Before the new year, the Pirates were identified by SI.com's Jon Heyman as one of a handful of teams with some interest in Brian Fuentes. However, Pittsburgh is no longer pursuing the left-hander, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
When he listed teams' remaining needs, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes opined that the Pirates could use another veteran reliever, making Fuentes a logical fit. Biertempfel agrees that the 35-year-old would have been a good addition to Pittsburgh's bullpen, but suggests the cost is too high for the club. Fuentes is looking for a multiyear deal worth $5MM annually and "doesn't seem inclined to budge."
Fuentes also still appears to be seeking a closing opportunity, with the Rays and Blue Jays among the suitors who could offer a shot at some save opps.
The Pittsburgh Pirates: A smarter organization than the Angels
*throws a billion jillion dollars at Gary Matthews Jr.*
I forget… which franchise has had 18 straight losing years?
It’s ironic how you guys are criticizing the Angels’ over spending.
“The Pirates stink.”
Derp, derp, derp.
Get a new line.
Why? The Pirates are the biggest joke in American sports. They’ve become the face of hapless franchises everywhere.
Really? They’ve been under .500 for 18 years?
In other news, gravity.
Allow me to introduce you to the Cubs.
I have never liked so many comments on this site in quick sucession.
What hasn’t been mentioned on this site is that many many many relievers this offseason are receiving multiple year high grade contracts. Which in itself is not a new thing of course, but at this rate, to the caliber of RPs who are getting them, it is somewhat unusual. They’re not KRod’s here. These are solid middle reliever types.
Fuentes, Downs, Rivera, Gregg (just to name a few) are all late game relievers. Though all will receive multi-year deals, they should hardly be considered middle reliever types.
They have also all been mentioned on this site…
You misunderstood what I was saying (or I just wasn’t clear enough). I was pointing out the market rise in prices for relievers. Multiple year deals for these types of relievers is pretty a high price in past offseasons, but this offseason, it seems to be the standard deal.
gregg <<<<<<<<<<<………..<<<<<<<<<……….<<<<< Fuentes, Downs, Rivera, etc.
but seriously, he's not nearly as good as those guys
I couldn’t agree more, however, he is still not a middle-reliever type.
I’m not saying they aren’t good relievers. I am just saying they are non-closers for the most part. And somewhat on the old side. SHould they really be attracting multiple year offers? Again, this is not a comment on their talent. It’s a comment on where the market is right now.
I wonder if the early Nats’ overpayment of Werth deal has affected these other smaller deals?
Good move for the Pirates. Only reason they were interested was because they were hoping they could pull off another Dotel fleecing at the trade deadline…but they would be pressing their luck hoping for that again with Fuentes. I kind of like the Pirates bullpen as it sits now anyway with Resop, Meek and Hanrahan as the 7,8,9 guys – and Jose Ascanio, Kevin Hart, Scott Olsen and Jeff Karstens filling in the rest – and a few guys like Moskos and Veal to fight for a job at AAA.
I’d rather see the Pirates take a chance on another starter like Justin Duchscherer than spend a lot of money on the bullpen.
I wonder if they are going to pursue Scott Schoeneweis. He might be a better fit for the Pirates. I’d love to see him make a successful comeback. I’m also surprised that the Pirates didn’t obtain more Rule V draft picks who were starting pitchers and give them a shot a reliever.
“The Pirates won’t be signing an expensive free agent. And in other breaking news, the sky is blue.”
the sky is BLUE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I hope the jays sign fuentes
Part of me does as well. I think AA might be able to turnaround and trade him at the deadline. However, the other part of me worries that Fuentes would push Purcey out of some of the late game roles that I would love to see Purcey get a shot at.
me too because fuentes sucks and he would help the yankees win
Yankees are gonna need all the help they can get in 2011. Red Sox, at least on paper, greatly improved their needs (minus SP), Baltimore may not be such a pushover, Tampa should have fewer wins but still are a team that can beat you, and Jays are kind of a roll of the dice.
They’re either going to be better than 85 wins with their starting 5 getting even better via experience, and Hill/Lind rebounding [not even mentioning the awful bullpen they had and Snider maybe breaking out], or they’re gonna be worse.
Yankees have done nothing to improve yet, and relievers are overrated so I couldn’t really care if they sign Soriano, much like me being a biased Jays fan couldn’t really care if they signed Fuentes.
The Red Sox replaced V-Mart and Beltre with Gonzalez and Crawford so it’s kind of a wash.
Yes and no. Crawford + Gonzo have better combined defense than Beltre + V-Mart, solely because V-Mart butchers the field. The offense is pretty much a wash though.
ya, the jays are going to be either better, worse, or about the same.
glad to see you’re really taking a chance
What I meant is the Jays will probably be around the 85-win mark again, or take off. Minus a big bat at 1B, they have the team to make an unexpected run..
” much like me being a biased Jays fan” You are very honest.
Since Jason Werth got that huge contract from the Nationals, I wonder how much is Batista worth? He may not hit 54 Hrs again but anything close and the Jays won’t be able to re-sign him.
If come June they are not in or near first place they may trade him for prospects.
I think they will too.
Did you forget that the Yanks won 95 games last year with 5 players having sub par years, the only team ahead of them was Tampa and they lost quite a bit. The Yanks also scored the most runs last year with no real DH. You can make a case that this year the Yanks will be better than last year. The Sox will be better but you could say that the addition of Gonzalez and Crawford, and the loss of Beltre and Martinez are a wash!
As I said above:
Crawford + Gonzo have much better combined defense than Beltre + V-Mart, solely because V-Mart butchers the field. The offense is pretty much a wash though.
Crawford + Gonzo = 24.2 2010 combined UZR.
Beltre + Martinez = 9.7 combined 2010 UZR.
The offense may be a wash, but the defense isn’t even close, so I would say they improved quite a bit.
I knew it they are pulling out to sign Scott Schoeneweis.
They were pursuing Fuentes? Since WHEN?????
With 5millon dollars saved by trading Garza, it is becoming more likely that either Fuentes or Soriano are going to fall back into the Rays laps, IMO.
Yep. The Rays will sign one or the other. I guarantee it
and the beat goes on….
I’m not so surprised at this. He’s looking for $5 million a year and he wants to close. Yet the Pirates have 2 capable closers already.