Pirates Inquire On Derrek Lee

With every hour that passes the pressure on Pirates management escalates to make a move for a bat. The name that seems to be emerging tonight is Orioles first baseman Derrek Lee.

The Pirates have had discussions with the Orioles this evening about acquiring him, but there are mixed reports about what it will take to bring him in. Dejan Kovacevic tweets that money is not issue, but the Orioles are asking for a good amount in prospects. However, Jennifer Langosch tweets basically the opposite, saying that he could be had for mostly salary relief. Obviously, the latter is favorable, but the fact that we have two opposite reports from credible sources is confusing.

I would say there is a decent chance this happens. He's not exactly the guy we were hoping for at the beginning, but with the market being as is, he might be the best choice.

Lee had a rough first half of the season with the O's, hitting .235/.294/.372 with 9 homers while striking out 70 times, but he has found his swing in the 2nd half and is hitting .321/.368/.604 with 3 homers and 13 RBI in the 14 games after the break.

For his career, Lee is a .281/.364/.494 hitter with a 46 home run season (2005) under his belt.

Again, he's no Carlos Pena, but the Pirates shouldn't have to give up much to get him, and he is a pretty substantial upgrade from Lyle Overbay and Garrett Jones if he keeps up this second half performance (and he has always been a better 2nd half hitter in his career), so this looks like a pretty good move for the Bucs. I'll be away from the computer for the rest of the night but I will be tweeting updates.