DK’s reporting some unexpected news today: John Grabow’s been selected to replace Brian Fuentes on the US WBC roster for as long as Fuentes is out with “family issues.” That’s likely the first round, so after the US advances Grabow will be back with the Pirates.
Immediately, two thoughts come to mind when I read this news. The first is that I’m happy for Grabow, who’s come a long way from back when he was John Grablow in 2004 and 2005. He’s a solid reliever that’s toiled in relative obscurity for his whole career and he deserves a chance to pitch on a bigger stage. This immediately leads me to my second thought which was, “a bigger stage for Grabow is a showcase for a trade.” It sounds like Grabow gave Huntington a chance to sign off on this move and he did, and I’m guessing he did that with this in mind.
Of course that’s all speculation on my part, but it is cool to see a Pirate selected to the American team.