Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend (I know I did).

I probably won't be getting back into the groove until next week. In the meantime, I thought Bucco Nation would find this interesting. I stumbled across this interesting bit of commentary on the Santiago for Nunez deal from Rob Neyer (ESPN) and Rany Jazayerli (Baseball Prospectus). I was unaware that these guys ran a blog (of sorts) devoted to the duo's beloved Kansas City Royals. In the course of kvetching about KC's Marrero move, Neyer offers this opinion of the Santiago move:

In the interest of fairness, we have to discuss the great deal Allard made, earlier in the day, when he traded a burned out, juiced up, over-paid catcher (Benito Santiago) for a young pitcher with electric stuff (Leo Nunez). Your prototypical skinny Dominican, Nunez was 21 last season and, pitching in the South Atlantic League, went 10-4 with a 3.06 ERA, 140 K’s and 46 walks in 144 innings.

He’s just a kid and the odds are against him. But turning Santiago into anything positive is a real coup for Allard. I don’t know if this balances the Marrero deal, but you sure have to wonder what kind of Kool-Aid they’re drinking in Pittsburgh…

To which, Jazayerli adds:

Overall, it’s a wash, or maybe even slightly tilted in the Royals’ favor, which only serves to remind us how amazing it is that Allard got anything for Santiago.  And it reminds us, not that we needed reminding, just how unhinged the Pirates’ view of reality is.

Ouch. I can't really argue. I still don't think this trade will mean much to the Pirates (for better or worse) in the end. I would have preferred they hadn't made the move, but I am just relieved that we are not saddled with Charles Johnson for two seasons.