Via Jen Langosch’s Twitter account, the Pirates are closing in on a deal with former Marlins and Nationals’ left Scott Olsen. DK says the base salary will be around $1 million with lots of incentives that could escalate the terms.
Once upon a time, Olsen was a great prospect (prior to 2006 Baseball America ranked him as the 36th best in baseball), but after a solid rookie season he’s fallen apart in a number of ways. He’s had shoulder problems, gotten into fights with teammates, yelled at opposing players and fans, and and picked up a DUI (which included him running from the cops and getting tased; this portion of his Wikipedia page is unreal).
I get that he’s tall and left handed and maybe there’s some sort of potential left there, but I’m struggling to see exactly what it is that Neal Huntington sees here. I’s honestly much rather see Charlie Morton or Brad Lincoln in the rotation than him given everything we know right now. It’s not a lot of money, so it’s not really a bad move to make, but I’m not sure there’s much chance of this signing panning out.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
