"It's a very simple game.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  Sometimes it rains." 
(Bull Durham)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Random Thoughts As The Deadline Approaches...

A stream-of-consciousness look at the deadline:

A platoon-type OF/1B that can pound lefties and hopefully sit in the five hole has to be NH's main concern.  Another starter may be on the list, but there aren't many available that can crack the Pirate staff.  Don't look for a SS deal.  Mercer and Barmes are doing well enough, while
buyers are lined up around the corner looking at a seller's market that
frankly doesn't exist.  And we'd be surprised to see them in on a reliever; the bullpen is deep through Indy.  The bench could use help.  A partial answer may lie at Indy with Tony Sanchez and an outfielder, although the prospects for the pasture are all LH. 

The Pirates are scouting the current Milwaukee-San Diego series.  The
Padres are said to be dangling bullpen arms; we're wondering if the
Bucco bird dogs aren't keying in on OFs Chris Denorfia and Carlos
Quentin rather than relievers. 

Looking at early trade results, the price for rentals this year is sky-high in terms of prospects. 
So while the Bucs may be rumored to be in on some big names (Stanton, Pence, Rios) just as
they were last year (Pence, Victorino, Headley), we'd expect nothing more than a Derrek Lee kind of
addition or someone NH finds with some upside and under team control
who's under the current radar (like last year's Lincoln-Snider deal).  The holes just aren't gaping enough to grossly overpay in what is shaping up as an extreme seller's market.  The club could go into September and the free call-ups adding nothing more than a RH stick and a doing a little shuffling of the roster's edges. 

The
Brewers and Cubs are selling fast, and that's not great news for the
Bucs, as the Cards still face them 18 times and the Reds 16 times while
the Bucs match up with the pair 13 more times.  The Brewers have lost
Ryan Braun for the year to suspension and just traded Francisco
Rodriguez, with the rest of its bullpen said to be available.  The Cubs
have unloaded Matt Garza, Scott Feldman and Scott Harrison, and are
trying to deal Alfonso Soriano to the Yankees, with most of their roster
being dangled.  The Bucs won't see the Reds until late September for a
six-pack home-and-home series, but have 14 games left with St. Louis,
with a big five game set beginning Monday. 

2 comments:

I kinda like him myself, Dave, especially considering the other names being bandied about.  I can see poking around for a DeJesus, Schierholtz or Denorfia type, too.  I'm holding out hope that NH is working under the top layer for a complementary piece of the puzzle; it's a pretty challenging market so far. 

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