Sheehan and Eldred

There's no pleasing Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus. The guy hates the Bucs for some reason. I subscribe to the site and generally enjoy it, but they are weak on the Bucs. They've been infatuated with Craig Wilson, for example, for much too long. Can they say, Jack Cust? Erubiel Durazo? They have lousy taste in slugging prospects, and they can't get over it. I'm all about Craiggers slotted into a 450-PA time-share, but I'm not about to give him the keys to the clean-up spot.

And then there's Eldred. In his November 11 "AFL Report," Sheehan wrote:

Brad Eldred: He can't play. He's huge and he hits the balls he hits a long way, but he can't play. If the Pirates give Eldred at-bats ahead of Craig Wilson, they're making a mistake. Eldred's bat is just too slow, and he doesn't recognize pitches well enough to get away with a long swing.

Now today he writes, about the Sean Casey deal:

Dan O’Brien’s good decision is David Littlefield’s bad one, as the Pirate GM blocks a prospect, spends money and doesn’t improve his team by acquiring Sean Casey from the Reds.

Which is it? Can Eldred play? Is he a prospect? Or can he not play? Is he a non-prospect?

The rest of Sheehan's paragraph is cribbed from Bob Smizik.

My point is not so much that Sheehan's wrong or that Sheehan's a lousy writer or that Sheehan's curmudgeon act with the Bucs is stale, predictable, and unoriginal. My point is there's little consistency to the BP Pirates coverage. Why call Eldred a prospect this month after calling him a non-player last month? The only explanation is there is no explanation. It's knee-jerk and unprincipled.