PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - When I first noticed an on-line item over the weekend Pirates’ Stallings Drawing Trade Interest my first thought was – why in the world would they do that?
Why trade an affordable and underrated Gold Glove catcher who could not only help mold a young pitching staff for the next or year or two but would also (in his typically selfless fashion) help prepare 2021 first round draft pick Henry Davis to, essentially, take his job? Made no sense.
So when I first got wind that the Pirates actually did trade Jacob Stallings my thoughts were –
1) What the hell? Really?
2) I hope they at least sent him to a good team.
3) They had better gotten a decent return.
My reactions – Yes, No, Maybe
I will save number 1 for later since there is an important aspect to this.
First, a little disclosure. I first met Jake covering spring training when he was a borderline prospect and knew his dad was a basketball coach which gave us something in common. When his dad was hired as Pitt’s basketball coach that really gave us something in common so I’d gotten to know him as well as any current Pirates player.
The full disclosure is – that even though people like me aren’t supposed to do stuff like this - I always rooted for Jacob Stallings. That was as a person and then he started to become a player. He could always play defense and understand the game (he’s the son of a coach, after all) and, more importantly, he knows how to pitchers.
Recently, at the major league level no less, he also started to become a hitter. Nothing spectacular, of course, but coupled with his defense Jake is the perfect catcher to take the Pirates through the next couple of seasons. Now he’s gone.
To the Marlins? Please. Send him to the Braves, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Angels, the Astros, even the Cardinals. Instead, welcome to Miami. I had hoped for better for Jake.
As for the return, I’ll leave that to people who are able to earn a living by knowing this kind of thing.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/pirates-trade-jacob-stallings-marlins.html
So … an older Quad-A pitcher who might be able to fill a spot then get flipped at the deadline. Perhaps one of the other two will develop. In other words, underwhelming, albeit in my somewhat biased view.
Now back to the first point – why? Especially because do you know how many catchers your Buccos have on their 40 man roster right now? 0. That’s right; zero-nada-zilch.
If you don’t believe me you can look it up.
https://www.mlb.com/pirates/roster/40-man
Of course, on November 30th that doesn’t mean a whole lot and I can’t imagine GM Ben Cherington doesn’t have a plan. He must and while a good part of me wouldn’t mind seeing Henry Davis sent straight through to the majors that can’t be it.
Was Stallings going to lead the Pirates to a World Series title? Was he going to be an integral part of the next Pirates playoff team? Probably not, unless he was the veteran back-up. But Jacob Stallings was definitely a guy who was going to lead them down the road to get there.
And he definitely deserves better than the Miami Marlins.