Quick Hits

A couple of quick notes:

• The search continues: Jon Morosi of Fox Sports tweets that the Bucs are looking at Shaun Marcum, along with Texas and San Diego. He's been a solid guy over his career, but only worked 124 IP last season with an elbow issue, making him a risk for 2013. In Pittsburgh's case, his biggest drawback is that he's a RH fly-ball pitcher with a 1.22 HR/9 innings career line, and so might not be the best fit for PNC Park.
• Big off season for Cutch. Andrew McCutchen will appear on the cover of video game "MLB 13 The Show" after a vote that was cast at the MLB.com site, Twitter and Facebook. "Dread the dreads" covers social media every bit as well as he covers center field. And with class, as his thx to Bucco fans shows.
• For you twerps, AJ Burnett has finally gone social. You can follow him at @wudeydo34 .
• John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus tweets that the Bucs are "kicking the tires" of LHP Joe Saunders. 
• Russell Martin and Chris Leroux are on the Canadian WBC preliminary roster.  
• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe: "The Red Sox and Pirates never got deep into discussions of first baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones during the Joel Hanrahan trade talks because, according to a major league source, “'The Pirates really valued Jones highly.'” That fits what we've heard, as chronicled by Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects. We'll see when they sign him just how much they really value him.
• Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs in his "Reports from the Instructs"  features Gerrit Cole. He concludes that "everything is pointing at a big league debut sometime in 2013 as he continues progressing toward his ceiling of a true #1 starter."
• Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com talks with Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell about their off season.
• The Bucs signed Lucas May, a light hitting catcher who looks to be Tony Sanchez's caddy at Indy, as noted by John Dreker of Pirates Prospects.
• They also signed Aussie 16 year old RHP Nick Hutchings, according to Dreker. He sounds like a real deal from down under, with the Bucs outbidding four other clubs for his services.
• The Hall of Fame vote ended up with no new members, thank you, steroid era. Old Bucs Barry Bonds, Jose Mesa, Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton were on the ballot.
• David Manel of Bucs Dugout took a comparative look at players' 2011-12 seasons, both for MLB leaders and for the Pirates. The biggest improvement went to Pedro; the biggest bust was Hot Rod.

Pitching Q&A

Some questions about the Pirate pitching as it now stands:

Will the Bucs keep trawling the market for another starter? We suspect not actively; they were looking for a mid-pack lefty who is a sinker/power pitcher. Chris Capuano has been mentioned and fits, but without Hanny to use as a lure, it's unlikely LA will dump him at a price the Bucs are willing to pay. Joe Saunders has also been mentioned, but he doesn't really fit the profile the Pirates are looking for. There's a slim chance Frankie Liriano ends up a Pirate, depending on the yet undisclosed severity of his injury, but it will be at a reduced rate and based on an incentive-based deal. Wonder what Shawn Marcum is looking for nowadays...?

Will James McDonald bounce back? 2012 was an outlier finish for J-Mic. But the Bucs might be wise to keep a little closer watch on his pitch count, and James could help his own cause by being more aggressive and trusting his fielders rather than looking for the punchout. Control and count seem to be his keys.

Are there too many back end pitchers in the rotation? Could be - Kyle McPherson, Jeff Locke and Andy Oliver, the main suspects for the Bucco back end, have given no indication that they're ready to step into a mid-level spot yet. They're all young, and as a group like to nibble. As the old adage goes, work quick and throw strikes, and if they follow that saw, they could become dependable. That's a big if.

Is help on the horizon? For once, the answer seems to be yes. Gerrit Cole could optimistically be ready this year, and Charlie Morton, who the FO has enough confidence in to nurse through another injury, should be back by July. Jameson Taillon has a 2014 ETA, and we still believe that Justin Wilson has the stuff to be a mid-rotation arm if he can quit fighting the strike zone. Phil Irwin fits into the back-ender-in-the-making mold. A couple more guys, notably Clay Holmes, Nick Kingham and Luis Heredia, will help keep the pipeline flowing.

Are Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon enough at the back end of the pen? It would seem, by their peripherals, that they should hold up. If not, Bryan Morris is a good late inning candidate to step into their spot, with Victor Black not too very far away.

The rest of the bullpen? It should be fine; the Bucs have made a slight change of direction by going after young fringe guys via minor deals than reeling in undervalued pitchers on the market. That's a more cost friendly direction, and if there's one thing the management has shown a good eye for evaluating during their tenure, it's relievers. Chris Leroux and Zach Stewart are swing men, along with Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, and Vin Mazzaro as bridge pitchers looking for 2013 spots.

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.

Bucco Bits - Liriano On Hold, Prospect Lists, More

A little Bucco news five weeks away from camp...

• Frankie Liriano has a right (non-throwing) arm injury severe enough that he didn't come to Pittsburgh to take his pre-signing physical, writes Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review. The FO is still talking to his agent, but the two-year, #12.7M deal is on ice right now. We wondered what was up after he failed to report after Christmas. Anyway, the search for another arm may or may not go on. Neal Huntington said "...if there is not an acceptable upgrade out there, we’re ready to go forward with this group.” That means guys like Andy Oliver, Chris Leroux and Justin Wilson may get a long look at camp.
• RHP Rick Van Den Hurk left the Bucs to join the Samsung Lions in Korea.
• Jm Callis of Baseball America has the Bucco organization ranked eighth in MLB. He says "System isn't deep but has impressive trios of arms and bats that most can't match." Kristy Robinson tweets that BA's Top Ten are: 1 RHP Gerrit Cole, 2 RHP Jameson Taillon, 3 RHP Luis Heredia, 4 OF Gregory Polanco, 5 SS Alen Hanson, 6 OF Josh Bell, 7 RHP Kyle McPherson, 8 LHP Justin Wilson, 9 OF Barrett Barnes, and 10 RHP Clay Holmes. 
• MLB.com has their own Top Twenty list of Bucco prospects; the top nine are the same, though scattered about in a little different order.
• Speaking of Cole, he did an interview with MLB.com's John Parker. Cole must have spoken with AJ; he told the reporter that "My priority at the plate is getting a bunt down and not getting hurt."
• Arbitration hearings begin in three weeks or so; we're sorta surprised the Bucs haven't done any deals with their arb guys yet (except for the injured Charlie Morton). The foursome are RHP James McDonald, 2B Neil Walker, 1B Gaby Sanchez and OF/1B Garrett Jones.

Jared Goedert

Yah, yah, we know - who the heck is Jared Goedert?  He's a minor league free agent the Pirates signed during the off season from the Indians organization who has never been a top prospect, doesn't have a position to call his own, and collects injuries like kids collect baseball cards. Still, it wouldn't surprise us very much to see him in Pittsburgh for a spell this year, as a bench bat.

Goedert was master of all sports at Concordia High in Kansas. He was All-State twice in baseball, hitting .538 with 11 home runs in 20 games during his senior campaign. The Concordia Kid was also All-State in football (as a QB, he led Jayhawk preppies in passing yards his junior year) and hoops (averaging 19.5 PPG as a senior).

Not surprisingly, the Cleveland Indians took a shot at him out and selected him the 36th round of the 2003 draft. Goedert said thanks but no thanks, and followed the footsteps of his ballplaying dad Joe by enrolling in Cloud County CC.

The next season, he transferred to Kansas State University. He played both first and second base as a Wildcat and put up a slash of .341/.423/.492. Goedert spent the summer playing for the Hays Larks of the collegiate Jayhawk League. He compiled a .482 OBP and a .633 slugging % with 19 doubles, 52 RBI, and 54 runs scored. He was named a First Team Summer All-American by Baseball America.

2006 saw him improve his stat line to .337/.466/.609 with a dozen long balls. Goedert did it the hard way, playing through a pair of broken noses as well as a torn tendon in his index finger, missing just two games.

The Indians called again after his junior campaign, taking him in the 9th round of the 2006 draft (281st overall) and inking him to a signing bonus of $70,000. It should be noted that Neal Huntington was part of the Cleveland management team during both Goedert drafts, so he's quite familiar with him.

Goedert reported to Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the short season NYPL, playing in 63 games with a .269/.328/.382 line. That's actually not so bad when you consider that he played the last month of the season with a bum swing and would undergo labrum surgery following the season.

He recovered fully and and reported to the Lake County Captains of the Class A Sally League in 2007. Goedert was a man amongst boys there, putting up a slash of .364/.475/.715 through 46 games with 16 HR, 51 RBI and 44 runs scored in just 205 PA. He was named a South Atlantic League All-Star, and was promoted mid season. But he aggravated his shoulder injury while diving to stop a ball just before getting moved up (ironically, it was during his last game at Lake County), and that would prove a major speed bump in his following campaigns.

The Kingston Indians in the High Class A Carolina League moved him to second to spare his arm (he was playing third like the baseball was a live hand grenade anyway), and he fought through the injury, hitting .256/.369/.424 with four homers and 23 RBI in 149 PA.

His weak shoulder took its toll in 2008. His slash at Kingston was .255/.336/.373 with 10 bombs, and his .709 OPS would be the lowest of his career.

Still, the Indians advanced Goedert to Class AA Akron in the Eastern League in 2009. He suffered through his worst slash ever, .224/.309/.348 with five bombs in 359 PA. Goedert again had to overcome an injury, this time an oblique, that limited him to 92 games. Hurt and floundering in High A and AA, his sheen was fading fast.

Just in time, Goedert recovered his health (and swing), impressing the Tribe FO in 2010's camp, hitting .426 with a .726 slugging %. It's a truism that spring stats are useless as predictors, but another bad performance on his part would have been a career killer, at least in Cleveland.

In Goedert's case, though, his spring showing was a sign of things to come. He was assigned to Akron and his slash was .352/.382/.540 with seven homers and 32 RBI in 44 games. That earned him a shot with the Class AAA Columbus Clippers. His line there was .261/.345/.528 with 20 dingers and 51 RBI in 81 games. Goedert finished off his comeback tour in Venezuela, playing 14 games with a slash of .333/.474/.444. In November, he had come full circle and was added to the 40 man roster.

But yes, you knew he was overdue. Goedert opened the 2011 season on the DL with an oblique injury. When he recovered, he went back to Akron for a few games before returning to the Clippers, where his slash was .271/.346/.593 with 15 homers in 79 games.

He was removed from the 40 man roster during the off season and went unclaimed. To add insult to injury, Goedert was assigned to Akron to open 2012.

In 2012, the Indians experimented with Goedert to the outfield after six seasons of corner infield to see if his glove could play better, though he did mainly play the hot corner. He raked in AA, and spent the last 86 games in Columbus, where he put up a .279/.331/.460 line with 14 home runs and 60 RBIs. He was named to milb.com's Indian organizational All-Star list for third straight year. That was nice, but more telling was the fact that Goedert didn't get a September call up for a team that lost 94 games.

Goedert became a minor league free agent after the season, and the Bucs signed him in November.

Despite the optimistic lede to this post, Goedert does have a holes in his swing and plays the field like the Joker plays Gotham. Not too surprisingly, given his shoulder and oblique history, most of his errors are because of wayward throws rather than iron hands. He's never been on a MLB roster, even for a cup of coffee, and is entering his 28 year old season (his birthday is May 25th).

However, he has shown legitimate home run power, his OPS+ hasn't dipped under 120 since 2009, and he's a 20%+ line drive hitter. Goedert isn't a wild swinger, with Class AAA career 20% K and 9% walk (.341 OBP) rates.

So all that makes him a potential DH candidate in the AL, and here in Pittsburgh, he joins the Pirate collection of bopper corner-type players. His prospects in the organization took a big hit when Jerry Sands, a guy with more pedigree and production, joined the club. But it's a long season, and the Bucs may find themselves in a position where a bench guy with a big RH stick comes in handy. At worst, he's pretty solid insurance in the system where the upper levels are thin.

Some Housekeeping Notes

A little recent Bucco housekeeping:

• We've all been wondering when the Pirates are going to finalize the Franky Liriano deal. Tom Singer of MLB.com tweets that there aren't any problems, but the team hasn't managed to get Liriano to Pittsburgh over the holidays for his physical. 
• Cutch was named the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year, the first Buc to take that prestigious local honor since Jason Kendall in 2000. 
• Former Wildcat Bryan Morris had his jersey (#15) retired by his alma mater, Tullahoma High in Tennessee, yesterday.
• RHP Chad Beck was reclaimed by Toronto after Pittsburgh had claimed him in October and then tried to pass him through waivers to Indy this month. We expect the Jays to have the same game plan.
• Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that the Rox have "some interest" in RHP Jeff Karstens. 
• Gorkys Hernandez, whom  the Pirates considered a great-field, light-hit OF, claimed the Venezuela Winter League batting title by hitting .372, Tom Singer noted. 
• A little late on this, but Singer also had an article linking Tom Walker, Neil's dad, and Roberto Clemente. Some eerie coincidences are noted at the end of the tale...
• Dean Treanor will return for his third season as Class AAA Indy's skipper. Mike Pagliarulo, former MLB 3B notably with the Yankees (Tom Smith of Rumbunter has his tale), replaces Jeff Branson as the hitting coach for the Indians. Branson was promoted to assistant hitting coach in Pittsburgh, helping out newcomer Jay Bell.
  
• Carlos Garcia, who managed at Bradenton the past two years, will take over the helm at Class AA Altoona. He takes the place of PJ Forbes, who resigned last year rather than take a demotion to a lower level.
• Frank Kremblas, who managed Indy from 2009-10 and then spent a year as a roving minor league assistant, is back behind the bench at High Class A Bradenton.
• Michael Ryan will manage Class A West Virginia after a year of grooming as Rick Sofield's assistant. Sofield will join the big club as their first base coach. Old Bucco Orlando Merced is the new Power hitting coach.
• Dave Turgeon will manage the short-season Jamestown Jammers. He was the State College field general last season; the Bucs switched NYPL franchises after the year.
• Milver Reyes will manage the rookie league GCL Pirates. Reyes was a long time catcher in the Pirate system and was prepped as a player/coach last year. He takes over for Tom Prince, who will become a minor league coordinator.

Jerry Sands

Jerry Sands is a native of Smithfield, North Carolina, farming country, and grew up country strong. At 6'4", 210 pounds, he played both baseball and football for Smithfield-Selma High, the school that produced catcher Barry Foote, a ten-year MLB vet who played from 1973-82 for four NL teams.

He was hindered in recruiting somewhat by being a two-sport star from a small school, cursed with the "athlete" tag. A couple of ACC teams wanted Sands to walk on for football and/or baseball, but he decided to stick to baseball and joined some friends on the D-2 Catawba squad. Good choice, at least for the Indians. Sands set school records for homers (61), walks (132) and slugging (.752), while compiling a .381 career BA.

Still, Division 2 is Division 2, and he ended up drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2008 draft, signing for the princely sum of $5,000.

Sands started off with the GCL Dodgers in 2008, hitting just .205 in 46 games. The big bopper struck out at a 23% rate, but showed a decent eye in drawing walks (16%; .346 OBP) and did have a .438 slugging % with 10 long balls in 46 games.

LA moved him up to Class A Great Lakes of the Midwest League to open his sophomore campaign. After a slow start, he was shipped down to short-season Ogden of the Pioneer League, and that turned on the light. Sand's line there was .350/.427/.687 with 14 HR and 39 RBI in 41 games, and he was selected to the PL All-Star team. In August, he was given a return ticket to Great Lakes.

He finished 2009 with a .260/.361/.510 slash for the Loons. Going into 2010, Baseball America ranked him the #25 Dodger prospect after the season, so he was starting to show on the radar.

In 2010 with Great Lakes, Sands broke out, putting up a line of .333/.432/.646 in 69 games, with 18 homers and 46 RBI. He was named Midwest League Player of the Week three times and appeared in the mid-season All-Star game, where he was named Player of the Game.

After the all-star game, Sands was promoted to the Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts in the Southern League, where he homered in his first game. He returned to earth a little, but still had a strong line of .270/.360/.529 with 17 more dingers and 47 RBI. Sands was named the Dodgers' Minor League Player of the Year, and capped the tour de force by playing for Don Mattingly's Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.

As to be expected, his prospect status hit the stratosphere. John Sickels had him at #2, Fangraphs at #4, Baseball Prospectus at #5, BA at #6 and milb.com at #9. Sands also got an invite to spring training.

He was assigned to the Class AAA Albuquerque Isotopes in the Pacific Coast League to open the 2011 season. Sands bashed, hitting .400 with five home runs and was called up by the Dodgers on April 18th. To clear a spot on the 25 and 40 man rosters for him, LA DFA'ed OF Xavier Paul, who in the "small world" department was claimed by the Buccos.

Sands played in 41 games for the Dodgers on a fairly regular basis, but his line was a disappointing .200/.294/.328 with two homers in 144 PA. He was sent back to the Isotopes on June 8th and continued to clean up in the hitter's paradise of the PCL. Sands' slash in AAA was.278/.344/.586 with 29 home runs and 88 RBI when Albuquerque's season ended.

He was a September call-up and returned with a vengeance, collecting 24 hits in his last 59 at-bats. His final line looked OK after that surge at .253/.338/.389, although the slugging % was below what the Dodgers had hoped to see, with just four homers in 227 PA.

Sands only got a cup of coffee with LA in 2012, hitting just .174 in 23 at-bats. But he continued to kill the ball at Albuquerque. In 119 games with the Isotopes, his line was .296/.375/.524 with 26 homers and 107 RBI to go along with a 21 game hitting streak. Sands was selected as the DH for the All-PCL team and earned a spot on the Topps AAA All-Star team.

The big guy ended up with the Isotopes all year in part because he was a PTBNL in the Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzales, Carl Crawford deal with the Bosox. Because Sands didn't pass through waivers, he couldn't officially become part of the transaction until after the PCL season concluded. It apparently didn't make much diff to Boston; he never got a chance to suit up for them before he was shipped to Pittsburgh as part of the Hanny deal.

Sands has gotten 251 PA in the show with a line of .244/.325/.376, four homers and 27 RBI. His strikeout rate is 24% (21% in the minors), though he does have a 10% walk rate (12% in the minors) and a +OPS of 96. He's not a consistent hitter, but given to streaks.

The most noted concern is that his swing gets long, leaving him susceptible to off speed pitches, late on heaters and the major cause of his high K rate. And Sands' splits are heavily tilted toward lefties (.316/.372/.532 v LHP; .204/.301/.289 v RHP in the show), so he has the look of a platoon-type player.

He has good speed for a big guy and enough arm to play right. One thing in his favor is that he's not a pull hitter, a bad thing for a RH to be at PNC Park, but has good power to right and right center. Sands has career .289/.376./.562 slash in the minors, and is a classic corner guy, having split his field time equally among left field, right field and first base.

Sands adds to the logjam among 1B/corner OF in Pittsburgh, and that leads to speculation that the Bucs may have another deal up their sleeve with that depth. If not, he still has one option remaining, as does Alex Presley. If they don't move anyone, that could become a roster determining factor, as Travis Snider and Jose Tabata don't have any options left.

Stolmy Pimentel

Stolmy Pimentel, 22 (he'll be 23 on February 1st), is the least known and perhaps most intriguing name who was part of the Hanny deal with Boston.

He was signed by the Red Sox in 2006 as a 16 year old from San Cristóbal of the Dominican Republic. His bonus was for $25,000, so the string bean teen wasn't considered an elite prospect at the time. That changed in a hurry.

Boston kept him home his first year, pitching for the DSL Red Sox in 2007. He went 3-1/2.90 ERA in 13 starts, striking out 60 hitters in 62 IP. He was named as the Bosox Minor League Latin Program Pitcher of the Year at seventeen.

Pimentel skipped a level and went to Lowell of the short-season NYPL for his American debut as the youngest starter in the league. He went 5-2/3.14 ERA in 11 starts for the Spinners and posted a strong whiff rate again with 61 K in 63 IP. Stolmy was named to the All-Star team and Baseball America rated him the Red Sox #10 prospect with the best changeup in the organization.

His star was taking off, so much that the Red Sox were ready to veto the trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and Jay Bay to Boston because of Pimentel, whom the Pirates wanted badly to be included in the deal. The Bucs instead settled on Craig Hansen, whose career has been derailed due to a nerve condition (he's now with the Mets organization, last throwing for Class A Savannah in 2012).

Stolmy moved up another step in 2009, joining Class A Greenville of the Sally League. His slash there was 10-7/3.82 in 23 starts covering 117-2/3 innings, with 7.9 K and 2.2 walks per nine. Fangraphs ranked him as the #6 prospect in the Sox system after the season, though he dropped of BA's Top Ten list.

He continued on his step-by-step journey, advancing in 2010 to High Class A Salem of the Carolina League. Pimentel's line was a workmanlike 9-11/4.06 in 26 starts lasting 128-2/3 frames. His K and walk rates took a bit of a hit, but he shaved a couple of hits per nine off the previous season, and it looked like he was beginning to learn to pitch instead of just throwing. It helped too that his fastball velocity picked up to the low-to-mid nineties.

Pimentel was named to the All-Star Futures Game with upside overcoming a very so-so stat line, and Boston added him to 40-man roster in November. Fangraphs ranked him as the Red Sox #5 prospect (#6 at BA), and evaluator Marc Hulet wrote "He...projects as a durable, innings-eater with the ceiling of a No. 3 starter."

Unfortunately, reality raised its head and bit him hard in 2011. Pimentel was sent to Class AA Portland in the Eastern League. In 15 starts and just 50-1/3 innings, his slash was 0-9/9.12 with horrible peripherals - 13.4 hits, 1.4 homers, 4.1 walks and only 5.4 K per nine. Pimentel was sent back to Salem, where he recovered his mojo a bit.

His most noticeable concerns were pitching behind in the count, a flat fastball, and a curve that hung more than dove (in fact, he dropped it that season and turned to a slider). He was named the Red Sox's No. 16 prospect by MLB.com entering the 2012 season and #23 by BA, his prospect status suddenly on life support.

The righty got back on the bike in 2012 at Portland, and in 22 starts he went 6-7/4.59 in 115-2/3 frames with his peripherals rebounding to acceptable, though not strong, levels. Boston was going through a 40-man roster crunch during the off-season and they didn't want to DFA the expendable Pimentel and lose him for no return. So they did the next best thing and used him as a lure for the Hanny trade, no doubt remembering the Bucs prior interest in him.

Pimentel throws a four-seamer in the 92-94 range, with a cutter that's a couple of ticks slower. His change is an above average-to-plus pitch, and his slider is a work in progress. He started to show a sinker last year, and that's a pitch the Pirate people know how to teach. So his toolkit now features an acceptable fastball/change up duet, and possibly starter's stuff if he gets comfortable with and can control either the sinker or slider.

Alex Speier of Boston's WEEI Radio said "He may still develop into a mid-to-late rotation starter with the Pirates, and based on the progress he made with his delivery in 2012, along with Pimentel’s intelligence, work ethic and youth, it would be a mistake to rule out a developmental leap."

Pimentel's biggest problem moving ahead is that he's in his last option year, which means he has to be on the MLB roster by 2014 or could be lost. The Pirates will probably start him out in Class AAA Indy, and logic dictates they'll work him out of the bullpen. His fastball/change combo should play if he's only facing an order once.

In the big picture, a bullpen move could get Pimentel to Pittsburgh in 2014, and buys the Bucs a bit of time to straighten out his mechanics and add a third pitch to his repertoire. Ideally, they'd like to get him in the rotation eventually and if that's not in the cards, try to convert him into a back-end reliever. But hey, if he ends up in the Jared Hughes/Tony Watson mold of converted starters, that's fine, too.

Of course, none of the major league scenarios is a given; Pimentel has floundered in Class AA and may have hit his wall there. But he is an upside throw-in, and every so often you get to cash in your Lotto ticket.

Mark Melancon

The only proven major league piece that the Pirates received in the Hanny/Holt deal was RHP Mark Melancon, 27, a back-end reliever who was a closer for the Astros and a set-up man (briefly) in Boston.

He was born in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and attended Golden High School, where MM was a multi-talented athlete. He lettered four years in baseball and basketball and three times in football. He was pretty good in all of them, as Melancon was named to the All-State Team twice in baseball and football and once in basketball.

Melancon played on a Golden Demons team that won the Colorado 4A State Championship in baseball, and still had the focus to graduate as a member of the National Honors Society. He was ranked the #3 high school prospect in the state, and the Dodgers took a thirtieth round flier on him in 2003, adding his name to a class that included Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp, Russ Martin and Andy LaRoche. But Melancon had made a verbal commitment to Arizona, and he kept it.

The hard-throwing righty set a single-season freshman record in 2004 by making 29 appearances, and followed that by going 2-0 with two saves in five postseason outings as Arizona returned to the CWS for the first time since 1986. He was also selected to the US National Team and picked up five saves for the Red, White and Blue.

After that strong summer performance, Melancon claimed Arizona’s closer’s job as a sophomore in 2005. He appeared in 34 games, and set a Wildcat single-season record with 11 saves. In 2006 he set the school’s career saves record at 18, and his 66-1/3 innings pitched was more than anyone on the staff beside the team’s top tandem of starters. In hindsight, all those frames may not have been such a good thing, and the workload was about to catch up to his arm.

During the offseason, Melancon was included among the 40 players named to the watch list for the Roger Clemens Award honoring the top NCAA Division I college baseball pitcher. But MM didn't get to vie for it, as he was shut down for his junior campaign with a strained elbow ligament. He didn’t require surgery - yet.

Baseball America ranked him as the 35th best draft prospect overall in 2006, even without tossing a pitch. But his elbow injury scared off a lot of clubs; they suspected future TJ surgery was in the offing (they were right). He dropped to the ninth round, when the Yanks, who had checked out his arm apparently to their satisfaction, took a chance on him with the 284th overall pick. They inked him to a $600K bonus, the slot value for a mid-second rounder. Melancon joined Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, George Kontos and even Daniel McCutchen as draftmates.

After signing his deal, Melancon was assigned late in the year to the short season Staten Island Yankees of the NYPL in 2006. He whiffed eight in 7-1/3 IP, then picked up the save in both of SI’s wins in the league championship series, including the title clincher.

The Yankees sent Melancon to briefly lived Hawaii Winter Baseball league after the season to pick up a few more innings, but he had to be shut down after complaining of elbow soreness. That led to Tommy John surgery in November, costing him the 2007 season.

But he recovered OK, and by fall of 2007, he was doing some Instructional League rehab. Despite missing the year, BA rated him the Yankees’ 11th best prospect after the season, due in part to his good showing in instructional league.

The Yankees invited Melancon to camp in 2008. That's the year he fast-tracked his way through the Bronx Bomber organization, zipping from Class High A Tampa, AA Trenton and AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His overall line was 8-1/2.27 in 41 outings covering 95 IP, with 89 K, a 0.958 WHIP and opponent BA of .202. For all that, MM didn't get a call to Yankee Stadium; the NY FO thought after his injury comeback that he had worked enough innings. He went into the 2009 season as the Yankees' #9 prospect, according to BA.

After starting 2009 at WBS, Melancon was called up to the majors for the first time on April 25th. He made his MLB bow the next day against the Boston Red Sox, pitching two scoreless innings. MM yo-yo'ed abck and forth between AAA and the show. He ended up 0-1/3.86, but his K rate and walk rate were the same at 5.5 per nine, so it was apparent that he wasn't ready for the bright lights yet.

He again began at WBS in 2010, and made just a pair of appearances for the NYY, getting pretty well lit up, giving up four runs on seven hits in four frames. MM continued to be strong for WBS, going 6-1-6/3.67 with 58 K in 56-1/3 innings, though control continued to be a problem with five walks per nine.

The Yankees were pretty deep in minor league arms and cash while Houston wasn't, and Melancon was traded along with Jimmy Paredes to the Astros for Lance Berkman right at the July 31st deadline.

Melancon got a quick three-game AAA evaluation at Round Rock before joining Houston. He worked 17-1/3 frames, striking out 19, with a late season line of 2-0/3.12, and the walks came down a little, though still at four per game.

He went from Astro set-up man to closer after Brandon Lyon fell to a labrum injury. MM handled the job fairly well, going 8-4/2.78 ERA, with 8.0 K/9 in 74-1/3 innings in 2011, saving 20 games in 25 opportunities. His strikeout rate stayed fairly strong at eight per nine, and the walks dropped to a much more manageable three per nine.

On December 14th, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for infielder Jed Lowrie and starter Kyle Weiland. The Astros traded him to Boston after the season for Jed Lowrie on December 14th, when he was at high value. That value would drop off the cliff quickly in Beantown.

Melancon was slotted in as the Bosox set-up man, but that plan didn't last but four games before he was bombed back to AAA Pawtucket with an ERA of 49.50 on April 18th.  He served up five gopher balls while facing a mere 18 batters after giving up just five longballs total in all of 2011. After a couple of months of getting himself together and dominating the International League (11 saves, 0.83 ERA, 11.2 K per nine in 21 outings), Melancon was recalled to Boston on June 10th after an elbow injury to Rich Hill.

He tossed to a 4.19 ERA after that, but that couldn't save his season-ending slash of 0-2-1/6.20. Except for an ugly eight homers in 45 IP, his other peripherals were OK - 8.2 K against 2.4 walks per nine, a 1.267 WHIP and 50% ground ball rate. Nevertheless, Boston said "bah humbug" to him during the holidays, and so now he's in Pittsburgh as part of the Hanny Christmas sale.

There are a couple of reasons to expect a bounce back from Melancon. His fly ball rate (26.5% last season) wasn't appreciably higher, so the home run surge against him looks like an outlier. His career numbers - 53.8% groundball rate, 8.5 K, 2.7 BB - look good. Melancon's control seems to have  improved every season. He's returning to the NL Central, certainly a more pitcher friendly division than the AL East and one he's had success in.

And he's controllable. The right-hander won't be arbitration eligible until after the 2013 season and won't enter free agency until after the 2016 campaign (though he is out of options).

He doesn't have the stuff or the ceiling that Hanny has, and he does show same side tendencies. Righties put up a career .226/.293/.336 line against Melancon while lefties hit .253/.342/.402 against him. That's an 86 v 119 OPS. It's a noticeable split, and one that may come into play in lefty-friendly PNC Park.

MM should fit in with guys like Jason Grilli and Jared Hughes; he's in competitive and combative mode from the second the bullpen gate swings open. He's a power pitcher - his four seamer can touch 97, and both his regular and cut fastball clock in at 93. Melancon has a plus curve to go with it. The Bucs may want to work on his change - until he's comfortable using it, lefties will likely keep that favorable split against him.

With Melancon now aboard, it looks he's the set up man for Jason Grilli and the Bucs have their Plan A in place for the back end of the pen. Let's hope he breaks from the gate a little faster this coming season than he did for the Red Sox in 2012, as his career stat slash suggests he should. 

New Years Notes

Some New Year's Day Bucco news:

• John Dreker of Pirates Prospects reports that newly acquired IF Ivan DeJesus Jr. won the Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico) Baseball League batting title, and by a wide margin. His .364 average was 26 points ahead of the second place finisher. He also led the league with 52 hits, finished second with 11 doubles and a .921 OPS, third with 27 runs scored and fourth with 24 RBI’s. DeJesus also made the All-Star team, going 3-for-5 in that game. Maybe he will compete with Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer for that bench infielder slot this season.
• Eric Seidman of Fangraphs looks at the "The Buccos Bullpen Shuffle" and writes that "By moving Hanrahan for Melancon and taking a flier on Francisco Liriano, they (the Pirates) may well be able to replicate the Hanrahan-Grilli tandem’s production at 30% of the cost while improving the rotation." he adds the caveat that "It’s very possible that Melancon falters and Liriano, as a change of scenery candidate, stinks regardless of the change. However, the Pirates made better use of that $10 million by making this move after re-signing Grilli and bringing in Liriano."
• For those of you wondering about Franky Liriano, Bill James predicts his 2013 line to be 7-10/4.21 with 8.9 K and 4.7 BB per nine. We'll see if Ray Searage can work some magic on the lefty. Liriano's major problems are obviously control and the observation that he loses command of his slider out of the stretch, leading to a low strand rate. 
• Alex Speier of WEEI Radio has a piece on the career path of RHP Stolmy Pimentel, and it also contrasts the difference between the Red Sox farm system and the Pirates, both on talent and philosophical levels. (Thanks to David Todd @DTonPirates)
• Jim Lachimia of MLB.com remembers the Great One, Roberto Clemente, on the anniversary of his death forty years ago yesterday. Teammate Steve Blass said "Roberto was a physical contradiction because he was 38 and looked like he was 25. To tell you the truth, we thought he was ageless." And he is.
• As you shovel your walk again, remember that Opening Day is just three months away, on April 1st at PNC v the Cubbies. Camp is just around the corner - pitchers and catchers report on February 11th and the full squad on February 14th.