WEDNESDAY, 9:20am: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Jones was "claimed him with the hope of including him in a trade." A trade could free up a spot for Octavio Dotel, with whom an agreement is close. Recently-designated Steven Jackson could be dealt as well. Pirates GM Neal Huntington recently explained to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch that Jackson's ERA (3.14) was not indicative of his skills (0.95 K/BB).
TUESDAY, 2:42pm: The Pirates have claimed outfielder Brandon Jones off waivers from the Braves, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Atlanta designated the 26-year-old for assignment last week to make room on the 40-man roster for Eric Hinske. As Bowman notes, the Pirates have "routinely shown interest" in Jones. Jones was mentioned when the Braves were pursuing Jason Bay in the summer of '08.
The Nationals were the only other team who had a chance to claim Jones before the Pirates grabbed him.
nice pickup.. was hoping no one was paying attention and he’d become the Yankees LF haha
nice pickup.. was hoping no one was paying attention and he’d become the Yankees LF haha
I thought the Pirates were going to claim him. However, I started to think the Mets might have made a move first considering the Beltran situation and the fact that the Pirates haven’t been able to free up some room on the 40 man roster as quickly as they may have wanted to. Who will be put on waivers from the Pirates or is another trade imminent? Moss? Vasquez? Walker? Pearce? Room also has to be made for D.J. Carrasco and a potential Dotel signing. Since Carrasco signed a minor league contact, it’s not as pressing. Things are getting interesting in Pittsburgh.
Since Carrasco was a minor league contract, no room was required on the 40 man roster.
I’m not sure that is correct. They just had to trade Brian Bixler away yesterday to make room for Donnelly, so they should have to clear another spot for Jones as well.
Hi Todd. That is exactly what we are saying. The Pirates needed to make a move of one of their current roster players in order to place Donnelly on the roster. That is correct. So they moved Bixler, which cleared the space. Now they have another situation. The 40 man roster is full once again, if they were to add Brandon Jones to it, someone has to go. Likewise with Carrasco or Dotel, if the Pirates would like to place them on the 40 man roster. I’m interested to see if LaRoche, Imu or Walker end up with either the Padres or O’s before midseason.
The roster is back down to 40. Steven Jackson was designated for assignment. That’s a shame. He was a bright spot in the bullpen last year and will definitely get picked up.
I was responding to the comment of opening a roster spot for Carrasco. sorry if that was not clear.
I’m not sure that is correct. They just had to trade Brian Bixler away yesterday to make room for Donnelly, so they should have to clear another spot for Jones as well.
Since Carrasco was a minor league contract, no room was required on the 40 man roster.
I thought the Pirates were going to claim him. However, I started to think the Mets might have made a move first considering the Beltran situation and the fact that the Pirates haven’t been able to free up some room on the 40 man roster as quickly as they may have wanted to. Who will be put on waivers from the Pirates or is another trade imminent? Moss? Vasquez? Walker? Pearce? Room also has to be made for D.J. Carrasco and a potential Dotel signing. Since Carrasco signed a minor league contact, it’s not as pressing. Things are getting interesting in Pittsburgh.
You are 100% correct dharr18 and I should have worded my comment in the way that you wrote. However, based on the contract to Carrasco, I don’t think that they plan on having him pitch at AAA this year. Once subsequent moves are made, you’ll see Carrasco moving to the 40 man roster. Most likely during or at the end of Spring Training. Just speculation.
There are a few players (Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss, John Raynor) who are competing for spots and can’t be optioned by the team. That means once ST is over there will likely end up being an open 40 man spot for Carrasco (or someone else) anyway. They don’t need to worry about him at this point.
You are 100% correct dharr18 and I should have worded my comment in the way that you wrote. However, based on the contract to Carrasco, I don’t think that they plan on having him pitch at AAA this year. Once subsequent moves are made, you’ll see Carrasco moving to the 40 man roster. Most likely during or at the end of Spring Training. Just speculation.
Wow i cant belive the Royals didnt get him lol… Seein that they always gettin braves players lol
haha… i know..
Royals didn’t get the chance.
Thank god im tired of them gettin braves players lol.. look on there roster and look at who they invited to spring trainin lol
Wow i cant belive the Royals didnt get him lol… Seein that they always gettin braves players lol
Please, for the love of God, drop Vazquez next!
Pirates need to drop Brandon Moss right now..
Look for Jones to move again…there are whispers that he is being packaged in a multi-player deal
Braves fans appreciated Brandon’s contributions and wish him well with the Pirates. He deserves a shot a more playing time in a less stressful situation.
Yeah, Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette speculates that a deal is immanent. This is potentially the most interesting off season for Pirates baseball that I can remember in recent history. Good Stuff Neal.
I really like the off-season moves, Jones could be a real still or nice turn around piece. The Bucs are actually starting to accumulate talent, looks like Neal knows what he’s doing. Moss, Young or Vazquez… Who’s on the next bus out of the ‘Burgh?
we just axed steven jackson, which is fine, but there’s definitely some other guys that should of went before him. i’m pretty sure one more guy has to go when and if the Dotel signing becomes official
Well, just because Jackson was DFA’ed doesnt mean he wont be traded rather than placed on waivers.
I would imagine that Stephen is going to be packaged with a few other players in 2 or 3 for one deal (originally speculated by Dejan before Jacksons DFA)
Ramon Vasquez needs to go also, and i would rather see Gorkys hernandez traded rather than Brandon Jones. We already have too many projectable Center Field type players with little to no power…give B Jones the chance to prove he has power.
Yea, I’ve never been too high on Gorkys, especially with our OF depth.
Dont get me wrong, Gorkys has value…just not to us. Cutch will be our Centerfielder for a long long time.
Brandon Jones at least ‘projects’ to establish power and potentially be a pull hitter, which makes him a viable corner outfielder down the road. Whereas the only baseball related item that Gorkys projects to pull would be his hamstring. lol
Don’t count on Jones being traded… bucsbits.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/01/why_did_the_…
the braves tried pretty hard to trade b. jones and couldnt. pirates fans shouldnt get their hopes up, but ill give them a pat on the back if they can.
I love how Neal Huntington talks about Jackson’s ERA not being indicative of his skills. I think us Braves fans can relate to that, take a look at the misadventures of Jeff Bennett. Also, I think Brandon Jones could be a serviceable back-up. Jones had decent speed, played pretty good defense. He can do most things well, just no power and well the Braves kept waiting for it, but it never happened (insert erectile dysfunction joke here).
Just looking at his minor league numbers, he looks a lot like the Royals current left fielder, David Dejesus. Average power, average speed, average defense. All in all an average player, but without any obvious holes in his game. There is good value there. Can’t believe the Braves just gave him away.
Minor trade… for who?… Steven Jackson wasn’t a great reliever, he had a total whip of 1.40. I was there the night he pitched against the indians and gave up 5 runs in the ninth.
I would trade Brandon Moss and keep Brandon Jones. Nice steal by Neil Huntington!!
“claimed him with the hope of including him in a trade.”
since when do the pirates do anything else with their players?
So what they have another guy who never achieved anything they were supposed to? Pretty much Pittsburgh whole team is made up of these guys.
C- Ryan Doumit
1B- Matt Clement 3rd overall pick and 2005 draft by Seattle #1 prospect in 06 and 08
2B- Akinori Iwamura
3B- Andy LaRoach- Dodgers #1 prospect in 07
SS- Ronny Cedeno- Cubs #3 prospect in 06
RF- Garrett Jones- The only guy not a top prospect and is the best on the team
CF- Andrew McCutchen
LF- Lastings Milledge – Mets 1st round 12th overall 2003 draft 05 and 06 #1 prospect.
Bench
Delwyn Young- LAD #6 prospect in 08
Brandon Moss- BOS #2 prospect in 05
Bobby Crosby- OAK #1 prospect in 04. 04 Rookie of the year
Brandon Jones- ATL #4 prospect in 07 and 08
Ross Ohlendorf- NYY 08 #9 prospect
Kevin Hart- CHC 08 #10 prospect 09 #6
The people who I talked about are the people who underachieved.
Without significant MLB service time I dont think its fair to call all of those guys busts. After this season however, I think it will be fair for more than 2/3’s of them.
when did ross ohlendorf, brandon jones, matt clement underachieve without even a complete year of service in the majors… and i think low budget teams must act this way.. Everybody shouts negative about NH and FC but does anybody think about IF stars even want to sign here.. first some glimps of hope have to turn from these kids to also get the big names to willing to play here….
It’s jeff Clement not matt
I think Moss might be traded, but I wonder if the Pirates would consider moving him back to 2B? He played 2b and 1b with success in the minors and might be a pretty good utility player. I originally thought all he played was the outfield.