Over 11 segments so far, Bloggin Buccos has looked at the possibilities that the Pirates have at each position heading into the 2012 season. Now that we have finished each position, it is time to see what the 25-man roster could be on opening day for 2012, position by position.
Catcher:
Starter- Rod Barajas: The Pirates signed Rod Barajas early in the offseason for one year at $4 Million, with a $3.5 Million team option for 2013. Barajas will provide some power in an order that desperately needs it, but will post a low average. He’s above average defensively, but will probably start only 110 games or so in 2012.
Backup- Michael McKenry: McKenry started 54 games at catcher for the Pirates in 2011, but has limited offensive ability. He has proved to be strong defensively, and will probably get a good number of starts in 2012 to give Barajas days to rest.
First Base:
Starter- Garrett Jones: The Pirates are committed to giving Jones a chance to prove himself as an everyday starter (quickly taking his name off the table when the Yankees asked for him in a possible A.J. Burnett deal), after the team was unable to land a free agent first baseman this offseason. Jones has some power, but has had a good deal of struggles against left handed pitching.
Backups- Casey McGehee, Jake Fox: McGehee was acquired for reliever Jose Veras and will compete for a possible platoon with Jones. He hit .285 with 23 HR’s and 104 RBI in 2010, but struggled at the plate in 2011.
Second Base:
Starter- Neil Walker: Walker saw a slight decrease in offensive production in his first full season in 2011 with a .742 OPS compared to an .811 OPS in 2010, but still drove in 83 RBI and greatly improved his defense. Expect good defense from him again and an OPS somewhere in the middle of his 2010 and 2011 numbers.
Backup- Yamaico Navarro: Navarro hasn’t played much second in his career, but has a good chance of being the backup infielder, beating out Josh Harrison, who may be given more time in AAA to develop his skills.
Third Base:
Starter- Pedro Alvarez: The Pirates are relying on a strong bounce back year from Pedro in 2012 if they want to be successful. After a decent rookie campaign and great finish in 2010, he struggled immensely at the plate in 2011 with a .191 average and only four home runs in 74 games. He still has the potential to be a game changer in the middle of the order, but will have to prove himself in 2012.
Backups- Casey McGehee, Yamaico Navarro, Jake Fox: The Pirates have three bench players, plus McKenry if absolutely needed, that can play third, so if Alvarez struggles they will not need to look far to find a backup, which would most likely be McGehee.
Shortstop:
Starter- Clint Barmes: Barmes was signed for two years and $10.5 Million, which is a high price, but was needed to sign him. He is very strong defensively and will be an offensive upgrade from Ronny Cedeno, with a similar average but 10-15 home run power to go with that.
Backup- Yamaico Navarro: Navarro has a good chance of winning a bench spot over Harrison because he has the ability to play shortstop, while that position is completely new to Harrison, who started getting work there this fall in the instructional league.
Left Field:
Starter- Alex Presley: Presley had a breakout year in 2010 between AA and AAA, and continued his success in 2011. He had a .298 average and .804 OPS for the Pirates last year in his first prolonged stay in the majors. 2012 will be a huge year in deciding if Alex Presley is a legit player, or if his performances have been a fluke.
Backup- Nate McClouth: McClouth returned to the Buccos in 2012 as a free agent and will look to turn around his career in the park where he was an All-Star.
Center Field:
Starter- Andrew McCutchen: McCutchen is the best player on the team, and will look for a big season to cement himself as one of the top centerfielders in the game. His power numbers were up in 2011, but his average dropped to .259 after batting .216 in the second half of the season. He will have to cut down on strikeouts to improve in 2012 and the future, but looks to be the budding superstar that the Pirates need.
Backup- Nate McClouth: McClouth won the Gold Glove award in 2008 as the centerfielder for the Pirates, but won’t get much of a chance to play center this year with McCutchen as the starter.
Right Field:
Starter- Jose Tabata: Tabata didn’t enjoy the same production he had in 2010, but injuries might have caused these struggles. He signed a team friendly contract extension towards the end of the regular season, showing that he wants to remain in Pittsburgh. Tabata is moving to right field after only playing this position 15 prior to 2012. It will be interesting to see Tabata’s offensive production if he can play the whole season.
Backups- Nate McClouth, Jake Fox: If Presley or Tabata don’t produce early in 2012, McClouth will be ready to take over as starter in left and right field.
Bench: Michael McKenry, Casey McGehee, Yamaico Navarro, Nate McClouth, Jake Fox
Starting Rotation:
1.) Jeff Karstens: Karstens is coming off a year where he was among the league leaders in ERA for a large portion of the season, finishing with a 3.38 ERA. He never had this success before in the majors, so it will be interesting to see if he can come anywhere near his 2011 numbers.
2.) Erik Bedard: The Pirates signed Bedard for one year at $4.5 Million, and this could very well be a steal if Bedard somehow stays healthy. Bedard is a very good pitcher when healthy, but he hasn’t started more than 24 games since 2007.
3.) Charlie Morton: Morton had a good bounce back year in 2011, finishing with a 3.83 ERA only a year after he posted a 7.57 ERA, and this may be credited to a new sinker grip that he learned. Morton had surgery early in the offseason to repair a torn labrum in his hip, and may not be ready for opening day. The Pirates will be cautious with his return.
4.) James McDonald: McDonald got off to a slow start in 2011 after missing time in spring training because of an oblique injury. After April, J-Mac had a strong season, but he must work deeper into games and become more effective if he wants to be successful moving forward.
5.) Kevin Correia: Correia was an All-Star for the Pirates in 2011, but only made it because of the number of wins he had. Correia started the season strong, but finished terribly and was unable to pitch well at PNC Park throughout the season. If the Pirates add another starter, it is likely that Correia will be the one taken out of the rotation.
??? 6.) A.J. Burnett: As I am writing this entry, the Pirates and Yankees are in discussions about a trade that would send Burnett to Pittsburgh. I would rather absorb more salary than trade any decent prospects if that is an option. I am fine with the Pirates taking $10-15 Million in salary, but the deal is too risky to give up legit prospects. That being said, I think it is very possible that Burnett could have a good comeback year in the NL Central if he is dealt to the Pirates.
Bullpen:
Relief: Jason Grilli, Evan Meek, Daniel McCutchen, Tony Watson, Chris Resop, Chris Leroux
Closer: Joel Hanrahan
The bullpen looks very similar to the 2011 bullpen, with no free agent pick ups in my projected bullpen. A big key to the bullpen will be Evan Meek and if he can rebound to 2010 form after an injury plagued 2011 season. Obviously, the strong point of this year’s bullpen is Joel Hanrahan, who emerged as one of the best closers in the game last year. Watson had a successful rookie season, and Leroux did a very good job in his time with the team late last year.
Outlook:
The key additions to the 2012 team were Barajas, Barmes, McGehee, Bedard, and possibly Burnett. The team has a few “wild card” players that could push them in either direction, including Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, Alex Presley, and Erik Bedard. If these players perform to what they are capable of, especially Alvarez, and the rest of the players continue to grow, the Pirates have the opportunity to have their first winning season in nearly 20 years. There are a few minor leaguers that are not on this list that could be called up to the major leagues, including but not limited to: OF Starling Marte, 1B Matt Hague, IF Chase D’arnaud, IF Josh Harrison, LHP Justin Wilson, and LHP Rudy Owens. Marte (#3 prospect on our list) is the only player listed here that has huge upside, but all these players could contribute to the club this year.
Without any major additions, the Pirates will have to rely on their young players’ continued growth along with big seasons from their wild card’s, mostly Pedro, and McCutchen to push the team towards .500. And with a weakened division, this may be the best chance the Pirates have at the division title for quite some time.
No comments:
Post a Comment