Atlanta Series Box Score: Nate McLouth 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

All right, the Pirates managed to tie a road series with the Braves 2-2, even after trading Nate McLouth to Atlanta.

But the Pirates would be at .500 (30-30) today, if they hadn't traded Nate McLouth. Because McLouth was the decisive factor in the two games that Atlanta won.

Actually, the Braves started the series 2-0. But in the third game, former Brave Charlie Morton pitched one good inning before being pulled out with a hamstring.

That's an occupational hazard of an "unseasoned" major leaguer. Jeff Karstens pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing only one run, enough to get the win, technically as a reliever, with Morton as a "straw" starter.

The Pirates went on to win the fourth game as well. Their ace, Paul Maholm, pitched seven innings of one run ball, as did the Braves' Javier Vasquez over eight innings. But the Pirates' bullpen was better, with two shutout innings, against a two-run ninth off Braves' reliever, Rafael Soriano.

Pirates management seems to believe in the "new math;" that an established player is not worth much more than an equivalent advanced prospect (who has debuted in the major leagues without establishing himself).

Nowadays, the difference is only one raw (minor league prospect). Such a manager would be thrilled to get one advanced prospect and two minor leaguers for his established player (even though that was barely acceptable five or ten years ago). 

The thinking seemed to be: "If Andy McCutcheon (now an elite advanced prospect) is an adequate replacement for Nate McLouth, and Gorkys Hernandez will be an adequate replacement for McCutcheon in three years, we got the two pitching prospects for "free."

Or maybe management underestimated Nate McLouth. The official line was that he was basically an average player, based on his ending .256 batting average.

But I take the view that he is an elite player (albeit at the low end of the category), with his .350-ish on base percentage (OBP), and ability to hit 25 or more home runs on the season (including one off the Pirates' Zach Duke).

If the former is true, the three above-average prospects we got were more than enough; if the latter, too little.

Let's split the difference and say that McLouth is "only" an above-average player whose OBP won't top .350, and whose annual home run potential is more like 20, than 25. That would make the deal even.

Would I have done it then? NO WAY! That's because there are other considerations than the "paper chase" that seems to be prevailing in the Pirates' front office.

In announcing the trade of Jason Bay last year, the general manager observed that the team members had "lost a brother, lost a friend." That is a reason NOT to do a trade. A similar result held here; it ripped apart the fabric of the team by upsetting the remaining players.

A good team is more than the sum of individual parts. It is one that is bred on shared experiences, of which adversity is not among the worst.

After sixteen years in the desert, the Pirates were beginning to "jell" as a team. Taking it apart, even to replace one player with some equivalent players, was not the thing to do when .500 finally looked in sight. (We'd be better than .500 this year with Bay and Bautista.)

In a previous piece, I wrote: "Mediocrity isn't great. But it's a lot better than where the Pirates are coming from."