These guys were all part of the Bucco free-for-all in 2008 or the Littlefield bunch. And, as of this month, they're looking for new homes:
Franquelis Osoria - Frankie was an inning eater, no doubt. But a bad wheel and probably some serious overuse of his rubber arm got him his walking papers last week.
Osoria was 4-3 this year, with a 6.08 ERA, and 0-2 last season with a 4.76 ERA as a Pirate long man after spending two seasons in Dodger blue. The dude did have some serious googles, though.
And hey, at 27, someone may still take a flyer on Osoria and see if a reduced workload can cure what ails him - giving up HR's (10 in 60 innings) like Halloween treats.
Jose Castillo - He got the boot in a hurry from the new management, and landed in Florida. They dumped him, too, and he ended up in San Fran. After losing his 3B job there, it was off to Houston. They opted to ship him to AAA, and he decided to opt for free agency. Jose collected $850,000 and more frequent flyer miles than hits this season.
A lifetime .254 batter, his 2008 line was .246-6-37. That may cut it at second, but not at the hot corner. But he's 27 and has somewhat of a track record, so we guess someone will sign him up for another ride on the MLB merry-go-round.
Josh Phelps - After ripping the cover off the ball in 2007 after coming over from the Yankees (.351-5-19 in 77 ABs), the Bucs new suits said "thanks, but no thanks," and he got a job with the Cards. They just optioned him to AAA, and he declared for free agency.
GW could never figure out why with his bat (.273-64-244 in eight seasons), the 30 year-old vet can't find a spot on someone's bench.
Josh Wilson - The wrong SS Wilson, Josh was a 1999 grad of Mt. Lebo Hi and played on the Blue Devil's 1998 championship squad. The Pirates brought him into camp, but when he didn't make the big team, he joined Boston's system. The 27 year-old was just released. Wilson is a decent glove guy, with a lifetime .233 average in 116 MLB games.
We'd take him over Brian Bixler, but hey, that's not saying too much.
Jorge Valandia - Pittsburgh brought the veteran back-up SS in for a cup of joe at Bradenton, and that was all. He left and landed in Tampa Bay's organization. He's a FA again. The 33 year-old Valandia has a .189 batting average in 8 seasons in the bigs.
We expect a couple more Pirate exes to hit the waiver wires before the off-season gets much older. Well, more than a couple.
Phelps can definitely hit. Unfortunately his "real" position is designated hitter. I was hoping the Pirates might try to coach him up at catcher; if memory serves he came up to the bigs as a backstop. With his stick and with Ryan Doumit's injury history, if you could get a guy like Phelps into an extra 30 games a year as your backup catcher....
ReplyDeletePS I, too, would definitely take Josh Wilson over Brian Bixler. In fact, I'd take YOU, Ron, over Brian Bixler. For that matter, I'd take a warm body with a pulse, or that 73 year old guy who's playing basketball at a community college, or....
ReplyDeleteYou get the picture.
Well, thank ya kindly, Will. But even I think BB can play short better than I can - now the corners... ;-)
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