RON PONIEWASZ JR. COLUMN: It's time for the Pirates to make more trades before the deadline
Jul. 31—Hours.
That's all that remains between today's Pittsburgh Pirates roster and tomorrow's re-vamped roster. The Pirates certainly will be sellers, and why not? More movement than what they already have done. Don't let the mini two-game win streak fool you. They will be sellers.
The deadline is 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Our Battlin' Buccos (used quite loosely these days) are 47-58 and just a game out of last place in the National League Central Division. Seems we could copy and paste that sentence every year and just update the record, or is that giving them too much credit? Rinse and repeat.
That's why this year is a crucial one for the ballclub. Deadline deals have been a staple for the franchise. A way of life.
Most people raise a fuss about it and complain. I'm way past that. I see the positive in it as a Pirates fan, and I have for years.
Do you like David Bednar and Endy Rodriguez? Sure you do. You waive your flag furiously for both of them. I'm a fan of them both, too. They were both acquired in an offseason deal for star pitcher Joe Musgrove. You remember throwing the fit when it happened, sure you do. You hated to see Musgrove go. So much so that now you don't even remember how those players were acquired.
A trade is how they were acquired. Start embracing it.
Jack Strikeoutski, err, hang on, being told it actually is Suwinski (who knew?), there's a guy you no doubt love. Leading the team with 21 home runs. Seemingly leading the solar system in strikeouts with 110 in 280 at-bats, not to mention called strike three. He looks like the house standing by the side of the road. Like a shopper at a mall. Don't mind him, he's just looking.
Suwinski was acquired from the Padres, apparently a favorite trade partner of the Pirates, for Adam Frazier. Everyone loved Frazier. Everyone hated to see him go. And now, they probably have no recollection of him. Why? Because of the love affair with Suwinski and his home run or strikeout way.
And remember how the love affair with Suwinski all began — via a trade. That's right. You got it. Two points for you.
I was a Tony Watson fan, who was an effective reliever. But, as someone said when the Pirates traded Tony Pena and everyone cried foul, "we can finish last place with him and we can finish last place without him." It was time for Watson to go. People probably don't even remember him.
No, all they will remember is the deal brought in Oneill Cruz, who throws the ball 8,000 miles-per-hour and has an exit velocity of a trillion. I don't care about all of that garbage. Tell me he made the play without making an error. Tell me he got a hit. That's all you need to know. That and he was acquired in a trade.
Now, it's time for me to channel my inner Billy Beane, based on the movie Moneyball. Beane was the general manager of the Oakland Athletics in 2002 and he made key deals at the deadline.
The first domino fell last week when the Pirates traded Carlos Santana to Milwaukee. He was on my list to unload. I don't understand why people are so mad at that trade.
Santana was signed to a one-year contract. His contract is up at the end of the season. Would the Pirates have re-signed him? Maybe yes, but maybe no. I would say no. He's 37 and he was batting .235 at the time of the trade. Those numbers will certainly get the Hall of Fame's attention.
He batted a combined .202 last year between Kansas City and Seattle. One-year contracts for veterans in the offseason from the Pirates is a sign of they are trying to squeeze some good baseball out of them to move them at the deadline. They succeeded.
What's even funnier is Santana, and even fans, thought it was odd he got traded to a division rival. Did you miss the memo: his contract is up at the end of the year. Maybe the Brewers don't even re-sign him. Maybe he doesn't even sign in the division next year. At that rate, who cares that they traded with a division rival?
Monday, or even deadline day, I'm walking in and telling the secretary to get a GM on the phone.
"(GM name), David Bednar is going on the block and you're my first call."
"What's wrong with him Poniewasz?," the GM asks.
I tell him there's nothing wrong with him. I don't see the point of having an elite closer, the best closer in all of baseball, sitting in the bullpen spitting sunflower seeds, gabbing with his teammates and getting into a meaningful game once every 10 or 12 games more often than not. You don't need him.
"What about next year? What about the youth movement?", the GM asks.
I tell him how do I know things will work out with these call ups? It's time to re-stock the minor leagues after bringing up so many high prospects. The Pirates have a top-five ranked minor-league system in baseball. Three of their five top-ranked minor league players — Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez and Quinn Priester — are now in the big leagues, though. Which means it's time to replenish the minors.
I want at least two, maybe, three, major-league ready players. At least. A position player and a starting pitcher or two, certainly. I would be persistent. There will be a market for Bednar's services. The only bad thing is the Pirates won't do it. No guts. "He's from Mars", they will tell you. I don't care if he's from Neptune or Pluto. You have no need for an elite closer that would give you a nice haul in return.
"You can't trade him. He has three years of control left on his contract." Precisely. Which makes him that much more valuable. You should be able to pluck top-rated prospects away. People that will actually play quite a bit. Instead of saying "gee, I hope we're winning by one, two or three runs late so Bednar can pitch." Otherwise, got sunflower seeds handy? Got some good conversation handy? Because, that's what you'll get.
Keeping Bednar means the team goes from a likely 65-win team to a likely 70-win team. And that's last place in both scenarios. The needle does not move.
Arizona is really pushing hard for Bednar. So are the Cubs. And why not? They are both in the race. But, the Pirates don't have the guts to make the trade. The fans will get their way, having the hometown boy and an elite closer on a last-place team stick around. That doesn't move the needle and it will be an opportunity lost.
People will cry what about the future? Sure, what if the "young Bucs" struggle and don't materialize the way you are thinking they will, then what? What if Bednar gets hurt or declines? Then what? That big-time bargaining chip has just went down in value. But, at least you got your way and kept a guy because of where he's from and he likes IC Light.
And how much fun would that be playing the role of Billy Beane telling Derek Shelton in the clubhouse, like in the movie: "You can't pitch Bednar tonight. You'll have to use someone else in a save situation." "Shelty" might say he is using Bednar, as Athletics manager Art Howe said in regards to playing first baseman Carlos Pena in the movie when he was dealt at the deadline.
I would happily say "I don't think so. He pitches for (insert team here) now."
Again, no need to worry. The Pirates don't have the guts to pull the trigger on that trade. I would, they won't. People would say they will boycott games. But, we know that's not true. As long as they are giving away bobbleheads and having fireworks nights, people will go.
Rich Hill, who is no doubt in the middle of a tantrum as you read this, should plan on cleaning out his locker. Hill is age 43, 44 in March. He signed a one-year $8 million contract. Or about $7 million or more than he should have been signed for. I'm calling Boston. Rich Hill is done in Pittsburgh. The Red Sox can use him as they make a Wild Card push. And we can watch from afar as he yells at his teammates.
For Hill, you can look around the double-A level for a potential infielder, or maybe a pitcher. Maybe I can ask in the Hill trade for what Beane did in one of his deals, I want the other GM to send cash to pay for pop in the clubhouse for three years. That's about what any Pirates fan should think of Rich Hill.
Other Pirates that should be gone at the deadline are catcher Austin Hedges and reliever Colin Holderman at the very least. It would be nice to trade hitting coach Andy Haines, as well. But, even if that were possible, I doubt the Pirates would even get a case of empty beer cans for him.
