FRIDAY: The Pirates have officially announced the signing.
THURSDAY 11:39am: Barmes and the Pirates have agreed to a one-year, $2MM deal, Olney reports (on Twitter).
11:13am: Clint Barmes has agreed to terms with the Pirates, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. ESPN's Buster Olney was the first to report that the Meister Sports Management client was nearing a return to Pittsburgh (Twitter link).
Barmes, who turns 35 in March, batted .211/.249/.309 with five homers for the Bucs in 2013. Though his offensive numbers were lackluster, he played stellar defense at shortstop, posting a +14.2 UZR/150 and +12 Defensive Runs Saved in just over 800 innings at the position.
Barmes will split time with Jordy Mercer upon returning. Though Mercer is a superior offensive player — he batted .285/.336/.435 — he doesn't have much of an offensive track record to this point in his career and isn't considered a strong defensive player.
if we werent going to make a move for a starting shortstop, this is exactly what i wanted
I like Barmes on defense and as a person, but think he needs to stop taking hacks at a 60-70 degree angle. It’s a huge part of his problem as a decent all around player.
This is what we needed after extending Morton’s contract. I expect him to play every time Morton pitches.
That’s not a bad idea. Some pitchers have personal catchers, but the Bucs and Morton could be the first to have a personal shortstop.
Barmes is like having another manager in the field. He listens in on pitcher/catcher mound conferences just to learn, and understands as much of the ins and outs of the game as any active player. I am pleased that many Bucs fans who formerly had a highly negative of Barmes came around last season and learned to appreciate Clint for what he is, and not wish he was something he isn’t.
$2 mil for a backup shortstop who is good defensively….I’ll take it. Nice move by NH
Love this move. Barmes is one of those players you have to watch to appreciate. Defensively speaking of course..
To me this is almost as bad as twenty losing seasons in a row. His bat will never knock in the three runs the Pirates need to win a game in which his glove saved two runs…
Neither will 25 of the other starting SS in MLB.
Yes. Signing the best defensive shortstop over the last 3 seasons to a cheap, one year deal to be a backup infielder/defensive replacement is worse than two decades of losing. You make a solid point.
I really wanted the Mets to sign Clint Barmes. I have no problem with going with Tejada as the starting SS but I do have issues with them not bringing in competition. I wanted Furcal or Barmes, at least to give Tejada a reason to work a little harder