Pirates agree to trade Morgan, Burnett

Hanrahan is horrible.  Why throw in Burnett?  Another 1st rounder down the tubes..

Do not make the deal if Burnett is involved.

I"m not pleased with Burnett leaving AT ALL but this team has been very hard on him - scratch that, management has yanked him around - he should have come up North at the start of 2008 and he didn't. Maybe the Nats will appreciate him.

fiddlesticks. That doesn't help my grouchy day AT ALL. Someone pick on NuttingHostage so I feel better.

Hanrahan is from Iowa.Ramon Vasquez played ball in Iowa.I might need to change my user name.  '-)

i don't like the addition of burnett and hanrahan. I'd much rather have just straight up nyger for lastings

Gonna have to do it now...Burnett and Morgan will feel unloved...

Does Hanrahan come to Pittsburgh, or go to the minors/disabled list?  I know he's been all over the place this year with REALLY poor stats...

Do you think the Nationals insisted Burnett be part of the deal?  If so, we should have made the deal for Milledge straight up when we had the chance.

I also wonder: does this mean Grabow stays?  

Oh goodie - nothing this team needs like a struggling pitcher. It's like we don't have enough drama like in 2008 - let's add some. hooray.

Anyone getting the idea Capps is up for grabs too?

Joel Hanrahan?  Why are we tapping into the worst bullpen in the majors?  Sean Burnett was lights out when he first came up, it's sad to see him go.

I thought Los Buccos were going to have the upper-hand in the supplemental players...  

Remember this year when Delgado hit Burnett's curve about 560ft?  That was awesome.

Wow, now I am impressed.

This would be a great trade.

I think most people know that Milledge is only 24, a former 1st round pick, and 5 category player.....

Scouting reporting on Hanrahan....

"Possesses electric stuff and the ability to rack up plenty of strikeouts. Is best suited to letting it all hang out as a reliever."

Would definitely like this deal.

Go Neal Go!

As I have said in the past: spelling errors cause trades.  Those people who complained about "McClouth" caused the Pirates to lose out on Nate McLouth.  Now "Nyger" is outta here, too.  Seriously people, please stop adding an "o" to McCutchen's name. I want him to stay.  

On the other hand, please mis-spell Ramoyn Vaszqueez as many different ways as you can.

Omygosh.  Morgan for Milledge was bad enough.  Hanrahaniran had better be really good.  

I can't believe this ... I'm on vacation with the flexible, petite little Mrs. Bay who is allowing me to foray into Bellevue each day for Internet access, and I'm the first to comment on this trade??

(Well, there were no other comments posted when I started typing)

I've done no other research on these guys, or read any other posts ... My position on this trade - at this point - is this:

It's a good one ... We'll miss Nyjer and Burney ... but Nyjer is 29, a diamond in the rough without the overall athletic ability/pedigree of Milledge ... who is a lot younger. I gotta believe he could benefit from a fresh start and, hey, if he misbehaves, so what? Championship clubs deal with misbehavers all the time, and so can we.

Burnette has been great for us as the lefty specialist type ... but if my memory serves me correctly, Hanrahan can bring it ... and with our best off-season acquisition Joe Kerrigan (I just HAD to say that, LOL!), who knows.

I'm also happy we got a couple of low minor good prospects from the Yankees for Hinske ... THIS IS PROGRESS, PEOPLE!

Oh, and from the Baywatch Playbook - There are ALWAYS interesting looking people waiting to catch the bus on Balph Street in Bellevue ... Yesterday, an old gentleman on a walker in a three-piece suit;and another time yesterday, one of these elderly gentlemen with one of those CLASSIC, CLASSIC Aristotle Onassis hairdos, standing sideways and striking one classic Greek god pose.

Dejan

Why not Shairon Martis, the Pitcher they just sent to AAA?

Milledge has a lot of talent and could provide some much-needed power from the OF, but why Hanrahan? He has had a terrible year here in Washington.

I wonder if the Nats wouldn't do a Morgan-Milledge straight-up deal.

its okay

theyre still in the hunt!!!!!1

Six games back!!!!!!

hahahahahahaha

17

POH,

Not to mention what the little issue between Doumit and Burnett.

Good to get Burnett a change of scenery.

Guess I typed too much ... I thought I was first :-(

Oh well, I've been first all week :-)

Actually Hanrahan was GOOD last year.

washington.nationals.mlb.com/.../player.jsp

I understand that Hanrahan brings some heat.  That is fine, but... he walks a ton of guys and he's 27 so chances are he's not going to start pitching with control anytime soon.  Don't we have a guy exactly like this doing a "rehab" stint in AAA (Veal)?

I'm not a huge fan of Burnett, but at least he gets guys out.  

Maybe Pittsburgh gets another guy? Even if not the Bucs are getting the guys with the upside. Hanrahan's numbers are ugly but he has nice K numbers. Apples for Oranges!

So much for a quiet afternoon...isn't it Dejan??

I actually like this trade if it works out...and don't have a problem with the Yankee trade. There's a lot more upside to Milledge than there is to Morgan...while Burnett vs. Hanrahan is probably a push or a little advantage to Burnett. I did notice that Hanrahan was a starter all through the minors and didn't start relieving until he got to the Nats.

Only problem will be veteran leadership. Why?? I think today is the opening shot in completing blowing up the pre FC/NH roster. I think we will see at least one or two trades involving veterans (Adam) BEFORE July 31st.

Wow, wonder who's next?

Its pretty much unanimous trading Morgan for Milledge i am ok with, Burnett 4 Hanrahan AWFUL. He looks like another power arm who we will have to put on a Milk carton because he cant throw strikes 1.96 WHIP

         NH loves POWER ARMS  hope he starts liking power arms who can throw strikes.

I'm 1-0 when attending games this year

the 1 being Succos losses

Making another return trip tonight

Stear clear of my section

It will be as vulgar as it is unpleasant

wow...Baywatch & NuHo agreeing..."dogs & cats living together...mass hysteria."

I don't know a lot about Hanrahan, but I'll say this trade sounds pretty good. Again...the kind of trade a good front office should make.

The Nats are selling EXTREMELY low on both Milledge and Hanrahan.  This has been a good day for Neal.

Maybe Gorzy takes Burnetts spot in the pen? And what issue with Doumit and Burnett?

So we've traded for a 24yo head case and a closer with an ERA near 8.

I realize the FO likes pitchers who can really bring heat, but should they not also be able to get batters out?

Burnett was probably put in the trade because of the incident after McLouth's trade.

Next up, Capps and Adam.

Contrary to all you negative nellies and your great big blankets of negativity, I like this deal and support Huntington in this endeavor.

Selling Morgan high, and buying a 5 category guy like Milledge low is an excellent proposition. And sending the soft tossing Burnett to the Nats for a big fireballer like Hanrahan is an extra gift.

Now this really would be a great trade.

Bay-Why so long to comment?  ;-)

@Baywatch:

Nice assessment of the trade, and an even better Ari Onassis reference.

Macsinthebox,

Hey Buddy, I owe you an apology for Sunday.

Yes, I disagreed with you but once I knew I was getting under your skin I purposefully continued to push it just for fun.

I'm sorry.

*Fist bump*?

Why did hip hop have to be included in this?  Straight up outfielder was so much better.  What is the contract terms on the the new Nats pitcher?

Todd,

"The Nats are selling EXTREMELY low on both Milledge and Hanrahan.  This has been a good day for Neal."

Very well said. - Perhaps Neal's best overall day on this job if this trade is finalized.

I'm not really a Burnett fan, but lately he seems to have been good enough that I don't get nervous at the sight of him.

So explain why the Pirates want a relief pitcher who is a year older and makes slightly more money with a 7.71 ERA this year and a 5.30 career ERA over one with a 3.06 ERA this year and a 4.54 career ERA?

What is this team doing?

PAMT

Are you witch?  What is with that cackle?  Or do you just paste a template  and make minor changes to it?  try hee hee hee sometime just to change it, though I have no clue why the cackle at all.

This is awful.  I have no problem with Nyjer for Milledge, for all of the reasons that have been exhausted.  But why do the rest of it?  Hanrahan is worse than Burnett; when this was first considered, we allegedly wanted them to throw in something else to do the deal with the outfielders.  Now it looks the other way around.

HEY DK!!!!

"UPDATE 2:37 p.m.: The teams have agreed to the trade in principle."

So what's next? - C'mon man, don't toy with me. This is one of the few things Neal has done that I like. I want to be excited. Is it a done deal we can take to the bank yet or not????

Maybe the Bucs were unhappy with Burney and Nyjers hat wearing styles.   ;-)

Haha I wonder if Burnett is out of here because of the whole candle thing when McLouth got traded.

I’m not too sure about this latest addition….

Hanrahan has a 7.71 ERA so far this year, and a 5.30 career ERA (2007-09).

Hanrahan is having a tough go this year, but was much better last year, and strikes out more than a batter per inning. I'm OK with the Hanrahan/Burnett part of the deal.

The Milledge/Morgan part, on the other hand, is a slam dunk.

What issue with Doumit and Burnett? NuHo? 'Splain to me Lucy.

Also, after you wrote "go Neal go" I am now 100 percent certain that I am living in a parallel universe, and Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett are still alive.

I for one am going to regret never getting to see Sean Burnett hit his potential because of his injuries.  He was spectacular throughout the minors and in his first season of big league baseball.  If only he and Oliver Perez could have combined for a great 1-2 punch with Maholm and Snell and Duke coming up the rear....oh, what could have been.  

Good luck Sean and hopefully one day you get your stuff back!

man..we are really wheeling and dealing--- what we need..another rhp relief pitcher who cant throw strikes how has a 320+ batting avg against and a +7 ERA...impressive ....the bucs did a lot of homework on that one ....

once again-- you have a lh relief pitcher-doing ok why trade him now? why not wait ===until closer to july 31--did we have to het joel hanrahan that bads..he's TERRIBLE

what a joke this organization is...better no one get mad in the clubhouse...the boys in the sky are watching....pathetic

So long Capps.

Hanrahan has been a victim of the worst defense in the NL by any metric, whereas you could argue the Pirates have had the best defense in the NL. His LD% isn't out of line with his career stats.

Washington - -33.6 UZR

Pittsburgh - 29.4 UZR

Washington - 68 errors

Pittsburgh - 35

Hanrahan has a .451 BABIP on the season, which is insanely off the charts. Given his other metrics, its pretty reasonable that he'll be solid in front of a much much improved defense.

Hostage,

Right back at you

Fist BUMP squared!!!

Hope you are right on Hanrahan, he can definately bring it, heres hoping he can locate it.

The Nyjer Bus

community.post-gazette.com/.../Nyjer-Bus.jpg.aspx

has crashed.

I long for the days when we could just sulk about our beers and pull up Anna Benson's website to cheer us up.  Even though she's gone (and her website is down), we still have these archives I guess reminding us of teh good old days.

www.outsidethebeltway.com/.../anna_benson_photos

It's good therapy when you have a trade you don't like (and for the record, I'm ok with the Captain Morgan and Burny deal).   Just think back to when we turned down Ryan Howard straight up for Kris Benson because we had Big Country Brad Eldred in waiting already.  

Makes every deal we make nowadays feel like a good one.

I'll start getting excited about what the Pirates do when they can actually get talent into the organization that is on par with Albert Pujols and Johan Santana. Until then, I have little reason to believe the choices they make are the best ones.

NuHo,

I'm guessing it's a matter of clearing the deal through the Commissioner's office before making it official.

@3.14 Traynor - What you said about one head-case out, another in from the other thread cracked me up! Who knows, maybe we're getting another Mental Skills Coach, too!

@Paul Alexander's Man Tan - "Stear clear of my section. It will be as vulgar as it is unpleasant."

You need to repaint, you thinner!

@NuHos - " ... once I knew I was getting under your skin I purposefully continued to push it just for fun. I'm sorry.*Fist bump*?"

I've got one more day here ... Forget the fist bump ... I want a hug!

@Maz - Regardless of all the hub-bub surrounding the trades, I's gonna be at the park tonight, watching your namesake jog onto the field with the other Forbes Fielders ... GO PIRATES!

Yinz bleed black and gold?

How can people think Hanrahan is terrible because he's having a bad year, but disregard the fact that Nate McLouth's batting average was down 100 points from June 2008 to June 2009?  

My, what selective statistical analysis we do here.

Yes... but he has the all powerful NH adjective... "power arm".

For me, I am happy with guys who can pitch.  Plus, I thought DK was working on a story about how good the bullpen ( esp Chavez and Burnett) have been this year. Guess we'll never read that.

I have a question, does NUHO like the pitcher exchange?

Bucsking

Hanrahan on a 1 year contract and I think arbitration eligible next season

Well, since I haven't said it yet...

Best of luck to Nyjer & Sean...I wish you were going to a better place; alas, Washington is probably not it.

Welcome to Lastings & Joel...the past is behind you--may you now live up to your potentials.

I just visited the Washington Post site and their fans are complaining that they just picked up a 4th outfielder with no power.  They also think that Milledge is a player that has not tapped into his potential yet.  As far as the pitchers go, they like getting Burnett and they say that Joel Hanrahan could go back to starting which he showed to be much more capable.

could someone recap the following (i must've somehow missed this stuff even though i read every single thing posted on this blog everyday)

1) Doumit and Burnett's problems

2) The candle thing

I haven't read much of the blog comments yet on this trade, but as anyone who has spoken to me recently knows, I am very sorry to see Sean Burnett go.  Very sorry.

Is Milledge coming to the big club or still rehab in AAA?

Bay

have a good time tonight--sorry i couldn't make it up

JHadar

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC PICTURE!

Fortunately, many had leapt off the NyjMo Bus as it careened under .300 and precipitously close to .250 last week. For those of us who were still on it, I'm happy to report that at least some of us made it out when the passing Lastings Milledge Superhero Cape swept us from the burning bus...

JoeBucco - Wasn't Kip Wells for Ryan Howard?

"By the way, the daily game thread and lineups will be pushed back an hour or because of all this stuff."

@ DK   SLACKER :)

I see already that people aren't bothering to look at pre 2009 numbers on Hanrahan.

POH,

I'm not going to put the Doumit & Burnett thing on the internet. - It would be very poor taste.

You can email me if you are that  interested.

Getting anything more than a bag of balls for Morgan is a slam dunk for Neal. On the other hand, I know nothing about Hanrahan but I wonder why they like every pitcher to be an insane flamethrower. Unless Neal's been watching vids of the 1990 NLCS where "Officer" Rob Dibble blew Bonds, Bonilla, and Van Slyke out of the stadium with his 100-mph heat.

@Hoss - "This is one of the few things Neal has done that I like. I want to be excited. Is it a done deal we can take to the bank yet or not????"

Parallel universe ... somehow, it's like Hoss is playing the lead for the remake of "It's a Wonderful Life."

George "NuHo" Bailey looks into his jacket pocket ... "It's Zusu's petals, It's Zusu's petals!"

I knew you could relate to that, Buddy, 'cause it's one of your favorite movies and ... It IS a wonderful life. Aw, I'm gonna start cryin'!! Harry Bailey just showed up.

@ Bay: One could make a career describing the people in Bellevue during "people-watching" activities!

What a busy day it has been. I'll reserve comment on Hanrihan until I learn more about him but some good points have been made regarding how important the defense behind a pitcher is...

Jose

Ya know, I'm suddenly excited about the future. Think about our outfield:

LF--Milledge--tons o'potential

CF--McCutchen--already showing tons o'potential

RF--Moss--not a fantastic year so far, maybe holding a spot for either Tabata or Hernandez).

Everybody bragged last year that the outfield was the best in the majors...this has the chance to be even better.

I don't know about this one.  It's hard for me to stomach this when Morgan for Milledge/Stammen had been floated.  On the other hand, Milledge clearly has a larger upside than Morgan (though also carries considerably more risk).  A straight-up trade of just those two seems like a good risk for the Pirates.  

But I don't understand the Burnett-Hanrahan part of the trade.  People say that Hanrahan has all sorts of potential, but he's 27 and has yet to really live up to that (stats below) -- it seems to me that Burnett is worth considerably more than Hanrahan.

www.cbssports.com/.../448935

Remember Burnett's reaction to Nate's trade (burning the candle) and NH's comments about it? Coincidence that he is now gone?

Hang in there, Capn ... JAL, sorry to have missed you, too. Another time ... meanwhile we blog on as brothers. I'm outta here ... getting ready for the game.

this is EXACTLY the kind of trade huntington needs to be making:  textbook selling high and buying low.  

nyjer seems like a great guy and all but anyone who thinks his ceiling is much more than what he's shown here is kidding themselves.  milledge is coming off injury and has "attitude" questions but put up very solid numbers in his first full year in the bigs and has 5-tool ability.  this is exactly the kind of player the bucs should take a chance on

neutral on hanrahan for burnett but don't particularly mind it either

Hanrahan = Tyler Yates

Doc,

I am almost as happy with the pitcher exchange as I am with the Morgan for Milledge exchange.

I'll trade a soft tossing finesse guy for a power arm every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

IMO all the trades Neal has made until now have always been questionable in terms of whether the Bucs came out ahead.

Not this time. IMO Neal did great.

Regardless of how this turns out 2 or 3 or 4 years down the road, I support Neal on this trade and would have made it myself if I were in his shoes.

Its too dangerous in here today, so I'm gonna keep quiet, stick under the bed, and once in a while post this:

Bucco Nation (38 States in the Union)

Still looking for inmates from the following:

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming, thanks to coreybower for knocking Tennessee off the list

We do have 8 countries represented: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Phillipines, Scotland and lest I forget, the good old USA

What lefty will take over for Burnett?  When did Veal go down, I think DK told us max time in rehab is 30 days.

Hanrahan had the closer role, then lost it, had it again, then lost it.  His ERA is over 7 in 32 IP.  He throws hard, and has some good stuff.  He did have the closer role last year at the end.

Nats won't cut Hanrahan just yet: The Washington Post reports that Nationals RP Joel Hanrahan, who has allowed eight earned runs in his last 2 2/3 innings, would be pitching in the minors if he had options remaining, but the Nationals aren't going to cut him just yet.

(Updated 06/29/2009).

Forget it... just send him to the Buccos for a productive LH reliever :)

@ NuHo

You've sent my world spinning off its axis with your approval of a move from the FO.  What's next, a big hug for Bob Nutting?

IMO, this is a very good move.  Trade Nyjer at the peak of whatever value he may have for slightly-damaged but still extremely talented goods in Milledge.  Picking up Hanrahan for a broken-down former #1 in Burnett is just the gravy on top of the french fries.

NUHO HAPPY , NO WAY :)

OUR LINEUP AFTER DOUMIT GETS BACK

Millege LF

Sanchez 2b

Amac  CF

Doumit C

AD Laroche 1b

An Laroche 3b

D young RF

J Wilson ss

We now have 2/3rds of an outfield we can build around for years and one I think fans can truly be excited about.

Come August or September....

Milledge - LF

McCutchen - CF

is an excellent start.

Now what we need is a Lefty McThump kind of guy in RF.

Fighting H

Milledge is still on rehab but about ready to start playing--will certainly not join the team immediately--probably start in Indy and play back into shape.

I agree with what NutHo is saying.

The reality is, the only person in this trade with any star potential is Milledge, and he's coming, not going.

If he flames out, well, what did we really give up?  

For those who don't like the trade from on OF perspective, imagine you woke up tomorrow and found out that:

"Pirates trade Jose Tabata for Juan Pierre"

How would you feel about that deal?

Also, with Hanrahan, keep in mind that Chavez wasnt exactly having that much success before this season.  Big time power arms in the pen who dont walk a lot of guys, tend to figure it out more often than not.

Will someone please post Hanrahan's stats for those of us who missed the first twenty times?

No, it was Kris (and Anna, which I think was deal-breaker) for Howard, straight up.  Try saying that out loud without laughing, I challenge you.   Can't be done.

Baywatch,

Maybe Neal just got his wings.....

;-)

John Perotto's position on this (from his tweeter): "This deal is a steal, on pure talent terms for the Pirates. Milledge is better than Morgan and Hanrahan is better than Burnett."

@JogginGeorge - "Remember Burnett's reaction to Nate's trade (burning the candle) and NH's comments about it? Coincidence that he is now gone?"

"Koomba Ya, Lord, Koomba ya. Oh, Lord. Koomba ya."

EVERYBODY SING IT WITH ME ...

"Someone's praying, Lord. Koomba Ya ..."

On a related note: I was all set to predict a bomb by Garrett Anderson if he made it in time for tonight's game ... then I realized they're throwing the lefty Lilly ... then I realized it's Garrett Jones and not Anderson ...

NOT INSANE, NOT INSANE! CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!

Honest to God , you would think we gave up Clemente and Cy Young to read comments here. Nyjer is a fun, great person, yes, but has displayed nothing that equates to  a starting OF.  Milledge is  a person with major potential, these are the type of players you take a chance on. Burnett is solid out of the pen, but a lefty middle reliever DOES NOT put us in the playoff hunt anytime soon. Obviously he was demanded in the return on this trade. Hinske provided ZERO this year, it is July. Take the prospects and run...nothing lost at all here.  

Mr. Bishop,

Your read on this deal is exactly the same as mine.

No hugs, but a nod to Nealboy along with an "attaboy".

Maybe he finally has his act together?

We all need to remember that you need to sell high and buy low.  These two players are not all-stars, not even close, but they are playing the best of their careers thus far.  I do not expect either of them to be like this long term because they do not have that kind of potential.

Now we are buying low on players with high celling.  Will they pan out, maybe not, but they have potential that Burnett and Morgan do not and they right now they have similar effectiveness.

This is a trade that has perfect intentions, and needs to be done to push the PBC forward.

Daryle-There is no way Cutch is not leading off.They will not change that for at least this year.So you can flip AMac and thoroughly modern Milledge.

Just a bit sorry to see Burny go.  As for the deal what's good for the team works for me.

Veal was sent down retroactive to May 31st.

He will need to be on the 25 man or will fly home w/ the Cubbies, I think it will be a $50k flight, in that case.

Any word from Cave Bonifield ... with Nyjer's departure, I don't know ... Cave, don't throw in the towel, man. It's just a thang.

What's the opposit of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?"

I convinced my wife to go to last night's game (it was the lure of "all you can eat" seats).  It was the first game all year I was able to get her to, now it will probably be another year before she forgets about last night and comes to the park again.

The Pirates' offense was PATHETIC!

Who cares if LM is a nutjob?  What's going to happen?  The Pirates will be in last place in the Central and get destroyed by every team in that division?

Fantasy Baseball Alert - Anyone picking up Sean Burnett as the new Nats closer for the week?  Nobody else wants the gig.

I always got worried when Burnett came in in close situations. He had a tendency to give up the long ball. I won't miss him.

I always called Burnett "Bill Carson", because he reminded me of the guy in the 'The Good The Bad & The Ugly'. All he needed was an eye patch and he would have been a dead ringer.

I know I panned the deal on Saturday, but I actually have moved to being pro-Milledge. Yes, he's a headcase.

But he does have potential, and he may grow out of his immaturity. Plus, if he does get good again, he will be decent trade bait for when we have Tabata & Gorkys out there.

And best of all, Hinske's departure opens up a spot for Garrett Jones, who could legitimately take over right field permanently.

Dejan says done deal

What I really like is that we actually have some good OF depth down through the system now.

Think with Hernandez, McCutchen, Milledge, Tabata, to a lesser extent Moss, and Grossman, if these guys develop, we actually have a position of strength which we will be able to deal from when these guys start to mature.  

Infield still needs some work, but the OF appears to be set for the future, and hopefully 2/4 of the infield spots are with AnLaroche and Alvarez.

NuHo,

It's a start.  We all have to take baby steps.

IRT your Lefty McThump in RF, can we, for the time being, pencil Brandon Moss in there and see how he turns out?  He's not the 30 HR a year guy you or I would like to see, but if he continues to show gap power for 2Bs and can hit maybe 10 HR the rest of the way out, that's not terrible, is it?

Hanrahan pitched OK last year when he became closer, but struggled big-time this year.  It's getting hard-throwers again regardless if they can get people out.  Like with Milledge though, we obviously wouldn't be able to acquire them if they weren't struggling.  

Speed/power combo guys and 95 mph relievers that are doing well don't get dealt easily.  So, of course they're not doing good at the time of the deal.  Washington certainly would not have done this deal in the off-season (after the end of last year).    

We're getting more talent in the deal.  That's for sure.  In a couple of years, Milledge will either establish himself as a solid regular or be gone altogether.  Guys with attitude issues usually don't last as bench players.  Morgan will either be a bench player or at AAA anyway.  Morgan is not enough of a threat with the bat to get pitched around enough to draw the walks needed to get around the fact that he's not much of a threat with the bat (if that makes sense).  

I think Milledge for Morgan is an obvious yes (for me).  I'm not sure about Burnett for Hanrahan.  At some point, you need to stop looking at how hard they throw and look at whether they can get anyone out.  We're collecting hard-throwers with the assumption that we can teach them to pitch.  I'm not sure that's the best strategy, but we'll see.  

Plus, with Yates and Hansen and now Hanrahan, how can you squeeze them all on the 25-man roster when healthy.  Maybe the assumptions is that if you get three guys like this, then maybe one will pan out and make it worth it.  

Does getting Hanrahan start leading us towards a Capps deal?  I don't mean now, but down the road if one of these 95 mph guys starts getting people out and looks like a possible replacement.    

What on earth were the Nats thinking with this deal?

Is Littlefield working there these days?

Delwyn Young might be good trade bait to an AL team.No glove/singles hitter.34 hits-28 singles.Possibly(statistically)one of the worst RF in the majors.

@Maz - "Thoroughly Modern Milledge."

Maz ... you take the cake with that one! Maybe the problem everywhere else has been people are trying to make him out to be Mary Poppins.

STEP IN TIME!

Mad - "Just a bit sorry to see Burny go.  As for the deal what's good for the team works for me."

Here, here, Maz! That works for me, too.

Wegone,

Sheriff

ANTS MARCHING =============================

Thumbs up on this trade, IMO.

Not only is this a great buy low sell high trade, but we got the best player in the deal too.  I don't care if Milledge never reaches his full potential, he is still most likely the better baseball player and definitely more talented at this exact moment.  And when you get the best player in the deal, you more often than not win the trade and improve your club.

How awesome is it for Nyjer Morgan to have done this well for himself with such a late/rocky start to his career?  It's really a credence to his effort.

The Nationals are desperate for pitching, us for power hitting.  A good trade if Milledge matures.

Plus we have Western Psych in our backyard, if needed!

Ants march ... IT IS FINISHED. Ho c'est corpus meum.

NuHo--do you think, with Milledge's upgrade in power over Morgan, that Lefty McThump may come at 1B, then someone like Tabata (who has some power) in RF?

I read Hanrahans WHIP 1.96 and got to admit i came to the conclusion his walks were high, he has walked 14 in 33 innings, not horrible. His hits allowed and ERA are still high but the NATS defense is horrible, ours isnt.

           I am gaining otimism the more i research this.

I posted this last night very late.

RF: Last year Xavier Nady rated 5.6 in 82 starts. The two players who started most of the remaining games, Michaels and Steve Pearce, were below average (-2.6) and terrible (-29.8), respectively. This year, Moss ranks first in MLB in right at 24.0. Of the others who’ve played there, Eric Hinske is almost exactly average (-0.5) and Craig Monroe was awful (-23.9). Neal Huntington’s recent comment that Delwyn Young is “average” may be true if you compare him to the general population, but among actual rightfielders his UZR/150 is -17.6.

Hey, where are all those silly people from this morning who thought the Hinske deal was a"great trade"??????

They need to be paying attention now because this truly is a great trade.

The Gray Men all agree that this trade is super duper!  Burn your avatars to show your support!

Gotta love a trade that gets you a guy that can't make it to meetings....and a reliever with an ERA on the other side of 7.

THIS is the regime that will finally send this franchise down the tubes forever.

The GMs around the league love trading with Neil Huntington. They can get our best players for low level minor league unproven talent and major league throwaways. Neil Huntington has not made one good baseball trade since taking over for Littlefield. Neil is a salary dumper and one of the worst GMs in baseball history.

Jefft,

Eventually Alvarez will be a Lefty McThump at either 1B or 3B, but we need one more in RF IMO.

Let me put it this way......IMO when you look at LF / RF / 1B / 3B.......my personal philosophy is that ideally you would like 2 righty power bats and 2 lefty power bats to balance a lineup.

Word on the street is Capps just lit candles on two cupcakes in mourning.  Then devoured both :(

Mr. Bishop,

I'm not all that crazy about the Moss idea. - I mean he has 1 stinkin HR.

Maybe platoon he and Young for awhile?

Especially given that Andy isn't going yard all that often either and Adam will be gone soon.

We need to find a young Lefty McThump for RF eventually.

Lots of talk about Milledge's mental stability - I'd say immature and somewhat unaware of the traditions of MLB.  He came up at age 21 into the madhouse that is NY, had a decent rookie season (pi$$ing off some of the veterans in the process) and then got hurt, traded to the Natinals (that had to hurt worse, IMO) and had trouble adjusting.  

He's coming to the Bucs with a clean slate - no drug or criminal activity, just a clubhouse rep - and has legitimate star potential.  Someone said he's buds with Cutch, and that can't hurt.  

I hope for Nyjer every bit of good fortune he can find; he's performed  far beyond my expectations and added a great attitude to the clubhouse.  

Jefft - last year we had one of the best HITTING outfields in the majors, thanks to one fairly consistent power bat (Bay) and two guys having career years (Nate, Nady). The flip side of that is they were one of the worst defensive outfields in the majors, reflected in the horrid ERA of the pitching staff.

2 things:

1) Morgan for Milledge good.  Burnett for Hanrahan we'll see.  Hanrahan pitched well last year, and it could just be a case of a bad year (this year) and a terrible team.  Like I said, we'll see.

2) Check out John Rauch's picture in his ESPN player profile:

sports.espn.go.com/.../profile

I may need to change the avatar.........

mazfromiowa wrote: "Maybe the Bucs were unhappy with Burney and Nyjers hat wearing styles.   ;-)"

LOL, That was my first thought.

herb

We traded some of our best players?  Eric Hinske, Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett?  None of those players is in the top 5 in any relevant category for us.  Get a clue.

The Nady trade was an absolute steal.

The Nate trade was a great trade for the Pirates.

The Nyjer trade is a fabulous trade for us.

Hinkse was worth nothing, and got us some players. That's a good trade.

@ macsinthebox

His WHIP was 1.36 last year so I really think that this is just a case of a bad season on a bad team.  Maybe the PBC will be some fresh air to him (I mean face it, the PBC IS BETTER than the Nats).  

I liked Burnett in that he is a lefty and can get people out (and really would've liked him to stay in the pen), but if that's the price to maybe get a stud OFr, then so be it.

Neal and Frank making the sequel to the 1993 Sylvester Stallone/Wesley Snipes boxoffice hit: "Demolition MEN"

BLOW IT UP! BLOE IT UP!

@ BAB

YOU JUST SAID IT ALL MY FRIEND, GREAT JOB, PEOPLE NEED TO START GIVING MANAGEMENT SOME KUDOS, I MEAN MILLEGE FOR MORGAN, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS, O YEAH AND A PITCHER WITH ELECTRIC STUFF AND THAT WILL FIT WELL WITH OUR PARK...YESSSSSSSSSS AGAIN

Just an observation, the Pirates have one guy with a 2:1 K:BB ratio (barely with Zach Duke at 54:26).  We could be down zero after Duke's next start.  I looked at other teams in the division.  The Brewers have 8, the Cubs, Reds, and Astros have 7, and the Cardinals have 6.  Again, the Pirates have 1.  It's just an observation.  It's a mix of guys who walk too many hitters with some of the starting pitchers having low strikeout rates.

Also, it seems like our best pitchers so far (Duke, Maholm, formerly Burnett) are the guys who don't throw all that hard.

okay, I'm marching for good this time...

ANTS MARCHING ========================

You cannot consistently win having to string five singles or three doubles together.  It's a risk worth taking to trade a talented non-HR hitting athlete for the chance to put 25 HRs in left field.  It may not pan out, but last night's loss showed that we need more three-run homers on this team.

Sammy you hit it.  That is why this team struggles to score at times.

As to pitching earlier this year people asked DK if he saw this staff to continue to have success and he always commented that it will be tough because they don't have pitchers that strike guys out.

Sammy you hit it.  That is why this team struggles to score at times.

As to pitching earlier this year people asked DK if he saw this staff to continue to have success and he always commented that it will be tough because they don't have pitchers that strike guys out.

If this trade was made last year everybody would have been very happy about it. Don't let this years stats dominate your opinion of this trade. It is the type of trade that needs to happen in order for a team like the Pirates to substain winning for any amount of time.

If this trade was made last year most people would have been very happy. Don't let this years stats control how you feel about this trade. This is the type of trade a team like the Pirates need to make in order to compete for any length of time.