McCutchen & Karstens going to Pirates...

by lank20125 on Jul 26, 2008 11:44 AM EDT

frontpaged by jscape2000

Joel Sherman is reporting its actually McCutchen & Karstens going to the Pirates rather than Kontos & Coke. Does this deal for a league average outfielder & a lefty specialist look as good now? I know they both have options for next year, but McCutchen had some upside and Karstens was at least as good of an option as Rasner/Ponson as a 5th starter...

A link to the story:

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2008/07/mccutchen_karst.html

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Well, that throws a

little water on the deal. Wonder where Sherman’s getting his info. Losing Karstens is not a big deal in my book. He probably deserves a shot at pitching for a 4A team like the Pirates. But McCutchen? He would make this a net loss.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Jul 26, 2008 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

This was also

on LoHud and appears to be the real thing. This makes the deal change from a fleecing to one that could be argued in both clubs’ favor. However, in my view, we have now given up two potential studs (Tabata and McCutcheon) and one potential role player (Ohlendorf) for a lefty reliever and an OF who is probably playing over his head. Time will tell, but I would have protected McC.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Jul 26, 2008 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I wonder what happened

Coke was taken out of the game last night after pitching one inning. He got the word that he was traded, so something obviously happened between last night and today to make these changes.

I agree about Karstens. He’s no loss. But McCutchen had a chance to help this team.

I don’t mean to be a broken record, but I’m not high on Nady at all. He’s having a career season and there’s not a chance he’s this good. The Pirates sold high on him.

by anaconda on Jul 26, 2008 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions

No clue but ESPN has the changes as well

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/transactions.

Didn’t want to give up McCutchen…could live without Karstens.

by mrljdavid on Jul 26, 2008 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Well...

This makes me a little less enthusiastic about the trade, but it was still worth doing. Karstens has been great at times and not so great in others, just like Darrell Rasner. We’re already an inconsistent team, and we need consistency both immediately and in future years. I don’t think Karstens was ever going to be anything more than a fifth reliever or spot starter shuttling back and forth between Scranton and the Bronx. McCutchen might have been in the mix, but we have so many other starters who are at least equally as promising that we don’t have to worry we’re depleting our farm.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on Jul 26, 2008 12:14 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed

I thought McCutchen had a shot to help us this year. Karstens was serviceable, but too old to be a prospect.

I’ve regressed from enthusiastic to merely optimistic.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Jul 26, 2008 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Also...

Think about it this way: will this trade help us be a better team now? Yes. Will it help Pittsburgh be a better team now? No. Will it hurt us in the future? Probably not; like I said, we have a lot of other talent rising through the ranks, and in some ways, we have a glut of arms fighting for spots. Will the trade help the Pirates actually be a good team in the future? Probably not much. There’s more parity in the NL, but while McCutchen and maybe Ohlendorf and Karstens will be in their rotation in a year or two, Tabata may never pan out after all, and if he does, it doesn’t look like he’ll be the “stud” we thought he might be. And these aren’t the kind of huge talents that would put them over the top, even if it helps them marginally.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on Jul 26, 2008 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry, no brainer

I loved Tabata’s talent, but he went mental. Karstens was horrible. Ohlen was horrible as a Yank. McCutchen seemed like a good prospect.
We still have Horne, Jackson, Gardner, Miranda, Brachman, Humberto, Gardner, Hughes Kennedy, Aceves, Molances, Marquez…etc…
They got a good outfielder and an excellent lefty in the pen. It shows how really deep this farm system is to land these two guys/ They can make a few more deals and still be very deep down there.

by John Amato on Jul 26, 2008 2:13 PM EDT reply actions