Comments on: The Rays Demonstrate What the Pirates Need to Achieve

By: indybucfan

indybucfan — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:40:00 +0000

The draft pick was for Sanchez. I loved the moves. Would Lincoln have gotten this return a year ago? He’s done well in the role he was put in, but arguably, we may have the same type of pitcher waiting in AAA in Bryan Morris who I would like to see. I’m not crazy about Qualls. I would’ve rather seen Morris brought up, but bullpen guys seem to come here and turn it around, so I’ll trust Neal on this.

By: szielinski

szielinski — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 03:01:00 +0000

MLB is an effed up economy. The Yankees draft and trade poorly, Cashman gets the OK to sign a future HOFer. The Rays, Reds, Pirates….

By: szielinski

szielinski — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 02:58:00 +0000

A soundly argued, sensible, realistic and well-written article. I’m sure the Smizikastanis coughed up fur balls the moment they began to read it.

By: John Lease

John Lease — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:34:00 +0000

Well, this is all opinion. It might work out that this was the way to go, and it might not, too. This genius front office took Robinzon Diaz over Jose Bautista, so not all moves are golden. The price for Shane Victorino was the same price for Snider, except that he makes a LOT more money. I’d rather have Victorino. 19 straight losing seasons doesn’t equate to great management. No one thought THIS team would contend like this. Best case I saw them hanging around in a weak Central, maybe 5-6 games over .500 tops. That doesn’t mean trading Taillon for a rental, but something better than other teams AAAA guys they’ve given up on. Had that already with Milledge.

By: buccotime57

buccotime57 — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:05:00 +0000

All it takes is to get hot at the right time of the year..look at the phillies last year…once your in anything can happen..string together a couple great starts from aj/jmac/wandy and you have a banner

By: Tim Williams

Tim Williams — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:25:00 +0000

I don’t buy the “they could have won the World Series with an addition”. They were after Jason Bay in 2008. But Bay wouldn’t have made a difference in that series against the Phillies.

When it comes to the World Series, I don’t expect much. That’s not how I grade small market teams. The World Series is won year after year by teams in the top half of the league in payroll. Small market teams stand very little chance there. Considering the economics of baseball, and the tough AL East situation, it’s incredible what the Rays have done. The lack of a World Series just speaks toward the game, and not the team.

By: Kevin_Creagh

Kevin_Creagh — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Tampa Bay has done a lot of things very well — great scouting and development, great job of signing key players to extremely team friendly deals.
However, I disagree with following their “hoard all the prospects” mentality because they have had legitimate WS-capable teams and missed the chance to add 1 or 2 key pieces to give themselves a better chance. For all of their great seasons, they have zero WS titles to show for it. And in the end, “Flags Fly Forever” is all that counts. Now the Rays window is going to start to close after 2012. Their farm is not very fallow, thanks to all the keys guys already promoted and their lower draft positions affecting the talent level.
The Pirates had a pretty good trade deadline (a lot of callers/posters seem to overlook Wandy was the big acquistion a week earlier). Their window is just opening now and could stay open for 3-4 years in my estimate. But if they’re as close as the Rays were in 2008 and 2010 and are reluctant to part with a prospect for a key player, that’s when I’ll be upset.

By: duckwoes

duckwoes — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:39:00 +0000

I am actually quite excited with the moves. They will miss Lincoln short term, but I do believe this could be a real good trade going forward. Also, it’s quite puzzling to me why the Marlins would sell low on Sanchez, and I think it is selling low when you look at his previous two years. The potential is certainly there, although no guarantee it returns of course. Milwaukee team MVP of 2010 Casey Mcgehee can attest to that

By: Lee Young

Lee Young — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:15:00 +0000

I agree that we can’t mortgage the future.

By: Lee Young

Lee Young — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:14:00 +0000

Trading the #33 pick AND the $$$ for Gaby is NOT buying low, imho.

And Wandy’s 5.48 ERA since May has me not liking THAT deal either.

The only deal I liked was the Snider deal…and if he busts, then we got screwed bigtime yesterday, because our bullpen is decidedly worse without Morris.

And Chad Qualls? Here’s hoping he gets lost going to Cincy….lol