The Pirates have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Nate McLouth, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It's a big league deal worth $1.75MM, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Pirates have officially announced the signing.
The deal represents a reunion for the Pirates and McLouth, who was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2000 and spent nearly a decade in the organization before being traded to the Braves in 2009. After a disappointing two and a half year stint in Atlanta, the Braves declined McLouth's option for 2012, making him a free agent.
MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch and Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported earlier today that the Pirates were getting close to a deal to bring back McLouth.
you know he isnt the same right?-braves fans
Who cares they are not going to win NOTHING AT ALL THEY SUCK
Yeah… we sucked pretty bad last year when we took 3 out of 4 from you guys. Wait, we only took 2 since Jerry Mills gave you one. Also… pretty clear who won that McLouth trade 🙂
How many winning seasons has the Pirates had since Sid Slid???
Reunion. i like it! pirates i believe will be up there in the running for the nl central next year.
The rich get richer
Thank you. I know he wasn’t ours anymore, but just thank you.
Low risk, high reward. Good sign
If he pulls a Melky Cabrera on my braves, man I’m gonna be pissed.
I expect he’ll be taking over Xavier Paul’s role from last season. Not a bad pickup, and could definitely come in handy if an outfielder gets injured.
Unreal hitter in the first few months of 2008, then…
some things just never change
At least my McLouth jersey isn’t obsolete anymore.
I liked nate and wished he could turned it around in atl but couldn’t but on bright side he is a great clubhouse guy and solid defense maybe he can find his stroke again at a low pressure team as a pirate.
Hell, the Pirates aren’t paying Nate what the Braves were, so why not give him a shot?
I guess the fact that it’s Nate McLouth isn’t enough for you
you realize he won’t be starting, right? like someone posted earlier, he will most likely fill the role Xavier Paul had before they let him go: being a bench player/pinch hitter.
Hasn’t been the same since he left Pittsburgh the 1st time. Comeback player of the year? (Being serious) I guess I should be asking you Pirates fans who know better, is there room for him to start in the OF? (Being serious)
On a less serious note, is this a part of the rebuilding process that started some 20 years ago Pirate Fans? I actually do like this signing for the Pirates. Good luck, we’ll see you at the bottom of the standings in September again next year guys! —Cubs fan
Unless he has some sort of unreal spring training or there’s an injury, the starting outfielders will be McCutchen, Tabata, and Presley. McLouth is most likely going to take on the role of 4th outfielder and first man off the bench as a pinch hitter.
Sad, he could possibly win a spot in our OF right now. Heck of potential off the bench though. Could be Pirate’s version of Reed Johnson.
The way i see it, it’s an incredibly low risk signing with a chance for high reward. Who knows, he could get back in his comfort zone and play some really good ball. At the very least, Pitt gets a fan favorite back.
The Bucs will be near the bottom…looking down on the Astros and Cubs
Very happy for Nate to be back where he started. I always liked him just not his playing ability. I wish him the best of luck.
See? The Pirates didn’t lie when they said that McLouth was part of their future!!
Okay, he’s not Babe Ruth, but he can help out, and he seems like a good guy, so while I’m a bit underwhelmed, I hope he has a decent bounce-back year and helps the Bucs in the process.
I consider myself a “good guy” too.
i guess a lot of people here will still complain over every Pirates signing. he’s not even gonna be a starter for the Pirates. he’ll almost be guaranteed as a pinch hitter.
Who is going to be removed from the roster to put McLouth on there? Did they remove anyone for the Rule V draft?
More like low risk, no reward
RANGERs
What is it with the Pirates taking on reclamation projects? Barajas, Barmes and now McLouth? Nothing more than band aids here – no long term solutions. Florida is getting a new park and bring in Reyes, Bell and maybe Pujols, while Pittsburgh brought in a great park years ago and its free agent class was that year’s equal to Overbay and Correia. Spend some dough Nutting. You have been stealing it from the fans for years.
yeaaa when did Nutting take over as majority owner??? In 2007, so it hasn’t been that long. So for the current day problems you can thank Kevin McClatchy and the worst GM of all time Dave Littlefield for the continued losing. Huntington did the best he could to try and rebuild prob the worst farm system I had ever seen when he took over full time in 08. And yea the Pirates did sign band aids because they have long term replacements at each of these positions. T.Sanchez C, SS D’Arnaud and Mercer, and OF you gotta give Presley a chance to start, not to mention you have Marte, Grossman and Bell on there way in the next couple of years. The Pirates can’t afford to pay guys like Reyes or even Heath Bell when there not ready to compete and draw crowds, the only way they can ever win as what comes up from within, like the Rays do every year. Funny how the Rays can lose there starting LF Crawford, ACE RHP in Garza, 1B Pena, SS Bartlett, plus basically all of there bullpen and yet they still won this past year because there farm is good, thats what they Pirates are trying to build. I didn’t hear anything about how cheap the Rays were last year when they traded away and let most of there F.A walk. And the Pirates took on Salary last year at the deadline too, when they didn’t have too, $ Money spent on the draft and so on, I would say over these past couple years combined its probably the most money the Pirates have spent over a 5 year span, Since big Bob Nutting himself took over.
I’m happy that the Pirates and Huntington actually have a plan now, as opposed to the previous regime, but when everyone points to the Rays as the small market team who made it, I just feel they are an outlier. They hit on literally ALL of their prospects, they have the best scouts in the history of the game, and pull off very good trades.
Ideally the Pirates would like to play like this and succeed, but I feel like they will have to become a mid market team 60-70M payroll if they want to be a serious contender. All these band aid signings aren’t doing much, and while I don’t expect them to sign Reyes or Fielder, they should look at some mid level guys like Edwin Jackson or Carlos Pena or trade for long term solutions (Billy Butler, Yonder Alonso, Justin Smoak, Brett Wallace) instead of low risk-low reward types.
Clint Barmes over the past three seasons:.242/.303/.398 80 doubles, 43 homeruns, 165 RBI, 15.2 UZR at SS
Jimmy Rollins over the past three seasons:.255/.316/.403 81 doubles, 45 homeruns, 181 RBI, 14.4 UZR at SS
Yet if the Pirates had gone out and thrown $60MM at Rollins, everybody would be amazed at how the Pirates were finally spending some big money to bring in real talent. More expensive does not always equal better.
All the yinzers who were P.O.’d when they traded him should be dancing in the streets.
Good for the Nate-dog.
A smaller market and more familiar surroundings. He’ll have a chance to let go of some pressure and get healthy and get back to doing what he is good at, catching flies and smacking doubles.
When we had a chance to earn his timing back and get healthy, he was showing signs of a come-back. Then the hamstring hit him again.
He still has a good eye for the strike zone and can generate power, if he can learn to get his lift back.
He’s still a good ball-player. You’ll see.
Adds great depth for our OF noting that we dont know how Alex Presley will play after injury. Although, id much rather see our young OFers in the minors come up or even go after the cuban outfielder.
YES! This is awesome news; Nate McLouth was one of the top bats on the free agent market this winter, and the PIRATES got him back?! It’s great the Pirates got the best left-handed bat on the market. The Pirates signed one of the best fielders on the market in McLouth. McLouth’s bat is one of the best on the market, and the Pirates got him back.