Lance Berkman, Derrek Lee, Randall Simon

Alright well Randall Simon has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I figured I'd throw it in there for kicks.




The Pirates have been mentioned in the talks about acquiring Derrek Lee and Lance Berkman. If it were up to me, I'd avoid both of them.

First we'll talk about Lee. Here's the stats:

Year	Tm	G	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	CHC	155	20	90	.291	.361	.462	.823
2009	CHC	141	35	111	.306	.393	.579	.972
2010	TOT	148	19	80	.260	.347	.428	.774

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com.

Lee had a pretty bad season last year in his split time with the Cubs and Braves. At the age of 34, a decline in numbers would not surprise anybody, however a drop that big after a big season in '08 was pretty unexpected and hard to figure out. Chances are his numbers won't be that bad again in 2011 and he would definitely be an offensive and defensive upgrade for the Pirates. However, at what cost? The Pirates wouldn't get him for more than a year or 2, and chances are he'll be seriously considering retirement by then anyway, so we'd be playing pretty much near top-dollar for a guy that will only help us for 2 years maximum. Does anybody expect the Pirates to compete this year? No, and throwing money at short term free agents isn't going to get us there either. As rumbunter.com reported the other day, Derrek Lee is not exactly a model leader in the clubhouse and there is little reason to believe that he would assume that role in Pittsburgh, which is a big thing the Pirates would want him to do for the money they'd pay for him. Paying $8-10 million dollars for a guy at the end of his career with plummeting production and no desire to be a team leader? No thanks.

As for Berkman, a lot of the same things can be said. Here's the stats:

Year	Tm	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	HOU	29	106	.312	.420	.567	.986
2009	HOU	25	80	.274	.399	.509	.907
2010	TOT	14	58	.248	.368	.413	.781

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com

Berkman would also be an offensive upgrade for the Pirates, but his defense is somewhat suspect, and wouldn't be much of an upgrade, if an upgrade at all, from Garrett Jones/Steven Pearce. The 30 HR potential would definitely be a good thing to have in the lineup, and his leadership abilities are much greater than Lee's and could help a lot with the young guys on the team (aka all of them), but the fact that he is 34 years old and looking for around $7 million for one year makes it really unwise for the Pirates to acquire him, in my opinion.

We all know the Pirates have the money to spend in free agency this offseason, but that doesn't mean they should spend it unwisely.

There are some other options on the market such as Russell Branyan, but I think the Pirates best bet here is to go with a Jones/Pearce platoon. Jones was very bad against lefties last year (.220/.360/.621), but Pearce is a pretty good lifetime hitter against them (.304/.372/557 in ML career). A full-season of a platoon between these guys could result in some pretty decent numbers. The numbers still probably won't add up to leave average for first basemen, especially in power numbers, but I think it could be enough to get by for the year (not that the Pirates are going anywhere in 2011 anyway). The future at first base is Pedro Alvarez, so there's no real need to solve that issue from the outside.

With the first pick in the draft next year, the Pirates have the chance to draft a potential perennial all-star third baseman in Anthony Rendon. While that is still a long ways away, the Pirates should have it in mind and not spend so much money on a quick-fix that they will be negatively effected in the long run.

The Pirates need pitching, and they need to spend their money on that this offseason and not worry about the first base situation.

Randall Simon, if you're reading this, I want to hang out sometime, contact me.