One day after third baseman Casey McGehee was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Santa Cruz native was still absorbing the deal.
The Pirates acquired McGehee for reliever Jose Veras late Monday night, hours after the Brewers agreed to terms with Chicago Cubs free-agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez.
In recent weeks, McGehee’s future at third base in Milwaukee became questionable. The Brewers spoke of McGehee seeing action at first base, if free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder signed elsewhere.
“The last 24 hours have been pretty hectic,” said McGehee, a Soquel High alum, on Tuesday. “I saw the writing on the wall and put two and two together. But it moved a lot quicker than I thought it would. In some ways, I feel relieved to have an end to it. It’s starting to sink in a little bit, but it hasn’t hit home yet.”
McGehee, 29, had a strong rookie season in 2009 and a big year in 2010, but slumped at the plate in 2011 and lost his starting job to Jerry Hairston Jr. late in the season. McGehee batted .223 with 13 homers and 67 RBIs for the NL Central champions in 2011 after hitting .285 with 23 home runs and 104 RBIs in 2010. The Dodgers signed Hairston Jr., a free agent, in December.
“Casey McGehee adds a quality option for us at both corner infield positions and adds depth to our position player group,” said Neal Huntington, Pirates general manager, in a statement.
McGehee will enter spring training
competing for the starting job at third base with Pedro Alvarez. McGehee could also split time at first with Garrett Jones and is an option to play outfield.
The Sentinel’s All-County Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000, McGehee views the competition as wide open.
“I’m going to go in and do what I’ve always done,” he said. “And if that’s the case, things will work out like they’re supposed to. … I’m going to go in with a fresh mindset. I think I learned a lot about myself last year. You can’t make up for what happened in the past all at once. You’ve got do things day-by-day and be patient.”
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin called McGehee on Monday evening and informed him of the trade. After that, McGehee took calls from Huntington and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.
“He seems like a great guy, like my kind of guy,” McGehee said of Hurdle. “It seems like we hit it off good, but that’s just an assessment of 20 minutes of conversation.”
McGehee is a .265 career hitter with 52 home runs and 242 RBIs in three-plus major league seasons. He was chosen by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2003 draft and made his big league debut with Chicago on Sept. 2, 2008. Milwaukee claimed him off waivers on Oct. 29, 2008.
Ramirez, who started his career in Pittsburgh, was the starting third baseman in Chicago while McGehee climbed through the minors.
And Ramirez was the player who ultimately led to McGehee’s trade Monday.
“I don’t begrudge him one bit,” McGehee said. “If your best friend was offered $36 million over three years to do your job, he’d take it. It’s ironic because he started his career in Pittsburgh. If you look at the back of our baseball cards, we’ve played for all the same teams, but in just a little different order.”
McGehee is hoping he can rekindle his offensive approach and stroke from two years ago and find himself in the heart of the Pirates’ batting order daily.
He is a career .219 hitter [14 for 64 in 21 games] with five extra-base hits at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
“That’s such a small sample size,” said Barry Meister, McGehee’s Illinois-based agent. “I think the Pirates value his right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup. And he has an opportunity to get at-bats at first and third. It’s a bigger park, but if he goes the other way and hits gap-to-gap, it has a chance to be a good place for him.”
Meister said three other teams expressed interest in McGehee on Monday — two from the AL and one from the NL. But the Pirates it was.
McGehee said he thinks they are on the cusp of doing something special. They had a 53-47 record and were in first place on July 25 last season before going 19-43 in their final 62 games.
“I think they’ve gotten to the point where they’re not rebuilding anymore,” he said. “They’re adding pieces to go to the next level. They’ve got enough talent. If everything falls into place, there’s no reason to believe that this year couldn’t be the year they make the playoffs. … The park is beautiful, one of the nicer parks and kind of out of the mold of the [San Francisco] Giants’ stadium. I remember as a visitor thinking this would be an unbelievable place to play when they’re doing well.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Comment Below!.
