Bucs Buy Larish; Domino Effect?

The Pittsburgh Pirates added 29 year old LH-1B/3B Jeff Larish to Indy's roster for cash from the Boston Red Sox. Larish profiles as a AAAA player, with some power (113 minor league homers) and a .262 BA/.372 OBP on the farm. He's appeared in the show before, the last time in 2010 with Oakland, and hit .224 with a homer every 30 at-bats during his big-league tenure. Larish hasn't played yet this year, just recovering from a broken leg suffered in the middle of 2011.

It's not likely that the Pirates are going to use him in Pittsburgh, but he's not really a fit at Indy, either. First base has a jillion guys already, with Matt Hague, Jake Fox and Jeff Clements vying for playing time. Hague was also eating up some innings at third as the Bucs try to add some value to the Hit Collector by making him multi-positional.

It may be that with Nick Evans on the DL after hand surgery, they're just adding depth. And it could be that with Yamaico Navarro and Josh Harrison both on the bench in Pittsburgh, the FO is looking to add another bat to the big team. Fox has been hitting at a .327/.400/.519 clip after a late start to the year following an injury. Adding to the intrigue was Fox being firmly attached to the bench last night at Indy.

Battling through some early season woes, Matt Hague has brought his average up to a respectable .271. Hague is on the 40-man roster while Fox is not, which is his major selling point at the moment.

Neither guy would see all that much time in Pittsburgh, either, as the Pirates seem solidly committed to making Pedro an everyday player at the hot corner and have two first basemen in Casey McGehee and Garrett Jones. That could open up if Jones starts to see more outfield time as Alex Presley and Nate McLouth continue to struggle.

So maybe the Bucs are ready to shake up the roster a bit. There could be more moves coming; the bench is far from the only opening on Pittsburgh's dance card.

(GW was counting sheep when the move was made; the speculation started before his first cup of Green Mountain from bloggers Tim Williams at Pirates Prospects, Jon Anderson at McEffect, and Charlie Wilmoth & Vlad at Bucs Dugout.)