The Jody Gerut Experiment is over

Most of you are discussing this already in the comments, but better to post it late than never: the Pirates have released Jody Gerut today and announced they'll give Brad Eldred a shot in the outfield. As bad as the 2006 trading deadline was, Jody Gerut is pretty much Dave Littlefield's ineptitude in a nutshell. At the 2005 deadline, Matt Lawton was by far the biggest name available. Despite his lunacy in the field, he was hitting .274/.380/.433 at the time of his trade from the Buccos. All Dave Littlefield could get in return was an outfielder that was well-known to be damaged goods. Gerut played in four (4!) games for us before deciding his knee hurt and that he was going to sit out until 2006. Then in 2006 he decided he'd rather suit up for Hitler than a team with Dave Littlefield at the helm. Now he's gone. Just another stellar Pittsburgh Pirate career.

As for Eldred in the outfield, well, I'm happy that the Pirates are thinking a little outside the box on the this one, but forgive me if I fail to see how this will be an incredibly useful move. We actually need an outfielder like Gerut, a lefty with a little bit of pop in his bat, more than we need Eldred, who matches Xavier Nady's skill set pretty closely: a righty with pop but questionable on-base skills and not particularly great at hitting right handed pitching. I suppose if it gets him on the team in a pinch hitting role, I should be greatful. Watching him play outfield should be priceless though. I imagine it will be kind of like watching Adam Dunn play outfield blindfolded and with his shoe laces tied together.