Welp, there goes that.
The week before Christmas I wrote a post wondering who Jack Wilson thought the Pirates were going to “go out and get” when he said that the team needed “more players.” Baldelli signing with Boston is exactly what I meant. There’s no real reason for Baldelli to sign with the Red Sox over the Pirates beyond the fact that the Red Sox are the Red Sox and the Pirates are the Pirates. In Boston, he’ll be behind Jason Bay, JD Drew, David Ortiz, and probably Jacoby Ellsbury on the OF/DH depth chart. In Pittsburgh, he would’ve had every chance to start. Now, I obviously don’t know all the details of his health, but I’d think playing time would be important to a guy trying to prove he was healthy.
You can blame this on the team not ponying enough cash for Baldelli, but that sure wasn’t the case with Daniel Cabrera and I doubt that’s the case here. You can say Baldelli’s from New England, sure, but it’s not like Pittsburgh is an incredibly long flight from Rhode Island. And we’ve got some pretty good health care in the city, if that’s what he’s concerned with.
So really, what useful player is going to sign here right now?
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