Trade Thoughts: July 25th

I wrote one of these two nights ago and mentioned Wandy Rodriguez, then the Pirates traded for him the next day. Let's try to go two for two shall we?

• There hasn't been much in terms of new rumors today, but an interesting one from the other day was Shane Victorino. The Pirates apparently offered Jared Hughes and a prospect or two for him, but the Phillies said Brad Lincoln or no deal, and talks ended temporarily at that point. Now there are some other teams in on him and it doesn't look like the Pirates have much of a chance. I certainly wouldn't jump at the opportunity to lose Lincoln for two months of Victorino, but the Pirates are in a spot where they kind of have to consider everything. The recent call-up of Starling Marte relieves some of the need for a corner outfielder, but it still doesn't obviously make this team better. Chances are Victorino out performs Marte the rest of the season, I just don't think the Pirates are willing to give up Lincoln for a rental, and you can't blame them for that.
• Hunter Pence is becoming a more prominent name now that the Phillies gave Cole Hamels a ton of money. That makes him enticing in the light that the Pirates might not have to lose big time prospects to get him; the Phils might just want some salary relief - which the Pirates should be willing to give. It would still take a fair amount in terms of players, but I think it's possible for the Pirates to get it done without giving up Marte/Cole/Taillon/Heredia. Alen Hanson might be the name that has to go, and I might be okay with that if the Pirates could hold onto Pence for another year, although he's eligible for arbitration at the end of the year so it wouldn't be cheap.
• The name Billy Butler has come up, but I don't see that being a real possibility. The Pirates really haven't been rumored with him (although they weren't really rumored with Wandy either), and it would seem that the Royals would want a decent return for him.
• If I had to make a bet, I would probably bet on the Pirates not making another trade. It just seems like the Pirates would have to give up too much to get any of the guys that fit their needs. Hopefully I'm wrong and Neal Huntington and company can pull something off, but things aren't looking great right now.
• Jayson Stark said that the Pirates are sending signals that they are willing to trade Jeff Karstens or Kevin Correia. That's interesting and all, but irrelevant in my eyes. They aren't trading Karstens unless it's in a package for one of the corner outfielders mentioned above, which I don't see happening. Despite his good numbers the last year and a half, I can't see Karstens having much value; he's as or more valuable to the Pirates than to anybody else, and trading him would put Correia right back in the rotation which I'm sure they don't really want to do. As for KC, a trade would be great. They really have no need for him anymore, but he has no value either. Sure, he could improve somebody's back end of the rotation, but nobody cares enough about the back end of the rotation to give up anything significant for an upgrade to it. Chances of either of those two being traded are slim to none. But that's just me typing.