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Craig Wilson Clears Waivers

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According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1B/LF Craig Wilson has cleared waivers and become a free agent.  The 30 year-old can be had for the Major League minimum.  Some have speculated he might return to Pittsburgh, but so far the team hasn’t contacted Wilson’s agent.

The Orioles had interest in Wilson last winter, though the Aubrey Huff signing probably quashed that.  I could see the Padres getting involved, as they have expressed interest in the past.

Baseball Prospectus projected a mildly useful .256/.339/.476 from Wilson for 2007, but he was awful for the Braves at .172/.304/.259 in 58 ABs.  Based on his BP comparables, Wilson can go in one of two directions to finish out his career: Pete Incaviglia or Glenallen Hill.  Hill at least built a nice post-30 career as a 250-350 AB guy with good pop.  I’ll never forget some of the home runs Hill hit at Wrigley…click here to read some amusing trivia on him.

Mets Don’t Want Castillo

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Though he and others have suggested a good fit, today Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Mets are not interested in Pirate utility man Jose Castillo.  Castillo recently requested a trade.

When you think about it, why would they be interested? Castillo hasn’t done anything in the Majors outside of May 2006, and he may have a bit of an attitude problem.  Damion Easley, on the other hand, has five homers in 56 ABs.  True, he won’t slug .571 all year, but he’s every bit as good as Castillo and he’s already on the team.  The Mets don’t need a second baseman.  They have the best offense in the National League.  I’m not sure the Mets need much of anything.

Jose Castillo Requests Trade

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According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 26 year-old second baseman Jose Castillo had his agent ask the Pirates for a trade.  Devan Kovacevic says Castillo was widely available this winter but generated little interest.  He names the Mets as a possible suitor given Jose Valentin’s injury. 

As I mentioned in my Castillo Let’s Make A Deal post, outside of a single month (May ’06), Castillo hasn’t really done anything to justify a starting job. He skipped Triple A, and might benefit from playing every day at that level.   

Let’s Make A Deal: Jose Castillo

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26 year-old Pirates infielder Jose Castillo hasn’t exactly asked for a trade, but you get the impression he would welcome one.  He doesn’t have a position with the Bucs after Freddy Sanchez returned from the DL Sunday.

Castillo has played mostly second base in his Major League career.  While he’s played outfield in winter ball, his bat doesn’t play there unless he’s an above-average center field glove.  That seems very doubtful.  He was raised a shortstop in the minors, but started playing second base in Double A in ’03 when Pokey Reese got injured.  His work at short had been lousy, and soon he was to be the Bucs’ Second Baseman of the Future.

I asked Jake at Bucco Blog about Castillo’s defense.  His description: "He’s a natural shortstop without the range anymore. Soft hands, better than average arm, lightning quick pivots, and better than average 2B range."  Jake mentioned that Castillo plays hard and could win a Gold Glove one day.  This is not a starry-eyed Bucs fan speaking, as Jake has been plenty critical of the Pirates. 

In 2004 Castillo was able to make the jump from Double A to the bigs and break camp with the team, albeit in a second-base timeshare with Bobby Hill.  Soon enough, he was playing every day.  Castillo didn’t hit much in his rookie season but finished strong.  Skipping Triple A may have stunted his development, however.

He was the starting 2B to begin 2005, but a strained oblique cut into his season initially.  As a sophomore, he improved his SLG to .416 but a torn knee ligament in August ended his season. 

The knee was fine to start 2006.  After a weak April, Castillo had the best month of his life in May, hitting .366/.413/.634 with 7 home runs.  He never managed to slug .400 in any other month last year.  Castillo was benched in August, apparently because he threw his arms up in disgust when a runner failed to score from second on his single.

This winter, shortstop Jack Wilson called Castillo out, saying he’d rather partner with Freddy Sanchez at second.  Castillo lost some weight before the season but also lost the third base job to Jose Bautista.

At this point, Castillo’s stock might be even lower than Jorge Cantu’s.  At least Cantu has translated his potential into results for one season.  I named the Braves, Mets, and Rockies as reasonable fits for Cantu earlier.  Castillo is probably in the same boat, and the Braves did express interest in him when working out the Mike Gonzalez deal.

Castillo is still young enough to step it up to his 75th percentile PECOTA projection – .275/.329/.440.  But that’s still not much better than Ron Belliard, who was freely available this winter.  Either Littlefield will send him off for a pittance just to get him off the team, or he’ll continue to warm the bench for the Bucs.  Outside of a single month, he hasn’t really justified a starting role.

Pirates Rumors

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Our good friend Jake at Bucco Blog has all sorts of good Pirate info tonight.  The Bucs have plenty of trade options right now.  My Cliff Notes version:

  • Freddy Sanchez could miss most of April with his knee injury.  Perhaps the newly released Todd Walker would be a good fit?  I can see it.  In due time he’ll make his way around the entire NL Central.
  • Teams are scouting Ryan Doumit and Humberto Cota as possible backup catcher options.  One club with a new opening: the White Sox, who unfortunately may have lost Toby Hall for the season with a labrum tear.  D’oh.  KW has dealt with Littlefield a couple of times before, on the Todd Ritchie and Rob Mackowiak deals.  Littlefield is one of few GMs who has gotten the best of Williams in a deal. 
  • Jose Castillo and Nate McLouth are also drawing looks from other teams.  The Cubs may have peeked at Castillo in their quest to add a backup middle infielder.  As for McLouth…maybe the Marlins?  Aren’t they supposed to announce their center fielder this week?
  • Pirate relievers have also drawn interest but the team doesn’t feel it has a surplus and will likely stand pat for at least a month or two.  Jake says Shawn Chacon may be the exception to that.

Latest On Jorge Julio

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Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.  Well, actually it went up 12 hours ago.  If it’s whispered, (or just written on FOXSports.com), we hear it (once we wake up, eat some Arby’s, and get situated).

Ken’s main rumor:

The current suitors for the relief ace known as Jorge Julio are the Cardinals and Marlins, with the Bucs and D-Rays on the fringes.  For the sake of my Al Reyes sleeper pick let’s keep him out of Tampa Bay.  I think the Cardinals could really use a guy like Julio.  The acquiring team will be on the hook for all $3.6MM, unless they pony up a top-notch prospect.  The Marlins get special treatment I guess.

Byung-Hyun Kim On The Block

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According to the Rocky Mountain News, the Pirates, Marlins, Dodgers, and A’s have interest in pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim.  The Denver Post only mentions the A’s, however.

The source I talked to said the Marlins actually have no interest in Kim, and the Dodgers only do if they can move Mark Hendrickson in the trade.  It really seems to be the A’s leading the pack because of reservations with Joe Kennedy.  Kennedy wasn’t going to pitch 200 innings anyway, so they’ve known for a while that they need a strong sixth man.

If the Pirates were to acquire Kim, they’d quietly have some solid starting pitching depth in the organization.

MLB Owners Out Of Control

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Fox Sports [Dayn Perry], CBS {Larry Dombrow], Baseball Prospectus [Steven Goldman], Deadspin [Don Spagnolo], ESPN [Jerry Crasnick], among many others, have all come out hammering the Pirates organization the last few months.

None of them caused more than a ripple in the ocean.

Staring down the barrel of the organization’s 15th consecutive losing season, Pirates Chairman of the Board and principal owner Robert Nutting talked about the Nutting’s family commitment to winning Sunday, telling Pirate fans:

"Nobody is going to apologize.." — link to Bucco Blog

Nutting’s comment caused a typhoon.

This is the same family that some say caused a financial rift in the organization in early 2003 while grabbing control of the organization and causing one of their top prospects in Aramis Ramirez to be traded for junk bonds. The team’s position then was that they couldn’t afford Ramirez, who was making $3MM in his first arb year. A couple of months later, the Pirates received $13MM in revenue sharing.

It isn’t Pirate fans’ fault their team stinks. Heck, many of them still believe this is ’THE’ year. How sad they will be by June. What then? Does Nutting think the fans will ’apologize’ for not buying tickets after July?

Hardly…they have had it.

Perhaps someone in the front office will have to be the scapegoat and that could only mean David Littlefield, just as many in the media above suggest. But when it comes right down to it, the problem isn’t Dave Littlefield – the problem is lame ownership who have the Marge Schott, Richard Jacobs, Bud Selig financial greed disease [link].

Jake at Bucco Blog
Special to MLB Trade Rumors

Soler To Sign With Bucs?

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Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News reports today that Alay Soler is expected to sign a minor league deal with the Pirates.

Perhaps Soler will join fellow Cuban defector Yuslan Herrera at Double A Altoona.  The Bucs gave Herrera a three-year deal back in November.  The Pirates also expanded their international horizons by signing 38 year-old Japanese reliever Masumi Kuwata in December.

2007 Pittsburgh Pirates

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Next up in the team outlooks, the Pirates.  Click here to view all the team outlooks.

Dave Littlefield’s contract obligations:

C – Ronny Paulino – $0.38MM
C – Humberto Cota – $0.537MM
1B – Adam LaRoche – $3.2MM
2B – Freddy Sanchez – $2.75MM
SS – Jack Wilson – $5.25MM
3B – Jose Castillo – $1.9MM
IF/C – Ryan Doumit – $0.38MM
IF – Jose Bautista – $0.38MM
LF – Jason Bay – $3.25MM
CF – Chris Duffy – $0.38MM
RF – Xavier Nady – $2.15MM (stomach pain)
OF – Luis Matos – $0.38MM
IF/OF – Jose Hernandez – $0.38MM

SP – Zach Duke – $0.38MM
SP – Ian Snell – $0.38MM
SP – Paul Maholm – $0.38MM
SP – Tom Gorzelanny – $0.38MM
SP – Tony Armas Jr. – $3.5MM

RP – Salomon Torres – $2.6MM
RP – Damaso Marte – $2.45MM
RP – John Grabow – $0.8325MM
RP – Jonah Bayliss – $0.38MM
RP – Matt Capps – $0.38MM
RP – Dan Kolb – $1.25MM
RP – Shawn Chacon – $3.825MM

Injured/Minors:
RF – Jody Gerut – $0.85MM
OF – Nate McLouth – $0.38MM
RP – Shane Youman – $0.38MM
RP – Josh Sharpless – $0.38MM

There’s the Opening Day roster as I see it, with a huge assist from Jake at Bucco Blog.  Some things could definitely play out differently.  We still don’t know the cause of Nady’s stomach problems, and if he misses time then McLouth and Matos can both make the club.  Even if he doesn’t McLouth can still beat out Matos.  The fifth starter job could go to Chacon or Armas; I feel like Armas has the edge right now.  An injury to a kid could make it a moot point.  And some combo of Youman and Sharpless could be in the pen instead of Kolb and Bayliss.

Anyway, the payroll looks to be in the $40MM range, with maybe another $5MM going to buyouts and some players not listed.  If the Bucs find themselves in a magical season, one player away, I think they have the payroll flexibility to add a $10MM guy via trade.  They could import a difference-maker like Ichiro or Carlos Guillen.

It looks like Sanchez will play second base, if for no other reason than Wilson won’t play alongside Castillo.  Castillo will try to win the third base job and wait to see if Wilson can be dealt.

LaRoche was a big-time addition, and a move I liked.  LaRoche, Bay, and Sanchez may be the only regulars providing above average offense.  Paulino and Duffy could join that group, but I don’t think anyone can really say that with any certainty right now.

It follows that this club will have to rely on its starting pitching to win. If all four kids stay healthy and show typical growth, it could be a damn good and affordable staff.  Contact guys like Duke and Maholm can post nice ERAs if they get good defense behind them.

The starters may need to go deep into the games, as the pen was weakened by the trade of Mike Gonzalez.  Without getting too deep in the numbers, the 2007 bullpen for this team looks subpar.  On the other hand, relievers are quite volatile. 

I can only see starting pitching as a clear strength for this club.  Well, that and a lack of huge contracts.  The team could make a run for the division but probably won’t; they should focus on keeping the young starters healthy.  Andrew McCutchen could add some star power in ’08, and the Bucs could selectively purchase some free agents heading into that season.

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