Rob Biertempfel provided an update on Twitter saying that the Pittsburgh Pirates were having a closed door meeting, and that there’s a sense another trade might be coming. We’ve already heard that the Pirates are still in the mix for outfielder Ryan Ludwick. At this point, the best addition for the Pirates would be an outfielder, although outfield options are growing slim. The Twins don’t seem to want to trade Jason Kubel, the Rays are now unlikely to trade B.J. Upton, and talks for Josh Willingham never really got off the ground. Of course any one of those updates we’ve received could change in a moment’s notice.
The Pirates should also consider taking advantage of the current seller’s market, shopping guys like Paul Maholm, Jeff Karstens, Joel Hanrahan, and Chris Resop. I wouldn’t suggest trading any of those players unless the Pirates can get a team to over-pay, and we’ve been seeing a lot of that on the trade market the last two days.
There’s been talk that the Pirates are still looking for relief pitching, and while added bullpen depth doesn’t hurt, I wouldn’t say it’s a top need for the team. Looking at what Koji Uehara got for the Orioles yesterday (Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter), the Pirates should stay away from the top options on the relief pitching market. They could probably add a lower tier option for a decent price, but I wouldn’t say that middle relief depth is as big of a need as adding an outfielder.
