Going into the offseason one of the questions/frustrations the Pirates had about the organization of their defense was: how will they fit in Josh Harrison, Ike Davis, and Pedro Alvarez all in the field while they would also love to have their top prospect Gregory Polanco in the field.
Even though Ike Davis was a nice trade piece from the Mets this past season to fill the hole they recently had at first; it no longer became a hole after Josh Harrison stole the show. Yes Josh Harrison was arguably the best when he played right field, but right field is now occupied by one of the best prospects in the game, while right and center have been filled for quite some time. So that means that Harrison has to play 3rd because the Buckos would not have made the playoffs without his bat. Now where does that leave the former all-star slugger Pedro Alvarez. Sure he can play 1st as he might do better over there rather than 3rd where his glove is less than average, but wait isn’t Ike Davis playing 1st? No problem he can just come off the bench, right? Wrong, as Ike would most likely want to start and why would he avoid arbitration with the Pirates if they chose to bench him?
Solution: trade him to the A’s. No they didn’t get much back, but as the demand for international players is increasing rapidly, the international slot money that the A’s gave in return is not a waste. And now the Pirates can have a lineup that looks like this: C is Chris Stewart and Cervelli (both good behind the plate), 1B is sliver slugging Pedro Alvarez, 2B is gold glover Neil Walker (who also has a .275 bat), 3B is the versatile Josh Harrison, SS is the nice young player who has a bit of everything Jordy Mercer, LF is the reliable .293 hitting Marte, CF is the former MVP McCuthchen, and RF is the top prospect Gregory Polanco (who could be the next Roberto Clemente).
Overall rating of trade: B- considering the light load they got back from the A’s, but it did give the green light to the former Homerun derby candidate to play 1st base, which could improve his hitting from 2014.
