Joel Hanrahan/Evan Meek for Kevin Slowey?

The Minnesota Twins have chosen their 5 starters for the regular season, and Kevin Slowey is not one of them.

The Twins feel that it would be in their best interest to trade the capable major league arm to sure up their bullpen, so they are shopping him around the league looking for a back of the bullpen guy in return.

The Pirates have been talked about as a potential team that could bring Slowey in. Now the Pirates officials have not said they are interested in the trade, but speculation has occurred regardless.

If the Pirates were going to make this trade, they would have to part with either Joel Hanrahan or Evan Meek, both very good back of the bullpen arms.

So would it be a good idea to trade Hanrahan/Meek for Slowey? I say absolutely yes. Starting pitching is infinitely more important in this league than relief pitching, especially for a team like the Pirates that are in dire need of better starters.

Without even looking at Slowey's numbers, I can say that this trade would benefit the Pirates. While it's not super easy to find stellar arms like Hanrahan and Meek, it certainly isn't hard to find capable big league relievers. The Pirates have one of the better back ends of the bullpen in the National League, but that's not getting us any more wins. If the Pirates want to win they need starting pitching, not really good 3 inning a week guys.

Slowey is a solid major league pitcher. His best year was in 2008 when he went 12-11 with a 3.99 ERA. He isn't a huge strikeout pitcher (6.9 K/9 career), but he knows how to get guys out. He would be a better option than Maholm and Ohlendorf in my eyes.

The Pirates have an offense with big upside, they just do not have any pitching. I see this as an opportunity to get a capable big league starter without giving up too much. We can totally afford to lose Hanrahan or Meek. Having good bullpen arms doesn't help you much when your starters are giving up 5-6 runs every time out.