By Dejan Kovacevic | 4:27 p.m. Tuesday
Shortstop Jack Wilson questioned the Nyjer Morgan/Sean Burnett trade, one of several players -- again -- palpably bothered by one of general manager Neal Huntington's moves that removes from the current team.
"The bottom line is, even if this trade does work out, it's not going to matter to 80 percent of the people in here," Wilson said. "And over the years, these trades haven't worked. Show me the ones that have worked."
Wilson described himself as "beyond, beyond tired" of such moves.
"We know that they're looking to the future, which doesn't say much about 2009," he continued. "That's probably what's so shocking. We're five games out, and we lost two or three of our everyday players. That's what hits us the most. You can understand if it's the end of July. You see that stuff coming. ... They're businessmen. They're trying to achieve winning baseball in Pittsburgh. The biggest question is: When is that going to be. When do things start turning around? It's just hard for guys who have been here and seen these exact same trades happen and seen it absolutely do nothing. I've been here nine years. I've seen these trades 2 or 3 times a year every year and still haven't had a winning season. You hope, eventually, some of these trades will work out. It's just they haven't yet. They think they're getting deals they can't pass up. I guess. I guess. I guess. Whatever."
On Morgan, specifically, Wilson said: "What you saw on the field wasn't even close to what he brought to the team. That's the type of player, guys those type of caliber, like Jason Bay, Nate McLouth ..."
Audio of Wilson is here.
Adam LaRoche, on the same topic: "It's not our job to understand the big plan, I guess. We've got to do the same thing we did after Nate left, try to keep it together. It's kind of our job as the veteran guys to find the positive in this."
Andrew McCutchen, Morgan's longtime friend: "Yeah, man, you almost want to cry. This [stinks], man. You know, it's a business. It's a a great loss to lose someone like this. Not just on the field, but off the field as well. It's great to have someone like that beside you. There's nobody who can replace what he can do off the field."
Other news related to the two trades today:
> Outfielder Jeff Salazar, pictured at right, will come up tomorrow from Class AAA Indianapolis to take Morgan's place, though the team will not announce that until then. The Pirates will play a man short tonight against the Cubs. This is Salazar's official page.
> Reliever Joel Hanrahan will join the Pirates' bullpen immediately, but outfielder Lastings Milledge will be assigned to the Pirates' rehabilitation program in Bradenton, Fla., "for a week to 10 days," according to Huntington, then to Indianapolis. He will be summoned to Pittsburgh "if he performs," Huntington said. "He'll show us."
> Huntington, on Milledge's many off-field problems: "With maturity and the proper guidance, he was a chance we're willing to take."
> Huntington said the Pirates tried to get Eric Fryer -- from the Eric Hinske trade -- while he was in the Milwaukee system last year. They liked him then as a catcher and, even though he has played almost entirely left field this season. They plan to put him back behind the plate.
> Casey Erickson, the other Class A prospect in the Hinske trade, is a groundball type with four pitches, so the Pirates are weighing moving him to a starting role.
> The 40-man will be full with Salazar's addition.
UPDATE 5:09 p.m.: Huntington, on the players' reaction: "The reality is, anytime you take away one of their friends, you take two or three away in a short period of time, it's unsettling. The human element of the game is something we can't ignore. But our goal is to put an excellent team on the field and not just a bunch of nice guys out there. We hope to put talented people that are very good people, as well. Every move we make is to try to get this team back on a winning track."
Burnett, the Pirates' first-round draft pick in 2000, acknowledged crying upon hearing the news: "It's tough. This is all I know. I know everybody in the organization, from Pirate City up to here. There have been some tears already. They stuck with me through a lot of years, when I was hurt and rehabbing. I really appreciate that. ... You can tell that the front office has a plan, has their own idea of building a team. It doesn't fit the picture, I guess, that most fans or us players have. But players have no say. They've made some tough moves here the past couple of weeks. Today was a complete shock for me. But I guess it's a new road ahead."
Morgan was emotional, too, exchanging intense embraces every which way he turned: "I definitely loved going to war with these boys here. It's unfortunate that I have to go. But that's part of business." ... He was asked what the future holds for the Pirates: "It's kind of hard to tell. I thought I was going to be here a little while, me and Cutch. The M&M boys, we were about to do it. But it's not going to happen."
Posted
Jun 30 2009, 04:27 PM
by
Dejan Kovacevic