Small Market Teams and the Trade Deadline

I've wrote about this before and have been tweeting about it a lot recently. Everyone is fired up that the trade deadline is approaching and the Pirates are buyers. They've already made one move, getting Wandy Rodriguez without losing too much in terms of prospects, and now the fans are craving for more - they want a big time corner outfield bat to put this team over the top. The names mentioned are Chase Headley, Shane Victorino, and Hunter Pence, among others.

The question now becomes, is it really worth the Pirates while to go out and trade for one of these big names? Assuming that it's going to take losing a lot in terms of prospects to get one of them (which it almost certainly will), there's a real argument here. Any surface riding fan can say that the team has a real playoff chance this year and should do whatever they can to heighten that chance, but it's not that simple with small market teams. Prospects and the preservation of money and resources mean everything to such teams, and history stresses how careful teams in such predicaments have to be.

The Milwaukee Brewers went for it in 2011. They traded for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, giving up a lot of prospects and salary preservation in a World Series chase. They won the division, which was exactly what they were looking to do. The playoffs are largely a crapshoot however, so you can't say that the experiment was a failure just because they lost in the first round of the playoffs. The fact is that they're feeling the negative effects of those moves right now. They didn't have the money to re-sign Prince Fielder (which may have been the case even if they hadn't gotten Greinke and Marcum), and their team is struggling big time this year which has caused them to be sellers this year and the future looks bleak. They have Braun, but not much else to back him up. Their big time prospects are gone and they aren't looking like a perennial contender by any stretch of the imagination.

The Tampa Bay Rays are a perfect example. They have been competitive every single year since 2008 because of their refusal to trade their top prospects. Sure, they have lost some of their star players, but they have remained competitive. Why? Because of their ability to draft and develop players teamed with a commitment to their prospects. No matter who leaves, they have someone there ready to fill in, and it has been a huge success. They're still one of the smallest market teams in baseball, but they are in contention to win the toughest division in baseball every single year, and that's a phenomenal accomplishment.

So which team do you want the Pirates to be like? Sure, they don't have as strong a farm system (in terms of depth) as the Rays, but I'd still rather take that route. If you give up your top prospects for a one to two year year established player, and you don't end up doing much with them on your team, you could very well set your franchise back for a handful of years (if not more). We'll see where the Brewers end up, but if you're asking me who will have more wins between those two teams in the next five years, I'll take the Rays to the bank every single time.

It would be nice to add another player and make the big league team stronger and more suited for a playoff push, but it might not be the best thing for the future. It comes down to asking yourself what you would rather have - a team that makes the playoffs one year, or a team that is in the hunt for the division crown every single year. I'm taking the latter. No matter what happens at the deadline, it has been a magical season to this point and there is something positive to take from that no matter what happens the final two months. Just don't be too upset if the Pirates don't make another trade, because that could very well mean more wins down the road.