The MLB non-waiver trade deadline is on Wednesday at 4pm. Most think the Pittsburgh Pirates need to trade for a right fielder or first baseman to ensure that this team will be playing meaningful baseball well into September and hopefully October. Most would be wrong.
Let’s face it, there is no sure way to guarantee the Pirates make the playoffs, but there is a way to put the team in the best position possible to make that run. The Pirates fell apart in 2011 and 2012 down the stretch.
What made the Pirates good (dare I say great) for stretches of those two seasons?
The answer–pitching!
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Team ERA Comparisons
2013 Pre All-Star- 3.07 (1st) 2013 Post All-Star- ???
2012 Pre All-Star- 3.47 (4th) Post All-Star- 4.29 (13th)
2011 Pre All-Star- 3.44 (5th) Post All-Star- 4.78 (14th)
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The last two trade deadlines, management has made attempts in upgrading the offense to make for a more well-rounded ballclub. That approach has yet to work, as the Pirates pitching has tremendously faltered the past two seasons. The Pirates need to take a strength and make it an even bigger strength.
Upgrade the pitching. Whether it is before the non-waiver deadline or the waiver deadline (Aug. 31), the Pirates should make a move to upgrade their starting staff and bullpen.
Make no mistake about it, the Pirates have not been great on offense in 2013. The team leaves too many runners on base, lacks production from first base and right field and could use more production from second base and their bench.
Those are all facts, but in all honesty, who says that the biggest concern is scoring more runs? The biggest concern should be continuing to allow the same amount of runs this staff has to this point. Sustaining their MLB leading 3.09 ERA is going to be a tall task with over 30 percent of the season yet to be played.
There are several unproven track records on the Pirates pitching staff. All of the Pirates pitchers have had great seasons to this point, but many are either due for a regression or have unproven track records.
No one can predict how Gerrit Cole or Jeff Locke will perform throughout the remainder of 2013. No one can predict if Francisco Liriano will continue to pitch like its 2010. There are truly two known commodities on the starting staff, A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez, with the latter being injured currently.
Now, the same cannot be said for some offensive players who have not performed up to standards as of yet. Garrett Jones and Neil Walker actually have under-performed compared to their career stats. If I was a betting man, I’d say the chances of Jones and Walker picking their numbers up are better than Charlie Morton, Gerrit Cole, Jeff Locke and Francisco Liriano continuing to pitch out of their minds.
The Pirates stockpiled starting pitching in the offseason and have been reaping the benefits of having legitimate depth all season long. This past offseason, the Pirates signed Francisco Liriano and Jonathan Sanchez, traded for Jeanmar Gomez and resigned free agents Jeff Karstens and Charlie Morton.
Now this is not to say the Pirates could not or should not entertain the idea of adding a bat. It should not take much in prospects to land an Alex Rios or Nate Schierholtz type of player. Depending on how big of an upgrade the Pirates would make to the rotation, Gregory Polanco and Jameson Taillon could be saved from being traded.
If the Pirates go all-in and trade for a Cliff Lee-type pitcher, say goodbye to one of those two.
Starting pitchers believed to be available:
– Cliff Lee, Phillies
– Jake Peavy, White Sox
– Jeff Samardzija, Cubs
– Bud Norris, Astros
– Ervin Santana, Royals
– Kyle Lohse, Brewers
– Yovani Gallardo, Brewers
Yes, the Pirates would be faced with an abundance of starters if they made a trade for another, but with over 30 percent of the season remaining, a team can never have too many reliable, major league pitchers, especially when one or multiple starters on a team have question marks next to their career stats.
Before being traded to the Rangers, the Pirates were interested in Matt Garza, which leads me to believe the Pirates would like to upgrade their pitching. As of now, it seems as if former Giants closer Brian Wilson is a target.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, Wilson has narrowed his search down to three teams, the Pirates being one of them.
There has been a direct correlation between the Pirates being a good baseball team and their pitching ranking in the top five in ERA. Like most teams, the Pirates are good when they get sustained, reliable pitching.
Over the past few seasons in which the Pirates have been respectable, it has been despite their hitting and because of their pitching.
Upgrade the pitching, it wins championships, ask the San Francisco Giants.
