More on Takahashi

From MLB Trade Rumors:

9:01pm: The Pirates have emerged as a destination for Takahashi, according to a report fromSanspo passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker.  The report also notes that the Dodgers are targeting other pitchers and the Mets were "moving towards an MLB contract," but couldn't agree on money.

Meanwhile, Takahashi was set to throw for teams today in Arizona, according to an article from Sponich passed along by Newman.

 

BTW Notes:

Monday I will be doing the much unanticipated site updates, some have already found there way online like the twitter feed to the right.  I have 3 blogs I will be adding to the blogroll as well as a few cosmetic changes and a link to possibly the best Pittsburgh Sports Forum on the internet….

Who ‘Dat?  Congrats to the Saints and Drew Brees.

Pirates Among Teams For Takahashi

 

LHP Hisanori Takahashi will be making his decision soon as to which team he will sign with.  The Pirates, Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants and Padres are in the running for his services.  A scouting report can be found here.

BTW Take:

Takahashi is looking for an opportunity to start, although he is reported to be a better fit for relief duties.  I don’t think he would fit into the Pirates rotation, the Pirates are likely looking at him as a long/middle reliever.  He is not a hard thrower, so coming out of the pen may make sense as an addition left handed option as well as a change of pace among the flame throwers Huntington has assembled in the bullpen.

Dotel And Other News

Dotel

The Pirates and Octavio Dotel made it official by signing a 1 year contract with an option year.  Total guaranteed money is $3.5 M plus performance bonuses.  The option year is worth $4.5M.  Neal Huntington has been quoted as calling him the closer.

BTW Take:

The bullpen makeover is now complete.  Matt Bandi at Pittsburgh Lumber Co.  puts some numbers to the reconstruction.  According to his numbers, the Pirates pen looks to be middle of the league.  Still, that is an nice improvement over what the bullpen did last season.

 

Claggett

To make room for Dotel, the Pirates DFA’ed Anthony Claggett.

BTW Take:

Claggett was on the fence with each move the Pirates made this offseason, he finally fell over the fence.

 

Freddy Sanchez

A source tells me Freddy had shoulder surgery and may miss the beginning of the season for the Giants.

BTW Take:

The Sanchez trade last season is looking more and more like a shrewd deal.  If Freddy can stay healthy, he will be a nice asset for the Giants, unfortunately health has been a problem since the trade.  Good luck to Freddy in his recovery.

 

Minor Deal

I have been contacted multiple times today that the Pirates are in the process of a minor trade.  For those expecting Brandon Jones to be moved, the only common thread in the rumors was Jones was not part of the deal.

Busy Day For The Pirates

Keeping Up With The Jones’

The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Brandon Jones off waivers from the Atlanta Braves.  Brandon Jones was DFA’ed when the Braves signed Eric Hinske.  A scouting report on Brandon Jones can be found here, and stats can be found here.

BTW Take:

Jones was dropped repeatedly by the Braves in the depth chart regardless of his readiness due to experienced players being brought into the organization.  He is an athletic and highly touted player much in the mold of many of the outfielders Huntington has acquired in his tenure.  His defense is above average and he is said to have an above average arm in the outfield.  His bat is said to be MLB ready.

While there was speculation a trade was imminent another roster move was made…

 

Steven Jackson DFA’ed

In a less than expected move, but not quite shocking, Steven Jackson was DFA’ed to make room for Jones on the 40 man roster.

BTW Take:

With the number of relievers, quality relievers at that, still available via free agency, moving Jackson off the 40 man roster should not be a surprise.  While Jackson will likely garner some attention, he has a good chance of clearing waivers when similar pitchers are still available and willing to agree to a minor league contract that does not tie up a 40 man roster slot.

When pitchers like Brian Bass and D.J. Carrasco sign minor league deals, the odds another team would take Jackson on a waiver claim seems much slimmer to me.

It is a gamble, but I would call it a calculated risk that Huntington is taking.

 

No Arbitration Hearing For Duke

The Pirates and Zach Duke avoided arbitration by agreeing to a 1 year contract valued at $4.3 M.

BTW Take:

No surprise on a 1 year deal as is customary when dealing with arbitration.  Duke was in his 2nd year of arbitration with one more remaining after this coming season. 

 

What Does This All Mean?  And Thanks For All The Fish.

I believe Jeff Clement will not be on the Opening Day roster with Pittsburgh.  It seems the recent moves point towards the Pirates wanting Clement to get a little more time playing first base in AAA before he takes the field for the Pirates at the MLB level.

With the number of outfielders on the roster, Garrett Jones can resume play at his natural position of first base.  The athleticism in the outfield with the additions of Ryan Church, Brandon Jones and rule 5 pick John Raynor.  Add those names with Young and Moss, and there isn’t much room on the 25 man roster for Clement, Garrett Jones and Steve Pearce.

It has been an interesting offseason so far, but I feel there is yet more to come after the Dotel signing is finalized.

Would the Pirates be daring enough, bold enough, even crazy enough to make a free agent signing that could spur them into the discussion for one of the most improved teams of the offseason?  Would the Pirates be willing to sign an ace?  Yes I am talking about Ben Sheets. 

Why would he sign with the Pirates and why would they try to sign him?

For Sheets:

First, the Pirates can guarantee Sheets has the chance to be on a contending team by years end.  If/when the Pirates are out of it come the trade deadline, they can move him to a contender.

Second, Sheets would have the opportunity to prove he is still ace quality and earn a large payday after the season while pitching in a less stressful environment for most of the season.  Think of it as a minor league rehab assignment while collecting a MLB paycheck and pitching against MLB hitters.

Third, if he led a staff that ended the longest losing season streak in pro sports history, he would automatically be enshrined in the Pirates Hall of Fame and become a legend in the city of Pittsburgh.

Forth, the opportunity to work with the legendary Dave Kerwin and stick it to the Brewers.

For the Pirates:

First, Sheets would provide a true ace on the staff and set up a very nice rotation of Sheets, Maholm, Ohlendorf and Duke. 

Second, it would add a player who could be traded at the deadline for a bounty of prospects or be kept and land a first round pick as a type A free agent.

Third, a signing of Sheets would raise the Pirates payroll and keep the dogs of the union and the commissioners office off the trail of not spending revenue sharing.  The Pirates do have a sizeable amount of cash still available under their self imposed salary cap they could use to lure Sheets to Pittsburgh.

Forth, it would give the fans a sense the Pirates want to win.

Will it happen, no.  Should it happen?  I believe yes.  It is a gamble considering his history of injury problems, but Huntington seems to be a gambling man based on his history of acquisitions.

 

Update: I forgot one Item

KDKA-FM as reported by the Post-Gazette.

Maholm, Hinske and Beam. Oh My!

 

Maholm:

Maholm signed his 3 year deal, with a 4th year club option, totaling $14.5M in guaranteed money.  The breakout is as follows:

$3.5M 2009 ($1.5M of which is a signing bonus)

$4.5M 2010

$5.75M 2011

$9.75M 2012 club option, escalators could raise the option to 11.05M

A buyout for the option of  $750K.

If the option is exercised, the minimum value of the contact is $23.5M.

BTW Take:

This is another good move by the front office to lock up their perceived core of talent.  Some may point to the fact the Pirates will be losing players after 2011 in addition to having a high turnover each year after that. 

Looking at other teams and sports, this is the way of life in professional sports.  One merely needs to compare the rosters of the Boston Red Sox between their two championship years to see more than half the roster changed between championships. 

The key is to have players ready to step in or be willing to spend on free agents to fill the holes left behind. 

This concept isn’t exclusive to only baseball.  The Steelers have 20 players returning from their Super Bowl XL roster to play this year in Super Bowl XLIII.  That is more than half of the XL team gone in three seasons. 

The key is to replace those players and continue to improve.  With baseball, they have the farm system to fall back on.  Building a good pipeline will help this team remain competitive if they can get to that level to begin with.  

 

Hinske:

Hinske signed a deal worth $1.5M with another $1M in bonuses based on plate appearances.  T.J. Beam was designated for assignment.  If Beam clears waivers, he will be assigned to Indianapolis. 

BTW Take:

Beam will likely be claimed off waivers.  Hinske will be adding depth in the event one of the many young players on the team are injured (Moss) or struggle (Andy LaRoche and Nyger Morgan) or traded (Adam LaRoche).

 

Link:

Here is a link to a very entertaining article on the next Pirate uniform suggestions at our friends front office at We Should Be GM’s:

http://pabaseball.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-pirates-uniforms-to-be-proud-of.html

 

Tomorrow:

Neal Huntington was on MLB Live at MLB Home Plate XM 175.  I will try and get a transcript of the interview up tomorrow.  He had some interesting comments that I want to pass on to my friendly readers.

 

Donate:

I will be walking in the MDA Stride and Ride locally. Please sponsor me in my Stride and Ride Walk for MDA at https://www.joinmda.org/srcoralvilleia09/dharr18.  Every dollar is appreciated.

The Pirates Avoid Arbitration With Four Of Six

The Pittsburgh Pirates have avoided salary arbitration by coming to terms with Adam LaRoche ($7.05M), Zach Duke ($2.2M), John Grabow ($2.3M) and Tyler Yates ($1.3M).

The two remaining arbitration eligible players are Nate McLouth and Paul Maholm.  McLouth and Maholm are each asking for $3.8M, while the Pirates submitted $2.75M for McLouth and $2.65M for Maholm. 

BTW Take:

To celebrate his contract signing, Adam LaRoche should purchase Super Bowl tickets for all Pirates bloggers.  If he does have a slow April, I am sure we would all cut him some slack this year.  When you read this Adam, just email me for my mailing address.

The million plus difference in the two remaining cases almost assures the Pirates will be heading to at least one hearing, possibly two. 

 

Slide Note:

Due to a heavy workload, I will not be posting the next part of the Free Agent series for a couple days. 

 

Got A Ticket?:

Anyone who has a spare ticket to the Super Bowl, look no further.  Just email me and I will gladly accept such donations.  :)

Giles A Philly, More Market Proof

Giles:

Here is a story that kind of made me chuckle.

Marcus Giles has signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia.

BTW Take:

Why does it make me laugh?  I still remember a few years back, when Brian Giles was still a Pirate, Marcus making a comment about being in a better situation than his brother.  I'd bet Marcus would love a chance to be on a MLB roster right now, even the Pirates.

 

More Proof The Market Favors The Pirates:

Jason Giambi is on the verge of a deal that would pay him a minimum of $5.25M with the Oakland A's.

BTW Take:

Giambi, like many other free agents this off-season, will be taking a significant pay cut.  True, Giambi is an older player.  Even last season he would have made twice what he is agreeing to this off-season. 

Hopefully the Pirates take advantage of the market and sign some "tradeable" players that can be moved at the deadline for prospects.  The Pirates won't compete for the playoffs this season, nor next, nor next, etc.  With a few proper signings, they could further boost the farm system later in the year.  The team needs some MLB talent that could land some prospects if Huntington's game plan is going to work.  They need to take a few flyers on players who could draw interest to teams in June and July.

The Market Comes To The Pirates

Pat Burrell agreed to terms with the Rays, having signed a two-year, $16 million contract Monday.

The Cubs have agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract with free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley.

BTW Take:

Why would a Pittsburgh Pirates blog be concerned with the dealings of the Cubs and Rays?

The easiest way to look at this is what these players made in 2008 and who signed them.  Burrell's salary in 2008 was $14.25M.   Bradley made $5.25M.

The Cubs are morons.  They have overpaid for a player who has played in 120+ games twice in a 9 year career.  A player who has had anger issues.  A player who will mix poorly with Sweet Lou.  A player that the Cubs simply outbid themselves for.  It sounds like Dave Littlefield had his hand in negotiations.

The Rays signing of Burrell should keep a market down on mid level free agents.  Burrell arguably was in the upper echelon of the midlevel free agent list.  A player of his caliber signing for $8M a season makes it all the more likely other midlevel free agents will be signing for much less than they were originally asking.  This also can't bode well for arbitration eligible players either. 

The Pirates have money to spend and the free agent market is finally coming down to earth.  There will be a lot of players looking for jobs come February.  There will be even more agents wringing their hands over clients they will lose and dollars lost due to the worlds economy affecting baseballs economy as well.

Baldelli, as an example, made $2.25M in limited playing time for the Rays in 2008.  Don't expect much of a raise, if any, for Baldelli.  Afterall Burrell took a significant pay cut.  Baldelli is coming off multiple seasons with a "mystery" ailment that supposedly has been correctly diagnosed as a protein deficiency.

This plays in the Pirates favor, lower cost free agents may allow the team to add some talent to the MLB roster rather than forcing players not ready for the majors to play now.  The Pirates are known to be interested in Baldelli, the money may be right for the Pirates considering what Burrell set as the market starting point for midlevel free agents.

Only the Yankees are immune from economic downturns.  Man I hate that team.

Doumit Deal Is Done

According to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, the Pirates have come to terms with Ryan Doumit on a contract that will cover his 3 arbitration years with a club option for his first year of free agency.  Financial terms are expected tomorrow when the contract is announced.

BTW Take:

No surprise at this point.  This will be a 3 year deal probably around $12-$15M plus the club option.  This makes sense for Doumit.  As for the Pirates, this is a gamble with Doumits inability to stay healthy.  Some will point to him never being able to play 140+ games a year as this being a waste.  The problem there, Pirates fans were spoiled by Jason Kendall and his durability.  Catchers don't generally catch 140+ games a year unless they DH in the AL.  This could be a good contract, depending on health and Ryan's ability to improve on the "breakout" year he had in 2008.

Don't expect a .350 hitter.  It would be more realistic Doumit being a .280 to .290 hitter with 20HR's and improved defense while starting 110+ games.  Those stats would do the Pirates well and cement Doumit as a solid MLB catcher with the potential to be considered among the best in the NL.

One other important thing would be for Ryan to have a complete season and not tail off towards the end of the year as he did in 2008.

 

UPDATE 11:37:

Jerry Crasnick is reporting the "deal could be worth a total value of $20 million over four years or $30 million over five years."

After a few calls, text messages and emails.  The 3 years of arbitration could be worth between $8 million and $10 million depending on the source.  The fourth year is supposedly a team option that can be automatically invoked with certain performance levels, one of which is games played over the first 3 years.  The forth year is believed to be worth between $6 and $8 million.  The last year is supposedly a straight team option between $7 and $10 million.  Total contract, based on sources, is between $21 million and $28 million with options included.  There is also a buy out tied to the fifth year, this number varies from my sources between $500K and $3M.

I guess this will tell me how good my sources on this are.  I hope I got all the numbers straight, I've been under the weather along with my wife today. 

Vazquez Now A Pirate

From Pirates.com Newsletter:

The Pirates today agreed to terms on a two-year contract with free agent infielder Ramon Vazquez.

Vazquez, 32, set career bests with a .290 batting average and 40 RBIs last season with the Texas Rangers.

He also played all four infield positions, including 70 appearances at third base and 26 at shortstop.

Vazquez has a career .257 batting average in eight Major League seasons.

BTW Take:

It is very interesting the news release specifically mentions him playing 70 games at third base.   True, it also mentions shortstop, but I see Vazquez as a utility guy who could be the fallback for third if LaRoche and Walker both struggle.

Winter Meeting Recap

Thanks to a wonderful site called Woot I have been sidetracked from writing.  Woot was kind enough to have a 3 day Woot-off during the Winter meetings.  Sorry people, my geek life takes precedence occasionally.

Now, onto the recap.

No Mo Ro Pa:

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies swapped catchers.  Ronnie Paulino was sent to the Phillies for a return of Jason Jaramillo.

BTW Take:

Looking at stats alone, it seems Jaramillo has a better eye in the minors based on his walk numbers alone.  Beyond walks, there minor league stats aren't much different. 

The sad think for Ronnie, he went from being a backup catcher to Ryan Doumit to potentially being blocked by Carlos Ruiz and Lou Marson.  People seem to think Paulino is a good hitting catcher.  He never showed a .310 average was in him while playing in the minors.  Remember it took a few injuries to even get a shot in Pittsburgh. 

He was praised for his handling of pitchers, but his defense was lousy and his offense came back to earth after his fluke of a .310 season as a rookie.  A .280 minor league hitter does not turn into a .310 MLB hitter.  Paulino also earned a tag of being lazy, whether he deserved that tag or not is something you can decide.

Jaramillo was considered a top prospect not long ago.  He is only a year younger than Paulino.  This seems to be a trade to grant Paulino his wish of a trade while getting a player back that Russell has managed in the past and was very high on.  More or less, a slacker for a hard worked.

 

Rule 5:

The Pittsburgh Pirates took Donnie Veal in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft.

In the Minor League portion, the Pirates did something unusual, grabbing players from the Latin Summer Leagues.  The players taken in the Minor League portion are Andres Santos ( 22, New York Yankees) Rafael Quintero (21, Cleveland Indians), Gerardo Esparza (21, Seattle Mariners). The first two were in the DSL, Esparza in Venezuela.

BTW Take:

Veal seems to be a solid pickup.  He has had some tough times over the last 3 years off the diamond.  If he can get his game together, this guy could be a steal.  I found this article on his personal problems over the last 3 years.  He lost both his parents, his mother to cancer and his father to a diving accident.

The minor league pickups I have not found much on, but the fact the Pirates went outside the norm makes these moves even more impressive in a creative kind of way.  Dejan has a nice little write up on this in the PBC Blog, the 6:05 update.

 

Free Agent Signing:

The Pirates are on the verge of signing a 2 year contract with Ramon Vazquez. 

BTW Take:

Everyone seems to think this is a precursor to a Jack Wilson or Freddy Sanchez trade.  I have my doubts.  This has the smell of a move to have an additional option if Andy LaRoche or Neil Walker can't take the Hot Corner.  Vazquez could play third or Freddy could move back to third if both prospects fail to make the grade.  Vazquez has played 255 games at third.

Just because rumors swirl about a Wilson trade doesn't make Vazquez the next shortstop.

 

Bixler a Marlin?:

Rumors swirl about the Marlins being interested in Brian Bixler.

BTW Take:

I'd hate to see Bixler go.  I had the opportunity to see Bixler play in College.  If you asked me to give a CHP (Can He Play) rating, I would say he can play.  I think he struggled with the initial call up.  Don't be surprised if he doesn't perform worlds better in his next call up.

 

McCutchen To Pittsburgh:

In one of Huntington's press meetings, he made a statement McCutchen will "likely" be on the MLB roster sometime in 2009.

BTW Take:

I am anxious to see what he can do.

 

The BIG News:

The Pirates are in discussions to sign extensions with Maholm, McLouth and Doumit.

BTW Take:

McLouth and Maholm make sense.  Doumit scares me with his injury history.  Last season he stayed mostly healthy, but I'd like to see him do it again before dropping a long term deal on him.

Another International Signing For The Pirates

Neal Huntington has made yet another splash into the international market signing Taiwanese LHP Chi-Hung Cheng to a one year contract.  He will be reporting to A ball this coming season.  While this isn't a huge signing, it is making a name for the Pirates in the Taiwanese market, a previously untapped region for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cheng is a former Blue Jays minor leaguer.  Here is a link to his Baseball Cube stats.

Huntington is still in the process of hiring scouts in Europe, Asia, Australia, Taiwan, Korea and several other countries.

This signing follows the recent signings of 3 players assigned to the Venezuelan Summer League Pirates affiliate and the signing of the two Indian pitchers who were winners of India's reality show dubbed Million Dollar Arm.

The story of the Indian players is a nice one, a story that will likely produce little on the field in the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates outside of having a good Indian following and a nice introduction to a previously untapped resource across MLB.  While the Indian players may not have deep baseball knowledge nor history, their long running passion for cricket could translate well into baseball skills.

The signing of the Indian pitchers is a nice story because anyone who reads this blog, or any of the ones around baseball, has likely dreamt at one time or another of playing baseball professionally.  I am happy for both Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh, they have an opportunity to live out the dream of millions of baseball fans.  I wish them good luck and hopefully they can make a name for themselves in the Pirates organization.

It has been a welcome change to the Pirates that Huntington is tapping the international market.  Sooner or later these small steps could become much larger for a franchise in need of an infusion of talent.  The international market is a great place to start since it is a free market that is not restricted by the draft process MLB uses for U.S. talent.