Don't Give Up The Ship
Trades Emphasize Creating Opportunities, Not Rebuilding
By John E. Sacco

Mounting losses on and off the field caused the Pirates to take a step back last month, purging their major league roster of a handful of veteran players.

The one deal that sent fans and much of the local media into a rage was the trading of third baseman Aramis Ramirez to the Chicago Cubs, along with Kenny Lofton, for stopgap third baseman Jose Hernandez, minor-league pitcher Matt Bruback, and a player to be named later.

The Pirates said the Ramirez deal freed up money to help them acquire more talent in the future and gives them the flexibility to go out next year and try to sign multiple free agents at reasonable prices to improve the team beyond the elusive .500 mark, and toward the organization's goal of winning a championship.

While the deal certainly was tough to take because Ramirez is exactly the kind of homegrown player the club insists it needs to become a championship-caliber team, it hardly signals another rebuilding project.

The Pirates problems are these:

o   They have made a number of mistakes in terms of the talent brought to Pittsburgh via the free agent route.
o   They have given huge, multi-year pacts to unproductive players, often times bidding against themselves in the procurement process.
o   The minor-league system was so poor, there has existed a situation the past few years where the organization's best talent has resided in the low levels with little value or prospects at the top of the system.
o   They are competing in a baseball world where they cannot afford to make more than a few blunders. The so-called small market teams can succeed either by building outstanding starting pitching staffs, developing a couple of players to fortify the big-league roster each season, making good free agent decisions while not paying too high of a cost, or any combination thereof.

The moves of July will not impact the Pirates as negatively as has been debated on local talk shows or written in local newspapers.

This is a team staring an 11th consecutive losing season in the face.

Changes are prudent. The current mix isn't going to get it done.

More needs to be done, and if ridding themselves of Ramirez can help the Pirates bring more depth of talent into the system, so be it.

While some of General Manager Dave Littlefield's trades and moves can be questioned, his baseball knowledge and ability to rebuild the club's minor-leagues system cannot.

In his more than two years on the job, Littlefield has built an arsenal of young pitching talent in the minors. He misfired on the trade for Matt Herges sending two pitching prospects to Montreal for a pitcher who was released in spring training. He miscalculated not adding relied pitcher D.J. Carrasco to the 40-man roster, exposing him to the Rule 5 draft and losing him to Kansas City, the surprise of baseball in 2003.

All that aside, the Pirates have what is potentially as good a pitching group from Class A to Class AA as any in the game.

It is conceivable, if health isn't an issue, that Sean Burnett, John VanBenschoten and Bryan Bullington, all No. 1 picks, could be on the Pirates' 25-man roster in 2005. This year's top pick, Pat Maholm, may not be far behind them.

That says nothing of Duaner Sanchez, who many think has tremendous upside.

And it says nothing of the current starting rotation that includes Kip Wells and Josh Fogg, two guys Littlefield pried away from the Chicago White Sox, his best deal to-date.

It is likely the Pirates will trade Kris Benson during the off-season, if his health will allow. The club doesn't want to pay Benson the $6 million due him next year and it is painfully obvious Pirates' upper management questions Benson's competitiveness.

While there may be even more to the apparent rift between Benson and the organization, it's a risk in trading him. Benson could well become an outstanding pitcher with another organization, just like Jason Schmidt has for San Francisco.

The bottom line is the Pirates have enough pitching talent and depth to hold them at least where they are for now.

Littlefield will continue to fortify the pitching while trying to add some pop to the lineup.

He'll be searching for help in the bullpen, second base, third base and in the outfield.

It's a good bet that Brian Giles and Jason Kendall will be traded, if they haven't been already, to San Diego. The Padres appear to be equipped to take on both of them as they seek momentum and a boost moving into their new stadium in 2004.

San Diego has an abundance of pitching depth in its system and gaining Giles and Kendall would be a sign the Padres are serious about competing in the difficult National League West.

The Pirates should be able to get themselves three major-league players for the two.

If they can do that, promote a couple of homegrown players next season and another handful in 2005, things are going to look much better than the dismal forecasts now being delivered.

The fact of the matter is the Pirates couldn't get much worse. Stepping back a bit, the current track being taken may not be so bad at all.

John E. Sacco has covered the Pirates and major league baseball for PSR since October 1998. He previously covered the Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and is a former member of the Baseball Writers of America Association, Pittsburgh Chapter.