In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
If you haven’t noticed, there’s a trend in the topics I’ve been covering in my wake-up calls this week. The off-season is almost halfway over, and most of the big trades and signings are probably behind us. Thus, for the most part, the team the Pirates have now will be the team they head forward with come spring training.
That’s not to say there’s room for improvement. Earlier this week, we’ve wondered if the starting rotation and the lineup were good enough as currently constructed to help this team compete for a playoff spot. Today, we turn to the bullpen.
While the front office is likely done adding to the rotation and lineup, the bullpen could still be tinkered with. Here’s how the bullpen likely looks as of this moment (if the Pirates do choose to go with a seven-man bullpen):
The only way I see the Pirates adding to this bullpen is if they choose to trade away Watson and/or Bastardo, which is a possibility with the re-signing of Ivan Nova. But I don’t think any free agents will be signed unless a trade does occur. Guys like Hughes and LeBlanc were offered contracts, and none of the above players have any options remaining, so they’d have to pass through waivers in order to be retained. Could Hughes or LeBlanc (the last two men in the bullpen by my opinion) clear waivers? Both were positive-win players last season, and neither is making a lot of money, so I doubt it.
But if no trades are made, is this a competitive bullpen? Certainly. I could see this being an above-average bullpen in 2017. But even if every player pitches to his ceiling, I don’t think it will be as dominant as it was from 2013 to 2015. There’s no Mark Melancon, and Watson is a big question mark as the closer. Would you trust this pen to shut down some of the best lineups in baseball come playoff time? Right now, I’m still skeptical.
Baseball Talk Around the Web
- Dave Schoenfield of ESPN cautions us to not count the Pirates out as he breaks down the path to the playoffs for every NL Central team.
- And Craig Edwards of Fangraphs looks at next year’s crop of free agent hitters and compares it to this off-season’s class. Hint: they’re pretty similar.
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