Pirates Look to Add a Bat

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Pirates have inquired on Kevin Youkilis, Bryan LaHair, and Chase Headley.

First of all, let me say that it won't be easy to get a deal done right now. None of these teams are going to be desperate to trade their players. The Red Sox would probably be the most likely to just want to get something done, but the Cubs and Padres have no urgency right now since they aren't competing this year anyway and they can wait until more teams get desperate around the trade deadline. I don't think the Pirates are going to make the move for Youkilis, although I could be wrong about that. Pittsburgh does seem to be a bit more of an attractive destination now since we are playing so well, but I still don't buy that a big name player by Youkilis would want to come here - not yet at least.

LaHair or Headley could definitely happen, but again we are at a disadvantage since we're a bit more desperate than the Cubs and Padres right now. Ideally, Neal Huntington would want to just pick up salary in a deal, but I'm pretty sure that both of these teams would want prospects in return. We could afford to give up a pitching prospect or two, but I really don't think management is willing to lose much besides money. We're certainly not going to trade a major league player, and I don't think either of those teams would be interested in that anyway. It's either going to be a cash deal or a prospect deal (or a mixture of both), I would bet on the mixture.

That said, I don't think anything is getting done soon. Maybe into July it could happen, but the Pirates are going to have to stay competitive for a few more weeks before we see one of these possible trades becoming a reality.

Headley and LaHair are both pretty good options. Headley can play third base and outfield and is hitting .273/.383/.444 this year with seven home runs. He's 28 years old and could be a guy the Pirates could sign for a few years - although I'm not sure how well he fits into the future.

LaHair is probably the most available guy right now. The Cubs are looking to rebuild and they have a first baseman in Anthony Rizzo that is just waiting to take LaHair's job from him. The first baseman is hitting .310/.391/.589 for the Cubs this year with 12 bombs. He was struggling for awhile after a hot start but has been hot the last 9 games hitting .355/.375/.613 to add to his trade value. At the age of 29 without any real success in the majors prior to this year, he may not be a long term guy, but it could happen. He would certainly be an upgrade at first base from what the Pirates are getting there now, and I'm sure he would welcome a trade to Pittsburgh. I say that mainly because he's a largely unestablished big leaguer and probably doesn't feel like he's entitled to playing where he wants to play right now - he should just be happy to have a starting job at this point.

Again, I don't see a deal happening soon, but the Pirates are certainly working on something and if they get the right deal they will pull the trigger.