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Three Pirates things to ponder

By John Perrotto for The 2 min read
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Three thoughts on the Pirates:

1. Small trades should add up

Teams that win the offseason or the trading deadline usually don’t win a championship.

Ask the San Diego Padres, the darlings of last winter, who entered the weekend eight games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

Instead, pennant-winning teams are ones who already possess a strong core group of players then are complemented by smaller moves.

That is exactly how general manager Neal Huntington has assembled the Pirates’ roster. He did not make any splash moves leading up to Friday’s non-waiver deadline but he made transactions that should help.

He quickly moved to fill injury-created holes in the starting rotation and infield by acquiring Seattle Mariners left-hander J.A. Happ and Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

Huntington also bolstered the bullpen by acquiring right-handers Joakim Soria of the Detroit Tigers and Joe Blanton of the Kansas City Royals, and the bench by getting right-hander hitting first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A team with a roster already good enough to make a World Series is a little bit better than it was 10 days ago.

2. Good night/bad news

Here is one scout’s evaluation of Morse:

“He has value because he can come off the bench and pop you a home run. He’s terrible defensively, though. He’s the second-worst first baseman in the major leagues behind (the Pirates’ Pedro) Alvarez.”

So, the Morse glass is either half full or half empty.

One other positive for Morse is that he is one of the most well-liked players in the game by both his teammates and the media.

3. Righting a wrong

One of the worst moves Huntington has made in his nearly eight years as GM was signing outfielder Jose Tabata to a six-year, $15-million contract extension late in the 2010 season.

However, give Huntington credit for creativity in swapping one bad contract for another when he shipped Tabata, who is owed $4.5 million next season, to the Dodgers for Morse, who has an $8.5-million salary next season.

Even if Morse proves to be just an adequate reserve, it will turn out to be a win for the Pirates.

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