Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Rumors: Red Sox Jerry Sands Could Be in Joel Hanrahan Deal

March 23, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Jerry Sands (23) at bat during the 6th inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Lord.  Help.  Us.  Twitter is on fire with speculation surrounding the possible trade of Pittsburgh Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan. Jon Heyman joined the mix this afternoon.

Heyman followed up that tweet by adding an interesting name to the rumor mill. Jerry Sands.  Yeh, 6’4″ 225 pound Jerry Sands.  Here is the tweet:

Jon Heyman‏@JonHeymanCBS

One name that could be in mix is Jerry Sands, an OF with power and yrs of control. #hanrahan trade

Red Sox General manager Ben Cherington was quoted at the GM meetings as saying that Sands might be an option to platoon at first base.  Was he blowing smoke to pump up the value?

You might recall Sands as the official ‘player to be named later’ in the blockbuster deal that the Red Sox completed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Sands has 251 plate appearances in the big leagues and rocks a serious platoon split.  Against the right handers he has a  .204/.301/.289.    But against southpaws he hit .316/.372/.532.   The minor league numbers show him to be able to hit with a career .289/.376/.562 triple slash.

Of course, those minor league numbers were put up in the Pacific Coast League, so take them with a grain of salt.   When he did get his shot with L.A. this fan doomed him with his prediction:

This is a clip from FanGraphs on Sands changing his swing:

"Sands has been up-and-down in his big league production, but Mike Petriello of  FanGraphs.com reports that in July, Sands reverted back to an old swing, and the results have been very positive.“In early July, Sands reverted to his old swing, and the results have been impressive. In July, he hit .317/.410/.584 with eight homers; so far in August, he’s at .477/.531/.886 with five homers, including three in his last five games and five in his last seven. Unlike so many other Isotopes, this can’t even be chalked up to a large home/road split, as on the year his home slugging (.560) is only slightly better than his road mark (.538).”"

FanGraphs on Sands:  When Will Sands Get a Chance?

Scouting Report on Sands:  Mass

So are you having Steve Pearce flashbacks yet?