Thoughts on the trade

More details about the big trade are out this morning. For one, the Pirates optioned Alvarez back to Nashville and moved Boehringer to the 60-day DL to make room for Wigginton and Bautista, Ed Eagle reports.

There are many "good-bye" details for Kris Benson, including this story by Steve Novotney and notes here, for example, and here on him leaving friends. My favorite line comes from Novotney's article. It's about the Anna Benson Factor. I still think teams pursued him not as a two-month rental but as someone to figure in their rotation for several years. With a outspoken supermodel wife, Benson would obviously move to New York, where she can work and get all kinds of national exposure. He wasn't going to sign with Minnesota when New York was available, I believe. Responding to her reputation for calling talk shows, Benson said: "What can I say? She's a strong lady,'' Benson said. "She believes in me, and if there's anyone who knows what I've gone through to get back to 100 percent, it's her.''

There's no doubt in my mind that Benson will be one of the better pitchers in the national league over the next year.

Wigginton arrives with the following:

"I'm definitely without a doubt very excited," Wigginton, a right-handed batter, said of joining the Pirates.

That's here, in Paul Meyer's article on the trade. We may be a little tired of hearing about hustle and blue-collar work ethics, but Wigginton does have some of that reckless abandon on the basepaths that Pirate fans have cheered since the days of the Flying Dutchman. The man consistently scores more runs than you'd expect for a .330 OBP guy. And he plays third base. There's a good chance the Great Ty Wigginton (as we always call him in one of my roto leagues) will grow on us. I'm ready to give him some time. Whatever he does, I doubt he'll make us miss Chris Stynes.

The trade came down to needing a third baseman. This is speculation on my part. Mackowiak is not a long-term answer there for various reasons. Neither is Bobby Hill. And the free agent market is going to be very tight and highly priced this fall. Rather than take the very best players available, Littlefield appears to have gone for the best players available at that position. Wigginton has obvious holes in his game (e.g., his defense) that will give the Pirates some leverage in arbitration. He shouldn't get too expensive. Also, the fact that Bautista projects as a third baseman appears to have been pretty significant since the Pirates took him instead of a more highly-touted catching prospect.

One thing this tells me is that Littlefield intends to work with the guys we have now. By focussing on such specific needs, Littlefield suggests that he does not think churning the roster is the best way to build up the team. If he only accepts the best overall players, then he puts himself in a position where he has to trade some more. He'd have to trade and trade and trade until the roster is balanced across the positions. This particular trade does not require the Pirates to make more trades. Fans of the current players might see that as a sign that DL intends to build around the players we have now. Maybe I'm seeing too much in the tea leaves, but it's something to consider.

I agree with Bob Smizik and sense that the Pirates got the best deal. He's more down on the quality of Benson than I am. My guess is that when men like Bobby Cox want to add Benson to the rotation, that doesn't indicate that Benson is not that great a pitcher. We'll see how well he pitches over the next year.

If the regular eight are Kendall, Wilson, Castillo, Wilson, Bay, Redman, Mackowiak, and now Wigginton, and if we're carrying 13 position players, the bench is what ... Bobby Hill, Noonie, Bautista, and some two of Simon, Stynes, and House/Cota. I'll guess we're going to keep Simon and Stynes. Bones may get his hot-dog eating contest as soon as tomorrow.

Here's hoping the deal ends any distraction the players might have been experiencing from the on-the-field challenges. Thursday night they pissed away a win in the ninth against one of the best teams in the league. Last night, Burnett got lit up by the Brewers. Tonight Ryan Vogelsong takes the mound and hopes to recover his March form. Losing Benson is a huge blow to the rotation, but it makes an opportunity where we have plenty of guys to audition. Adding Wigginton should help the offense.

I'll cut the Pirates some slack for treading water over the last ten. Now it's time to stop talking trade and focus on how the Pirates are winning and could win more.