As we all know, a report came out yesterday that the Pirates "really want to get rid of Alvarez". Whether it is true or not is a different story. In any case, it does bring up an interesting debate. Should the Pirates trade Alvarez?
The answer really depends on the situation. If they do indeed decide to, they better have a pretty good replacement. The most important thing about replacing a player is to have the replacement first. The pure fact that Huntington is reportedly "offering him to everybody" tells me that he is having at least some talks internally and externally about a replacement because we all should know that Ishikawa is not it.
The other thing is that the replacement has to be better than Alvarez. Currently, there is only one player on the trade market that is an improvement over him, and that is Adam Lind of the Brewers. Other than that, it's pretty thin with nobody better than Alvarez overall. Now, this could change if the Indians and Rangers change their minds on Brandon Moss and Mitch Moreland, and they seem firm at holding onto them. Right now, they don't seem to be on the block. With a market so thin, I don't see them finding a good replacement.
In the right deal, yes, Alvarez could conceivably get dealt. However, I don't see that happening, either. With the lack of good replacements and really little interest from teams to want Alvarez, it would probably be better to hold onto him. He can do good things in his role, if he's used the right way. Although, it wouldn't be a bad thing to get a solid platoon partner for him because Rodriguez and Hart haven't done it well. With a solid platoon partner, the first base position could end up being a very productive position in the Pirates offense.
No comments:
Post a Comment