Pirates Continue to Lose Their Minds
So…here it is…I’m a Pittsburgh Pirates fan (shhh). They haven’t had a winning season since 1992, yadda, yadda, yadda, you know the drill. I want them to win as much as anymore, probably even more than most, but the frantic outrage being espoused by the current players after certain teammates get traded is getting out of control.
When Nate McClouth got traded, Adam LaRoche did his best Kellen Winslow impression. Whatever. McClouth was a good player, not great but good. You don’t build teams around Nate McClouth, you just don’t. And you know what…you sure as hell don’t build a team around Nyjer freaking Morgan. Judging from the reactions, though, you’d think the Pirates had traded Ted Williams.
Jack Wilson fumed: “We know that they’re looking to the future, which doesn’t say much about 2009,” and added that he was “beyond, beyond tired…They’re businessmen. They’re trying to achieve winning baseball in Pittsburgh. The biggest question is: When is that going to be? When do things start turning around?”
Just calm down and wait to be traded, Jack.
Andrew McCutchen Chimed in: “Yeah, man, you almost want to cry…There’s nobody who can replace what [Nyjer]can do off the field.”
Seems like those two had a special relationship, um, off the field. And you know what? Maybe good ‘ol Nyjer is a dynamite guy off the field, he probably is, but he is, at the very, most absolute most, an average baseball player. On the field, he is definitely replaceable. He’s five years older than Milledge (who has his problems, but is still a better gamble than Morgan), is batting .277 with an OBP of .351, not good for a leadoff or #2 hitter, has been caught stealing 10 out of 28 times, and provides basically no power from a corner outfield position.
So, it’s really not a bad deal, Jack, and it’s not like the Pirates were going to be .500 with him anyway. That’s all I’m saying. Mondeishouse has more if you’re interested.
