Pirate Corner Infield

Meh, the corners are a mess.  Platoon at first, knock on wood at third...

The only certainty is that Garrett Jones, 30, will see time at first. He's put up a .254/60/193 line in four seasons and 419 games. Like many corner players, Jones is a slash in the field. He played just 260 innings at first last year, to a pretty poor -13.2 UZR/150. He was better in right, where he picked up the majority of his time (659 innings) and played to a -0.9 UZR/150.

The big lefty has some pop, but a .147 BA against southpaws last year (and .199 lifetime) has reduced him to a platoon role. JR spent his time trying to turn Jones into an everyday player, but Hurdle had him work primarily against righties, getting Jones 405 PAs against them versus 60 against lefties.

Just yesterday, in his first year of arbitration, Jones lost his salary bid and was assigned a $2.25M contract. He was in his Super Two season, and will be arb eligible through 2015.

The spring will be spent looking for his alter ego at first base. Casey McGehee is the presumed front runner among right handed batters. We hope he spent the winter fielding throws, since the old Brewer third baseman has spent just 22 innings at first base during his four year MLB career and was used at the spot quite sparingly during his six year minor league stint.

The 29 year old, obtained for Jose Veras, had a pair of strong offensive years in 2009-10 with 39 homers and 170 RBI, but put up a line of just .223/13/67 with a .280 OBP last season. The Pirates will give him an opportunity to regain his past mojo, but they've got a couple of first base irons in the fire just in case. Beside, they may need him at third base.

His contract is for $2,537,500, just announced today, shortly before his arbitration hearing was scheduled. The amount was midpoint between his asking price and Pittsburgh's offer. McGehee still has two years of arb left before becoming a free agent.

Those irons in the fire? Internally, they have Matt Hague safe and secure on the 40-man roster, but he'll soon be passed up by the duo behind him, Matt Curry and/or Alex Dickerson. The latter pair won't be here this year, and Hague, 26, hits but doesn't have much power, speed, or leather. Big Jeff Clement is also back and trying to revive his career after 2010 microfracture surgery.

The best chance to break camp as an extra first baseman belongs to Nick Evans, 26, formerly of the Mets and signed as a non-roster camp invitee. His MLB line is .256/8/46 in 386 at-bats. He's actually played more outfield than first in the show, and hit .295 with a .360 OBP against lefties, making him a solid bench candidate.

That leaves the hot corner. Pedro Alvarez's name had been written in stone on that sack ever since he was drafted - until last year. Funny how a line of .191/4/19 in 235 ABs with an OBP of .272 and a 30.5% K rate will empty the bandwagon. El Toro took the winter off, and hopefully spent the time mentally envisioning himself drilling first pitch fastballs on the outside corner all around the park instead of watching them whiz by.

As we understand, Alvarez has one option left, and the Pirates may opt to start him off at Indy for a couple of months to get him going. He is, no matter where he starts out, going to be on a pretty short leash this season. McGehee will be his backup. If Evans sticks, he's played third base a bit in the majors and enough times to be acquainted in the minors. And whoever earns the bench middle infield spot should also be capable of stepping in to play third base.  

Josh Harrison would probably top the list of internal candidates for the position, with Jordy Mercer right there. Harrison can also play second, while Mercer plays all around the infield except for first.  And that would be about it in the system.

With the way the team is built currently, the corner infielders should provide the power. Jones, Alvarez, and McGehee all have that potential to varying degrees, but it would take a trio of breakout years, as unlikely a scenario as that is, to help power the Pirates. For Alvarez and McGehee, 2012 is most likely a make or break season.

Arb, Burnett, Time To Report, Rumors

•  Casey McGehee goes to his arb hearing tomorrow, with Garrett Jones soon to follow (edit: Jones had his hearing today, the results should be out tomorrow). Bill Brink of the Post Gazette has this year's dealings with the Pirates' off-season arb players. Ross Ohlendorf is the only player who hasn't signed with anyone yet; missing most of the past two seasons with injuries has taken the bloom off his rose.
• OK, today's big question is whether AJ Burnett will join the Pirate pitchers when they report Saturday. It seems to come down to the Yankees believing that he's got value anywhere beside Pittsburgh and the Buc FO sticking to their guns. Possible Burney deals for the Indians' Travis Hafner and the Angel's Bobby Abreu are dead in the water, and the two teams are in "stare down" mode. So the Bucs have set their value for Burnett, and if Brian Cashman wants to play hardball, he could wait through camp and see if an opening shakes loose. That would surprise us, as the Yanks have budget issues (go figure) and a hole or two to fill that requires some freed-up salary room. The assumed offer of $10M in salary and two lesser prospects is high enough. Maybe the Bucs could sweeten the money pot, but he's not worth a prime-time youngster with Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon potentially just a couple of years away.
• Greg Johns, who covers Seattle, tweeted that "Chris Gimenez can't sign until Thursday, but sounds like could end up with Pirates after declining an outright assignment to AAA by the Mariners." Gimenez is a utility guy who plays C, 1B and corner OF with a .171/5/21 line in 228 MLB ABs, and might be considered for a minor league depth deal. The murky picture behind C Rod Barajas could make Pittsburgh a tempting landing spot for him.
• The Bucs had a private try-out for former MLB first baseman Dmitri Young. They said nice things about him, and then wished him good luck and sent him on his way according to MLB.com writer Tom Singer.
• Pirate pitchers report Saturday and position players on the 24th. Only 50 days to go until the opener.

Pirate Middle Infield

Well, not much question about who will man the middle for the Buccos in 2012. Newly inked Clint Barmes and Neil Walker are the only two eggs in that particular basket.

Walker came up in 2010 as a utility infielder and ended up the regular second baseman a heartbeat later in one of JR's more inspired moves. The good news is that The Pittsburgh Kid is young (26), profiles nicely for a middle infield bat (.280/24/189 in 286 games), and made some strides in fielding the position.

He still has room to grow, considering he had all of 21 games of minor-league experience at second before being thrown in the fire. His caveat is that he's a candidate to move to his more natural third base position if the opportunity or necessity arises, depending largely on Pedro Alvarez and Casey McGehee's ability to rebound.

More good news is not only is Walker young, but he's an ironman. A throwback player, he needs to be dragged off the field for a day off, and he only had three in 2011.

Shortstop was a different tale. Finally tiring of Ronny Cedno's yo-yo performances, the FO opted for more stability and inked Clint Barmes, who had spent 8 of his 9 MLB seasons in Colorado, and seven of those under Hurdle. Statistically, he doesn't bring a whole lot more to the table than RC did except for consistency - and the trust of his manager.

The 32 year old has put together a line of .252/73/324 with just a .302 OBP. The good news is that he'll bring a superior mitt and a little power to the bottom of the order; the bad news is that he's hit lower than his career average for five of the past six seasons.

Get use to him for the short term; the Bucs inked him to a two year, $10.5M deal, the biggest free agent contract in team history.

In the organization, Chase d'Arnaud, Jordy Mercer and Brock Holt have all been groomed as shortstops, and have seen time at second base, too. d'Arnaud has played 290 games at SS and 64 at second, Mercer 278/83 (with 75 games at third) and Brock 126/116, almost an even split. Josh Harrison has also played second regularly in the minors.

Last year's second base backup, the 24 year old Harrison played 152 games at second in the minors along with 161 games at the hot corner. He started five games in Pittsburgh at second, and looked OK in the field while hitting a very quiet .272, quiet because he had a .281 OBP, drawing three walks in 204 PAs. But at least we know that he's not overmatched at the plate, can put a ball in play and runs a little.

d'Arnaud is an exciting player, and was taken in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. He flies around the sacks and is an accomplished base stealer. It's just getting him on base that's proved troublesome. In his tiny 2011 MLB sampling of 151 PAs, he hit .217 and only had a .248 OBP. His main problem was discipline, proving a sucker for pitches off the dish.

The 24 year old is projected by many as a better second baseman than shortstop, but he only saw three innings at second base in 2011. For all his hops, d'Arnaud was just league average in range and committed 6 errors in 206 innings, not the SS numbers you want behind a pitch-to-contact staff.

He'll probably start 2012 at Indy, getting some at-bats and working on his D. The experience won't hurt; d'Arnaud has only played 70-some games at the AAA level. The 24 year old is still considered to be the shortstop of the future, and is toolsy enough to eventually claim the spot.

There is a very slim chance, since he's also played third and second, that Pittsburgh keeps him on the big team. d'Arnaud is a sparkplug off the bench, but exposed when he's out there every day, and could stand some steady reps at Indy.

Right behind him is Mercer, who was actually taken a round earlier than d'Arnaud in the 2008 draft. Mercer is a better fielder with a strong arm - he was a closer in college - and has some pop with the bat. He's had 30 doubles three years running, and knocked 19 balls out of the yard in 2011, split between Altoona and Indy.

But Mercer has discipline problems at the plate, and his OBP for the Tribe was just .304. He is a streak hitter, too - he had to finish strong to end up with a .239 BA at Indy after a terrible August run. Mercer was added to the 40-man roster during the off season.

Altoona's Holt, 23, may eventually work his way into the mix, too. He has a good bat and an eye at the plate, but profiles more in the field as a second baseman than shortstop. He played his first full professional season this year after being injured in 2010, and hit .289 with a .356 OBP at Altoona. He's a contact hitter who will draw a few walks and steal the occasional base, although he's not a burner.

We may get to see him at Indy in 2012, but if Mercer and d'Arnaud both start there, he could also tread water with the Curve a bit longer.

Brian Friday won't be 26 until December, but he's already been bypassed by the above group. He's a steady defender, puts the ball in play and has a decent eye, but was the utility guy for the Tribe and didn't earn a spot on the 40-man roster.

Our take is that no one in the above group is ready to chase The Pittsburgh Kid or Barmes. We think the likeliest to be kept on the major league roster is Josh Harrison because of the questions surrounding Pedro Alvarez. Who knows if El Toro will even start the year in Pittsburgh?

They also brought in a couple of guys from outside the system to provide some depth. In early December, the Bucs traded with KC for Yamaico Navarro. They sent the Royals RHP Brooks Pounders, who worked out of Class A West Virginia in 2011 (5-5, 3.68 ERA) and infielder Diego Goris, 21, who had spent four seasons playing the Dominican League.

Navarro, 24, is a right-handed batter and has hit .206 for Boston and KC in the past two seasons. In six minor league years, he has a .279 BA and has shown a little pop. Navarro has a strong arm, but his range at shortstop has declined, making second and third stronger positions for him. But his original club, the Red Sox, were grooming him as a utility player, and that's where the Bucs hope he'll make his mark.

They also picked Tigers' minor-league SS Gustavo Nunez in the Rule 5 draft. The 23 year old split 2011 between High-A and Double-A, hitting .276 with 13 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 26 RBI and 18 stolen bases in 96 minor league games.

Like Pedro Ciriaco before him, he's a leather and wheels guy with an iffy ability to swing a stick. His selection was a bit of a surprise; he's never played Triple-A ball, and has only 34 games at Double-A. On the plus side, he was seen as a prospect and did make the Florida State League All-State team. The big question is whether the Pirates took him too soon, before he's had a chance to develop, as is so often the case with Rule 5 guys.

Both of those players are on the 40-man roster. The FO also brought in Anderson Hernandez on a minor league deal with an invite to camp. The 29 year old switch-hitter has put in 6 seasons with 4 MLB teams so far, playing mostly second and short, and put up a .241 career BA.

Hernandez spent all of 2011 with the Astro's Triple-A club, and like Navarro, he was being groomed for an infield utility spot, splitting time at short, second and third. It's probable that he was brought aboard to provide some insurance at Indy, though it's hard to see how he can do that without disrupting the playing time for the Pirate prospects.

So the middle back-up spot should be fairly wide open. Navarro probably stands the best chance of coming out of camp with the team, but that's not etched in stone. He's had conditioning problems in the past, and so his shape will bear watching when he reports to camp. But it is a much better scenario to have the battle for the backup spot rather than the starter.

Monday Update

• The Bucs and Yanks continue to slog along on the AJ Burnett front. The Bronx Bombers claim that three other teams are in on him; the Pittsburgh FO has to determine if they are, in actuality, bidding against themselves or if Brian Cashman is using their offer to up the ante of the other interested clubs. It's apparent that NY is trying to get a little more than financial relief, as the rumor mill has floated both Garrett Jones and solid prospect Nick Kingham as Yankee targets in the deal. To the Bucs' credit, reports are that they're willing to take on more salary rather give up more talent.
• Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus ranked his Top 101 Prospects, and the Bucs had a healthy half dozen: Gerrit Cole (9), Jameson Taillon (13), Luis Heredia (42), Josh Bell (43), Starling Marte (56), and Robbie Grossman (76). They're all young, although Marte could arrive anytime and Cole possibly in 2013. All in all, it's been a good year for the Bucco system, according to the baseball media. 
• Casey McGehee has his arbitration hearing on Thursday, with Garrett Jones soon to follow. The gap wasn't that big between the players and the club. We're wondering if the Burnett discussions have kept the FO busy and kicked the arb guys on the backburner. The only other unsigned NL arb player is Jose Veras, who the Bucs sent to the Brew Crew for McGehee.
• Tom Singer of MLB.com has a pre-camp, pre-season look at the Buccos.
• Joe Soriano of Call To The Pen defends Edwin Jackson's decision to sign with Washington for a year, and not because Pittsburgh is such a sad sack destination. He calculates that the Pirates - and everyone else -  low balled him with their offers based on WAR and dependability, and it was in his interest to take the highest one-year deal and try again in 2012.

AJ Burnett

So Pittsburgh waits with bated breath as the AJ Burnett watch continues. It probably won't be a long vigil.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sport's MLB Buzz reports that the Pirates and Bronx Bombers have a framework and are just discussing money and players, one dependent on the other. He hears that the NYY will eat between $19-23M, leaving the Bucs to shell out $5-7M/year for Burnett.

The 35 year old should be an upgrade to the staff as it now stands, and worth the risk, even if it is for two years. And there are risks.

The big righty has a history of nagging injuries, although he has worked over 185 innings and started 30+ games in each of the past four seasons. Also, his age has to be a concern. Some pitchers last into their 40s, while others step off a cliff.

In his past four years, his fastball velocity has dropped off, from 94.3 MPH in 2008 to 92.7 last year. To counter, he threw considerably fewer heaters in 2011 (56% vs 69% in 2010) and more changeups. Burnett also sports a knuckle-curve to go with his usual hook, which he throws both overhand and three quarters.

He can miss bats, something that Pirate pitchers traditionally struggle with. Burnett can also miss the dish with some regularity. Last year, he averaged 8.2 Ks and 3.9 BBs per nine, pretty close to his career 2-1 ratio.

Of course, the key question is can the dude still pitch? His 11-11, 5.15 ERA from 2011 and 10-15, 5.26 ERA from the season prior suggests not so well. But his xFIP for those two season are 3.86 and 4.49, while his K rate shows he still has some life left to his servings. His biggest bugaboo has been his HR rate - 17% of the flies hit against him went yard last year, as did 11.6% in 2010.

The new Yankee Stadium has been a launching pad, but the Clemente Wall isn't exactly Green Acres, either. He does give up the long ball, but if he gets back to his career average of 10-12%, that shouldn't be a terrible problem here. And leaving the AL East for the Albert Pujol/Prince Fielder-less NL Central can't hurt.

Here's the point: the Bucs have some cash to toss around yet, and Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt don't want any. The starting pitching is thin, and Burnett would be at least one of the top five pitchers, nudging ahead of Kevin Correia and Brad Lincoln. As we found out last year, a team never has enough starting pitching.

Burnett knows what it's like to be on the short end of the stick. It took him eleven years and three teams to finally get into the post season. According to his agent, he has no negatives about the trade talk. And he does bring passion to the game and a reputation as being pretty good with mentoring young pitchers. After 13 seasons, one can only assume he has some insights worth passing along.

So hey, let's dot the i's and cross the t's and get Burnett to camp this weekend.

Some random notable moments in his career:

• Burnett was an eighth-round pick of the New York Mets in the 1995 draft. 
• He was traded to the Marlins as part of a package for Al Leiter before the 1998 season when the Marlins held their infamous fire sale of Jimmy Leyland's 1997 World Series champs. 
• On May 12, 2001, Burnett pitched a no-hitter. Oddly, he walked more men (9) than he whiffed (7). His cap and a baseball from the game are on display in Cooperstown. 
• In 2002, he had the top fastball of all major league starters, averaging 94.9 miles per hour and led the NL with 5 shutouts. 
• He was limited to four starts in 2003 before Tommy John surgery, but returned in June of the following year and once hit 102 on the gun. 
• Burnett, in his 2005 walk year, was booted from the team in late September after griping about the Marlin on-field management. It didn't hurt him much; the Blue Jays signed him to a five-year, $55M deal. 
• He had an opt-out clause for 2008, and had a great year, going 18-10 with a 4.08 ERA and leading the AL with 231 Ks in 221-1/3 IP. Not surprisingly, he did opt out and the Yankees inked him to a five year/$82.5M contract. 
• Burnett was suspended by MLB for five games in 2009 for throwing a heater over Nelson Cruz's bean after Mark Teixeira had been drilled twice. 
• Also in 2009, he became the first Yankee pitcher to win a World Series game at the new Yankee Stadium against the Phils. 
• The righty struck out four batters in one inning last year, joining an exclusive club of just two dozen members.

2012 Buc Outfield

The Pirate plan going into 2011 was to use PNC's right field to stash a basher while McCutch & JT covered the top of the order and the vast expanses of left and center. They signed Matt Diaz as a platoon mate of Garrett Jones to provide some thunder. On paper, it worked. On the field, it didn't. Diaz and later Ryan Ludwick failed to deliver, and bench outfielder Xavier Paul was released after the season.

Well, Jones is still around, although penciled in at first base this time around (and who knew the Yankees liked him?). Nate McLouth was reclaimed from the Braves. And Alex Presley, after a nice showing as an injury replacement, will get the early nod in left. So those five - McCutchen, Tabata, Presley, McLouth and Jones, the classic platoon 1B/corner OF'er - look like this year's outfield patrol.

The man who stirs the drink is McCutch. And as he goes, so goes the club. He played in 70 of Pittsburgh's 72 wins with a line of .337/16/58. He was on the field for 87 of the team's 90 losses, and put up a line of .198/7/31 in the defeats.

He faded badly at the end of the year, with a terrible closing month (.171) and BA splits that seemed to show that the grind got to him, hitting .280 in the season's opening three months and .247 in the last three. But he was consistent in his production splits - RBI (41-48), runs scored (47-40), homers (11-12) and doubles (17-17) - which were about as evenly distributed as could be.

McCutch played 158 games, starting 155. We wouldn't make much of his September swoon, at least this time around. He tried to single handedly counter the Pirate dog-days tailspin by going for the fences instead of sticking to what he does best, stinging liners and shooting balls through the infield. Hopefully, that's a lesson learned by the 25 year old that will carry over.

He doesn't enter his arbitration years until 2013, just missing Super Two status this season. His contract status will be the ongoing drama for bloggers and fans.

Jose Tabata will also play everyday, flipping from left to right field. In the 91 games he got into last year, he ran up a .266/4/21 line with 53 runs scored and 16 stolen bases, which was OK but could hardly be called a breakthrough year.

And the continued injuries are troublesome; he's been haunted by them since the Pirates traded for him in 2008, and last season was the same ol'. He pulled his quad in June, then came back in August and broke his wrist. But he'll be around for awhile, fragile or not.

He signed with the Bucs through 2016, with three following club option years, so he's one player that the team has locked up. The silver lining of his injury-plagued season was that he provided Alex Presley with an opening, and he ran with it.

Presley, 26, had a lukewarm September showing in 2010, and started the 2011 season at Indy. He was smoking the ball for the Indians (.333/8/41 in 87 games), but the Bucs kept him on hold until JT went down in late June.

Tabata's aches and breaks gave The King 52 games to show his stuff, sandwiched around his own trip to the DL with a bruised hand. He hit .298 and fit in well at the top of the order, and when JT returned, it was to right field. Presley had taken over left.

He has his own caveat emptor: Presley has a .327 BA/.373 OBP against righties, but just .231/.261 against lefties, and his slugging percentage drops over 175 points, too, in an admittedly small sampling. So that will bear watching as his career moves forward. (JT & McCutch's splits are much more manageable. Tabata sports a 40 point career spread and McCutchen's is just 20).

Presley was one of two players mentioned by Clint Hurdle as being on a short leash to start the year, and we're sure the splits have the brass wondering if he's everyday material or a platoon/4th OF'er candidate. They may still be looking for a corner with more pop, too.

The one thing the 2011 season produced was three starting outfielders who will set the table this year, hitting 1-2-3: Presley, Tabata, McCutch. We'd probably flip Presley and Tabata, moving the lefty to the two hole just to open a hole on the right side and break up the righty-lefty scheme, but Hurdle hasn't asked us, sooo...

The important part of equation is that Andrew McCutchen is finally in his rightful position, batting third, after being jerked all around the order. He's averaged 20 homers, 90 runs scored and 70+ RBI over the last two years and is growing into a prototypical three hole guy, especially if he plays within himself.

That will give the Pirates an outfield that's speedy, pretty fair defensively, and tailor-made to fill the top of the Bucco order. They're interchangeable, too, as Tabata and Presley have both the wheels and experience to roam center field.

The FO cleaned out the OF bench of 2011 and entrusted the fourth outfield role to Nate McLouth. The Pirates inked him to a one-year, $1.75M contract with $450K in possible performance bonuses. McLouth, 30, was a 25th-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2000 and was with the team until he was dealt to the Atlanta Braves in June, 2009, for Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke and Gorkys Hernandez.

Nate the Great had his Pittsburgh coming out party in 2008, when he hit .276 with 26 homers and 94 RBIs, leading the NL in doubles (46), winning a Gold Glove and earning an All-Star nod. But his brief Brave career was dismal, marked by injury and a .229 BA. So the Bucs are rolling the dice that McLouth can again be productive in a Pirate uniform. His center field days are likely done, but even as a corner outfielder he's considered an upgrade over Xavier Paul.

While the outfield looks like the offensive generator for the Pirates this year, the reason Presley is on thin ice and McLouth is the fourth outfielder is because Pittsburgh has a couple of guys in the minors that are close to playing in the show.

Gorkys Hernandez might be the best defensive OF'er in the Pirate system. He's 24, and had a poor season at Altoona in 2009 after the Bucs got him from the Braves as part of the McLouth deal. But he's put together back-to-back solid years at the dish in 2010-11 for the Curve and Indy, averaging .275 and stealing 38 bases in 50 tries.

But Hernandez's best value to the club may be as trade bait. He has McCutch ahead of him, and closing quickly is Starling Marte, who has been popping up in Top 100 Prospect lists after his year with the Curve.

Marte, 23, was named the Eastern League's 2011 Rookie of the Year. His line at Altoona was .332/12/50 with 90 runs and 24 stolen bases, along with a rep as a tremendous outfielder tools-wise. He could be a year away after the Indy coaches work on honing his defensive routes and improving his plate discipline. There's been some talk that he could eventually bump McCutch to a corner position; we'll hold our judgment on that call.

Behind him is Robbie Grossman, 22, of Bradenton, who was named the Pirates minor-league player of the year after being a high school sixth-round pick in the 2008 draft. Grossman is a tweener who probably projects best as a corner outfielder in the show.

He hit .294/13/56 for High A Bradenton with a .418 OBP, drawing 104 walks. But he also K'ed 111 times, so the Bucs will be certain to work on his aggressiveness as he journeys through the system. But ESPN's Keith Law named him as one of his Top 100 Propects, so it looks like there's something there for the staff to tease out of him.

The Bucs are also excited about Josh Bell, a power-hitting high school outfielder that they signed in a way overslot deal in last year's draft. The 19 year old has already cracked a couple of Top Five Pirate Prospect lists without swinging a bat in anger.

Andrew Lambo, 22, is still on the radar. The big lefty is a corner outfielder who was overmatched at Indy after playing pretty solidly at the AA level. But with his age and some power potential, the Pirates haven't given up on his career - yet. Lambo isn't on the 40-man roster, and this may be his "show me" year."

They also have a couple of outfield candidates who signed minor league deals but with invites to camp. They're Brandon Boggs, a corner outfielder, and slash outfielders Andy Fox and Nick Evans. Evans probably has the best shot at sticking, but that depends more on how first base shakes out than with his skills in the pasture.

If Presley can solve lefties and Tabata remains healthy enough to play 135 games, the OF is set. They have depth at Indy in Hernandez and Marte along with the vets, and up-and-comers like Grossman, Bell, and Lambo. The future is arriving - the OF is one spot where the Pirates have some organizational depth - and if Presley/Tabata falter, it could mark an early beginning of the Marte era.

Heading Into The Weekend

• Hey, the trucks have left PNC and are on the way to Florida. February 18th is the day pitchers and catchers report, and the full squad takes the field on the 24th. Disregard those snow shovels and bags of salt: showtime is quickly approaching...
• Jayson Stark of ESPN.com says that the Pirates aren't just working on AJ Burnett. They could also be in on the Phillies Joe Blanton and Washington's John Lannan. None of the trio slot higher than the back end of the rotation kinda guys, but do have the rep of being able to eat some innings, although Blanton is coming on an elbow injury. He adds that the Rays' Jeff Niemann, the White Sox's Gavin Floyd, and Jake Westbrook/Kyle McClennan of the Cards are also on the block.
• David Schoenfeld of ESPN's Sweet Spot blog looks at the stat lines put up by Jay Bruce, Colby Rasmus and McCutch and compares them to other 20-something performances to determine who is likeliest to break out. His pick is McCutchen. "He has the best all-around game of the three, draws walks and strikes out considerably less than the other two." But he warns that "His second-half struggles are a concern and he needs to get back to a solid approach at the plate and take his home runs when they come."
• Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects lists Keith Law's Bucco farmhands on his Top 100 prospect list (linked here, for ESPN Insider subscribers only). They are #10 Gerrit Cole, #16 Jameson Taillon, #67 Josh Bell, #72 Starling Marte and #86 Robbie Grossman. Luis Heredia just missed the rankings, and RHP Clayton Holmes, a 2011 overslot draftee, is his sleeper candidate. 
• Dejan Kovacevic of the Trib discusses the cause and cure of the Pirates' shunning by FAs.
• Tom Singer of MLB.com has the story on infielder Curt Roberts, who broke the color line for the Pirates back in 1954.

Midweek Scribbles

• Latest Bucco rumor: "Hear ye, hear ye: The Pittsburgh Pirates are one team that actually might want to trade for New York Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett," according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. He adds the caveat that he knows the Pirates have spoken to the Bronx Bombers, but doesn't know if that represents a smoking gun or just due diligence on the part of the FO. Burnett makes $33M over the next two years, so the Yankees would have to eat most of his salary. The 35 year old went 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA in 2011.
• Buster Olney of ESPN, purely as speculation, tweeted that he wondered if a Garrett Jones for Burnett deal would work, with NY eating 90% of the contract. And it is just speculation; that deal would make the trade a wash for NY, which is trying to clear some salary room for a couple of bench pieces. But make it 75% of AJ's contract eaten by the Yanks, and that might do it, as long as we're speculating.
• Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors has a post on Burnett, his recent performance, why he's available and what clubs may bite.
• Fangraph's Dan Williams has a story on Jose Tabata's disappointing season and his potential going forward.
• Various sources report that Dmitri Young, who has been out of baseball since 2008, will get a tryout in front of Clint Hurdle and the Pirate scouts in Florida. Young, 38, is playing winter ball now and has dropped 75 pounds since he last squeezed into a big league uniform. Doesn't seem like the Bucs have a lot of confidence in their first base platoon, hey?
• Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has the Bucs Top 20 prospects. Interesting list, and he has a couple of  guys floating under the radar, too.
• Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects wrote that Keith Law of ESPN ranked the Buc farm system eighth. You have to be an ESPN Insider subscriber to get the Law story.
• Baseball Prospectus has their 2012 PECOTA ratings out; it's subscriber only.

Tuesday Notepad

• Well, it appears that the Bucs aren't quite as myopic - or cheap - as we thought. They did try to land some pitching. It ends up that the FO made a nice little offer to Edwin Jackson, one that would have possibly kept him around until the Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon debuts. They tried to entice him from two directions, one year for $10M or 3 years for $30M, according to Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal. But it was no dice, as EJ inked an $11M deal with the Nats. 
• They also reached out to Roy Oswalt and were shooed away, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Trib. They didn't even use the interest to help build Oswalt's market value a tad. That's a little odd, as he's 34 years old and the team's he's courted so far haven't shown much reciprocal  interest.
• David Schoenfeld of ESPN's Sweet Spot blog looked over the Central Division position by position and has the Buccos finishing fourth in 2012. The everyday players finished pretty much middle in the of the pack, but the starting pitching got no respect at all. Maybe if one of those guys above would have taken Bob Nutting's money...
• Despite his flame-out 2011 season, St. Mary's Joe has latched on with the Rangers. Beimel (1-1, 5.33) inked a minor league deal with a camp invite.

This Week's News

• The Bucs signed RHP Juan Cruz, late of the Tampa Rays, to a minor league deal with an invite to camp. A set-up man, the 33 year old was 5-0/3.88 last season in 48-1/3 innings. Of all the pitchers they've brought in so far, Cruz has the best chance to break camp with the team, striking us as a possible 2012 Jose Veras. He's been with 6 teams in 11 seasons, working a 35-37/4.13 line in 619 innings. Cruz spent 7 of those seasons in the NL with Chicago, Atlanta, and Arizona.
• The Pirates also added LHP Brian Tallet to the minor league roster. Tallet, 34, has nine season in the show, mostly in the AL with the Indians and Jays. He has a 16-25/4.77 line in 460 innings of work. You might recall his tale from last year: he strained an intercostal muscle, and after the CAT scan, doctors discovered that he also had cysts on his kidneys, suffering from polycystic kidney disease. At any rate, Tallet is a little more veteran left-handed bullpen insurance, joining Doug Slaten.
• Bill Brink reports that the Pirates and Casey McGehee have an arbitration hearing date set for February 16th, but are still currently negotiating. McGehee asked for $2.725M and the FO countered with $2.35M. The midpoint is $2.5-2.6M, which sounds about right, so we're wondering which party to blame for the holdup. No news on Garrett Jones, either, who put in for $2.5M while the Pirates offered $2.25M. Neither spread was outrageous, so we are kinda surprised the deals haven't been completed.
• Baseball America has ranked its Top Ten Prospects by organization. There are no surprises on the Bucco list.
• OK - the Nats signed Edwin Jackson for 1 year/$11M, and it's been written that he turned down a 3 year/$30M deal, making this a year to rebuild his brand. Now you can see why he was off of the Pirate's radar screen. As for Roy Oswalt, his preferred teams, the Red Sox, Rangers and Cards, are all taking turns playing cat-and-mouse with him. Anyhow, doesn't look like the Pirates are adding any big pieces to the 2012 puzzle.