Ah it’s officially July 31. 16 hours to go until the non-waiver MLB trade deadline is complete. With the Pirates in the thick of things in the National League Central, they are buyers. After acquiring Wandy Rodriguez last week for Rudy Owens, Robbie Grossman and Colton Cain, the attention has shifted to a bat for the Pirates.
The need has especially been a concern after their back-to-back embarrassing losses at the hands of the lowly Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs. The competition has gotten better as the Reds are rumored to get Matt Garza from the Cubs and the Braves have swung a deal for Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson. I’m a firm believer that before the deadline, the Pirates will get their bat that fans have clamored for and also a bench player.
Now we’ve seen the prices for Shin-Soo Choo, Hunter Pence and the like all be through the roof with everyone wanting Starling Marte. While I’m not opposed to parting with Marte or Jameson Taillon for that matter at all, I think there is one guy on the team who holds more trade value.
Joel Hanrahan.
Please, forward the harsh words to @MichaelWaterloo on Twitter.
Now I know, ESPN predictor has Hanrahan as the front-runner for the NL Cy Young award right now (not that I agree with that) and yes, he does lead the league in saves. But both of those are reasons to strike now.
I’ve been all in on the trade Hanrahan talk since last July. It’s the simple fact that teams overpay at the deadline for closers. The Rangers received Mike Adams from the Padres last year, the Padres received two top prospects for a setup man. The A’s received Josh Reddick and two other prospects for Andrew Bailey from the Red Sox. There are more contenders this year and with that, more teams are going to need a closer.
Now to me, saves are the most overrated stat in baseball. People say that is that closers mentality and I half buy that. Sure they have to put aside what happened the day before and go out there with a clean slate, but that’s with every player. Saying the final three outs in the game are the toughest to get is preposterous in my book.
Building a bullpen is the easiest thing to do in baseball. The Pirates have one of the top bullpens in baseball, but they are mostly career castoffs or young players in the system. With that being said, getting rid of Hanrahan will be easy to fix.
If getting a save is that hard, why do the Pirates have six different guys that have recorded one? I’ve heard the argument that getting rid of your closer mid-season will throw everything off. I understand that argument, but I don’t accept it. The Pirates have two guys right now that could step into that role.
The first and most obvious candidate is Jason Grilli.
Let’s do a little player comparison here.
Player A – 2.18 ERA, 43 games, 41.1 IP, 24 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 5 HR, 21 BB, 47 K, .167 AVG, 1.09 WHIP
Player B – 1.86 ERA, 41 games, 38.2 IP, 23 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 4 HR, 17 BB, 60 K, .169 AVG, 1.03 WHIP
Player A is Hanrahan while B is Grilli. If the Pirates were to trade Hanrahan, Grilli is more than capable to fill that role.
The next concern with Hanrahan is that he is arbitration eligible at the end of the year. The estimate for him at his hearing is $8.6-$9 for next season. For a small market club, the Pirates can’t afford to pay a closer that type of money. With shelling out that money, you commit to that closer. Closers have small shelf lives throughout the years unless your name is Mariano Rivera.
But Grilli is a free agent at the end of the year also. First, he loves it here and would be a lot less expensive to re-sign. There is however, that chance that Grilli cashes in at 36 for the final time in his career and I couldn’t say I blame him. With that being said, let’s introduce another option for the Pirates and that’s Brad Lincoln.
Lincoln has been great a reliever this year. He has a 2-0 record with a .50 ERA (the lowest in baseball) only surrendering two earned runs with an unreal WHIP of .841. I’ve echoed this throughout the year that if Clint Hurdle has his way, Lincoln will the be the future closer of this team.
In fact, last week when the media met with Clint Hurdle before one of their games against the Cubs, Hurdle was asked if Lincoln has the stuff to be a closer. Hurdle responded with, “As soon as I say yes, then it’s going to be ‘Joel Hanrahan is going to get traded’ so that’s how I’m answering the question.”
Lincoln has the stuff to close in the future. I’d prefer if that were next year and not this year, but I would still be comfortable with him in there this season.
Now what could you get for Hanrahan? Grant Brisbee of SB Nation suggests two Major League bats. That would work for the Pirates. However, what could also work is sending Hanrahan off for a high-touted prospect in a three-team deal and being able to land Choo or Pence without mortgaging your future.
Brisbee put it best when he said a Pirates team with Choo on it is a much better team than with Hanrahan on it.
Will it happen? Most likely not, but it’s the move that the Pirates should make.
Photo Credits: Associated Press
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