Bucs Deal For Gomez, Looking At Leroux To Start?

Jeanmar Gomez, 24, is the latest addition to the fifth man competition in the 2013 Bucco rotation. He had been DFA'ed by the Indians, and the Bucs decided to roll the dice on the righty.

The Pirates swapped Altoona OF Quincy Latimore, 23, for the Indian hurler. Latimore was a prep draftee from Middle Creek HS, selected in 2007 as the Bucs' fourth round pick. He hit .252/.321/.433, with 15 home runs and 71 RBI for the Curve last season. In six ML seasons, his slash was .252/.310/.419.with 66 HR and 337 RBI.

In 2010, he was a Florida State All-Star and milb.com Organizational All-Star, but two years at Altoona soured the Bucs on the North Carolinian. The rap on him was that he didn't show much plate discipline, striking out 100+ times in each of the past four years, and he was treading water at Altoona.

Gomez made his big league bow in 2010. Last year he appeared in 20 games (17 starts) for Cleveland, and was 5-8/5.96 in 90-2/3 IP with 47 whiffs and 34 free passes. He was 3-2/3.19 after May 19th, but his season went downhill pretty quickly after that, including a couple of months in Class AAA Columbus. Overall, Gomez is 14-16 in parts of three MLB seasons with a 5.18 ERA (4.88 FIP), five K and three walks per nine, compiling a 49% ground ball rate.

He does a perfect game to his credit, tossing a no-no in 2009 for Class AA Akron. The Indians signed Gomez out of Caracas, Venezuela, in 2005 during the Neal Huntington era with the Tribe. He throws a sinker as his primary pitch, with a low-nineties four seamer, slider and change in his tookit.

Gomez, who is out of options, was placed on the 40-man roster, which is now full, replacing Rick Van Den Hurk. He'll join Andrew Oliver, Jeff Locke and Kyle McPherson in the battle of the back end. The Bucs are said to still be talking to Frankie Liriano's people, and the way the off season has been going, they may want to smoke a peace pipe with Jeff Karstens' camp, too.

That also could draw RHP Chris Leroux, 28, back into the picture. The Bucs had him start in the Dominican Winter League in 2011 to develop his secondary pitches. He made the club out of camp as a reliever last year, injured his pec and landed on the 60 day DL. Leroux had to clear waivers to stay with Pittsburgh, which had run out of 40-man space, and he did.

He was tossed into the Indy rotation in July when Rudy Owens was traded, and was called up in September with half of the Indian staff, rejoining the 40 man roster. Even if he doesn't get a sniff at starting, he does have a strong chance of filling a multi-role spot in the 2013 pen.

McCutch's Mitt and the Monday Wash

-- There's been a lot of debate about Andrew McCutchen's fielding this year; the Sabremetric folk rank him as the second coming of Richie Zisk. The difference is that Pirate strategists have him playing a little deeper and shaded more toward the right center gap than they did in 2009 with Jose Tabata now the regular left fielder.

It makes sense by giving them better overall coverage by protecting the right fielder. The only hole is the left field line, and the braintrust is counting on JT's wheels to cover that gap.

The alignment protects against extra base knocks better, but limits McCutch's ability to snag the little flares and also gives the LF'er more chances on balls that were his last season. Both of those work against McCutchen in UZR stats as they affect both his perceived range and putout totals.

Is he a gold glover? Not now; he often has a little hesitation in his initial read. But his routes are usually direct, his throwing has improved over last year, and he still outruns balls. McCutch may be giving up some personal stats in the Pirate defensive scheme, but his leather is the least of Pittsburgh's problems.

-- The Pirates claimed RHP Chris Leroux off waivers from the Marlins and DFA'ed RHP Brian Bass. Leroux, 26, appeared in 17 games for Florida this year. In 18 innings of work for the Marlins, he had a 7.00 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, struck out 18 and walked 11. He posted a 6.28 ERA in three minor league stops this year, but his strikeout (7.2 K/9) and walk (2.5 BB/9) numbers were good.

A seventh-round selection by Florida in the 2005 draft, he throws a mid-nineties fastball, hard slider and change, and is a ground-ball pitcher; his control is his biggest issue. A Montreal native, Leroux appeared in two games for Team Canada during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He's 6'6" and has a power arm, and the Pirates are always on the lookout for those physical attributes.

He's been included in Baseball America's top 20 Marlin prospects for the past three years, and projects as a set-up man, ala Chris Resop, in the pen. Leroux has one option remaining after the season, so can be sent to Indy next year if he sticks on the 40-man roster.

-- Recent top gun signees Luis Heredia, Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie will hit Pirate City this week to participate in the Instructional League.

-- If you're wondering who in the heck Met starter Dillon Gee is, he's the guy who replaced Johan Santana in the NY rotation. In his major league debut Tuesday against the Nats, Gee took a no-hitter into the sixth, ending up with a seven inning, one-run, two hit outing and a victory.

Before his call-up, Gee had a 13-8 record and 4.96 ERA in AAA, with 165 K in 161 IP - and 23 HR's surrendered.

-- The Oakland Athletics inked free-agent Akinori Iwamura, recently released by the Bucs. The 31-year-old hit .182 in 193 plate appearances for the Pirates this season and had a .264/3/16 line at Indy. Oakland said they made the move because the club is unsure of when Kevin Kouzmanoff will be able to return to action at third this year.