Bucs Still Shopping Jones?

With Garrett Jones signing, Tom Singer of MLB.com speculates via tweet "With the Red Sox still shopping for a lefty-hitting 1B-OF -- ring any bells? -- you have to wonder if the Pirates will make another run at Iglesias."

He's referring to Cuban SS prospect Jose Iglesias, 23, a great gloveman who wasn't available to the Pirates earlier, but now may be since the BoSox inked Stephen Drew after the Hanny deal. AA shortstop Xander Bogaerts is maybe the #1 player in their minor league system, so Iglesias could be in play now. Mike Napoli's recent deal with Beantown still leaves the Red Sox a lefty bat short, tho they'd prefer to deal a guy like C Jarrod Saltalamacchia rather than Inglesias.

For the Bucs, they'd still require a solid return for Jones; Iglesias alone wouldn't be enough. Jones is probably at his highest value now, and offers two more years of team control through arbitration. Entering his age 32 season, he isn't a long-term piece of the Pirate puzzle, and Pittsburgh has been stockpiling guys to replace him if a opportunity to deal does come up.

But he does have 87 bombs in his four year Bucco career, and Pittsburgh doesn't have much thump in its sticks, so Jones may have more short-term value to the Pirates than he does to other clubs. His status as a platoon guy and his limited defensive value may make him a difficult sell for a solid return. But if someone's looking for a final piece and are willing to overpay some for it, the FO will - and should - be all ears.
 

• Singer also tweeted that the Liriano deal isn't dead yet; the Pirates continue to seek more starting pitching, which will be a backburner storyline until April and maybe beyond.
• Who is Pittsburgh's nominee in the "One Hit Wonder" category posted by David Schoenfield in The Sweet Spot blog? The answer is LHP Ollie Perez, who looked like a number one as a 22 year old in 2004 and now is working out of the bullpen for Seattle. The Mets, btw, paid him about $45M over five years for 29 wins and 520 IP.
• Dave Laurila of Fangraphs interviewed Bucco backstop from the good ol' days, Spanky LaValliere. He has some interesting stuff on the pitchers he caught, both in and out of Pittsburgh.
• Saturday was a bad day for MLB, with both Stan the Man and Earl Weaver passing on to the stadium in the sky.