More on Akinori Iwamura

The more I think (and read) about this trade, the more I like it for a few reasons. The first reason should be obvious; Iwamura makes the Pirates better at a position of need without giving much up. He's not blocking anyone from playing in the immediate future, so why is becoming better in 2010 a bad thing? The Pirates are mostly done tearing things down; at some point they have to begin building up. Iwamura gives the Pirates a lot of flexibility in an area they previously had none. If he plays well and is open to an extension, Andy LaRoche becomes expendable if he can't adjust to second base. If he plays well and the team is bad, they'll likely get more than Jesse Chavez in return for him. If he plays poorly, isn't traded, and doesn't re-sign, the Pirates haven't given much up. The other reason that this is a good move for the Pirates is that it gives the Pirates their first significant Japanese player. Michael Street has a good post on this at Baseball Dige...