The Pirates announced that they’ve signed free-agent right-hander Juan Nicasio to a one-year contract. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports had reported just minutes prior, on Twitter, that the two were nearing a deal, and now tweets that Nicasio will earn $3MM in the pact.
Nicasio, 29, quietly had a solid season working in relief for the Dodgers last year, though he still found himself non-tendered in early December. His lone season in Dodger blue saw him work to a 3.86 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 4.9 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent ground-ball rate in 58 1/3 innings. His first full season of relief work saw Nicasio’s fastball velocity jump from about 92 mph to an average of 95.1 mph, so he’ll add some heat to the Bucs’ bullpen at what figures to be a reasonable cost. Should renowned pitching coach Ray Searage be able to smooth out Nicasio’s control, he could be an excellent bargain at the back of Pittsburgh’s bullpen.
Beyond the encouraging results in the L.A. bullpen last year, Nicasio brings value to Pittsburgh by virtue of his service time; Nicasio has four years, 84 days of big league service, meaning that he’ll be controllable through the 2017 season via the arbitration process, should all go well in his new surroundings.
Pirates are looking like a 3rd Place team right now.
This is what they do every year, and they seem to do fine. Remember if spending money was the key to winning free agency the White Sox and Padres would have been in the World Series.
Definitely a Neal Huntington type move. Sign an unheralded player and watch the investment pay off
Only he can’t get lucky forever. I see 20 morre years if suffering in the near future.
the cubs where a 3rd place team last year and made the NLCS while having the 3rd best record in baseball
Being up the kids at the beginning of the season instead of waiting the pirates way in July Glasnow and Bell at 1B
I like it. Young hardthrower who showed some promise in the pen. Uncle Ray will do wonders for him and his walk rate/ effectiveness
He did a decent job with Dodgers, though Mattingly seemed to lose faith at the end.. Not a bad 7th inning guy.
By the end, it was definitely a case of Mattingly throwing arms against the wall to see what sticks.
As critical as I have been of Mattingly in the past, he probably had no other choice.
Niacasio has a live arm – a bit more control and he’ll be a solid middle guy.
Wonder why nobody says it was a case of the FO telling Mattingly how to match up his pitchers. Because it couldn’t be that, right? The non-tender of Nicosio is yet another of this FO’s bizarre moves.
worth a shot pirates need pen arms and could possibly start as well but that would probably be a last ditch thing.
Welp at least football season ain’t over yet. And I hope it never does cuase after that all I have to look forward to sports wise is the pens and bucs. I’ll be shocked if either does a thing this year. I’ll be even more shocked if I don’t become an alcoholic after watching bith of these teams. I mean for the pirates people say “Oh we are a playoff caliber team” that don’t mean crap. I’d like to be a championship caliber team. But Front office is to cheap to give that to us. There is a saying “gotta risk it for the biscuit” Huntington plays safe and its been the same result, not much to cheer for. Other then three years ago. Ugh this is gonna be a long summer if the pirates biggest move is Jon “can’t strike out a soul” Niese.
You have got to be kidding me? Here is a clear example of someone who doesn’t know baseball. A team can’t just pull money out of thin air the FO doesn’t control that, the owners do. To the owners the Pirates are a business and they are looking to make money. So if fans go to the games and buy the merchandise the the owners will make more money, therefore they will more likely spend more money on better players. Next, look at the division we are in, the Cubs and the Cardinals are both teams that will be in the playoffs so we will be fighting for a wild card spot again. You want them to sign a big name who? Hayward, Gordan, Davis? Where do you put them? No way you pay that much when you have Marte, McCutchen, Polonco. “Now Davis can play first” you’ll say well I’m not paying 150MM over 7 years she you have a star in the making in AAA in Josh Bell. So I don’t know what you’re talking about when you want the the Pirates to spend money. Jon Niese is a perfect fit for everything the Pirates do pitching and defense wise. He gets a ton of ground balls and that’s what Ray Searage likes. It also plays into Hurdles love of shifting.
Greg Maddux didn’t strike out a lot of guys (1 less per 9 innings than Niese). Was he a bad pitcher? Strikeouts have become so overrated.
Push for a six team playoff with 1