-- We're still waiting on the Pirates to trim their roster to 40 players; they've been carrying 41 since Friday's signing of Kevin Correia. We thought that MLB was a little stricter about their rules, but hey...
-- The Pirates signed Josh Fields, 28, to a minor league deal. He was a first-round pick (18th overall) of the White Sox in 2004. Looks like with Andy Marte's signing and the long audition of Andy LaRoche that Pittsburgh is becoming the elephant's graveyard for third base hot shots.
He's also played a little first and corner outfield and is another guy who will compete with Marte and Steve Pearce for a RH bench spot. In parts of five seasons, Fields has hit .234/34/107 in 796 at-bats with 235 Ks.
-- John Perrotto and Rob Biertempfel tweet that the Pirates might be in on Carl Pavano. Interesting choice for a veteran anchor, as he's almost 35 and is said to be looking for a three year deal. Maybe the FO is hoping to buy some time for the young guns - or maybe they're set on finding a new home for Paul Maholm.
-- Chan Ho Park won't be back, and he's not going to Korea, either. He decided to cast his lot with the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese League in 2011. He had a nice career in the show, pitching for seven teams over 17 years and going 124-98 with a 4.36 ERA.
-- Brian Bixler signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nats. BB has a .178 lifetime average and spent 2010 playing AAA ball for three teams.
2 comments:
Fields is certainly a better prospect than either Andy Marte or Steven Pearce. Given Pearce's extra option year, I am now certain this means he's not making the club.
I really like Fields and if he is healthy---a big IF given his recent hip injury---he definitely has "steal" potential. He doesn't walk much but he has 34 career HR in just over one season's worth of at bats. I really, REALLY like this move.
Ya know, Huntington has definitely shown he can do a nice job trolling for scraps in the dumpster. And he does a nice job with the draft. It's everything else that stinks. But, onward.
Fields does have a pedigree for the long ball, Will, although that 30% K rate is on the high side. But he was injured almost all of last year, so we'll see. he did almost all of his damage in 2007 - .244/23/67.
I agree that other option probably assures Pearce at least starting at Indy; maybe they'll get him some time in the OF and 3B there to make him a more complete bench guy.
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