Bring on the Barmes

I can just sense the excitement in the air now the Pirates have brought Clint Barmes into the fold. Instead of retaining Ronny Cedeno, the Pirates instead went out on the free agent market and got the third best free agent short stop on the market, according to their rankings. Or so Jen Langosch puts it:

General manager Neal Huntington confirmed that, internally, Barmes ranked third on the team's list of free-agent shortstops, behind Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins. Unwilling to get into a bidding war for Reyes or Rollins, the Pirates immediately set their sights on Barmes.

The odds of the Pirates getting into a bidding war over Rollins or Reyes is about the same as me hitting the lottery tomorrow, three times.

As with Rod Barajas, I give Huntington credit in that he targeted his player and went and got him rather quickly. I just happen to disagree with the player he liked.

Barmes, 32, will make $10.5 million over two seasons. $5 million this season and $5.5 next season. Yes that does make him the current highest paid Pirate on the roster and perhaps the most overpaid.

Barmes, a righty, hit 12 home runs last season and has a well regarded glove. His home runs, despite playing in the favorable Minute Maid Park, did not tilt towards Houston. In fact he hit only 5 homers there, 2 of his 12 came here at PNC. There is some to like with Barmes.

What I don't like is perhaps what he cannot control. One he is 32 and eventually time will catch up to him. Maybe not this season, but perhaps next. Once time catches up, that range that you like now, might not be there in the field. The other clearly has nothing to do with Barmes, as other free agents Neal Huntington has brought in have failed miserably. Ramon Vasquez, Eric Hinske, Lyle Overbay, Ryan Church, the list goes on and on.

All that aside, Barmes might not be the best option, nor really the worst. He just might be the Pirate option. Kind of good, kind of bad, irritating at times, a joy to watch at others. He might be a steadier presence than Cedeno, but might be more likely to fall off with his production.

Setting the Roster

The Pirates had to make some decisions about the 40 man roster on Friday, the deadline to add players in advance of the Rule Five draft. There were no real surprises as to who they added, as most fans when given a list of players that needed protected.

Added to the roster were Matt Hague, Jordy Mercer, Starling Marte, Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, and Duke Welker. Perhaps Welker is the one surprise, as you could say that perhaps Tim Alderson, Diego Moreno, or Brett Lorin might have gotten the nod over him, but there is no quibble there.

What is interesting is who was added earlier in the day and who was released to make room.

Earlier in the day the Pirates added Jeremy Hefner from San Diego, a right handed pitcher, and Brian Jeroloman, a catcher. Jeroloman is real head scratcher as he has seemingly no offensive value at all. Hefner is more than likely going to be the Brian Burres of the roster.

Being removed from the roster today were Matt Pagnozzi, if you remember his handful of games behind the plate this season, Xavier Paul and Eric Fryer.

In removing Paul they take away one of their better bench players, though you could argue that Gorkys Hernandez is the same player, just not left handed. I would rather have Paul, but that is more personal preference.

Removing Fryer is the one that makes no sense. He has more offensive upside than Jeroloman, and he has been working on other positions as well. I hope that he sneaks through and we can keep him, as I think there is some good value with Fryer, much more than a guy like Brian Jeroloman or Matt Pagnozzi.

Broken Hamate...Again?

Sometimes I do often wonder if bad news just follows the Pirates around all the time. This time the news is that Robbie Grossman broke his hamate bone. If that bone in your hand sounds familiar, it should. Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte, and Jose Tabata have all had issues with the hamate bone.

Breaking the bone typically saps a player's power, as it is usually the bottom hand, when gripping the bat, that the injury occurs in. With Grossman, a switch hitter, he hurt his right hand, meaning that all that great progress with the switch hitting will slow.

It will be a couple of weeks until he is able to swing a bat, but the one big question about Grossman going into this upcoming season was going to center around power. Now this injury will more than likely hurt all power production in the coming year.

Hopefully Grossman is able to take this in stride, understand that the power might not be there, and continue to focus on controlling the zone. Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise, as we would not want him to turn into some sort of hacker, trying to hit the ball out of the park everywhere. Perhaps it will allow for more of a focus in the smaller things.

You still have got to shake your head as there seemingly is a black cloud above the Pirates. Sure the management over the years has made tons of mistakes, there also seems to be a good deal of rotten luck.

Second Thoughts

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks baseball needs more instant replay, new Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein says nobody could party like the 2004 Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington wishes he had never traded Jason Bay.

Lost in this article about the Yankees and Red Sox, is the nugget at the beginning that Neal Huntington wishes he had never traded Jason Bay. He stated this in a panel of GM's of Epstein, Cashman, and himself in Vermont. It was an event hosted by Buster Olney for Hurricane Irene relief.

Of  course ESPN focused only on the Yankees and Sox in the article, but the statement that he wished he never traded Bay, makes me wonder. I hope there is more to come from this.

Bringing in Barajas

Last week the Pirates jumped into the free agent market, by signing catcher Rod Barajas. They signed the former Dodger to a one year deal worth $4 million, with a $3.5 million option for 2013.

Barajas will never excite those that value on base percentage, but he does have some good pop in his bat. Barajas hit 16 home runs in 2011 with the Dodgers, while still playing an average defensive value at catcher.

At his age, one could expect to see some dropoff, but the contract he signed is about what one would expect to see for a player of his value. He come cheaper than Doumit would have, who reportedly turned down $3 million from the Dodgers, while giving the team above replacement value.

While the signing of Barajas is not something to get all giddy over, it is nice to note that the Pirates made a move early to address their needs. They clearly targeted Barajas early as a replacement and struck quickly. That clearly is much better than sitting around waiting for who falls, as has been the case in years past.

The shopping list shrunk a little last week, but there is still plenty more room to improve.

Slow Going

It has been kind of slow on the news front since the end of the World Series. The team has not really been in very many rumors. Today they were linked to Cuban defector, Yoenis Cespedes, a centerfielder.

Cespedes is a guy that scouts are saying has the best skills of any Cuban in some time. That is saying a lot. He is 26 so he would be expected to make an impact this season if signed by a big league team.

Who knows maybe the Bucs take some of the money that they are not spending on Cedeno, Maholm, Doumit and others and spend it on this guy. Projections have him needing at least Chapman money to sign, which would be slightly over $30 million.

It would not be bad to perhaps overpay for this talent. It is not everyday you have a freak athlete with baseball skills show up like this.

Other names thus far linked to the team are Clint Barmes, formerly of the Astros and of the Rockies. The Clint Hurdle connection is there, as he played for him in Colorado. Signing Barmes will be like every other free agent signing in recent memory. He is an aging player that does not swing the bat all that well to begin with. Sure he is good in the field, but he is also aging so he will eventually lose a step.

Signing Clint Barmes will be akin to Lyle Overbay, a disaster, if you are expecting any offense. He might get by as a defensive player, but even then one should curb their enthusiasm.

Who knows what other rumors may pop up in the near future. It is going to be 15 days to the free agency arbitration deadline so that might spice some things up. I cannot wait to keep reading about how the club intends to offer arbitration to Derek Lee.

Take a Breath

Now what? The team has made some moves to let guys walk or choose to walk, how will they replace them? Who might also be joining them? Right now there are a bunch of holes in a lineup that was not all that great to begin with. Going around the horn we have catcher, first, short, and you might as well say third, to go with a starting pitcher or two.

Some rumors had the club looking to Carlos Pena, Ramon Hernandez and Jeff Francis to fill some of those voids. Funny thing is at various points in the last twelve months, all of those players seem to have been associated with the Pirates before.

Many are fretting that the team has no direction this offseason. That they are foolish to think that the team can build through free agency. That might be the case. Or it might not be the case either. Huntington should have money to spend this offseason, how he spends it is going to be watched closely.

Maybe he'll be able to lure someone unexpected. Maybe he has something up his sleeve. I don't know, but it is too early to really jump up and down just yet.

Sure I don't know if cutting Cedeno was right, I think he should still be here. Maholm perhaps as well, though I can live without him. The catchers should be gone, no question.

While the plan looks really fuzzy right now, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt right now. I want to see what happens in the coming weeks, as by the time of the winter meetings there should be a much clearer picture. I think at that time we can really start to debate the offseason, now not so much.