A Lot Riding On Gorzelanny’s 2008 Performance
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.
Pirates Rumors From Bucco Blog
Jake at Bucco Blog has some hot stove material, in addition to his roundup of Pirates prospects.
The Rays are looking for a shortstop, and Jake hears that they might be interested in Jack Wilson. Jake said he debunked this rumor earlier this month, but there "might be renewed interest." I don’t see it. Wilson has had a few decent years, but with over $14 million left on his contract, I see the Rays taking a cheaper route.
Jake is hearing that the Pirates "we’re not actively shopping any players" line is just a front. According to his source, the Pirates are playing this game in order to generate better trades later on, once the smoke has settled. Teams that missed out on their top targets might be more desperate to trade for, say, Jason Bay or Ian Snell later on.
If the Pirates are willing to gut the roster, would that include fielding offers for Tom Gorzelanny, Matt Capps, and Freddy Sanchez? Jake thinks, and I agree, that Gorz should be as close to untouchable as you can get. He doesn’t think the numbers indicate that Capps can continue his dominance, though his low walk rate certainly helps his case.
Honestly, if Sanchez can fetch anything decent, he needs to be dished. Yeah, he won the batting title in 2006, but he had an average year at the plate in 2007, albeit above average for a second baseman. He’ll be 30 next year, and will start getting expensive. I’d hang on to Gorz, Capps, and Snell, as they’ll all be 25 and under in 2008.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Braves Want Young Impact Pitcher For Salty
Back on June 24th, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentioned that the Pirates inquired as to the availability of catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. At that point the required bounty was thought to be a frontline starting pitcher like Mark Buehrle.
Today, Kovacevic clarifies: the Braves want an impact-caliber young pitcher. That makes sense. The Pirates have a couple of those: Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell. They’d have to give one up to get Salty. Such a trade would be excellent for Atlanta but wouldn’t really seem to move the Pirates forward.
While shaky in terms of confirmation, we do have one report that indicates the Pirates could trade Snell this month. Snell is 25, healthy, and a long ways from free agency. He’s been the eighth best pitcher in the National League this year according to VORP. Better than Roy Oswalt, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, or Cole Hamels. It’s been quite a breakout season for Snell, and he’s improved his efficiency greatly. He averaged 5.81 innings per start in ’06 and increased that all the way to 6.76 per start this year.