Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette concerns himself with one significant name missing from the Pirates’ recent contract extensions: Tom Gorzelanny.
Kovacevic reveals that Gorzelanny’s name came up when team officials discussed players who should get extensions, but because he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2009 season, and because they wanted to see more of him, they decided to exclude him.
The feeling amongst management is that the lefty could become a premier pitcher, so they are looking for big growth this season. Things with Gorzelanny have been less than stellar thus far, so he’s not helping his case any. His most recent start lasted only 2.1 innings, as he gave up six hits and four walks. But looking beyond this year’s small sample size, Gorzelanny’s second half last year betrays the front office’s confidence. He walked 3.5 batters per nine, and had a solid but not-overwhelming 6.5 strikeouts per nine (for an underwhelming 1.9 command ratio).
The Pirates waiting to see more from Gorzelanny may not work in favor of his bank account.
