Here are the rumors for Tuesday:
–Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports repeats a rumor that we heard yesterday: the Pirates are one of five teams looking at B.J. Upton. He mentions that the level of interest by the Pirates and Reds is unclear. Upton would be a great addition defensively, although his bat has struggled throughout his career. I posted a blind comparison yesterday of his offensive stats compared to Josh Willingham, and Willingham’s numbers were the clear favorite. That said, the difference in defense definitely tips the scales, as does Upton’s speed, and the difference in age would have me taking Upton over Willingham any day. I’m just not sure I’d give up a ton to get Upton, who has underachieved throughout his career. Alex Presley and Jose Tabata might be out, but they’re not out for the season.
–Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that the Pirates’ interest has cooled on catcher Chris Iannetta. That’s good news, in my opinion. With Ryan Doumit set to return in early August, and Michael McKenry and Eric Fryer looking like a good replacement duo in the mean time, there really wasn’t much sense in going after a guy who is struggling at the plate, and who has historically struggled throwing out base runners.
-On a related Rockies note, Jason Giambi injured his left quad last night, which could prevent a July trade. Quad injury? Sounds like he’s a Pirates’ hitter already.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Why don’t we try to take advantage of the Dodgers financial issues and try to trade for matt kemp or andre ethier?
Matt Hague is hitting at .316 with 29 doubles. He is a little short, but is a good defender. He is not the final answer for first base, but Overbay is poor and has to go.
I agree about Hague !!! Overbay is gone after this year so why not see if Hague could fill the void next year and he couldn’t hit much worse than Overbay is hitting now so what do you really lose ?
I agree 100%
Completely agree, he can’t do worse than .230 and no power. We only have 16 HR’s from 1B and RF positions all season….