What Do the Pirates Want For Jack Wilson?

by Ian Casselberry on Nov 26, 2008 1:00 AM EST in News Comment 8 comments

On his blog, Pat Caputo of the Oakland Press writes that Jack Wilson would be a nice fit for the Detroit Tigers next season:

He is solid defensively and still has above average range. He’s a pretty good hitter. Wilson had some injury issues last season and missed a lot of games, but there is no reason to believe they will linger. He is not cheap, but not necessarily overpriced. A lot of issues would be solved for the Tigers if they were to acquire Wilson. The question is the cost to trade for him.

If Pittsburgh asks for Cale Iorg, that would obviously be a deal-breaker. But they might be looking for that type of prospect in return for Wilson. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported that the Dodgers are also interested in the Pirates' shortstop. (As Zappatista wrote to me, it's nice to see another team mentioned in trade rumors with Wilson.)

However, it appears any potential deal may have fallen through because the Dodgers didn't care for the PIrates' asking price. According to Rosenthal, Pittsburgh wanted Chin-Lung Hu (a shortstop prospect ThaWalrus9 touted in a recent post), along with two other young players, and the Dodgers thought that was way too much to give up for Wilson. So instead, they might move onto pursuing Edgar Renteria.

Rosenthal also acknowledged that Detroit doesn't have a shortstop prospect in its system that could likely start in the major leagues next season. (Could Danny Worth be that guy, if his shoulder was fully healed?) But since the Pirates also wanted Delwyn Young as part of that package from the Dodgers, maybe the Tigers could make one of their young outfielders the centerpiece of a deal?

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Better info from the Bucs

This is from an article about Wilson on the Pirates official site:

"Detroit is believed to be willing to part with two prospects in a deal for Wilson, but not much more. The Tigers hold a number of young outfield prospects, though that’s not the Pirates’ most immediate need. Detroit doesn’t seem to have a significant pool of pitching prospects available for the taking, and even a young shortstop could be hard to pry away from them.

With Iorg being groomed as the Tigers’ next shortstop, the Pirates could possibly lure Detroit’s other top shortstop prospect, Danny Worth. But such a deal would have to include more than just Wilson from Pittsburgh."

It wouldn’t come cheap, but this got me wondering if Ryan Doumit could be had or if Dombrwoski was also trying to score Matt Capps.

by MacRae on Nov 26, 2008 9:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I really like Doumit. It would give Ryan a chance to play as well, because Doumit is injury prone and couldn’t be expected to play everyday.

by Zappatista on Nov 26, 2008 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly. Doumit a switch hitter which already makes him a better option than say…Matt Treanor. He also could be an everyday catcher when healthy, but that’s really only happened once.

I’m fairly certain that The Tigers can field a SS and a decent bullpen by 2010. I am not so sure about catcher. The jury is still out on Ryan, Skelton and Avila so I wouldn’t be all that upset if we winded up with more than just a stop-gap at that position. Doumit makes a fairly decent option since he’s under team control for at least two more seasons. His breakout offensive season in 2008 will probably inflate his value though and he’s pretty poor behind the plate.

by MacRae on Nov 26, 2008 10:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pirate fan here:

If the Pirates are kicking in a catcher, it’s much more likely to be Ronny Paulino than Doumit. We’ve been shopping him very heavily this offseason.

He has the skills to be a starter, but motivation is a big issue, and at this point we’re all just kind of sick of dealing with his crap.

by Vlad on Dec 1, 2008 1:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Larish/LaRoche

This is where DD has to get creative. I think, I could be wrong, but isn’t LaRoche up for Arbitration? He is already making 5 million so he should get a paid raise after a good year. If too much, he might be on the trading block. Then that opens up 1B for the Pirates. So the Pirates might be asking for Larish. The Tigers have a glut of outfielders but the Pirates have a prospects of their own in the outfield. Pirates might be asking for Sanitigo too (Sanitago is great at 600K/year). Tigers could replace Sanitago with MacDonald and others. There is definitely an opportunity between the Tigers and Pirates. The Tigers also have more than a few good arms beside the obvious names at A Ball which the Pirates might interested in. Tigers need to trade one of their AAA/AA outfielders too.

by Barry2 on Nov 26, 2008 10:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think The Pirates could do much with Santiago, but I like where you’re going with this. Laroche will be elligible for free agency after 2009 so offering a potential replacement for him seems like a decent proposition.

Danny Worth would almost certainly be included in any deal since Bixler flopped in Pittsburgh and probably would have ended up at 2B anyway. Since Sanchez’s contract runs out after 2009 (with a 2010 option) we might also be able to shop one of our 2B prospects.

Unfortuately what The Pirates really need is pitching, both starting and relief which is something The Tigers don’t have all that much of.

by MacRae on Nov 26, 2008 12:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Santiago/Ruburn

With Santiago I was giving an example for the Pirates to use at ss until something better comes along. The Pirates could look for a low cost replacement at ss in the free agent market. One thing I fail to mention as you know the Tigers have a glut of AA/AAA infielders and Raburn. Raburn, although not an all-star, deserve more than 192 ABs he got this year. Raburn is not going hurt you defensively in the outfield either. I also notice the Pirates have lots of speed in the outfield but they could use a real thumper in Thames.
Everyone needs pitching but the Tigers probably spare a pitcher that pitch A-ball last year. The Pirates better sweeten the pot for the Tigers to throw in Dolsi. Tigers need to something such as a multi-player trade to stop the death spiral. Trading Larish, Ruburn or Thames, Santiago or Worth, a quality minor league pitcher should get you something. The Pirates get a 1B waiting in the wings, a thumper or 2b/ ulitity player, a prospect at ss or ss that can hold down the fort for a while, and a potential MLB pitcher.

by Barry2 on Nov 26, 2008 1:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Player Values

Jack Wilson ‘06-’09 = Danny Worth ‘10/’11-‘13. The problem for me isn’t Wilson per se – it’s that he costs about 7.5 million for ‘09 and at least that for ’10 if needed. I’d rather put up with Eckstein or some other lightweight for a year or two and keep the prospects. Detroit’s going to need Ramirez/Wells/Sizemore/Worth in the next couple years when Sheffield/Polanco/Inge leave.

Also, Pittsburgh isn’t going to incude players under club control (Doumit and Capps) without getting excellent value in return. Capps for the next three years is worth at least Perry/Fien right now, as he has performed well at the Major League level. If we do something like that, though, there goes our depth…

by Oost on Nov 26, 2008 11:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs