The Pittsburgh Pirates have shipped away another All-Star, part of a long-recurring summer theme.
In a stunning move Wednesday night, the team traded Nate McLouth, their Gold Glove center fielder, to Atlanta for three prospects -- outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and pitchers Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton -- none of whom will play in Pittsburgh immediately, maybe not for years in two cases.
With the trade, the Pirates announced the immediate promotion of their top prospect, center fielder Andrew McCutchen, from Class AAA Indianapolis, perhaps the only aspect of this scenario that will placate a fan base certain to be furious again.
Management seemed braced for it.
"I know how it's going to be received back home," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said by phone from Bradenton, Fla. "Believe me, it was the most difficult move I've made, but we believe it was the right baseball move, and we believe it firmly."
"I empathize with fans who don't like seeing a player like this go," team president Frank Coonelly said. "Our fans liked Nate McLouth, and they should have. But, for the Pirates, we need to be better than we are ... If we take advantage of trades like this, for three quality players, we're going to be there faster. I'm convinced we're a better organization now than 24 hours ago."
McLouth, 27, had a breakout 2008 in which he batted .276 with 26 home runs, 94 RBIs and 23 steals, all while becoming the Pirates' first Gold Glover since 1993. This season, he was at .256, but still led the team with nine home runs and 34 RBIs.
McLouth found out he was traded through a call from Huntington, an hour after the Pirates and Mets were rained out.
"Obviously, I was surprised," McLouth said. "I owe a lot to the Pirates because they allowed me to establish myself as a big leaguer, spent 10 years of my life with them. I made a lot of good friends I'm going to miss, and the fans have always been great to me. But I understand this is part of the game and, now, I look forward to the next chapter of my career."
Huntington described the call as emotional for him.
"Brutal," he said. "I like Nate, and he's a heck of a baseball player. I really mean it when I say he's the type of player we want to build around. But we need a lot of good players. We need depth at all levels ...''
Some of McLouth's teammates, predictably, were disappointed or outright angry. Several reportedly expressed dismay that management removed a key piece with the team at 24-28 -- despite missing cleanup-hitting catcher Ryan Doumit for two months -- and having some of baseball's best pitching.
Shortstop Jack Wilson, the Pirates' most tenured and popular player, was among them.
"It's a shock to all of us," he said. "I've been talking to a lot of the guys, and this is not going to be viewed very highly in the clubhouse by any means ... To lose your best all-around player -- and that's what Nate was, in terms of power, speed and defense -- and to do it so early in the season ... that's going to be tough to get over."
Huntington sounded braced for that, too.
"Our players are probably going to have a difficult time understanding this, probably going to have a difficult time supporting this," he said. "But, as we know them to be professionals, we expect them to come out and continue to play hard."
The Pirates have traded top players all through their 16 consecutive losing seasons, including 2008, the first year under new management, when outfielders Jason Bay and Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte were dealt for prospects.
Part of what makes the trading of McLouth different is that management signed him and two other young players -- Doumit and pitcher Paul Maholm -- to long-term extensions this past offseason. At the time, Coonelly described those as "our commitment to build a strong core."
McLouth's three-year extension guaranteed $15.75 million, including $3.5 million this year. The Pirates will save almost all of that money in acquiring low-salary players.
"It's not about money," Coonelly said.
Two other teams previously inquired about McLouth in recent months, but the Pirates never shopped him, Coonelly and Huntington insisted. Atlanta made its first serious approach two weeks ago.
The Pirates failed to get any of the Braves' top three prospects, as rated annually by Baseball America: Hernandez was ranked No. 4, Locke No. 7 and Morton not at all. But the Braves had made clear that they would not trade either of their top two prospects -- pitcher Tommy Hanson or outfielder Jason Heyward -- even if it was one-for-one for McLouth.
The Pirates came back quickly with the three-player package they sought and stayed with it.
"The Braves' initial reaction was, 'No, we'll never do that,' and they tried to substitute other players," one team source said. "We got the package we wanted."
Hernandez, 21, is the player the Pirates coveted most of that group. He was batting .316 for Class AA Mississippi with 11 doubles, 19 RBIs and 10 steals. He twice represented the Braves in the All-Star Futures Game.
Morton, 25, is the only one with a chance to reach Pittsburgh this season, and that can be expected to happen, according to a team source, within a month. He has a mid-90s fastball and has dominated Class AAA this season with a 7-2 record, 2.51 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 16 walks in 10 starts for Gwinnett.
Locke, a 21-year-old left-hander, was 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA for Class A Myrtle Beach.
(Contact Dejan Kovacevic at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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