The Blue Jays claimed Wil Ledezma on waivers from the Pirates, according to a Toronto press release. The Pirates agreed to terms with the left-hander on a one-year split contract earlier in the offseason and designated him for assignment late last month. Ledezma will earn $700K in the majors and $300K in the minors.
Ledezma who turns 30 this month, posted a 6.86 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 19 2/3 innings for the Pirates last year. He'll likely compete with left-handers Jesse Carlson, Rommie Lewis and David Purcey for bullpen spots this spring.
bigpat
Not sure why they gave up on him already, Pirates need a lefty and he has some potential. I know he got hit hard last year, but it was a small sample size and his stuff is pretty electric. I don’t want to talk about the whole “bad luck” thing, but if someone coaches him up and he gets an opportunity, he might be pretty good. Oh well…
boyofsummer
I suppose this signing is a moderate improvement over Jo-Jo Reyes. Throw him into the hopper with Cordero, and Pappy Walton has his work cut out for him.
Lunchbox45
Jays should try Purcey back in the rotation.
Guest
Meh….i think its a bad idea. When was the last time he threw his other two pitches?
baseballz
I agree, I was so tired of seeing Purcey struggle to try and throw his change or curveball anywhere except for over the batters head. The guy can’t throw either pitch (it really looked like a relese point problem since both pitches always got located high and never dropped like they should, but thats just my guess) and its the best thing for him to stick in the pen where at least he can be effective.
Andrew
I really like Purcey out of the pen. I think he has very good stuff to be a lefty specialist/back-end guy. He has impressed me a lot and he is still young, I think you keep him in the pen, he could be Scott Downs like in a couple years.
Andy Frank
totally agree, Purcey is for reals
Andy Frank
totally agree, Purcey is for reals
grownice
Purcey seems way to wild when hes trying to get 3-4 pitches over when starting, he looks alot more confident and had better control when hes jsut using is fastball slider outta the pen IMO
Encarnacion's Parrot
Here we go again with AA picking up every arm available..
Lunchbox45
last years spring training looked more like the nfl camp then a mlb camp
Guest
Here we go again with AA picking up every “CHEAP” arm available..
Madraider
You really have to like that K rate though, it looks like bad luck mostly
Guest
I’m with you on that. The walk per nine look great too. I don’t know much about the guy, so, I’m hoping more Pirates fans jump in here.
HerbertAnchovy
I like the move. Low-risk, and he’s a lefty which you can never have enough of.
Guest
Here we go again with AA picking up every “CHEAP” arm available..
Lunchbox45
last years spring training looked more like the nfl camp then a mlb camp
baseballz
To be honest I really want to see what Jo Jo Reyes has to offer this year, from the pen or as a possible #5 candidate.
Guest
This is just a gut feeling, but I think AAs best bullpen signing this offseason is going to be Winston Abreu. He tore up the minors, and now is doing the same in Winterball.
baseballz
To be honest I really want to see what Jo Jo Reyes has to offer this year, from the pen or as a possible #5 candidate.
Andy Frank
this is ridiculous, does AA need to go to AA? he has NEVER done anything worthwhile anywhere, any time. wretch!!
Guest
huh???? Maybe you should put the bottle down?
Lunchbox45
and the pipe
Lunchbox45
Morrow, Gonzalez, Escobar Buck, Lawrie, Hechavaria, the entire 2010 Draft class, …
yup, he’s a bum
Lunchbox45
Morrow, Gonzalez, Escobar Buck, Lawrie, Hechavaria, the entire 2010 Draft class, …
yup, he’s a bum
mike292929
Maybe we should get JP back so he can demolish the Jays with ridiculous contracts. At least give AA a chance. He’s been the Jays GM for a year for gods sake.
Sniderlover
I give up. Haters gonna hate.
Smrtbusnisman04
I wanted the Pirates to keep him. He was our only lefty specialist, or close to one. We won’t sign Brian Fuentes if he’s demanding $5 million/yr.
This stinks for the Pirates!!
grownice
his k rate and bb rate would suggest hes pretty good then u look at his era , its kind of shocking to have an era that high with such low bb/9 and such high k/9, hmm whatever, another lefty to compete for the pen isnt a bad thing.
yahoo-RTKDRJ7H6SGBWAGDJTNGWKNRI4
As a Pirates fan, I saw Ledezma pitch frequently. I am sure a lot of people were not high on him, however I think that his sample size was low. I hate that the Pirates gave up on him, they need lefties and Ledezma was backed by a terrible infield and thus did not show what he can do.
yahoo-RTKDRJ7H6SGBWAGDJTNGWKNRI4
As a Pirates fan, I saw Ledezma pitch frequently. I am sure a lot of people were not high on him, however I think that his sample size was low. I hate that the Pirates gave up on him, they need lefties and Ledezma was backed by a terrible infield and thus did not show what he can do.
Tony Forbes
Not sure why they’re scraping the absolute bottom of the bullpen barrel, yet they let Garfoose walk. Unless they think his arm isn’t going to recover?
At this point I’m hoping they pick up Disco Hayes. C’mon! FREE DISCO HAYES!
Lunchbox45
dirk’s a righty
and realistically, as much as I love his blog and absolutely loved his book.. He wasn’t all that great of a pitcher..
I think he should continue to put his efforts in to writing, more money down that stream for sure.
Guest
You also need to consider that many of these aquisitions are depth moves. We already lost 3 bullpen arms to FA, 3 more in a trades for Davis & Escobar, and have released others. Most of the Jays “high ceiling” pitching tallent is in low minors and most can’t/shouldn’t be moved up to AAA/AA.
Tony Forbes
Not sure why they’re scraping the absolute bottom of the bullpen barrel, yet they let Garfoose walk. Unless they think his arm isn’t going to recover?
At this point I’m hoping they pick up Disco Hayes. C’mon! FREE DISCO HAYES!
tonyrage
Seems like another safe and decent move on AAs part. Not a blockbuster, but we don’t need that right now. I was hoping to see a few more lefties make camp and that’s one more at least. Strong upside on the high Ks/9 and low BBs/9. ERA can be misleading…
Jays will win 80 plus no problem this year and by the end of the season AA will know exactly what he has. Only issue will be no one will go to games and Rogers may not come through with the money to make this team a viable contender.
Go to the Rogers Centre Jays fans! Learn to love these kids and you will have a chance 2-3 years down the line to make fun of the bandwagon jumpers!
ice_hawk1002
looks like a rommie lewis clone, more mlb experience tho