So far, in free agency, the Pirates have actually been fairly active in attaining low cost, low risk players that may provide some help to the team in a small role. These include:
2B Akinori Iwamura (via trade), OF John Raynor (Rule-5), OF Ryan Church, OF Brian Myrow, SS Bobby Crosby, RHP DJ Carrasco, LHP Javier Lopez, RHP Chris Jakubauskas, LHP Brian Bass, LHP Neal Cotts, RHP Vinnie Chulk, and of course, Bailey the pup.
Definitely nothing major, but at least Huntington is sticking to his goal of not wasting any money on free agents and instead using the money to sign young players and invest in the draft and in Latin America. One player not on the list is Miguel Angel Sano, who the Pirates tried so hard to covet and instead scared him off. He signed for about the same amount we offered with the Twins, even though the Buccos have a great scout in Latin America who was one of the first to contact the kid. That, combined with the Matt Capps disaster, has made this offseason a negative in my view.
What we do have is a lot of options. Not good options, but a lot of options none-the-less. The 25 who will definitely be on the opening day roster are:
Position players C Ryan Doumit, C Jason Jaramillo, 1B Matt Clement, 2B Akinori Iwamura, SS Ronny Cedeno, SS Bobby Crosby, 3B Andy LaRoche, IF Ramon Vazquez, OF Lastings Milledge, OF Andrew McCutchen, OF/1B Garrett Jones, and OF Ryan Church. That leaves 1 or 2 spots available to go to Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss, Steve Pearce, and John Raynor (Rule5).
Pitchers SP Zach Duke, SP Ross Ohlendorf, SP Paul Maholm, SP Chad Morton, SP/RP Kevin Hart, RP Joel Hanrahan, RP Evan Meek, and RP Javier Lopez. That leaves 3-4 spots including 1 for a starter/long reliever, 1 for a lefty, and 1 or 2 more spots. Candidates include RHP Steven Jackson, RHP DJ Carrasco, RHP Jeff Karstens, RHP Daniel McCutchen, RHP Chris Jakubauskas, LHP Brian Bass, and LHP Neal Cotts.
I would put my money for the final spots on Delwyn Young, Stephen Jackson, Carrasco, Bass, and Jakubauskas. At the least, there will be some competition for the final spots, so that will be about as exciting as it gets for Pirate fans. Tabata will be up in May most likely, so that will probably remove Young from the roster, as well as Lincoln or McCutchen replacing one of the righty relievers.
That's about my thoughts on the current roster as of this moment. Nothing spectacular, but at least enough talent to probably keep them from losing 100 games. I currently have them ranked above only San Diego and Toronto, but that could change if some of the new guys resurrect their careers, and some of the young guys live up to potential.
Thoughts?
P.S. I decided to stay a Pirates' fan...however, go Rays!
3 comments:
If the Pirates sign Dotel, that could end up being a fairly good bullpen.
I read Pat's run analysis over at WHYGAVS, about how we gave up less runs last year by having a much improved defense, but also scored a lot less runs. You should check them both out.
I do feel that the Pirates could have a decent year (not a winning season, but a competitive year), and hopefully at the end of the season, we will be saying how 2011 we will be in the hunt.
I still believe that the Pirates really need a dominant pitcher, which sadly looks like they can only get via free agency. Definitely not this year, but next year or maybe 2012.
I don't see why they don't think spending on ONE really good starting pitcher, who is maybe about 30 and still will have 4-5 good years, won't seriously help them for the 2011 season. Why not go after Ben Sheets? Matt Cain will be a free agent in 2011. I say save up all our money and give him as much as he needs to come here.
And yes, they are close to signing Dotel so that will probably bump out Stephen Jackson from the roster.
Someone thinks they will be over .500 this season...although I'm not sure if that vote was made in jest or not.
That vote wasn't me. I could see 73 wins this season.
Unless they know something we don't about one of those draftees from last season, maybe one of them will end up blowing through the minors and be a 20 year old rookie in two years who wins 20 games for us....
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