By Dejan Kovacevic | 11:34 a.m. Wednesday
The Pirates' clubhouse is abuzz with word that a trade involving first baseman Adam LaRoche is imminent, and this is the reason the lineup has taken so long to get posted this morning.
That said, LaRoche is hitting in the indoor cage as I type this, and he probably will play this afternoon.
No word on a potential destination or anything like that just yet.
More as it comes, obviously.
UPDATE 11:47 a.m.: LaRoche is not in the lineup just posted.
11:58 a.m.: Word is that a LaRoche trade already is done, but this is unconfirmed. It also has not been denied by anyone with the team, either.
12:02 p.m.: Speculation among baseball people here from other teams is that LaRoche has been traded to the San Francisco Giants. Again, I stress, unconfirmed.
12:12 p.m.: LaRoche has been traded to the Boston Red Sox. No word on return yet. Still no official word of any kind from the team.
12:46 p.m.: Strange, but LaRoche is still sitting in the Pirates' dugout during the game. Hard to tell if he has a uniform on because he is wearing a jacket over the jersey, but he is wearing a Pirates cap. Could be that the Pirates are awaiting paperwork to be completed.
1:02 p.m.: Scouts in the seats are talking about how Jack Wilson may be involved in something, too. This is enormously unconfirmed, and it runs counter to information I have. But thought I would share. Do not take it for anything more than what the sentence actually says.
1:07 p.m.: The Pirates will receive two prospects, shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland, from Boston, according to the radio station WEEI in that city.
1:13 p.m.: Here are reference pages for Diaz and Strickland. Remember, these players coming here has not been independently confirmed.
1:18 p.m.: It is independently confirmed that it is Diaz and Strickland, thanks to the miracle of text messaging. Still no official announcement from the Pirates.
1:39 p.m.: Wilson absolutely, positively is not involved.
2:04 p.m.: More on Diaz, pictured at right: He is 22, bats right-handed and is batting .253 for Class AA Portland, with 14 doubles, one triple, no home runs and 24 RBIs in 76 games. His career average is .273, and his power output has been consistently low along. But Diaz is much better known for his defensive potential, which is rated as "plus-plus," in scouting terminology, and that is excellent. He occasionally struggles with the routine play -- 23 errors this season will support that -- but his range, arm and other facets are viewed as highly promising. Plus, baseball people always stress that errors in the minors do not make for much of an indicator, good or bad.
2:07 p.m.: And on Strickland, pictured at right: He is 20, is right-handed, 6 feet, 5 inches and has a fairly ordinary arm - fastball in the 88-90 mph range - but his results have been solid early in his professional career: He has a 3.67 overall ERA, including 3.35 to go with a 5-4 record for high Class A Greenville. He has 51 strikeouts, 13 walks in 83 1/3 innings.
2:20 p.m.: The prorated remainder of LaRoche's $7.05 million salary for this season is $2.95 million, which is how much the Pirates will keep if the Red Sox assume the whole cost. That probably will be the case, but that is not yet confirmed.
2:29 p.m.: Steve Pearce was just pulled out of Class AAA Indianapolis' game for a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning, even though he was the DH. He is the most logical choice to come up and support Garrett Jones at first base. Also, Lastings Milledge is not playing. Perhaps both of those come up, and Jeff Salazar goes back. This also would explain why John Russell just allowed Joel Hanrahan to bat for himself rather than using Salazar. If Salazar gets hurt, he stays on the major league DL.
Posted
Jul 22 2009, 11:34 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic