Top 5 offseason moves!

[slider]

One man's opinion-

1)  The signing of LH starter Erik Bedard.  This is a no brainer for me, you get a LH pitcher who has been very effective when healthy over the past several seasons.  The signing of Bedard over Maholm tells me the Pirates finally might be turning the corner on starters who pitch to contact.  Sure it is nice to be efficient, but give me six innings of Bedard missing bats over the Duke/Maholms praying for double plays anyday.  If Bedard can stay healthy he can also fetch a decent haul come July assuming the Pirates are out of contention.

2)  Trading for utility IF Yamaico Navarro-  The Pirates have spent way to many years searching for Ramon Vasquez/Bobby Crosby types who come to town with little left to offer.  Navarro has a good bat with decent pop and can play the middle IF.  Assuming he makes the team, there are going to be days when I'm hoping Hurdle will give Navarro starts over Barmes.  Navarro profiles as an above average utility guy with a chance to step in if a regular gets hurt, add in the fact that he is only 24 and it seems like a good investment for the Pirates.

3) The signing OF Nate Mclouth-  I don't get the anger from some fans in bringing Nate back.  If Pirate fans think Jose Tabata will play more than 100 games I think they are just kidding themselves, he is an injury prone player going all the way back to the minors and I don't see that changing as he gets older.  In the 11 years PNC has been open there has never been a player IMO who suits a park as much as Mclouth suits PNC.  He has a great LH swing with just enough loft to hit a fair number of Hr's and he can consistently drive the ball into the left center field gap.  It also wouldn't surprise me to see Nate with more AB's than Presley by the end of the season.  Maybe I'm way off on this one, but Ii see the power and speed combo returning for Mclouth in what is going to be a big bounceback season.

4) Selecting Aaron Poreda in the AAA phase of the rule 5 draft-  Getting the ex uber prospect for basically nothing has the potential of being a steal for the Pirates.  I know all about the control issues, but even with all the walks he was still able to strikeout over 10 batters per 9IP in AAA.  The stuff is still there and if he is somehow able to figure things out the Pirates might have another starting option or a fireballing lefty to throw in the pen.  Young lefty's who throw hard and have nasty sliders don't grow on tree's

5)  Signing SS Clint Barmes-  I made no secret of the fact that I didn't care for Cedeno, the Barmes signing is a slight upgrade on both offense and defense but the real difference will probably only be seen by the players in the clubhouse.  My only probelm with this signing is that it is for two years instead of one.  If either D'Arnaud or Mercer are ready to take the job in 2013 it makes Barmes a 5 million dollar utility player.

Other tibbits-

-I also considered Shairon Martis and Nick Evans for the list because I think both could be solid contributers if everything goes right this coming season.  Evans as a valuable bat off the bench and Martis as a guy who could be one of the first callups in case of injury.

-I think the Pirates have one more move coming this offseason.  I predict the Pirates trade for AJ Burnett and take on about 10 million over the two remainingg years.

-A couple of free agents the Pirates might still be considering are Juan Cruz or Michale Wurtz for the bullpen.  I think things are pretty much set but it never hurts to have another arm around

-Still also like the idea of bringing in Kyle Davies and/or Brandon Webb in on a minor league contract and hope you catch lightning in a bottle

-Anyone else a little worried that the Pirates will open the season with Holliday, Lee and Hamels.  I guess Mcgehee and Evans will get to prove their worth early.


Slider

[The Moose]

-Anyone else a little worried that the Pirates will open the season with Holliday, Lee and Hamels.  I guess Mcgehee and Evans will get to prove their worth early.

Slider

You know, it goes far beyond the Pirates opening with the Phillies.  Right after the opening series, the Pirates immediately head on a West Coast swing, to face the Dodgers, Giants, and D'Backs. In fact, here's the April series:

Phillies
@Dodgers
@Giants
@D'Backs
Cardinals
Rockies
@Braves

13 of the first 22 games on the road.  And 19 of the first 22 against possibe playoff contenders  - provided MLB goes to a 2 Wild Card format, this year.  That's a difficult schedule, for any team.

The conditions are right for the Pirates to get off to a bumpy start, in 2012.

[burghman]

And what makes it even worse is we don't see the Brewers till I believe they have played 50 plus games. So that means we won't even get the pleasure of playing them once while Braun is suspended.

[bradlej31]

I believethat one of the best offseason moves is yet to come.  We're probably going to end up with another 2 WAR player (Francis, Oswalt, Kotchman, Lee, etc.) for $5-8M.

[ohiopirate]

And what makes it even worse is we don't see the Brewers till I believe they have played 50 plus games. So that means we won't even get the pleasure of playing them once while Braun is suspended.

Nice....I can see it now:  ESPN's welcoming of Ryan Braun back vs the Burgh and he jacks 7 HRs off of Correia.

[Chewie]

When you're coming off a 90 loss season and your #2 offseason move is getting someone named Yamaico Navarro, you've got bigger problems than opening with the Phillies.

[ECBucs]

I was surprised that Barajas would come in at number 6 or 7.

While none of the moves listed are bad moves they aren't ones that bring much talent to team unless Bedard comes all the way back.

Still, it should be fun to attend games, there is some power with Alvarez and Cuth, speed with Cuth and maybe Pressley and Tabata

If it is correct that Tabata has a problem staying healthy his entire career then he should have been shopped rather than signed to a team friendly contract.  It isn't that team friendly if he does turn out to be injured quite a bit.

I would certainly welcome another move to bring in some talent at either first or starting pitching.

At this stage, I have no faith in Correia or Karstens (hope I'm wrong about him) in the rotation.

[gusfan88]

     Certainly nothing earth shattering this off season. It has been stated many times before that the moves appear to cost effective but nothing to improve previous talent. I do believe that the opportunity to sign or acquire a firstbaseman may fall into the Pirates laps if they are sincere about acquiring one. I like Kotchman. Not much power but with a ton of speed at the top of the lineup, a high average, doubles hitter would be fine in that lineup. There are way too many strikeouts scattered throughout that lineup to be consistant run producers.
     Tabata's contract could turn out to be a real asset for the Pirates. IF he stays healthy and hits .300 he could be a very valuable trade chip if Marte is knocking at the door.
     I may be in a minority here but I think Karstens can duplicate if not improve on last season. I believe he has figured out how to pitch at the major league level. (keeping hitters off balance) Not a bigh strikeout guy but could be a (much) younger Jamie Moyer. Maybe not much more than a .500 pitcher but on the Pirates that isn't bad.
     Still way too many ifs for this team to be competitive but although "glacier like" they appear to be moving somewhat forward.
           Gotta go shovel snow.....I need a dose of spring training!

[gamecckfn]

When you're coming off a 90 loss season and your #2 offseason move is getting someone named Yamaico Navarro, you've got bigger problems than opening with the Phillies.

Pretty much.

[Dogknot3]

Good post.  I htink the upgrades were made too.  They might not be significant, but they are still upgrades. 

A lot will rest on the production at 3B (Alvarez) and the corner outfield (healthy Tabata and surprising play of Pressley).  I assume Walker and McCutchen will be better too.

-Anyone else a little worried that the Pirates will open the season with Holliday, Lee and Hamels.  I guess Mcgehee and Evans will get to prove their worth early.

Slider

The Pirates did take two of three from the Phillies at PNC Park last year.  No worries here.

[bucs_lose_again]

A big NO to Casey Kotchman please.  Sure, the numbers from last year look nice, but he was very lucky with his .335 BABIP, much higher than his career .280 BABIP.  The chances of him repeating that aberration next year are slim to none. 

[slider]

I believethat one of the best offseason moves is yet to come.  We're probably going to end up with another 2 WAR player (Francis, Oswalt, Kotchman, Lee, etc.) for $5-8M.

I know he has been brought up on this board before, but this fangraph article suggests that Kyle Blanks would be a productive everyday 1b.  Maybe a move like this will be one NH makes before spring training.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/free-kyle-blanks/

Slider

[bradlej31]

A big NO to Casey Kotchman please.  Sure, the numbers from last year look nice, but he was very lucky with his .335 BABIP, much higher than his career .280 BABIP.  The chances of him repeating that aberration next year are slim to none. 

Google Kotchman and read about the surgery he had done on his eyes before last season. Sounds like it had a lot to do with his 2011.

[bucs_lose_again]

Sorry, but I find that a simple case of Lasik surgery being responsible for that kind of outbreak is a little far-fetched.  Like my brother always used to say, "Even the sun shines on a dog's @!# every now and then."

[dave3BA]

If what you said is true about Kotchman's lifetime BABIP at .280, I would think that's the outlier (despite it being his lifetime stat, of course which is odd) and not .335.  .335 seems more sustainable than .280 I would think.