Wood put together a line of .220/7/31, and the Bucs have plenty of young infielders that can match those numbers. Pearce was coming off a terrible year that saw him hit .202/1/10 while visiting the DL twice more. A change of scenery for Pearce, who did show flashes of ability, is probably best for him and the team.
Burres was an insurance policy who did his job. He was 5-5 with a 4.84 ERA over the past two seasons and picked up 15 starts. Thompson was purely a depth guy. Hart never got untracked in Pittsburgh, undergoing a pair of surgeries after coming over from the Cubs as part of the deal for John Grabow & Tom Gorzelanny.
The moves also figures to open up a couple of upper level starting positions in the organization, which is facing a jam of young pitchers who need to advance.
With the four declined options of yesterday, the Pirate 40-man roster sits at 35 (four of the players moved were on the 60-day DL, and so were technically on the roster but didn't count against it). By Friday, it should sit at 34, when Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick will be gone as free agents and Kevin Correia will be added from the DL.
That's cutting it awfully close. We think that the FO will want to protect at least Starling Marte, Rudy Owen and Justin Miller, while Matt Hague and Jordy Mercer should be on at least the short list. And the FO plans to bring in some fresh blood, so the 40 man still needs some room to stretch. And there are only a couple of weeks until it needs finalized; it has to be set on November 18th for the Rule 5 draft.
- Neil Walker and Ronny Cedeno were announced as Gold Glove finalists.
- RHP Chris Leroux may be making the FO rethink his chances of starting. He's 1-0 for Toros del Estes in the Dominican League after 3 starts with a 0.60 ERA. He's stretched it out an inning at a time, going 4, 5, and 6 frames in his starts. He has 13 strikeouts in 15 innings.
- Gerritt Cole was selected as one of the Arizona Fall League's "Rising Stars." He'll get to play in a fall minor-league All-Star game Saturday.
- RHP Tim Wood, who was sold to California late last season, has rejoined the Bucs, signing a minor league deal with an invite to camp.
3 comments:
I'm mildly surprised they let Brandon Wood go. Hurdle seemed to like him well enough, and I'll tell you this, Wood can really pick it at third. As you say, his numbers at the plate shouldn't be that hard to replicate, but you could do a lot worse than him as a part timer, defensive replacement, and pinch hitter, especially given the questions about Pedro. Also the fact that Pedro just can't play third to save his life. But I guess the suits figure they're going to give Pedro every chance to make it. I suppose this leaves us with Harrison and d'Arnaud as 3B's if Pedro spits the bit.
You are right. I totally agree with you, William .
Yah, it was a mild surprise. With no boppers to back up the corner now, I'd guess that Jordy Mercer is gonna get a long look at camp for at least the utility infield job.
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