Battling Bucs : Who's On First?

Right now at the 1B position the Pirates have Gaby Sanchez and that is pretty much it. Trying to stretch beyond him we find Andrew Lambo who has played 1B sparingly, Matt Hague who is a regular 1B but doesn't really have the bat and maybe Travis Snider as fangraphs currently projects him to play there (why I'm not so sure). That is pretty much it and with the trade of Alex Dickerson there is no immediate help on the horizon from the minor leagues.
Needless to say it seems fairly apparent that the Pirates should do something at 1B. However with the Rays recently resigning of James Loney the position is rather quite bare on the free agent market. The only two remaining names I find even worth discussing are Kendrys Morales and Eric Chavez. Morales carries a fine bat but it isn't so clear he can actually play 1B on an everyday basis anymore plus it would cost the Pirates a draft pick and probably a lot of money (3/36?) to sign him. Chavez is a bit more intriguing as he has a decent bat, can play the position and should come relatively cheaply. The problem with him though is at this point in his career Chavez isn't an everyday player or even someone you want on the large side of a platoon. He has had trouble staying healthy in the past and a bench role seems to suit him best. The other thing to consider is there appears to be a lot of interest and he seems to genuinely like it in Arizona so he very well may be leaning to returning there. We could discuss the merits of Mark Reynolds, Carlos Pena, Kevin Youkilis, Wilson Betemit, Lance Berkman and the rest of the 1B free agent crop but that would just make us all sad.
The trade front looks a bit more promising as we have seen the likes of Adam Lind, Mike Carp, Mitch Moreland, Justin Smoak and Ike Davis rumored to be available. Then again are any of these names really all that appealing? Lind had a great 2013 but struggled the 3 previous seasons, is probably best suited for DH and with an obvious use for him the Blue Jays reported asking price is sky high. Carp is an interesting one but he very well may not be available and he comes with the smallest track record of the group. Moreland has a defined role on the Rangers and really has never been all that good. Smoak and Davis have flashed potential at times but both will be playing 2014 at the age of 27 and that is getting dangerously close to the point where potential simply isn't enough anymore. I'm sure there are others who may be available but these are the five most often discussed and lets face it chances are anyone else who is available at best fits in with this group.
So lets get a quick recap of where we are. The Pirates internal 1B options make me sad, thinking about possible free agents make me sadder and while the trade market does provide some hope it is very tempered and any upgrade look mainly based upon hope.
We could talk about potential position switches with the likes of Howie Kendrick, Chase Headley, etc but lets face those aren't really realistic. Essentially we are stuck ... Well there is one more avenue of course but that seems even more of a long shot to find a competent option and that is the AAA players. There are quite a few late 20s sluggers who play 1B in AAA who have either had limited or no big league experience. It is quite possible one of them could be this year's Garrett Jones but finding him is a near impossible task and counting on him as you primary option to start the season is suicidal.
Of the options I have mentioned Ike Davis is my personal favorite. Why? Well because he has had solid success in the past, came on strong at the end of last year, has shown the ability to hit for power and although he strikes out a lot he knows how to work a walk. He is by no means an option I am thrilled with he is just in my opinion the lesser evil of the remaining available options. Anyway that diverges from my point the Pirates find themselves with quite a hole on their team and with little means of filling it. In the past this has usually been a resource problem either not enough money or not enough prospects but right now that doesn't seem to be the issue. It seems pretty apparent right now the Pirates have the money to spend on a 1B and have the prospects needed to acquire one but the issue is there is simply nothing there. At this point one must think tendering Jones may not have been such a bad move as Huntington seems to have himself trapped in a corner with little to no means of escape. I have given the Pirates front office more trust than I probably should on things and in this case I'm not counting them out completely but it certainly seems as if they have missed the mark on this one.