As usual, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the latest on the Pirates…
- The Akinori Iwamura addition does not necessarily mean more significant moves are coming. The Pirates are comfortable with their internal options.
- The Pirates intend to inquire on Rick Ankiel when free agency begins. Moreso than Chris Bootcheck, perhaps this is a sign that the team is not letting bad blood linger with Scott Boras from the Pedro Alvarez situation.
- Kovacevic says Ronny Cedeno is not a lock at shorstop, and there is at least some mutual interest in bringing Jack Wilson back. First, the Mariners would have to buy out Wilson's $8.4MM club option.
- In another article, Kovacevic discusses the team's out-of-character acquisition of Iwamura. Kovacevic calls it Neal Huntington's "first major transaction prioritizing the present above the future," since Iwamura is under relatively pricey and under control for one season while Jesse Chavez is cheap and under team control through 2014. Iwamura is now the Pirates' highest-paid player. Huntington has interest in exploring an extension with him at some point.
- On a related note, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs explains that "just because a team won’t be contending in 2010 doesn’t mean they should avoid investing in the 2010 product."
- An article at Beyond the Boxscore explains that the Pirates came out a winner on the Iwamura-Chavez deal, but the Rays had little leverage.
