The Pirates continue to look for a utility infielder capable of playing shortstop, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Pittsburgh signed Anderson Hernandez earlier this offseason, but they're presumably looking for someone with more offense and experience.
As our Free Agent Tracker shows, players with shortstop experience like Orlando Cabrera, Adam Everett, Craig Counsell, Ryan Theriot, Miguel Tejada, and former Pirate Jack Wilson remain unsigned. It's a stretch to consider some of those players shortstops, however. At the moment, Chase d'Arnaud, Josh Harrison and Yamaico Navarro are slated to back up new addition Clint Barmes.
Bring Jack back.
I understand Ronny Cedeno is still available :shrug:
Pirates,
Give me a call. I’ll hook you up.
– N. Colletti
how bout lets get a starting 1B first there Neal
they’re in LA
You let one go yesterday by not resigning Corey Wimberly.. your loss, Mets gain!
Uh… Wimberly was strictly AAA depth. Sure we traded for him to compete for a spot on the squad, but nothing came about it and the bucs moved on. If you are seriously counting on Wimberly to be your backup utility infielder I feel sorry for the mets. Now what the pirates really need is a 1st baseman possibly and another innings eater type pitcher. Honestly I’m perfectly content with Navarro or Nunez as the backup IMO.
I wish Wimberly all the best in the future, but he was hurt for much of last year and a liability at the plate when he was healthy. in addition, the Pirates clearly didn’t think he could play shortstop anymore, or he would have played more than zero innings there in 2011.
jeff keppinger is available too. the guy can hit for average and finds his way on base. always liked him
I like Keppinger as previously stated, but why don’t they just go with Navarro and spend the money elsewhere? Not really a point in spending over 1M on a utility player since they have depth now with McLouth as a 4th OF and Jones/McGahee at 1B.
I would much rather them spend a little extra money on one of the starting pitchers that are out on the market. Jackson or Oswalt would be the targets if I were a dreamer, but why not sign someone like Garland, Maholm, Francis, Pineiro, or Colon who can give you some respectable innings?
The rotation looks like Karstens, McDonald, Bedard, Correia, and Morton who isn’t healthy right now with Lincoln in the wings. Why not bring in one of these other guys for cheap who you can count on in the back of your rotation? They can also use him to hold down the fort if someone gets injured or if they flip Bedard at the deadline.
you first need to remember that those players need to AGREE to go to the pirates. thats step number one in the process. people that keep whining over the years about “nutting needs to spend money on good players to get good” cliche know absolutely nothing about the way free agency works in baseball. obviously not saying you are, but alot of these names like jackson and oswalt are looking to play for contenders with money. for some reason i have a feeling paulie is going to resign with the buccos because it looks as if he has not got many bites in free agency
I don’t see Oswalt coming to Pittsburgh unless they offer him at least 14M which wouldn’t be worth it at all, but I see no reason why the other guys wouldn’t. Most of them will be looking to rebuild their stock on a one year deal and don’t really offer enough to a contender.
Jackson has been well traveled throughout his career thus far, and if Pittsburgh makes an aggressive offer, I see no reason why he wouldn’t sign. Of course I think he would choose the Yanks or Red Sox over Pittsburgh, but if those teams aren’t showing interest, he has to sign somewhere. Pittsburgh will start to become a more appealing place to play once the culture changes and once they prove they are willing to hold onto their star players for more than 3-4 seasons. It’s a great ballpark and they have some good young talent along with a player’s coach.
If you sign a utility infielder, who gets removed from the 40-man roster?
Anyone not named Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker or Joel Hanrahan.
Paul Janish said he would retire from his job slicing meat at Roy Rogers for another shot to attempt to play baseball.
Anyone not named Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker or Joel Hanrahan.
The Dodgers have a whole team of them now so call them up.
@Tim – You should add former Padre Alberto Gonzalez to the list.
Its not that much of a stretch to consider Adam Everett a SS. The guy is still a solid defender.
The only problem is he couldn’t hit to save his life and has terrible luck with injuries. Basically, his profile screams utility player.
You left out the rule 5 guy they just recently selected.
Maicer Izturis anyone?