1/17: 2014-15 Arb; Kip & Josh Signed; January Drafts; HBD Jeff, Jack, Doc and Art

• 1861 - 1B Milt Scott was born in Chicago. He played in the majors for four seasons, spending part of 1885 with the Alleghenys, joining them in late June after being purchased from the Detroit Wolverines and batting .248. He was then “traded” to Baltimore (actually the American Association settled a contract dispute over Sam Barkley’s rights with his transfer). He hit .190 in 1886 and was out of the majors after that, retiring after spending 1890 with Fort Wayne of the Indiana State League. 
• 1882 - C/1B John “Doc” Kerr was born in Dellroy, Ohio. With eight years in the minors, he played 59 big league games, all in the Federal League, from 1914-15 with his first 42 contests as a Pittsburgh Rebel, batting .239. One and Done: Doc played for 12 teams in 10 years; he spent full back-to-back season with just one, Trenton. 

Jack Merson 1952 Topps

• 1922 - 2B Jack Merson was born in Elk Ridge, Maryland. Jack played for the Pirates from 1951-52, regularly during the second season that ended prematurely with a broken wrist. He hit .257 over that span, but he ended up with Boston the next season, where he played one game in 1953, going 0-for-4 to end his MLB days. He started his big league career at 29, and in Boston, the 31-year-old was blocked by bonus baby Billy Consolo. He played for a few more seasons in San Diego (then a minor league club) and then remained there as a businessman and later a prison guard, raising his family. 
• 1964 - LHP Jeff Tabaka was born in Barberton, Ohio. Jeff got a cup off coffee with the Pirates in 1994, moved on and returned again in 1998, when he went 2-2, 3.02, overall. Jeff had the usual itinerary of a journeyman lefty - in his six seasons in the majors he pitched for the Pirates, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. Tabaka’s promising career was short circuited by injuries; he had a pair of TJ surgeries to overcome. At last look, he was tutoring at the Strike Zone Academy in North Canton, Ohio. 
• 1970 - The Pirates selected players through the 28th round of the player draft, going nine rounds deeper than any other club, and came up with exactly no one who made it to the majors. LHP Alan Jackson of Northeastern State was their top pick (14th overall); he declined to sign and was instead selected by the Red Sox in the June draft. He topped out a Class AA. The January draft was a secondary feeder. Its pool consisted of high school players who graduated early, JC/community college athletes, and players who opted out of four-year colleges.

Alex Cole 1993 Donruss

• 1984 - The Pirates drafted pitcher Gil Heredia first, but the righty from Pima CC didn’t sign. He went pro three years later, albeit as a ninth round pick of the Giants, and carved out a 10-year MLB career. Light hitting OF Alex Cole was also selected that year. The best pick was in the secondary phase when the Bucs took OF Jay Buhner, who ended up swatting 310 HR in 15 big league seasons after being traded to the Yankees. 
• 2005 - RHP Josh Fogg inked a one-year/$2.15M deal with the Bucs to avoid his first year of arbitration. Fogg went 6-11/5.05 during the ensuing campaign and was non-tendered, ending up with Colorado in 2007. Craig Wilson agreed to a one year/$3M contract the next day and also avoided arbitration. He ended up playing only 59 games during the year as a result of hand injuries that landed him on the DL twice. 
• 2006 - The Bucs signed RHP Kip Wells to a one-year, $4.15M contract, avoiding arbitration. Kip only lasted to the deadline, going 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA before being dealt away to the Texas Rangers for Jesse Chavez. Wells, a former first round draft pick of the White Sox in 1998, pitched for nine teams in 12 seasons with a career slash of 69-103-2/4.78 ERA. 

Kip Wells 2005 Topps Chrome

• 2014 - The Pirates signed five players to one-year deals (2B Neil Walker, 3B Pedro Alvarez, P Mark Melancon, 1B Gaby Sanchez and P Vin Mazzaro) to avoid arbitration. They had previously reached agreements with arb-eligible P Charlie Morton, OF Travis Snider and C Chris Stewart, and non-tendered 1B Garrett Jones, C Mike McKenry and OF Felix Pie to close out a king-sized 2014 arbitration class. 
• 2015 - The Pirates had a MLB-high dozen players eligible for arbitration: Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Mark Melancon, Josh Harrison, Tony Watson, Francisco Cervelli, Jared Hughes, Travis Snider, Antonio Bastardo, Chris Stewart, Vance Worley and Sean Rodriguez, after previously releasing arb-eligible players Ike Davis, Gaby Sanchez, John Axford, Jeanmar Gomez and Chaz Roe. Nine signed one-year deals; Walker, Alvarez, and Worley opted to take the arbitration route. Walker lost his case; Alvarez and Worley won their hearings.