Pirates’ GM made the right deals
PITTSBURGH – Sometimes it seems that Neal Huntington is doomed to be criticized for anything he does as the Pirates’ general manager. And while Huntington certainly shouldn’t be immune from taking some heat as the Pirates are further from winning at the major-league level than they were when he arrived nearly three years ago, the ridicule he is taking in some circles for tearing apart his club’s bullpen is unwarranted.
Really, exactly what did the Pirates lose by trading closer Octavio Dotel, left-hander Javier Lopez and right-hander D.J. Carrasco, and releasing Brendan Donnelly? All four are journeymen pitching for a team with the worst record in the National League who were most likely not going to be asked back next season.
Dotel did a solid job by converting 21-of-25 save opportunities but his 4.28 ERA in 41 appearances did not draw comparisons to Mariano Rivera. Moreover, James McDonald, one of two players acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the trade for the closer, provided more excitement and hope for the future in one electrifying start this past Thursday night against Colorado than Dotel did in four months.
Lopez was good with a 2.79 ERA in 50 appearances. However, he also pitched just 38 1/3 innings in those 50 games, as his primary duty was to get left-handed hitters out. A team as bad as the Pirates doesn’t have the luxury of carrying a left-on-left pitcher in the bullpen.
Many scouts consider the two players the Pirates received from San Francisco for Lopez to be “4A” players, too good for Class AAA but not good enough for the major leagues. If right-hander Joe Martinez or first baseman/outfielder John Bowker make contributions in the future then it will have been a good trade.
Carrasco made a positive contribution with his 3.88 ERA in 55 games and pitched in a variety of bullpen roles. However, he was also clearly unhappy with the Pirates because he felt he should have been given an opportunity to start and then went public with his desire to be traded.
The Pirates packaged Carrasco with two other expendable players, infielder Bobby Crosby and outfielder Ryan Church, in a trade with Arizona. They got back catcher Chris Snyder, who is a major upgrade defensively, and minor-leaguer Pedro Ciriaco, who could be the starting shortstop next season.
The Pirates tried to trade Donnelly and found no takers for a 39-year-old who compiled a 5.58 ERA and walked 7.3 batters per nine innings. Those were release-worthy numbers, regardless of his role as a team leader, which on a club assured of an 18th-straight losing season is the equivalent of being the captain of the Titanic.
Most importantly, the Pirates still have their two best relievers, Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan. The hard throwers should form an effective closer/set-up combination, regardless of what roles they ultimately fill.
While adding Chan Ho Park to the new-look bullpen is difficult to grasp, the Pirates can’t be faulted for trading off some of the parts of their relief corps.
After all, a good bullpen doesn’t mean anything when a team so rarely has a lead to protect.
Herald-Standard sports correspondent John Perrotto is editor-in-chief of BaseballProspectus.com