Pitching or defense?

Charlie raises a good question over at Bucs Dugout today about Neal Huntington’s stated plan to go after pitching this offseason. Can the sort of pitcher the Pirates are likely to sign make any difference if the Pirates’ infield defense remains terrible? It’s a good question in light of this story, where Huntington indicates to Jen Langosch that he won’t be afraid to sign a starting pitcher this winter even if he has to open up his pocketbook a little bit.

The problem Huntington has is two-fold. Even if we assume that he’s got an unlimited budget to sign any pitcher on the free agent market at market price, it’s stupid to think that Cliff Lee would sign with the Pirates when he has a chance to pitch for the Yankees or Phillies or anyone with a remote chance of making the playoffs in the next couple years. The Pirates might be able to convince, say, Javier Vazquez that a year or two in Pittsburgh (ie, back in the National League) will help him rehabilitate his image as a good starter, but they’d likely have to pay him $10 million+ a year to convince him of that and he’s going to be 35 in 2011. That’s bad business for the Pirates and I’m not even sure it would work. Jorge de la Rosa might be a possibility as he’s younger (29), better than people realize, and he might benefit from a move to PNC Park, but he’s also a type A free agent that would cost the Pirates their second round pick in June 2011. That means giving up a shot at a potential Stetson Allie-like prospect, and I’m not sure any free agent is worth that to the Pirates right now. An interesting idea might be to give Brandon Webb a shot if his shoulder checks out, but even he’s pretty reliant on his defense as a power-sinker pitcher and if he’s healthy he’ll probably be able to get someone other than the Pirates interested.

What’s the answer here? I do like JJ Hardy (I wish the Pirates had tried a bit harder to trade for him last winter) either via cheap trade or as a signing after a non-tender and I think Charlie’s infield shuffle (Cedeno to second, Walker to third, Alvarez to first) is an interesting idea, though I’m not at all sure that Walker can hit enough to carry third base over the long term (though that’s not really the question here, that’s a topic for a different discussion).

The overarching point, though, is that Charlie is right: the Pirates are much more likely to improve their team with some creative thinking, be it through trades, shifting players around the diamond, or whatever, than they are through the conventional channel of signing a free agent people have heard of because they have a little bit of money to spend.