About Those 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Deadline Pickups

The Pittsburgh Pirates 2012 trade deadline came and went with the Bucs making moves that raised a few eyebrows at the time.  The moves to acquire Wandy Rodriguez, Travis Snider and Gaby Sanchez seemed rather, well… meh.

The Pirates fell off the map in the second half, and comments were made about the elusive clubhouse chemistry.

Now, those moves are paying dividends.  Rodriguez has pitched like a man possessed, giving up just one run in sixteen innings pitched.  The southpaw has eleven strikeouts while walking just one.

After last nights masterful start which saw him face the minimum, skipper Clint Hurdle was impressed.

"“It wasn’t just the strikes but the location of the strikes. It was like he was throwing darts. I don’t know if we can afford to throw him every 11th day, but that was pretty special.”   Hurdle"

Snider is hitting like the 14th overall pick in 2006 should be hitting.  The right fielder leads the Bucs offense in several offensive categories, and the questions about why he hasn’t made more starts seems even more fair.  The production in less than 40 at-bats has been pretty special, eye opening–so much so that whoever scouted Snider might get a bump in pay.  It’s hard to remember a hitter being acquired in a trade or via free agency recently that has made much of an impact in the past few years.  But heh, it’s early.

Sanchez has been the odd man out after hitting well in the spring.   The first baseman has four hits in just 23 at-bats.

Sure, it’s early, but watching the production of these three players might have a lot to do with whether the Pirates brass gets to work another year in Pittsburgh.