Only three days left

[magnumo]

What will Huntington do?

Please note that I'm NOT asking what you think he SHOULD do..... but rather what he WILL do. There seem to be numerous possibilities:

1. Stand pat.

2. Make a trade for a significant bat who has a few years of control.

3. Acquire a rental bat.

4. Power or a leadoff hitter?

5. Seek bench help.

6. Seek lefty help for the bullpen.

7. Trade for a shortstop who can hit a little bit.

8. Trade Correia.

9. Trade Hanrahan.

10. Several of the above. (Which ones?)

11. Something I haven't listed. (What?)

Whaddayathink? Let's see who has a functioning crystal ball.

 

[TheBurgh88]

5. Seek bench help.

I expect a 1B/OF type to platoon and provide some pop off the bench. Minor move similar to the Lee/Ludwick acquisitions

I would like to see a SS upgrade but they seem to be infatuated in Barmes.

I also wouldn't be suprised to see them:

8. Trade Correia.

Maybe to get the bench help or just a salary dump. Don't think he is happy pitching out of the pen and I think he is a decent #5 starter.

 

[steelparrot]

Hmm I'm going with the Burgh, 5 and 8.

 

[stillmatic32]

I'm going with 3.

 

[stillmatic32]

Shane Victorino will be the guy.

 

[magnumo]

I didn't make my own prediction because Huntington has me baffled. Last season, I thought he would and should go after pitching, but he picked up Lee and Ludwick instead. This season, I thought he would pursue a bat, but he traded for Wandy Rodriguez.

At this point, my best guess is a rental bat of the leadoff type. I prefer that it NOT be Juan Pierre but fear that's who it will be.

 

[ramburgh]

Phillies have been rumored to want RP and OF in a trade for Victorino. I wonder if the trade with Atlanta had anything to do with acquirig Victorino?

Due to Victorino bein a rental player, I would give them a list with the option to pick one OF and one RP from:

(OF) G. Hernandez, Lambo, Latimore
and
(RP) Meek, Slaten, D. McCutchen

or something along those lines. Possibly a little more if it was just one player for Victorino. I wonder how Meek is now viewed throughout the league?

 

[pixburgher66]

I'm starting to think they'll look into trading Correia. In fact it seems as though he's making it known that if he's not starting, that's what he wants. I wonder if he can be thrown into a deal for a bat. That would be ideal. I just have no idea who the partner would be in such a trade.

 

[pixburgher66]

Also, I would like it to be #2, but have a feeling it will be #1 at this point. I think the market is a bit too crazy and that teams on the fence about selling (such as Cleveland and the Choo rumors) would have to be blown away in a trade to become sellers.

 

[element1286]

I would go with 5 and 6.

 

[26 elroy face]

#8 They started shopping Corriea has soon as they got Wandy.

 

[thecrow124]

From what I have seen this past series, they better go get another pitcher. AJ pitched well, but Karstens, Wandy, and McDonald were not very good, and McDonald has not pitched well since before the AS break. Without McDonald pitching well, at least close to his first half, we don't have a very good rotation. If he continues pitching like he has the last 4 starts we only have a marginally average pitching rotation.

Honestly I hope they just stand pat, there is not one player left out there that would be worth the price to get, that would make us a serious contender. Maybe we could trade Correia, but there isn't likely to be a significant return.

On a completely different toppic, the fact that Dempster is being such a douche is awesome. If I were the Dodgers I would lower my offer every 4 hours, since it is obvious that is the only place Dempster wants to go. Then the Cubs could hold on to him and still not even receive a comp pick because if they offer him salary arbitration, he would take it.

 

[element1286]

Didn't know where to put this, but the general consensus in the Pittsburgh sports media is that the Pirates didn't do enough. And believe the Reds, Dodgers, and Braves, the Pirates main competition for the Wild Card/Division improved more than the Pirates.

Dejan wrote and article in the trib that that says this much, what does everyone else think?

 

[Illinest]

Dejan is a vagina. The team is unquestionablly more talented now than it was when the season began and furthermore neil has always talked about building a strong system, not blowing his load trying for the playoffs at the first sign that we're getting better.

 

[magnumo]

The Pittsburgh media's reaction seems strange to me. It's been a long time since I LIKED what the Pirates did at the deadline..... and I like it this year.

The ONLY deal I didn't like was McGehee for Qualls..... not because McGehee is so good, but rather because Qualls is pretty bad, and I would have preferred a prospect.

I like that NH did NOT deal away top prospects and did NOT deal for rental players. Even if Rodriguez, Snider, and Sanchez don't work out as well as expected, they have much more potential than last year's moves. I'm hoping for the best.

 

[thecrow124]

Didn't know where to put this, but the general consensus in the Pittsburgh sports media is that the Pirates didn't do enough. And believe the Reds, Dodgers, and Braves, the Pirates main competition for the Wild Card/Division improved more than the Pirates.

Dejan wrote and article in the trib that that says this much, what does everyone else think?

What exactly where they wanting to happen? The Reds were decidedly better than us before the deadline and absolutely no one we could have traded for would have changed that.
The Dodgers, I am not sure what they did that makes them a better team than us.
The Braves, if adding Paul Maholm to their pitching staff makes them better than us, then we were not very good to begin with.
Basically, every other team in the NL moved laterally, other than the Reds, whom I will agree got better, but lateral movement, while it is movement, is not upward movement. It isn't like we traded and got worse, at worst we moved laterally as well, and have a shot at actually being improved.

 

[steelparrot]

I like the moves, except the Qualls trade, but thats no big deal imo.

We have Sanchez and Synder for 3-4 more years, I cant figure out their service time with them both being in the minors this year.

We didnt only improve for the stretch run, we improved for the next 3 years. I guess the less you like the deadline trades the more you liked Lincoln and Grossman, but beyond that we gave up table scraps imho.

 

[steelparrot]

To late to edit:

Sanchez starts arbitration next season, Snyder 2014

 

[Darkstone42]

I very much liked the deals. We didn't give up anything, and we may have improved the team for now and in the future.

And Snider's hit pretty well in the early goings with us.

 

[Illinest]

If you dont appreciate the trades then i think you need to step back and look at what we're going to have in 2013.
Elite CF. Good 2B. High potential middle of the order bats at 3B and RF. Highly rated prospect in LF. Functional platoon at 1B. Mckenry and sanchez at C plus potentially a free agent pickup if neil doesnt feel comfortable with either.
The only black hole is at SS.
Then for the rotation youve got burnett, karstens, wandy, mcdonald, cole and morton. Potentially locke and maybe a free agent acquisition.
See - you can tell that this is a better team because we're not asking ourselves if presley, hague and tabata can start and contribute. Those guys are in the mix for the bench now.