Pirates Still Looking to Add Pitching

Apparently, the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel on the idea of making the playoffs in 2012. Despite a recent stretch that has seen them drop seven of their last eight, Pittsburgh is still just three games out of the final Wild Card slot at 73-72. The bigger problem might not be the total number of games, but that they sit behind the Dodgers and Brewers and Cardinals for that spot.

Aceves would probably welcome a trade away from Valentine’s clubhouse. Even if meant going to the Pirates. Image: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

Still, according to Nick Cafardo, the Buccos are interested in adding a reliever or two for the final two weeks of the season and are looking to Boston Red Sox for possible help.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTR suggests Vicente Padilla as a possibility, given his status as an impending free agent. I wonder if Alfredo Aceves isn’t more likely. Aceves is in the midst of a very public spat with Sox manager Bobby Valentine and while the general consensus is that Valentine will be let go at the end of the season, one thing GM Ben Cherington has shown in 2012 is that some of Valentine’s biggest enemies within his clubhouse have been quickly shipped off. Look no further than Adrian Gonzalez and Kelly Shoppach.

Of course, there are still 25 or so guys that probably loathe Valentine and haven’t yet been traded, so maybe this all means nothing. Either way, it will be too little and too late for the Pirates this season, so I’m not sure why they’d bother except to try to finish above .500 for the first time since 1992.