Pirates Interested in Ian Stewart

The Pirates seem to have some interest in Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart. Stewart is not a free agent, the Pirates would have to acquire him in a trade. This is interesting for a couple reasons.

The first reason involves something I wrote about last week. The Pirates have consistently shown interest in former Rockies players and other guys that have ties to Clint Hurdle. Michael McKenry, Matt Pagnozzi, Garrett Atkins, Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis, and Clint Barmes were the guys I talked about in that post. Now you can add Stewart to the list.

The second reason is that Stewart plays third base, the same position that Pedro Alvarez plays (for now). One of the big questions leading into the 2012 season will be what the Pirates will do with Alvarez. The team has a lot invested in Pedro, so there's no way we won't see Pedro play a significant amount of big league ball this year. My guess is that Pedro starts the year as the Pirates every day third baseman, and the Pirates are only looking at guys like Stewart as fallback plans in case he struggles again early in the year.

Personally, I don't think Stewart is the guy. He struggled a ton in 2011 to the tune of a .156/.243/.221 triple-slash line in 48 games. He's only 26 years old and used to have a strong prospect reputation, so I'm sure he wants to go somewhere that he can start, which isn't the case (at least right away) in Pittsburgh. Also, the Rockies seem to be asking a good amount for him, and I don't see the Pirates giving away a lot (especially in terms of prospects) for a back-up third baseman.

If you could get a hold of Neil Huntington's cell phone, I think Rockies GM Daniel J. O'Dowd would be his first speed dial.