Opposite Day in Pittsburgh: Pirates Trade Prospect for Light-Hitting Veteran

Thanks to Buccofans.com for this informative history. One day, we'll use it to cry ourselves to sleep...

Apparently 2010 will be different for the Buccos. Pirates fans generally know what to expect when July rolls around - flipping the team's veteran players for prospects. Sometimes it's a shrewd practice that sends out a one year contract veteran to a competing team (Eric Hinske, Mark Redman, Arthur Rhodes) in exchange for some lukewarm prospects, other times it's a complete fire sale shipping out longtime players and former All-Stars (Jason Bay, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez) for slightly better prospects. And sometimes it's a combination of the two (Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to Chicago for Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez, and Matt Bruback...)

We gave up Aramis Ramirez for this?

Most of the bad trades were trademarks of the Dave Littlefield era, which ended in 2007. The Neal Huntington era has seen higher profile trades that haven't had enough time to be properly judged. And now this:

Nov. 3, 2009 - RHP Jesse Chavez to Tampa Bay for 2b/3b Akinori Iwamura.

At the very least, it's different.

Welcome to the Pirates. You'll find Tampa and Pittsburgh are very similar cities.

Chavez is a 26 year old reliever who posted an ERA of 4.01 in his team-high 73 appearances and 15 holds. He was arguably the team's third best reliever after John Grabow was traded (for some very average prospects) behind Evan Meek and Steven Jackson. Iwamura, on the other hand, was a touted player coming out of Japan that failed to be more than a placeholder in Tampa. He missed half of last year due to injury, has never hit for power, and never driven in more than 48 RBIs in a season. So why make this trade?

With Meek and Jackson, the Pirates had three right handed middle relievers with limited ceilings on their talent. They sold high on Chavez, who had seemingly the smallest window for Major League success and will now have to prove himself as a pitcher without great stuff in a superior league. Meanwhile, Iwamura plays solid defense, gets on base, hits around .270-.300, and is an unselfish teammate, as evidenced when he quietly moved from 3rd base to 2nd to allow Evan Longoria to start. Does that sound familiar to Pirates fans?

To me, THIS MAN is the face of the Pirates. That's the most depressing thing I've ever written here...

Yes, in this deal the Buccos have essentially brought back the Japanese hybrid Freddy Sanchez/Jack Wilson. Iwamura, if healthy, will probably bat around .270, hit 10 home runs, and drive in 50 RBIs. Not great production, but with solid defense he can be a contributor to the team. What's more telling is the Pirates' lack of confidence in their free agency skills.

Iwamura was set to be bought out of the final year of his contract by the Rays for $650,000. Instead, the Buccos swooped in with this trade, keeping the contract valid, and ensuring Iwamura's $4.85 million to be paid in 2010. If Huntington wanted to gamble, he could have let Iwamura become a free agent, offered him more than market value, and still likely saved ~$2 million or so. Akinori isn't exactly hot property right now.

But instead, the Pirates got their replacement at second base, and he'll make nearly twice as much as their 2nd most highly paid player, Paul Maholm. Iwamura will make twice as much as the Bucs entire outfield corps (5 players) in 2010. In fact, he'll make more than the entire infield - combined (8 players!).

The cornerstone of the franchise makes 1/12th what Iwamura will make...that might come up around contract extension time.

The Pirates are sending a message that they're willing to pay for the right players. Unfortunately, Iwamura doesn't fit that bill.

The Pacers Season Ticket Experiment: Game 2

The lower and club levels a minute after tipoff...you don't want to see the balcony...

Oh...boy. Well, on the plus side, the ticket office will probably have some sweet promotions to offset this mess.

Game Two of my season ticket package was last night against 2009 Western Conference Finalists Denver. Though it was a Tuesday, you'd think players like Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups would help fill an arena. In fact, the Nuggets themselves are like a classroom of life's bad examples. 'Melo could be especially useful for parents trying to teach their children the virtues of not snitching, Kenyon Martin could teach children how to respectfully deal with the mothers of your peers, Anthony Carter could lecture on reading comprehension during contract talks, and Chris Andersen could share his views on crystal meth and their effects on the athlete. But no one was buying it...and the Pacers didn't show anything that would keep the fans coming back.

That's Professor Andersen to you, son.

Indiana continued their slide by playing terrible basketball. Much like the home opener, they lost a key big man when Troy Murphy went out with a back injury in the first half. Roy Hibbert, Solomon Jones, and Josh McRoberts were unable to pick up the slack, giving up lots of offensive rebounds and second chance points. Brandon Rush and Danny Granger both failed to hit their shots and had trouble getting anything going in the pain, and T.J. Ford forced the action too much at point guard, often ruining fast breaks by dribbling into defenders or taking contested jumpers.

Granger picks up his second straight A"F"G Award for awful 3-pt shooting (2-10).

The Hibbert/Jones rotation at center is rigid and mostly ineffective - Hibbert did most of his damage in garbage time. O'Brien would be better suited playing smaller at times - this team is stocked with quick guards, and a lineup of Murphy/Granger/Rush/Dahntay Jones/Ford could put up some points and not get too abused defensively against teams without major low-post threats (you know...like Denver...).

The highlight of the game was probably the fans in my section. Between the foreigners who were just excited to be at an NBA game (cheering even Roy Hibbert's airballed layup) and the high school kids whose hero worship of Josh McRoberts was audible all the way down to the court in a mostly vacant Fieldhouse, at least they kept it interesting. Hopefully those guys will be there for weekend games too, so I can get drunk enough to be excited about Josh McRoberts with them (or even Travis Diener).

Next game: 11/6 vs. Washington

Level of excitement: 3/5 (Friday night game...a banner raising for Mel Simon...sounds good)

(Editor's note: level of excitement for Pacers games depicted by Achewood characters along with a scale of 1-5)

The Pacers Season Ticket Experiment: Game 1 (Home opener)

I didn't mean Packers...should I have?

Season opener! Pacers! Heat!

The return of Jermaine O'Neal! A gimpy Danny Granger! A half full arena! A free Third Eye Blind concert outdoors in the pouring rain! Can basketball in Indiana get any better than this?

Yes. Yes it can.

Thanks to the rain and congestion due to the Pacers block party (featuring 3EB playing inside what looked like would have been a pretty crowded tent...if only more than 100 people showed up), it took a solid 45 minutes to drive the approximate mile from my office to the Conseco Fieldhouse. Rather than wait around for the concert in weather that would have made a circus depressing, we decided to get drinks and food nearby. In fact, one of the best things about the Fieldhouse is its proximity to decent bars downtown.

Unlike most other modern arenas that are surrounded by opportunistic restaurants/bars/grilles that have jacked up prices, you can drink pretty cheaply about a block from the Fieldhouse (~$2.50.beer). For the two hours before the tip, we put down dinner and ten drinks for about $40 after tip at Coaches', which always has good music and lots of TVs. Sadly, however, this meant that we'd miss the Third Eye Bling encore set, which I assume would have just been "How's it Gonna Be?" three times in a row, followed by some polite applause and the teenage version of myself trying to figure out how to put it on a mix tape for this girl I know.

Actually, that's not a bad parallel for this Pacers season...

It's like they sing the words my heart can't say! Also, is that Paul Rudd?

The game itself seemed to be a bad omen for the Pacers' season. The team fell into a repeated pattern of falling behind, then using spurts to get back into the game, and then falling into a deeper hole. Key players disappeared for extended periods - Troy Murphy pulled down 12 rebounds in the first half, and then faded into the background for the 2nd. Brandon Rush couldn't find his shot and barely played due to foul trouble. And Danny Granger found himself the focus of the Miami defense and put up an Alex Gordon-esque 12 three-pointers, many in bad situations. And much like Alex Gordon would have, he only made three of these.

Danny Granger: Winner of the first ever Alex "Fucking" Gordon award for Poor Decision Making.

Solomon Jones and Roy Hibbert split the minutes at Center, contributing 12 rebounds...and 11 fouls. They made Jermaine O'Neal look like he was 25 again, giving up 22 and 12 to him in just 32 minutes on the court. And T.J. Ford was...invisible. I honestly have no recollection of him having any impact on the game, positively or negatively. The only bright spot was Luther Head's play, and although he's a bit of a gunner and makes bad decisions, he's still a rotation caliber NBA player who can score and play defense.

So it was a bad start to the season with few silver linings. The team looks worse than last year, and improving on 36 wins seems...unlikely. But on the plus side, at least the team gave out free flags to hang off your car window for your depressing drives home from the Fieldhouse!

Thanks, Pacers! I feel better about my season ticket investment already!

Next game: vs. Denver 11/3 (Tonight...yeah I know that this is late as hell...)

Level of Excitement: 2/5

(Editor's note: level of excitement for Pacers games depicted by Achewood characters along with a scale of 1-5)