Pirates Preparing To Replace Iwamura

PITTSBURGH, Pa. / May 19, 2010

I was one of many who liked the Pirates' offseason trade of Jesse Chavez for Akinori Iwamura. Nobody expected a spectacular year from the new second baseman, but Iwamura is just 31 and had a solid career line of .281/.354/.393 - above average production for the position.

Now 39 games into the season, Iwamura is in the worst slump of his career. Since May 2 he has one hit. It's still not Memorial Day but he's now hitting .156 in 128 at bats. This is "worst player in baseball" territory.

Fangraphs recently ran a piece suggesting that Iwamura's start was the product of bad luck, considering his low batting average on balls in play. That's easy to say when you don't watch the team, but Iwamura simply hasn't been getting unlucky on his hits. The majority of his outs are on weak grounders, with some weak pop-ups sprinkled in.

Even if his hitting does rebound, there's still the matter of Iwamura's subpar range and difficulties in turning the double play. His defense doesn't look good behind the Pirates' pitch-to-contact staff. He had the reputation of an average or slightly above average defender but I'm not seeing it.

Iwamura is here on a one-year, $4.25 million contract. The Pirates would clearly love for him to put together good enough numbers to be worth trading. Yet it's hard to imagine an MLB team taking on his contract, much less giving up value in return.

Consider that Freddy Sanchez, an excellent defender who was batting .296 at the time he was traded, netted only an AA pitching prospect who doesn't strike anyone out. Iwamura, if he hits .300 from here on out, will not even be hitting .250 by the trade deadline.

While outwardly expressing confidence in their second baseman - including pinch-hitting him against Roy Halladay last night - the Pirates have been quietly preparing to replace him. The switch-hitting Neil Walker, ostensibly training to become a utility man, has recently been starting at second base every day in Indianapolis. Batting second in the lineup, Neil has raked his way to a .329/.402/.584 start. At 24 he looks major league ready now. He has good power, can steal bases, and has a good walk rate. Iwamura has only the last of those three.

We learned in 2009 that Delwyn Young isn't an everyday second baseman. Bobby Crosby, if he does play every day, should be doing it at shortstop. By the All-Star break, Neil Walker will be starting at second base every day in Pittsburgh.