Seemed like a good thing to discuss. The Pirates, who rarely makes a trade, actually made 2 this year.
The first involved LA sending Troy Jeter to Pittsburgh for Tony Jacquez. This didn't seem like much of a trade then and maybe never will materialize into anything. LA receives a better young player, so why the trade? The key to the trade was that the Pirates had no ready 3B depth at the ML level. The intention was to waive Vicente Trajano and move Jeter into his spot, but contract implications negated this idea along with Jeter's health concerns. However Jeter became a ready made replacement if Trajano went on the DL. Jeter did have career year in AA whereas Jacquez had his typical so-so year.
The second, initiated by the Brew Crew, saw John Ramirez, Randy Halladay, and Jacob Maxwell pack their bags for Pittsburgh. While the Pirates sent young closer Howard Inge and 1B Dwight Day to Milwaukee. Inge may be a ML closer in the end, though the Pirates were never that high on the kid. Day on the other hand is a stellar defensive 1B, though he couldn't hit a bowl with a ladle at the local soup kitchen. John, on the other hand, requested to be in this trade so he could be with his brother Denny. Jacob probably feels like the most unwanted player in the world, as he found new tickets at the counter for Salt Lake City during check in. Pirate management was drooling with anticipation from what they saw of Randy. It was left to the AAA coaching staff to find the problem (as Brewer management put it "he stinks up the joint here"). It took half the season to find out what the real problem was, would have helped if he told us first. He just wanted to be in the lime light so to speak. He excelled as an over zealous closer and was even better in a starting roll. His call up to the ML team was inevitable, a little rocky at first, but has settled in quite well in the starting rotation.
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