According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Colorado Rockies may have interest in acquiring Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez.
Sanchez, who has missed five consecutive games for the Pirates with a back injury, is scheduled to return to the team this weekend.
Pirates manager John Russell had this to say about Sanchez's return.
"He's making progress, we're shooting for Friday."
Word is that the Pirates covet Rockies prospect Eric Young Jr. Conveniently enough word from the Denver Post is that the Rockies may be ready to promote Young to the big leagues very soon.
Walter Sylvester, the Rockies' assistant for player development, said,
"Eric is knocking on the big-league door,"
Colorado appeared to be set at second base with Clint Barmes, but the addition of Sanchez certainly could change that thinking.
Sanchez, 31, is batting .316 with six home runs and 33 RBIs. He is scheduled to make $6.1 million this season and has an $8 million club option for 2010. Barmes is only scheduled to make $1.625 million this season.
Young is considered to be a mid-level prospect, John Sickels of Minor League Ball grades Young as a C+, borderline B-.
Eric Young JR, 2B-OF, Speed, walks, but defensive questions.
I'm not sure this deal makes a lot of sense for the Rockies. Sanchez will boost the payroll considerably and he's not much of an upgrade over Barmes. If the Rockies intent is to contend they need to work on getting pitching, a slight upgrade at second base is not going to make a huge difference.
Take a look here at what the folks over at Purple Row had to say about the possible deal.
Long-term thinking, I don't feel this is a smart move for the organization, especially if we're boosting payroll that could be used to support pitching instead. While Sanchez might provide a better bat at 2B than Barmes', I feel we'd be taking a potential weapon away from the lineup in EYJ and that Sanchez is just as streaky as Barmes, with less of a glove to support him during the cold spells.