Exploiting inefficiencies has been all the rage the last decade, starting with Billy Beane's prioritization of OBP and continuing with Andrew Friedman's success emphasizing defense. You could argue that Neil Huntington has tried to exploit opportunity in the amateur draft over the last several years, with the results still TBD.

Over at Baseball Prospectus, Ben Lindberg argues today that the next inefficiency could be in-game management, which he estimates could make a difference of up to 3 wins per year. Imagine Dan Fox sitting next to Clint Hurdle in the dugout and telling him that the statistically prudent move would be to have Pedro Alvarez lay down a suicide-squeeze bunt with Rod Barajas on third.

Whether in-game management is an inefficiency worth 3 games a year, I'm not sure. But I think it raises two questions: 1) What are the next inefficiencies in baseball? 2) Are those inefficiencies significant enough to make a demonstrable difference in wins?

I raise this because it's imperative for small-to-mid-market teams like the Pirates to unearth innovative and sound strategies for generating wins, and the opportunities to significantly and consistently impact the standings may be dwindling. Several writers/experts have suggested that the new wave of smart GMs around baseball will reduce the effectiveness of inefficiency exploitation, which Lindberg summarizes nicely:

We’ve established that teams are getting smarter. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to discover something their competitors don't already know. And as I wrote in December, “the less variation there is among GMs, the stronger the correlation between spending and winning will become.”

We'll see a MLB team in Wheeling, WV, before we see a salary cap, so how do the small-market teams like the Pirates consistently find a way to compete with the large-market clubs? Exemplary drafts on an annual basis? Acting like a wealthy team and signing big-ticket free agents? Increased reliance on specialization? More post-game concerts by Styx? Luck?

The general question may be rhetorical: The best inefficiencies are ones that haven't gone mainstream, so we'll be hard pressed as fans to come up with the answer. But it will be interesting to see if Huntington and Co. are smart enough to produce new solutions in an increasingly difficult landscape.

Per Dejan Kovacevic, Roberto Clemente's family has come up with an elegant and meaningful way to honor the Pirate legend without fully retiring his number.

Jackie Robinson's #42 was retired in 1997, and Bud Selig has said repeatedly that no other player will have his jersey number retired across MLB, despite an ongoing campaign by Clemente supporters to retire #21. Clemente's widow, Vera, and three sons came up with an alternate solution that would allow players to wear #21 only if they won the Roberto Clemente Award, presented annually to one player on each team who "demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others."

This plan would honor Clemente in a wonderful way. Players would have to earn the privilege of wearing #21 through charitable work or other positive contributions to the community, and Clemente's legacy as a player and a humanitarian would be further cemented. Let's hope that Selig gives this the serious consideration that it warrants.

The second annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament is going on this week. I encourage everyone to vote for Bucs Dugout in each round. The first round is up today -- Bucs Dugout is going against Steelers Today -- and runs through 5 p.m. EST on Friday.

http://seanramblings.blogspot.com/2010/02/best-pittsburgh-sports-blog-tournament.html

Bucs Dugout reached the Sweet 16 last year, narrowly losing out to Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies, 55% to 45%. Let's make sure Charlie and Bucs Dugout get the recognition they deserve this year.

The Pirates are one of at least six teams interested in LHP Hisanori Takahashi, according to Jon Heyman at SI.com. The 34-year-old Takahashi is a free agent after 10 years with the Yomiuri Giants, where he posted up-and-down numbers as a starter. Last year, he put up a 2.94 ERA and 126/36 K/BB in 144 innings.

He wants to remain a starter and features a plus screwball and an 85-90 mph fastball, supplemented by a slider and curve. He likely wouldn't be a lefty specialist after lefties hit .300 against him (righties hit .250) last year.

The Giants and Dodgers are considered front-runners for his services, with the Mets, Red Sox and Padres also in the mix. A decision is expected this week.

Dejan is reporting that Jack Wilson has been traded to Seattle: http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/pbc/archive/2009/07/29/pirates-trade-to.aspx

No word on the return, but Dejan said details will follow. The Mariners have a few decent prospects in their system, including some low-level players, so it will be interesting to see what we get back.

I have to assume that Sanchez is close behind, with San Francisco as the most logical destination.

UPDATE: On Twitter, Dejan is reporting that its Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.

The Star-Tribune is reporting that the Pirates are interested in trading for Twins RHP Luis Ayala, who was designated for assignment this week. Ayala, 31, joined Minnesota on a 1-year, $1.3 million deal in the offseason, with the intention of being the eighth-inning setup guy for closer Joe Nathan. In 32.3 innings this year, he had a 4.18 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 21 K and 8 BB, but complained about being used as a middle reliever and reportedly requested a trade.

It makes sense for Huntington to inquire, given the health issues of Yates and Hansen and the sporadic ineffectiveness of some other relievers. Ayala had some very good seasons from 2003-2005 and was decent in 2007 after returning from 2006 Tommy John surgery, but he struggled last year with a 5.74 ERA and 1.46 WHIP with the Nationals and Mets.

Former top prospect LHP Greg Miller was released by the Dodgers today, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him end up in the Pirates organization in the near future. He has all the hallmarks of a Neal Huntington pickup: young (24), big (6-5), good arm, control problems, hindered by injuries, lefty, potential as both starter and reliever, etc. He was once considered the #2 prospect in the Dodgers organization, and I wouldn't mind seeing if Kerrigan and our minor league coaches can tap into his potential.

Jayson Starks' most recent ESPN column had a nice blurb about Tyler Yates:

Penmanship in Atlanta: One cardinal rule we've learned over the years is: When the Braves trade away a pitcher, never question it. But other people out there are already second-guessing their decision to deal away reliever Tyler Yates to Pittsburgh at the end of spring training.

"I think their bullpen is going to have trouble," said one scout. "I love [Rafael] Soriano as a set-up guy. But as a closer, I think he's just middle-of-the-pack. … [Peter] Moylan is tough on right-handers, but I don't think he can get left-handers out. … Guys like [Blaine] Boyer and [Chris] Resop have great arms, but they walk too many people and they're up in the zone a lot. And [Manny] Acosta is the same way. … So for me, you take that whole set-up crew, and Tyler Yates is better than all of them."

Baseball Digest Daily found this gem, which shows a scouting report from Branch Rickey (during his short stint as a PBC executive in 1954) that touts a young Don Drysdale and urges the Pirates to sign him.

Of course, Drysdale signed with the Dodgers. Rickey hand writes, after the fact: "Signed with Brooklyn; Father is a bird dog for them".

I love this line from Rickey: "It is probable that this chap is worth whatever it takes except that Pittsburgh is in no position to make him a bonus player." Maybe Littlefield was following PBC tradition when he bypassed Wieters!

There have been a lot of comments in this forum about whether the Pirates should pursue 3B Dallas McPherson, a 27-year-old former Angels prospect, so I thought I'd pass along news that he signed today with the Florida Marlins.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/401365.html

It's a one-year deal and no terms have been disclosed. I'm anxious to see how this plays out because this is the type of risk that the Pirates need to take -- I've been lobbying for Huntington to sign McPherson for months. There is a lot of potential power there and McPherson is still relatively young. Plus he would come fairly cheap and could provide some competition at 3B for Jose Bautista.

The only excuse I can think of for Huntington is that McPherson may still have medical red flags. Obviously, even if healthy, the odds of McPherson developing are less than 50-50, but the upside is too great to ignore. I hope we don't come to regret this.

Buster Olney just posted this story: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3151599

It says the Bucs and Padres are deep in discussions about trading Jason Bay and -- get this -- Matt Morris to the West Coast. Without knowing the return, I like the concept for the Pirates. Anything that dumps Morris (without paying too much of his salary) would be welcomed.

Salomon Torres was just traded to the Brewers for two so-so minor league relievers, according to a story just posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/12/07/brewers-trade-for-pirates-torres.aspx

The story is behind a login, so here is an excerpt about the players in return:

Marino Salas compiled a 1.42 ERA with 17 saves in 37 outings at Huntsville and a 4.94 ERA in 14 outings at Nashville, with a total of 22 walks and 54 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings.

Kevin Roberts, 23, a fifth-round draft pick in 2005 out of the University of Houston, made 45 appearances for high Class A Brevard County, going 6-3 with a 3.44 ERA and four saves. In 65 1/3 innings, he allowed 51 hits and 37 walks while logging 74 strikeouts.

Both Salas and Roberts are right-handers.

There has been lots of talk on Bucs Dugout about bad personnel decisions by Dave Littlefield, so I thought it would be interesting to put together a theoretical active roster. This consists of players that have been with the Pirates in the past (or present) and are currently on 40-man MLB rosters. It was both a fun and painful exercise.

This definitely requires a community effort, because it is difficult to track every player that has gone through the system. My crack at a 25-man team is below. Note that I acknowledged trades that netted certain players -- so, for example, I had to choose between Xavier Nady and Oliver Perez, since they were traded for each other.

LINEUP
CF Gary Matthews
2B Freddy Sanchez
RF Jason Bay
LF Barry Bonds
3B Aramis Ramirez
1B Adam LaRoche
C Ryan Doumit
SS Jack Wilson

BENCH
INF Ty Wigginton
INF Jeff Keppinger
INF/OF Jose Bautista
OF Jose Guillen
OF Kenny Lofton
C David Ross

ROTATION
RHP Chris Young
LHP Tom Gorzelanny
RHP Ian Snell
LHP Oliver Perez
RHP Bronson Arroyo

BULLPEN
RHP Matt Capps
RHP Leo Nunez
LHP Paul Maholm
RHP Salomon Torres
LHP John Grabow
LHP Damaso Marte

The strength of the pitching staff is somewhat exciting -- which goes to show what having Chris Young would mean to the Pirates. The offense, while markedly better, would likely still fall short of championship-caliber. This reaffirms the fact that the quality of hitters throughout the system has been mediocre, at best, for many years. Still, it would have been interesting to have several of these players take the field together.

Feel free to make edits -- many are likely necessary. For instance, I'm not sure if the bullpen needs three LHP. Or if Doumit should be the starting catcher. And having Jack Wilson at SS makes me cringe, so I need help there.

Of course, if this exercise was done for every other MLB team, I have no doubt that our theoretical 25-man roster would finish with another 67-95 record. Yet another indictment of team management.

On ESPN tonight, Peter Gammons reported that Pirates owners are talking to lots of people in baseball and are considering "cleaning house" on the player personnel side and starting over in an attempt to get the club on the right track. Gammons said this is aimed squarely at Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy, and may take place sooner rather than later. The new CEO would play a role in initiating this.

On a side note, Gammons also called Littlefield and Tracy two of the nicest guys in baseball. If that's true, then baseball is full of a#%holes.

The Nationals are apparently trying to trade for Tampa's Elijah Dukes (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6909946). This is a typical Jim Bowden strategy -- obtaining blemished, toolsy players.

Despite Dukes' sketchy personal life, this is the type of player the Pirates should go after. To win a championship, you need impact players, and Dukes has a high potential to become one. Putting him in RF next to Bay and McCutcheon in 2008 would create a strong, versatile OF.

Tampa is looking for pitching, and might very well bite on an offer that includes Bullington, Van Benschoeten, Maholm or Burnett. I would think the Pirates could offer as much as, if not more than, the Nationals.

We can safely assume that Littlebrain will not make a valid attempt to acquire Dukes, so the argument is moot, really. But the point is that Littlebrain consistently eschews potential IMPACT players for guys closer to the majors or easier to forecast. This is a recipe for long-term mediocrity. Littlebrain's inability to search far and wide for potential impact players is why we trade only for AAAA players, get rid of the likes of Oliver Perez and Aramis Ramirez and Chris Young, run a crummy academy in the Dominican, have little or no presence in other parts of Latin America and Asia, and draft guys like Moskos and Bullington.

C'mon, Dave, take some chances, live on the edge, give us fans something to get excited about instead of pulling the same old underwhelming personnel moves and backing them up with the same old nonsensical blather.