Has Littlefield actually been that bad this off season?

DL has been shredded apart on the internet in the past couple of weeks for his performance (or lack thereof) this off season. It's pretty easy to do, the Pirates have quantifiable needs (specifically left-handed power bats in right and/or first) and they have things to trade (bullpen help, young starting pitching) and yet we've done nothing except maybe sign a mysterious Cuban defector, pluck a reliever off of waivers, and tender contracts to Shawn Chacon and Humberto Cota. Mostly, though, it's easy to do it because it's Dave Littlefield. I've dished out my own share of DL bashing this past month or so (hell, it's got it's own tag on my blog), but I'm honestly not sure it's deserved. Let's play devil's advocate here and view things through a different light.

What was my biggest complaint about Dave Littlefield last year? His complete inability to leave guys like Burnitz and Randa alone and say, "2006 is not going to be the year we compete. Let's build for 2007 and beyond." It would've been brutal to hear, but it would've been honest and the right thing to do. This year he seems to be staying away from the veterans that get him into so much trouble. He's been interested in Suppan, but not to the point that it's consumed him and he's going to give Soup a contract that will actively hurt the team (at least I haven't gotten that impression yet). We haven't heard the name Ryan Klesko yet. We have heard Trot Nixon and some vague Aubrey Huff rumblings, but those players seem to be secondary on DL's agenda to acquiring what we really need.

We can also look at DL's inactivity at the Winter Meetings in a different light. First off, in a market where Gil Meche is worth $11 million/year it's true that our young pitching is more valuable on the trade market, but they're also more valuable to us. In Duke, Snell, Gorzy, and Maholm we're looking at four guys we can control relatively cheaply for the next four years or so. That doesn't make them untouchable, especially if there's pitching in the system behind them. The problem is that there's nothing in the system we can count on behind them. Burnett was bad at Indy last year. If you missed it over the summer, read azibuck's first hand diary at Bucs Dugout of Burnett's performance against Rochester in June. He looked like a AAAA guy. That was about the best he looked all year, like a AAAA guy. I know he's only 24 and I know TJ surgery takes a long time to bounce back from, but I wouldn't count on anything from Burnett just yet. Van Benschoten? He's one of the most injured prospects I've ever seen. When he's healthy he looks great, but to count on him to be healthy is foolish. Bullington had one decent year in Indy in which he justified his prospect status, beyond that he's been hurt and he's been mediocre. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not rooting for these guys or that I'm saying they're all worthless, I'm saying that to count on any of them for anything would just be foolish at this point. It still doesn't make Maholm or any of the other three untouchable (I do say again and again that no one is untouchable and I mean it), but I understand why it would take a haul to move any of them at this point in time.

Littlefield has, of course, one major card to deal if he holds on to his young pitching: Mike Gonzalez. It seemed foolish of Littlefield to not deal Gonzo for LaRoche during the meetings (assuming he was given the opportunity). But since the meetings have ended, Gonzo's name has been mentioned in conjunction with the D'Backs, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Indians, and still the Braves. It would appear that Littlefield has actually managed to create a market for one of his players. Now maybe Littlefield will still clamp on to Gonzo with a vice and not deal him at all, but I think that even Dave Littlefield should be able to play five teams off of each other and make a good deal for Gonzalez.

I hope no one is mistaking what I'm trying to do here. I'm not saying Littlefield is a good GM, because there's ample evidence to prove otherwise. I'm not even saying that we're all going to be happy with whatever it is that he ends up doing this off season. It's just that maybe we tend to judge DL a bit harshly. He's earned it, after all. Still, I'm not so sure he hasn't played his cards right to this point of the off season. Last year DL's off season dealings were mostly done by or around New Year's Day. He had already signed Burnitz and he signed Randa shortly afterwards. The next couple of weeks are going to be very telling.