given Grossman cause to reconsider the Pirates' offer.
It's too early to read much into this--it could just be a negotiation tactic--but the Pirates had better sign Alvarez.
-P- In the comments, Thunder notices that the Bucs have added pitcher Jason Davis to the roster and designated Luis Munoz for assignment. Like Thunder, I can't imagine Davis will be with the Bucs long.