Pirates trade practically whole team, figure to start new in 2010.

Pittsburgh Pirate’s General Manager Neal Huntington has done a lot since taking over the reigns in late 2007.

And that work has never been as apparent as right now. Huntington’s dealt nearly the whole team in the past week and brought in a capable crop of prospects and major league ready talent.

Here’s the rundown:

Give up:

LHP John Grabow (Chicago N.L.)

LHP Tom Gorzelanny (Chicago N.L.)

2B Freddy Sanchez (San Francisco)

SS Jack Wilson (Seattle)

RHP Ian Snell (Seattle)

1B Adam LaRoche (Boston)

Get:

RHP Kevin Hart (Cubs)

RHP Jose Ascanio (Cubs)

IF Josh Harrison (Cubs)

RHP Tim Alderson (Giants)

C Jeff Clement (Mariners)

IF Ronny Cedeno (Mariners)

RHP Aaron Pribanic (Mariners)

RHP Brett Lorin (Mariners)

RHP Nathan Adcock (Mariners)

IF Argenis Diaz (Red Sox)

RHP Hunter Strickland (Red Sox)

That’s a pretty good haul for the lowly Pittsburgh minor league system.

My only concern is that Huntington dealt two pretty good left-handed arms and bolstered the system with a whole bunch of very raw, barely proven righties. Pittsburgh hasn’t shown the ability to draft able left-handers for a while now and they certainly don’t have any plug-ins in the minors. Grabow and Gorzelanny were relatively cheap and my guess is that their losses will be felt the most in the foreseeable future (if anything can hurt this forlorn franchise).

Argenis Diaz will make Pirate’s fans forget about Jack Wilson as soon as he hits the majors. He’s got an amazing glove, perhaps better than Wilson’s, but will need to progress with the bat to even get a chance to show it.

Cedeno, who was part of the deal with the Mariners, will fill in for the time being and should be a suitable replacement for Wilson. The Pirate’s also got a pretty good player from the Mariners in catcher/first baseman Jeff Clement, who has looked good in the minor leagues this year and may flourish in an environment like Pittsburgh.

The true gem here is former-Giant’s pitcher Tim Alderson. He’s just 20-years-old and already projects as a frontline starter. I’m extremely surprised that the Giant’s were even willing to deal him, but it’s clear that Brian Sabean pictures the 1-2 punch of  Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain for the future, making Alderson relatively expendable. He had the best curveball in the Giant’s system and was notorious for pounding the bottom of the strikezone.

Dismantling an entire roster is a risky thing to do, but Huntington appears to have brought in a good amount of talent for aging, league average talent.

Seattle deals Washburn to Detroit for two young lefties.

I’ve been waiting for a trade deadline like this for a while.

It seems like every year there’s a ton of rumors, but nary a trade.

Not this go ’round.

This afternoon, the Seattle Mariners dealt Jarrod Washburn to the Detroit Tigers for lefties Lucas French and Mauricio Robles. And at first inspection, it looks like this should be a pretty good trade for both teams.

Washburn is simply a rent-an-arm for the rest of the 2009 season. Still, the resurgent lefty has looked absolutely filthy this year and he does a lot to bolster a playoff bound team in Detroit. He provides a lefty arm in a right-hand heavy rotation of Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Rick Porcello, and Armando Galarraga.

Washburn will also provide invaluable playoff experience in that young rotation, having pitched for the Anaheim Angels in the 2002 World Series and the 2004 and 2005 American League Division Series. He’s had mixed results but was lights-out early in his post-season career. That’s probably more representative of how he’ll toss now.

In return, Seattle gets Lucas French, an eighth rounder in the 2004 draft, and Mauricio Robles, a Venezuelan signed in 2006.

The 23-year-old French had spent the past six years toiling in the Detroit minor league system before getting the call up this year. In Triple-A Toledo this year, French posted an earned run average under 3.00 with nearly a strikeout per inning. In five starts with the big club, he was 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA.

He throws a high-80’s fastball paired with a slider/changeup combination that hovers in the high 70’s/low 80’s. French’s true value is his durability, a quality that would seemingly peg him as a back of the rotation innings eater.

Robles is the more intriguing of the two lefties. He was originally signed as an outfielder with Detroit, but was moved to the pitching staff when he reached camp. Only 20-years-old, Roble’s still very raw and has an extremely inconsistent delivery. As a result, his fastball velocity varies; it’s been clocked as high as 94 miles per hour with late tailing life, but also at a weak 88 miles per hour when his mechanics aren’t right. His curveball and changeup need serious development; he throws them with noticeably slower arm speed which will render them hittable.

Still, Robles had an absolutely ridiculous run in the Midwest League in 2008 during which he pitched 51 innings and only gave up one earned run.

For a rent-an-arm, two mid-line lefties should be a solid return.

Reports: Philadelphia lands Lee, sends four prospects to Cleveland.

Well, it looks like the Philadelphia Phillies might officially be crossed off the list of teams allegedly involved in deals for Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

Because they may have just landed a big one.

According to multiple reports, Cleveland Indian’s lefty Cliff Lee was dealt to Philadelphia today, along with outfielder Ben Francisco, for a prospect-laden package that includes #2 prospect RHP Carlos Carrasco, #3 prospect C Lou Marson, #4 prospect SS Jason Donald, and #10 prospect RHP Jason Knapp.

If the deal goes through, Lee would be under Philly control for the rest of the season with a $9 million club option for 2010.

The deal is supposedly resting on the health of Jason Knapp.