Pirates add Gaby Sanchez and Chad Qualls in deals

Neal Huntington was not finished near the trade deadline after trading for Travis Snider as the Pittsburgh Pirates made two separate trades that landed Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins to play first base and Chad Qualls from the Yankees to add to the bullpen.

The Sanchez deal adds a righthanded bat to the lineup that produced 19 homers in each of the previous two season before a rough 2012 that saw him hit barely above the .200 mark,a stint at AAA New Orleans and seeming to fall out of favor with the Marlins organization.
If Sanchez just needed a scenery change and turns things around,the Pirates have a durable bat (600+ AB's in 2010 and 11) that would be under team control for the next three seasons.
That is the one thread through most of the Pirates trades that has been consistent-gaining players that will be Pirates for a while,not just rentals.
The Pirates also received a minor league righthander in the deal in Kyle Kaminska.
The 23 year old reliever had split time between AA Jacksonville and AAA New Orleans this season with numbers that were disappointing after an excellent 2011.
Pittsburgh sent the brilliant glove and rubber bat of Gorkys Hernandez to the Marlins along with one of those competitive balance picks between the first and second rounds in the draft as their part of the deal.

The Pirates would make another deal before the gun in sending Casey McGehee to the Yankees for reliever Chad Qualls.
The Yankess were in desperate need of a player that could play first and third with their injury issues of late and the Pirates could rid themselves of a contract for next year along with a player that had not lived up to expectations,so both teams filled a need.
I would rather have had a prospect than Qualls,who looks to me to be cooked as a pitcher.
Qualls had an awful 2010,rebounded a little in spacious Petco Park in 2011 before being pretty bad with two teams this season.
Relievers are funny beasts though and you never know what you could get from another teams rejects.

I like the Sanchez trade a lot as the team added a player that could be a valuable member of the lineup for multiple years at the cost of a player that was going to be a defensive replacement at best at the major league level and a draft pick that was a freebie,costing the Pirates nothing.
That is an easy trade to make.

The McGehee trade was one made for salary flexibility and to help McGehee,who was going to lose even more playing time with the arrival of Gaby Sanchez.
I would not have expected the moon for McGehee,who has struggled for two seasons now,but I would not have taken Chad Qualls,a player that was on waivers earlier this season.

A quick note on the A.J,Burnett one hitter last night.
The only hit was by blog favorite Adrian Cardenas against Burnett and of all the neat things in this season for the Pirates,the comeback of A.J. Burnett might be first.
That just goes to show you,the big cities might be where all the money is,but some players need to see those Green Acres (Smaller cities) to truly play their best...

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