Something for Nothing

Today it was announced that lefty Dana Eveland would be designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates. This really doesn't come as a surprise to many as Eveland made 3 appearances in 3 weeks for the Pirates. Eveland had one start and two appearances. He went 9.2 innings giving up 15 hits, 9 earned runs, 5 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Not a very good line.

After the move, Neal Huntington was quoted as saying, "Obviously, we liked him enough to trade for him". Regarding what will happen to Eveland he said "we'll see".

The Pirates traded RP Ronald Uviedo to Toronto after Eveland was DFA'd by the Blue Jays. Uviedo was converted back to a starter after the trade. He has pitched 21 innings (4 starts, 1 appearance) giving up 16 hits, 10 earned runs, 9 walks and 12 strikeouts.

Reading over the PG Plus board, listening to talk radio, and seeing some comments, it seems some fans are enraged over this deal. Sure, the Pirates don't look too good in this deal as they gave up an ok prospect and got 9 plus innings of...nothing. However, Ronald Uviedo is not a sure bet to make the major leagues and his value is as a reliever, not a starter. His strikeouts as a starter have been cut in half in comparison to as a reliever. His K/9 of 5.14 isn't far off from Aaron Pribanic's 4.86. Most people don't see Pribanic as a very good starter at the major league level.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have Uviedo still in the system but, as a reliever his value is somewhat diminished. The Pirates acquired a starter for a minor league reliever. How many fans celebrated the Kip Wells/Jesse Chavez trade? What about when Terry Mulholland was traded for Mike Fetters and Adrian Burnside? With very few options at the AAA level, the Pirates took a risk and traded for a guy they thought would upgrade their rotation. It just didn't work out.

Unless Uviedo becomes a solid set up man or closer, I don't think this deal is as bad as some people are trying to make it. The Pirates didn't trade away Carlos Marmol, so please stop acting like they did.

The part I'm not happy with is how they dealt with Dana Eveland. He was a Pirate for about 3 weeks and saw the mound 3 times. There were certainly a few times where he could have came in for relief, but obviously management did not believe enough in him to put him in. So if you're not going to use him, why trade for him? Did the scouts not do their work? Did the staff think they could make changes? Was Eveland not making the changes? There are many questions with the way things went down.

This deal didn't bother me that much when it was made because I felt like they were taking a risk to fill a need. After everything was said and done, many Pirates fans have a sour taste in their mouth.