The Pittsburgh Pirates acquire Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan from the Nationals
The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired 24-year old righty swinging outfielder Lastings Milledge and 27-year old righty reliever Joel Hanrahan in return for 28-year old lefty swinging Nyjer Morgan and 26-year old lefty reliever Sean Burnett. Lastings Milledge has way more talent than Morgan but he’s a head case and that’s why he was playing in AAA. Milledge played in 7 games for the Nationals this season and he was 4 for 24 (.167 avg, .398 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 260 games in his major league career and he is 234 for 897 (.261 avg, .726 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 25 homers, 113 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. Joel Hanrahan started the season as the Nationals’ closer before losing his job to poor performance. Hanrahan pitched in 34 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he was 0-3 with 5 saves, a 7.71 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP. He finished his career in Washington pitching in 115 games (11 starts) in which he was 11-9 with 14 saves, a 5.30 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. But, he did whiff 171 batters in 168 innings for the Nationals which shows that he has talent it’s just up to the Pirates to tap it.
Nyjer Morgan was having a solid season for the Pirates as their starting LF. Morgan played in 71 games for the Pirates this season and he was 77 for 278 (.277 avg, .707 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 2 homers, 27 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Morgan finishes his career with the Pirates having played in 157 games in which he was 156 for 545 (.286 avg, .727 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 3 homers, 41 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. Sean Burnett pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the Pirates this season and he was 1-2 with 1 save, a 3.06 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Burnett finished up his career with the Pirates having pitched in 109 games (13 starts) in which he was 7-8 with 1 save, a 4.54 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Down the road this trade will look like a good one for the Pirates as long as Milledge acts his age and not his shoe size.