With both Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer out for six to seven weeks, the suddenly injury-plagued Pirates have reached out to the Athletics, Padres and Diamondbacks to express respective interest in Ben Zobrist, Clint Barmes and Cliff Pennington, reports Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Of the names in question, Zobrist is clearly the most high-profile addition. The switch-hitting 34-year-old missed a little more than a month earlier this year after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, but he’s shown little in terms of ill effects at the plate. Since his activation from the DL on May 26, Zobrist is hitting a very solid .264/.358/.429 in 190 plate appearances.
In addition to a strong offensive track record, Zobrist is coveted by many clubs due to his defensive versatility. It should be noted that defensive metrics are down on his work in 2015, but we’re looking at a small sample of work there, and it’s certainly possible that the knee operation has had some lingering effects on his range at this year’s primary positions — second base and left field. (Zobrist has also made three errors in left, which is perhaps to be expected as he adjusts after serving far more time in right field during his Rays tenure.)
At $7.5MM in 2015, Zobrist’s contract is hardly prohibitive from a financial standpoint, but because of the sheer demand for his services and the affordable nature of that salary, an acquiring club would likely have to pay a relatively steep prospect price for a player that is a pure rental; Zobrist will hit free agency for the first time following the season.
Both Pennington and Barmes are strict rentals as well, though the price on either would be markedly lower than with Zobrist. Pennington has spent the past three seasons serving as a utility man for the D-Backs. He’s getting on base but showing little power this year, hitting .245/.322/.292. (Much of those on-base skills are likely attributable to the fact that 40 percent of his plate appearances have come in the eighth slot, in front of the pitcher.)
Pennington is known as a solid defensive player at shortstop, third base and second base, so he could provide the Pirates with some versatility even as their roster mends. He’s earning $3.275MM in 2015, and about $1.38MM of that sum remains.
Pirates executives, coaches, players and fans alike are all familiar with Barmes, who spent the 2012-14 seasons in a Pirates uniform. Known primarily as a defensive specialist at shortstop, Barmes is actually enjoying quite a strong season at the plate in his first year with the Padres after signing a one-year, $1.3MM contract this winter. In 144 plate appearances, he’s hitting .284/.324/.440 with three homers. Of course, he’s been allowed to see nearly half of his at-bats against left-handed pitching and slashed .317/.388/.500 in such situations, and he may not have that same platoon luxury in a return to Pittsburgh.
Should the Bucs elect to bring Barmes back to PNC Park, he’d likely play shortstop, with Jung Ho Kang remaining the club’s primary third baseman as both Harrison and Mercer heal. A return for Barmes would no doubt be well received by a large portion of the Pirates fan base, who greeted Barmes with a warm ovation in his return to PNC Park as a member of the Padres while the team honored him by playing his old walk-up music (video link).
Barmes has to cost just a little more than a bucket of balls right? I think Barmes makes a ton of sense for the Pirates
Agreed, Barmes is perfect fit that won’t cost anything, unlike Zobrist, who will cost a pretty penny.
Exactly. They aren’t going to trade someone like Hanson for a pure rental like Zobrist, especially when he’s that expensive. If the deal would be Hanson for zobrist, Id rather then just hang up and promote Hanson, and slide Walker to third until everyone gets healthy
Why would the Padres trade Barmes? He’s on a team friendly contract and is performing well?
They would trade him to hopefully get a lottery ticket prospect in return. You can always resign him in the off season. Unless you seriously think that the Padres can make the playoffs this year, then I would think that the Padres FO would consider trading him.
If the Padres are in selling mode, they are likely to sell their high contract, high level players such as their off season acquisitions. Another scenario would be if the Padres obtain a better shortstop (not sure one is available that is having a better season that Barmes) because they have NOBODY of quality to replace him. Amarista has been doing a decent job but Barmes has outplayed him thus far.
The Padres should trade him because he has some tho very little value, they aren’t a playoff team, and he’s a FA at the end of the year
He is also only being paid 1.3 mil this year and an option for 2 mil next season. He’s producing offensively and playing good defense, that would be a terrible decision by the Pads unless they are working a trade for somebody else. NO to a trade to Pittsburgh!
Get someone in return and rebuild the right way. Otherwise, you will be spinning your wheels the next few years.
I think you missed what the Padres are doing completely. They are not looking to rebuild. They have a core of players like Shields, Norris, Ross, Myers, and others that are under team control at least through next season. They are looking to add pieces to put them over the top and into contention for the next 3-4 years, not to trade away very affordable players like Barmes that are playing well AND are under team control through 2016.
Barmes is not a free agent in the offseason unless the Padres, or the team he is traded to, decline to pick up a very affordable option. That isnt going to happen if he keeps playing like this. It probably wont happen even if he declines a bit.
Why wouldn’t they? Padres = going no where, get something back now
Logic will get you no where. Except downvotes apparently. Those Bucs fans dont want to hear that the Padres like Barmes and his .284/.324 with good defense and they control him for another year at just $2 million.
Barmes is exactly the kind of guy you trade. He is likely playing a little over his head. They can find a SS with a very similar skill set on the FA market in the off season. Why wouldn’t you see if you can get a prospect for him when you are out of it this year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Padres trade Shields or Cashner either.
They can’t trade Shields. He has negative trade value.
Barmes would definitely be an inexpensive pickup. Low salary and he is a rental. Padres probably would let him go for a PTBNL
I hope not.
Barmes is not a rental. Have you even bothered to look at what his contract situation is? You may want to do that real quick. The person that wrote this article obviously didn’t either look either. The Padres hold a very affordable option on Barmes and have no real reason to trade him. In fact it would be detrimental to trade him since they have no other options at shortstop. Just because he would fill a need for the Bucs, doesnt mean the Padres have any need or desire to move him.
Except that Barmes is awful. Good couple of months (which he’s done before) notwithstanding. Padres fans would mutiny if they go into 2016 with him as their starting SS again.
Don’t think the Pirates have the prospects the A’s want: according to Beane its AAA/close to bigs with high-ish ceiling types. Basically blocked prospects. Unless Glasnow hits the table, which case it would be the exact same as the Wheeler-Beltran deal. But yeah, dont see them landing Zobrist unless its a 3-teamer.
They have Alen Hanson. He is close to MLB ready. He has the upside of a 15-20 HR guy that plays a solid 2B and lots of speed.
Agreed, but he’s underperforming with a .746 OPS at AAA right now, he cant get on base very well and is really bad at stealing bases (159 SB 70 CS so far – ouch). He looks 2-3 years away to be honest. Raw skills are there but in-game ones are not.
He ranks 24th in the IL in OPS. He has done much better stealing bases this season. He is also 22 years old. Way under the age of most of his peers. IS he Corey Seager? No but with the rest of the season in AAA he will be ready next season. He is not 2-3 years away. If he spends 2-3 more years in AAA he would be heading toward being a bust. The Pirates have been very aggressive in his promotions. Which is why he is almost 5 years younger than the average player at his level. It is also why his numbers aren’t as high as some might like. They have moved him up at each level at the first sign of success.
No, 24-25 year olds are in no way “busts”. You are wrong about him and those numbers don’t look to work well for him in MLB. He’s got skills but needs work. ETA 2017 at earliest.
I will respectfully disagree since he will most likely be in Pittsburgh within a week. You can ask any Pirate fan or read any beat writer from here and they have all indicated the Pirates intend to call him up sooner than later.
Alen Hanson for Ben Zobrist
PIT is trying/moving Hanson to 3B at AAA. Just announced that yesterday. If anything they will be calling him up to play.
Exactly. They won’t trade him for a rental like Zobrist when they could/should call him up
Hanson has never posted a wRc+ at AAA that is equal to Zobrist’s career number at the ML level. I get that teams are reluctant to part with prospects but at a certain point you have to be bold in order to augment the club that you have.
The Pirates have to always be looking towards the future tho due to their payroll limitations. Hanson is the only MI/2b prospect that it is close enough to the MLB and is walkers replacement for when he leaves at the end of the year or next year. They’re not and should not give up their future 2b for a couple month rental.
He may be the Pirates’ 2B of the future, but it’s by no means a fait accompli. Prospects can and do flame out all the time. I’m not advocating the Pirates make this deal, but if you have the opportunity to add a player of Zobrist’s caliber in the middle of a playoff race you damn sure have the conversation at least.
I’d rather have the player everyone knows can play
No, no, and no.
Next please.
When your bench alternatives include Brent Morel and Steve Lombardozzi, you can’t be too picky. Barmes is a known commodity, even as offensively anemic as he can be. Zobrist would be nice, but I fear he would cost too much. Pennington is a lot more defensively reliable than what than calling up a kid like Hanson who may or may not adjust quickly. All in all, none of these guys are ideal additions, but none of them should be discarded quickly, either.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I am thinking out of the box. Bring up Moroff and Osuana from AA and see if we can get lighting in a bottle for a month until the league catches up with them. Actually, Osuana has hit well at every level, and there is no “rule” other then self imposed by the Pirate management to jump someone from AA to the bigs.
Maybe Lambo is close to coming back, and “maybe” he is the 1st base upgrade. I wish we could finally find out what he really has, not just the occasional pinch hit appearance. Put him out there for a week and see what he has. But I have no idea where he is now with his foot injury.
When you’re chasing down the best team in baseball, you don’t bring up players from AA, just to see what you have.
And Lambo isn’t even an upgrade over Ishikawa, let alone Alvarez
When there is nothing at AAA, then it is a more viable option then having Morel starting.
Hanson should be up for this game. He has shown that he is not overmatched in AAA at 22. Brent Morel is batting 7th tonight?! It’s like last year all over again. At least if Hanson comes up and is not Pedro-like in defense, you have a switch-hitting bench bat with speed that can play 2nd base with Kang at SS. It’s the curse of veteranosity that allows Morel another shot.
Barmes has an option for 2016 at $2 million with a $200k buyout, so he is not strictly a rental. The Pirates or any other interested team can keep him for next year if they choose.
C’mon Pirates. Think big! Now is your chance! Go get Tulo.
Right! And I have a bridge for sale in Portland :) Maybe Jayson Nix :)