It's Official: The Hammer is Gone

The news reports from the weekend are now official:  the Pirates have traded Joel Hanrahan, All-Star closer, who is the victim - in the Pirates point of view - of his own success.  He performed so well that he became too expensive for the Pirates to keep.

Hanrahan and infield prospect Brock Holt are off to the Red Sox and the Pirates receive these four players in return: pitchers Mark Melancon and Stolmy Pimentel, infielder Ivan DeJesus, Jr., and 1B/OF Jerry Sands.  Here are some of my thoughts on this deal.

1. You can probably defend and make a case in defense of this deal, based upon the potential of the four players  coming here, and Neal Huntington will no doubt be spewing the Nealspiel from now until Opening Day doing just that, however...
2. ....this is yet another deal where the NHR (Neal Huntington Regime) seems to be looking towards the ever expanding and undefined "future" while not necessarily latching on to the chance to win NOW, in 2013.
3. Jerry Sands seems to be the same player as Clint Robinson and Travis Snider.  First baseman/outfielders.  Is Neal going for the throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach?
4. I am sorry to see Hanrahan go.  I liked him, but at the same time, he can and will be replaced.  Finding a closer is not all that difficult, even for a team like the Pirates. (maybe).
5. Even putting the best light on this, this deal still reeks of being a salary dump, pure and simple.
6. Even if you can make a case, baseball-wise, for this deal, given the NHR track record in such deals, how confident are you that it's going to work out for the Pirates?
7. And  I say the odds are less than 50/50 that Garrett Jones will in a Pirate uniform come Opening Day.

As always, big Pirates news are always accompanied by some great quotes from Huntington, the wacky Nealspeil we have come to know and love.  Here's one of them:

"I'm not saying that Mark's (Melancon) going to become Joel, but sometimes we get caught up in what we've done today and not necessarily take a look in how we've gotten there."

That is a quote directly from the Post-Gazette this morning.  Can anyone tell me what exactly he was trying to say there?

For the next bit of Nealspeil, I turn the stage over to my friend Fred Shugars and a comment he made on Facebook Pirate Chat this morning.  Take it away, Fred:

NH on adding Holt to the deal: "He was somebody Boston came after, and we reluctantly put him in the deal". That does make Neil sound like the bully just took his lunch money.

Thank you, Fred.  Couldn't have said it better.

If you are reading no great sense of outrage on my part, what can I say?  The Pirates have succeeded in numbing me on such matters over the course of the NHR.

But, hey, we're baseball fans, right?  Everything looks good over the Hot Stove, right?  Maybe this one will too.

Watch, but don't bet.