The Pittsburgh Pirates completed a trade with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday featuring closer Joel Hanrahan, but they really should have moved Hanrahan sooner, preferably last offseason, because a Proven Closer™ is a luxury on a below-.500 club and will usually have more value in trade than he can deliver to a bad team over 70 innings. Hanrahan compounded the error of the non-move by having a terrible season, posting his worst walk rate since 2007 while allowing 8 homers in just 59 innings, and he now has just one year of control left but will earn $6-7 million because of the way the arbitration process overvalues saves. That's not a particularly valuable asset to put on the market.
Hanrahan a minor upgrade at minor cost
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- By Keith Law | December 26, 2012 1:38:47 PM PST
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