Once the ball starts rolling
Sean Casey says he wouldn't be against remaining a Pirate. Dave Littlefield says he wouldn't be against having Sean Casey stay in town. I say it's an all around bad idea to sign a 31 year old first baseman who is clearly in to the downslope of his career to an extension, so Big Brad better get mashing.
Honestly, I hope we at least watch Casey play this year before we do something like this (unlike the Jack Wilson situation). If Eldred doesn't adapt well at AAA and Casey has a good, healthy year, maybe we talk about this in August. Until then, this probably shouldn't be on the table and all it will serve to do is scare me that more money is going to be flushed down the toilet. My favorite part of the whole articleis this quote from Sean Casey:
I think, if you're the Pirates, you've got to take a look at Brad Eldred, too. He's a special player. He's right there, and I think everyone sees that. And you know what? I've been in his shoes, too, when I was behind Jim Thome in Cleveland.Jim Thome in 1997, Casey's first year in the bigs: 40 HRs, .286/.423/.579 (1.001 OPS)
Sean Casey in 2005, Eldred's first year in the bigs: 9 HRs, .312/.371/.423 (.795 OPS)
Not quite the same shoes there, Sean.