Eveland Joins Staff

The Pirates traded for left-handed starter Dana Eveland, sending minor-league reliever Ronald Uviedo to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Eveland, 26, has a 16-21 career record with a 5.66 ERA, and has spent parts of six seasons with Milwaukee, Arizona, Oakland and Toronto.

For the year, he is 3-4 with a 6.45 ERA, with 21 strikeouts and 27 walks. He started the season off well, putting together an eleven inning plus scoreless stretch, but was bombed in his last three outings and DFA'ed by Toronto.

Eveland went 9-9 with a 4.34 ERA in 168 innings and 29 starts with Oakland in 2008, his best season.

In a release, Neal Huntington said "Dana Eveland is a 26-year-old lefthander who has shown the ability to be an effective major league starting pitcher. He has an interesting four-pitch mix and we feel this acquisition is a potential upgrade for our current rotation with the upside of years of control."

Dunno about those years of control; the guy is out of options, and will be arbitration-eligible in 2011 if he sticks. At any rate, Eveland will join the Pirates' rotation, replacing Brian Burres, we assume.

Uviedo, 23, started his career as a closer, but has been used mostly as a set-up man the past two seasons. He was 0-2 with a 3.22 ERA at Altoona, with 28 K's in 22 innings, but was considered a Top Twenty prospect going into 2009 by Baseball America and was on the current 40-man roster.

We'll withhold judgment on this one for awhile. Uviedo, even if a borderline prospect, seems like a high price for a DFA pick-up, but the scouts may think Eveland's stuff will work better in the NL. We'll find out soon enough.