Lidge Blows Another One

B rad Lidge is no stranger to blown saves. And he added another one to his collection earlier tonight at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Phillies were winning 4-3 going into the bottom of the 9th. Then, Brad Lidge came in and before you knew it, the game was over. The Pirates won 6-4.

The Phillies came back from down a run in the top of the 9th to take the lead by a run. Andrew McCutchen misjudged a deep fly from Victorino. Ben Francisco scored as the go-ahead run. McCuthcen later made up for that in a big way.

Game over... Lidge's fault again.

Then in the bottom of the inning, Lidge immediately gave up a lead-off single (his trademark). After a wild pitch by Brad, the runner moved up 90 feet into scoring position. Then Brandon Moss hit a liner into left that Werth bobbled on the bounce, allowing the tying run to score.

Then, Andrew McCutchen stepped in. He knocked a 2-run walk-off homer off against Lidge. The rookie overpowering the vet. Game over... Lidge's fault again.

The game started off so promising, with a first-pitch homer for J-Roll. Then, on the first pitch of his second at-bat, Jimmy knocked another dinger. The Phillies should sweep the Pirates, no offense to Pittsburgh fans. The fact of the matter is that the Pirates traded away all their veteran talent and the Phils should beat a team made of mostly young players.

Poor Pirate Fans

        The Pittsburgh Pirates made two big deadline moves yesterday and one move today.  First, they traded away shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to Seattle for Ronny Cedeno, Jeff Clement and four prospects.  The Pirates also traded away three-time all-star second basemen Freddy Sanchez to the Giants for pitching prospect Tim Alderson.  Today, the Pirates traded John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Cubs for Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and Josh Anderson.

        So, in one day, the Pirates traded away both their starting middle infielders for prospects.  The 31-year old Wilson was batting .267 with 4 homers and 31 RBIs.  Wilson is a solid hitter and a good defender.  

        The Mariners also received 27-year old pitcher Ian Snell, who was pitching in Triple A for the Pirates.  Seattle hopes that Snell can restart his career after winning 14 games in 2006.

        Cedeno will probably start at shortstop for the last-place Pirates.  Cedeno is batting average is only .167 but he does have 5 homers.  Cedeno is no where close to the hitter Wilson was for the Pirates.

        In the other deal yesterday, the Giants will receive second basemen Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates.  Sanchez should help the Giants struggling offense a lot.  He is batting .296 with 6 homers and 34 RBIs.  Sanchez must be happy to go from a last-place team to a team (the Giants) who are contending for the NL Wild card.  Sanchez will most likely play in tonight's game against the Phillies.

        The 20-year old pitcher Tim Alderson was the fourth ranked prospect in the Giants system.  He is a good prospect but he will not help the Pirates win this season or next.

         The Cubs have been looking for a lefty out of the pen and Grabow should fill that void.  Grabow has a 3.42 ERA pitching this season for the Pirates.

         If I'm a Pirates fan, I'm disgusted.  The Pirates are in last place and basically trading away any quality player on their team.  The last time the Pirates had a winning record for a season was in 1992.  That's 16 years and they are still trying to rebuild their team... poor Pirates fans!  

           

Manny to Dodgers

So the blockbuster happened in the waning minutes before the 4pm trade deadline. The three way deal included the Red Sox, Pirates and Dodgers. The Dodgers got Manny Ramirez, and the Red Sox got outfielder Jason Bay. The Pirates received four minor leaguers. It was thought that the deal was going to include the Marlins instead of the Dodgers. But the Dodgers came out of nowhere to nab Manny.

Manny has voiced his displeasure with the Red Sox over the last week. "I love the Boston fans, but the Red Sox don't deserve me. I'm not talking about money. Mental peace has no price, and I don't have peace here." That was what Manny thought of the Red Sox.

Ramirez was threatening to not play for the Red Sox. He was tired of the Red Sox and the Red Sox were tired of him. Ramirez is batting .299 with 20 homers along with 68 RBIs.

Let's talk about what the Red Sox got in return. They traded a guy who didn't want to play for them, and they got a elite left fielder who is probably thrilled to play for them. Why is Jason Bay thrilled to play for the Red Sox? He moves from a last place team (the Pirates) who have gave away everything except PNC Park, to a team that is a playoff contender. No, Bay is not as good as Ramirez, but he is batting .282 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs.

The Dodgers have no pop in their bat. They will certainly get pop now that they have Ramirez. They are one game back in the horrendous NL West. Arizona is leading the division currently. By comparison, if the Dodgers (or the Diamondbacks, for that matter) were in the NL West, they would be in fourth place and out of the playoffs. The Dodgers will win the weak NL West now that they have Manny.

The Pirates are in complete rebuilding mode. Now that they've traded away Nady (for next to nothing) and Bay, they have no hope of having a playoff contender in the next two years (at least). I don't know why they would trade away their best players in their prime. But that's how the cookie crumbled.