F. Torres

The difference between a 130 wRC+ hitter and a 143 wRC+ hitter over a season is marginal when you consider the fact that the RHB part of the platoon usually gets < 50% of the PA. The benefit vs. the cost to acquire Norris (which, again, would hardly be inconsequential considering he's at worst an average regular who is cost controlled for 4 more years) doesn't make sense to me.

John Mayberry Jr: career .269/.324/.533 (130 wRC+) hitter vs. LHP in 534 PA. Danny Valencia: career .327/.368/.502 (138 wRC+) hitter vs. LHP in 552 PA. Anthopoulos doesn't need to waste time or assets (no way in hell Oakland just gives away Norris) chasing a platoon mate for Lind. He's got two prime candidates already who are going to cost peanuts in arbitration.

I'd feel much, much better with the season that the Pirates had. For starters, a "playoff" team (even if it loses in the WC game) looks a lot more attractive to most free agents than a .500 team. More importantly though, the Pirates got an extra game at home. Seeing a packed R.C. and how close the team is to really cashing in might get ownership to open up the purse strings a little more. And it'd definitely help attendance in 2015 knowing the team made the "playoffs." It'd be a gut punch, but the good definitely outweighs the bad imo.

I love Buehrle, but I'd move him if I could do it without taking on a terrible contract in return. It's very unlikely that he's as good as he was this season in 2015 and his $19 million can be put to better use (be it in free agency, trade, or a combination of the two).