Rosenthal: Dodgers Pursuing Jack Wilson - Details

Ken Rosenthal:

[T]he Dodgers' bid for [C.C.] Sabathia is complicated by their pursuit of Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson as a replacement for the injured Rafael Furcal, sources say.

To get Wilson, the Dodgers would need to trade the Pirates some of the same players that the Indians want for Sabathia, leaving Los Angeles with a choice of one deal or the other...

Class AA right-hander James McDonald, Class AAA shortstop Chin-Lung Hu and third baseman Andy LaRoche are among the Dodgers' prospects likely drawing consideration form the Indians...

[T]he addition of Wilson, 30, would fill the void created by the absence of Furcal, who will be out at least eight more weeks after undergoing back surgery...

By acquiring Wilson, the Dodgers would signal that they might not intend to keep Furcal, whom they probably consider too big of a physical risk to re-sign as a free agent.

Well, there's no way to know until something happens. I've already said I think the Bucs should try to get Matt Kemp, but I seriously doubt the Dodgers would consider giving him up for Wilson. 

I like the players mentioned in the article, though. McDonald has a very good performance record and looks like he could be a good big league starter, and he'd significantly improve the Pirates' awful minor league pitching depth. Hu and LaRoche are both good buy-low candidates; neither one is having a great year, but they've had success in the minors in the past. Hu is actually very much like a young Wilson--he doesn't appear to have great plate discipline or power, but he's hit for high averages in the minors and is potentially a vacuum cleaner at short. As for LaRoche, given that the Bucs should soon have both Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez in their system at third, I'm not sure where he fits in, but you can never have too many good hitters.

If I were the Indians, I would want better players than this for Sabathia. But for Wilson, they're good enough.