While Montreal's trade bait monopolized the Winter Meetings, when they finally made a trade on Friday, they were overshadowed by the mind-boggling Millwood deal. Of course, they weren't dealing one of their big four. For the moment, Matt Herges, who was a member of the Montreal closer committee last season, is the only ex-Expo, having been dealt to Pittsburgh in exchange for RHP Jon Searles and RHP Chris Young.

Herges suffers from mild control difficulties and developed a small problem with homers last year, but he isn't a horrible pitcher. The reason I dislike this trade from the Pirates perspective is that they don't need him. Acquiring Herges means that they'll have to bump another qualified reliever from their crowded pen. Mike Williams is set as the closer, while Scott Sauerbeck and Joe Beimel will cover the left side of the pen, leaving three or four spaces for the remainder of their relievers. The newly re-signed Boehringer will work setup with Herges cutting the space in the pen down to one or two spots for Mike Lincoln, Al Reyes, and Duaner Sanchez to share. Since Reyes is signed to a split contract, he's the most likely to lose his roster spot, and Lincoln is more veteran than Sanchez, so if they only take 11 pitchers, they might send also Sanchez to the minors, which would be ridiculous. As it was, they had no room for any of the potential rotation candidates to spill into the bullpen.

Both Searles and Young spent last season pitching for A Hickory in the South Atlantic League (Sally). Pittsburgh drafted Searles out of high school in the eighth round of the 1999 draft. Prior to this season he'd spent a season and a half first at the Pirates' Rookie-level Gulf Coast affiliate and then at Short-season Williamsport in the New York-Pennsylvania League. The 21-year-old spent most of the 2002 season in relief, compiling a 53:34 K:BB with 86 H and 10 HR allowed in 79 IP for a 5.81 ERA over 31 games with only 4 starts. To date, Searles has progressed slowly and even when repeating a level hasn't shown a mastery of his craft. I don't expect a lot of him, but he's still young so he has considerable time to develop and as a reliever once he figures it out he could move quickly through the minors.

The Pirates drafted Young out of Princeton University in the third round of the 2000 draft. Young also played basketball in college and as a dual sport athlete was not as prepared as college pitchers who focused only on baseball. This past season was the 23-year-old's second year at A Hickory, as his 2001 season was disrupted by a bone spur, which he needed surgery to remove. In 144.2 IP, he compiled 136:34 K:BB with 127 H and 11 HR allowed for a 3.11 ERA. I expect the Expos to promote him to A+ at the start of the 2003 season, and I wouldn't be surprised if he spent a considerable portion of the year in AA. While we'll have a much better idea of his upside after this upcoming season, he appears to be a quality rotation candidate that should hit the majors sometime between September of 2004 and 2006.

While the strength of the Pirates minor league system is their A-ball pitching, that depth will soon disappear if they're willing to dispose of those pitchers in deals like this one. Pittsburgh did not need Herges, so trading for him is a waste of resources. Under ideal circumstances, they turn Herges around for a prospect during the season, but I doubt the player they will receive will equal the talent they discarded in his acquisition.

Pittsburgh sent the first player to be named later from the Randall Simon trade to Detroit following the Rule 5 draft. RHP Roberto Novoa signed with the Pirates as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1999. After spending 2000 in the Dominican Summer League he advanced to Short-season Williamsport in 2001. Novoa split 2002 between Williamsport and A Hickory. He pitched well in 12 starts at the lower level, but struggled when making the jump, so he Tigers should probably send Novoa to their A level club before advancing to him to A+. However, the 21-year-old certainly has potential and appears capable of at least developing into a decent reliever. Detroit is still owed one more PTBNL for Simon.

The Pirates also sent RHP Matt Roney, who they selected in the Rule 5 draft, to Detroit in exchange for cash. Colorado drafted Roney out of high school with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 1998 draft. He missed all of 1999 and a portion of 2000 due to shoulder problems that required surgery to repair a torn labrum. However, he acquitted himself well at Asheville in the A Sally League in 2001. The 22-year-old split last season between Asheville and AA Carolina in the Southern League, displaying strong skills at the lower level and pitching solidly after the promotion. He's not prepared to start in the majors without significant time at AAA if not more AA time, but Roney might be able to handle a limited relief role if the Tigers choose to keep him on the roster, as they must if they want to retain him as a Rule 5 pick.

While Tim is reviewing the fantasy potential of all the players selected in the Rule 5 draft, I don't intend to take the time to discuss their potential impact on teams at this time. Those draftees who stick with their teams will most likely be discussed during the course of the season.