Let me start by emphasizing that this post is entirely for entertainment. I am not saying that Aaron Pribanic should be promoted to Pittsburgh, or that Calvin Anderson should be the Pirates’ first baseman. I am just having a little fun.
The Pirates have struggled this far in 2010, beginning the season 11-15. The team ranks 28th in baseball in runs scored and they are dead last in runs allowed. The team’s High-A affiliate, the Bradenton Marauders got off to a great start in 2010, although they have now lost four consecutive games. They lead the Florida State League in team OPS and they boast the league’s 5th best ERA. What if the Pirates and Marauders switched rosters?
Using the Major League Equivalency (MLE) feature over at Minor League Splits, we can estimate how a minor league position player would be performing in the major leagues right now. The MLE’s for pitchers are much less useful, but I managed to estimate a major league FIP based on the information available. Without further ado, here are the numbers for starting position players, starting pitchers and one reliever. I included the Pirates’ major league stats as a comparison. These numbers are prior to last night’s games.
| Position | Name | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
| C | Ryan Doumit | 0.308 | 0.379 | 0.487 | 0.385 |
| 1B | Jeff Clement | 0.171 | 0.234 | 0.329 | 0.231 |
| 2B | Akinori Iwamura | 0.213 | 0.317 | 0.315 | 0.292 |
| SS | Ronny Cedeno | 0.203 | 0.232 | 0.316 | 0.255 |
| 3B | Andy LaRoche | 0.323 | 0.397 | 0.431 | 0.373 |
| LF | Lastings Milledge | 0.233 | 0.289 | 0.300 | 0.264 |
| CF | Andrew McCutchen | 0.288 | 0.339 | 0.452 | 0.362 |
| RF | Garrett Jones | 0.221 | 0.358 | 0.407 | 0.347 |
| Position | Name | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
| C | Tony Sanchez | 0.244 | 0.348 | 0.397 | 0.335 |
| 1B | Calvin Anderson | 0.174 | 0.226 | 0.221 | 0.206 |
| 2B | Greg Picart | 0.216 | 0.258 | 0.216 | 0.223 |
| SS | Brock Holt | 0.264 | 0.286 | 0.319 | 0.273 |
| 3B | Jeremy Farrell | 0.236 | 0.292 | 0.393 | 0.301 |
| LF | Quincy Latimore | 0.227 | 0.255 | 0.361 | 0.269 |
| CF | Starling Marte | 0.261 | 0.342 | 0.319 | 0.306 |
| RF | Robbie Grossman | 0.205 | 0.289 | 0.233 | 0.246 |
Outside of shortstop, replacing the Pirates with the Marauders would be a downgrade at all positions. That being said, Starling Marte could easily shift to left field to replace Lastings Milledge and Jeremy Farrell could switch sides to replace the struggling Jeff Clement at first base. Both would likely be defensive upgrades as well. Ryan Doumit’s recent hot streak keeps a raking Tony Sanchez from the lineup. On to the pitching.
| Position | Name | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | FIP |
| SP | Brian Burres | 9.1 | 4.82 | 5.79 | 0.00 | 4.59 |
| SP | Paul Maholm | 31.2 | 5.68 | 3.69 | 1.14 | 4.70 |
| SP | Jeff Karstens | 11.2 | 5.40 | 3.86 | 1.54 | 5.40 |
| SP | Zach Duke | 34.0 | 4.50 | 4.24 | 1.32 | 5.59 |
| SP | Ross Ohlendorf | 5.0 | 1.80 | 5.40 | 1.80 | 7.09 |
| SP | Charlie Morton | 19.1 | 9.31 | 3.72 | 3.26 | 7.28 |
| SP | Daniel McCutchen | 11.0 | 4.09 | 5.73 | 4.09 | 9.99 |
| RP | Evan Meek | 15.0 | 9.00 | 2.40 | 0.00 | 1.90 |
| Position | Name | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | FIP |
| SP | Nathan Adcock | 26.2 | 6.41 | 3.38 | 1.69 | 5.34 |
| SP | Jeff Locke | 24.2 | 5.47 | 3.65 | 1.46 | 5.31 |
| SP | Bryan Morris | 29.0 | 5.28 | 1.55 | 0.00 | 2.54 |
| SP | Brian Leach | 21.1 | 4.22 | 11.39 | 1.69 | 8.50 |
| SP | Aaron Pribanic | 24.1 | 3.70 | 3.70 | 1.48 | 5.75 |
| RP | Diego Moreno | 15.0 | 9.00 | 1.20 | 1.20 | 3.33 |
Bryan Morris would be a huge boost to this depleted Pirates rotation. Also, expect his numbers to improve even further, as he is throwing another gem in Palm Beach as you read this. His ERA is now below 1.00. Jeff Locke, Nathan Adcock and Aaron Pribanic would fit nicely in the middle of the major league rotation right now. Diego Moreno has been dominant this season, but so has Evan Meek.
