I think I hate the Pirates. There. I said it.

While I've been holed up in a computer lab trying to make sure I don't fail out of college, Dave Littlefield has been pissing on my head and telling me it's raining. By all accounts the Adam LaRoche deal is now dead.

Here's the Dejan's take at the PG:

The Braves accused the Pirates of taking too long to decide on the deal. The Pirates say the Braves were wary about Gonzalez's health.

And Ed Eagle at Pirates.com:

By nightfall, however, the proposed deal appeared to be abandoned altogether. Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz reportedly grew frustrated waiting for Pirates GM Dave Littlefield to pull the trigger on the trade and decided to move on to other options.

Would LaRoche have been a cure-all for the Pirates? No, certainly not. Would he have been a young, left-handed bat that could hit right handed pitching and put some balls over the left field porch? Yes. Is that more valuable than a very good reliever who seems to a likely candidate for a let-down year? I say it is. Unfortunately, I don't run the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unless DL was hesitant to pull the trigger on this move because he has Gonzo lined up in a trade for Loney or Kotchman (yeah, sure, that's what it was), well, it's going to be another Blue Christmas for Pirate fans.