Monday evening GM

For anyone who missed it earlier this evening, Pirates GM Dave Littlefield finally discussed the Chris Shelton decision in an interview with MLB.com's Pirates beat reporter, Ed Eagle. It wasn't a lengthy explanation as to why they left Shelton exposed to the Rule 5 Draft a few years ago, but he gave his first answer on the topic since Shelton's home run barrage:

"As we evaluated Shelton at that point in time, we definitely likedhis bat," said Littlefield. "But the thing we weren't confident about was his defense and where he was going to be able to play [defensively]."

As surprising as it might seem now, the Pirates also had concerns about Shelton's ability to hit for power in the big leagues. After being promoted to Double-A Altoona in 2003, Shelton did not have a home run in 122 at-bats.

"In retrospect, it was a mistake," said Littlefield. "If I had it to do all over again, we certainly wouldn't have [left Shelton unprotected]. As we are now seeing, the power is obviously there."

"I tip my cap to Chris," Littlefield added. "He's obviously performing well and I hear he's improved his defense as well."

As I pointed out in my notes, one irony in the matter is that the Pirates and Littlefield announced a contract extension on Opening Day, the same day Shelton had his two-homer game at Kansas City.