Thursday, December 8, 2011

Burning The Midnight Oil

The Bucco FO stayed up longer than ol' GW last night; they were still shakin' and bakin' up to the midnight hour.

First, the Pirates traded RHP Brooks Pounders and IF Diego Goris  to the Royals for infielder Yamaico Navarro in what the KC media described as "a clock-beating move that cleared a roster space before this morning’s Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings."

Navarro, 24, offers some offensive potential, particularly for a utility infielder, but his iffy glovework made him expendable. He's played at second, third, short and the outfield. Navarro began in Boston's farm system, where he was purely a shortstop. The righty hit .272 with two homers and nine RBIs in 25 games at AAA Omaha last year, close to his .279 career farm BA.

Pounders, 21, was 5-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 66 innings over 36 games last season at Class A West Virginia in 2011. He was a second round pick in the 2009 draft, but had fallen behind several of the lower level arms the Pirates have collected during their recent drafts.

Goris, 21, batted .350 with 29 extra-base hits, 53 runs and 46 RBIs in 68 games for the Pirates’ Dominican Summer League club. He was a DSL All-Star the past two seasons.

The Bucs must have an eye at someone in the Rule V draft Friday; they released Ross Ohlendorf to create a spot on the 40-man roster. In fact, the Trib's Rob Beirtempfel tweeted that they've made another yet unannounced move (to make space for Navarro) and will dive into the draft pool.

Also, as expected, Derrik Lee refused arbitration, waiting on Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder to find landing spots, and will join the FA market. The Bucs intend to stay in touch, but lotsa luck there. The bright side of the street is that the Pirates will get a compensation pick in the 2012 draft if Lee, a Type B free agent, signs with another team.

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