Bucs Deal McClouth for 3 Atlanta Prospects

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Bucs Deal McClouth for 3 Atlanta Prospects
Posted by MattyGabe at 9:08AM on 6-4-09

URL: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/cliff_corcoran/06…
" At .500, the Braves sit just 5½ games out of first place. Seeing their chance, they took it by trading three prospects to the Pirates for All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth."

The article quoted above wasn't the best of articles, simply because it focuses on Atlanta and why they did this deal (to get into the playoffs by winning their injury-ridden division, the NL East).

It was such a good read because after reading all of the AP-esque articles and a lot of Pittsburgh fan comments, most of which were very negative and along the lines of "Here we go again, we traded away our best player for three garbage depth players...", this article pretty much made a realization. Corcoran said McClouth is a decent player but one that probably never should've been given the Gold Glove in 2008 (what he called "one of the biggest gaffes" in the history of the award), and that since he's 27, he's pretty much peaked in terms of improvement so he won't get any better than he is right now. This is the realization that a lot of Bucs and Pittsburgh writers and fans failed to see: even though McClouth was our best player, he was by no means a player worth one or two of the top prospects in America (as some fans had hoped he was dealt for). Dealing him now (early June) probably meant that the Pirates were able to sell high.

It was also an interesting read in that Corcoran has no feelings for Morton (feels he was just thrown in so the Pirates would have something to showcase in the here-and-now), and hinges the deal on lefty starter Locke (called him "the mid-season tariff" ) and pretty much hinged the success of the deal for both teams on whether A) The Braves actually win the division now and B) If Locke pans out as he's supposed to in the coming seasons.

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