Big Lead Sports Bar

7/20/2007

Et Tu, Littlefield?

These were the tragic last words of one Cesar Izturis upon hearing the news that he was joining the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. Izturis was traded along with perennial Pirate favorite "cash" for a player to be named later (and not the Pirate Parrot, as reported earlier). Izturis joins a team only 2.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the worst record in the league. But fear not, dear Cesar: We Will Excite. Actually, now you will have to excite. Or not. It's kind of an open-ended promise. You'll figure it out when you get here.
Excited about Dave Littlefield's latest acquisition, Bucco faithful? You shouldn't be. Why not? Well, the first clue should be that Dave Littlefield made the trade. The second clue would be Baseball America's take on Cesar, in an article entitled, "Cubs Dump Izturis On Pirates":
The 27-year-old Izturis never has done much offensively, and his lack of ability with the bat cost him his starting job with the Cubs. Izturis hit just .246/.298/.304 with no homers and eight RBIs in 65 games, and Ryan Theriot supplanted him at shortstop. Izturis also seems to have lost a step in the field.
Don't worry...I'm sure Greg Brown will find a way to make him sound like a combination of Ozzie Smith, Derek Jeter, and Cal Ripken times ten thousand.
So I guess the Pirates were buyers at the deadline after all, because this guy looks like a perfect fit for their team, although I'd rather Littlefield had traded for Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. Maybe he could at least teach some of his new Pirate teammates something productive, or at the very least not snapping at anyone (I'm looking in your direction, Mr. I Know Who Stole Signs and I Will Get Them).

The other shoe to drop on Thursday (besides the Zoom Vick V) is the apparent movement of one Jack "Steve-O" Wilson. Wilson is on the books for $5.25 million in '07, $6.5 million next year and $7.25 million in 2009. Not unreasonable for a legitimate major league shortstop, but unreasonable for any Pittsburgh Pirate. So Wilson will probably be sent packing, joining tragic figure Don Kelly as they exit the Pirates in unison. Actually, Kelly got a head start, because the Pirates designated him for assignment on Thursday. He will be missed.
Dejan Kovacevic hints that this could just be the beginning of the Pirates' annual blue-light special.

Besides Wilson, Damaso Marte, Salomon Torres and Shawn Chacon are all looked at as trade bait. If only the Pirates could find a fish dumb enough to take the bait of all four, they'd save $20 million in salary the next two seasons. That's music to Bob Nutting's ears.
But who would the Pirates take in return? A proposed blockbuster deal with the Cubs, where the Pirates would acquire Jason Kendall, Aramis Ramirez, and the rights to Mark Cuban as owner, was predictably shot down by Nutting and Littlefield. However, there is one other player out there who may be over the hill, but leads his team with 19 home runs and plays for a team in last place and willing to make a move...

It's time to welcome home Barry Lamar Bonds.

6 comments:

Adam said...

You know what? Why not ship of Snell, Nady, Bay, and Gorzo right now and get Bonds to break the record in Pittsburgh. Make the season worth something.

Second, as much as I close my eyes when Jack Wilson hits, I'm gonna miss the guy, especially because now DL and company are officially throwing in the towel on this youth movement.

Like him or not, if the Pirates REALLY wanted to contend next year, they would have kept Wilson. Bixler is a solid prospect, but I hardly see him as J.J. Hardy.

Unless the Bucs pull in a CF or stud 3b for wilson packaged with 2 relievers at the deadline, I don't even see the point in this. If you want to contend, all the guys that are on the block SHOULD be important components. Torres, Marte, and Chacon ARE the bullpen, and Wilson, love him or hate him, is better than izturis or bixler.

O thats right, the money.

Guys like Snell make me WANT to think that thar Bucs are gonna do something in the next couple of years, but when everyone talks about trading away important pieces to the roster, it just proves that the "youth movement" is a smoke screen. Its still about the money.

If the Bucs wanted to win theyd surround the talent with guys like sydor and sykora like the Pens are doing. Not starts, but solid guys. Instead, the;yre trading them away.

We Will...Screw You

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

"We Will", more like "We Suck"!!!

OHHHHHHHHHH SICK BURN!!!

Stoosh said...

Oh wait...it gets better.

Guy Junker just closed the Junker & Crow Show this morning with some potential news. There are unconfirmed reports coming out of a few Chicago media outlets that the player to be named later going back to the Cubs was...

Zach Duke.

Unknown said...

If Mr. Pacman Junker (remember the arrest was for coke and whores/strippers) is right, then we can conclude that a) no one in the front office has a brain or b)the Nuttings have given up ever fielding a solid franchise and just want enough money to make it rain. The point of trading any of the young pitching would be to get useful parts to support their pitching surplus. Instead, they get a nobody middle infielder and some cash. Does anyone have any sort of acceptable threshold where it is possible to switch allegiances to different franchises in the same sport?

HotDog_Zanzabar said...

Junker and Crow have as much credibility as what I just flushed down the toilet.

Was this before or after the segment where they play an inaubible audio clip or before they discuss the intricate nature of tailgating? I used to have respect for Guy, but Eddie brought his class level down a few hundred rungs. I don't even think his hetero life partner Stan could bring him back up.

If this is true, I don't even think Littlefield could be that dumb. Not that Duke was pitching good before he got hurt, but he shined once and he could still shine again. Itzuris will be gone after this year regardless. Even if he was good, the cheap bastages will never pay him what he is due next year.

The Duke from Dukes Court said...

I was listening to Guy at the end of his show and he said that reports out of Chicago that the Cubbies are getting Duke are most likely false.

DL is dumb, but not quite that dumb. Why would they trade Duke, he costs the team less than 400k a season?