Starting Pitching
The Pittsburgh Pirates pursuit of starting pitching help would also include the usual assortment of free agents and non-McCutchen trade possibilities. We’ve highlighted a few on these pages in the past weeks, so we will now hit some targets in brief, bullet point style.
- Sources have told Pirates Breakdown – which the Trib’s Rob Biertempfel then corroborated – that former Rangers starter Derek Holland is still firmly on the Pirates’ radar. The two sides will meet on Monday at the Winter Meetings. For more on Holland, take a look at our trade profile from a few weeks back. Holland, a left-hander, is only 30 years old, but if he can maintain velocity and the movement that made him effective, Ray Searage might have something to work with.
- Ivan Nova is still out there. The last tidbits of information that was widely disseminated had his market set at about $14 million per year. It is a good indicator that the market for his services may be fighting back against his history pre-2016. If the Pittsburgh Pirates trade McCutchen, Huntington may feel comfortable going right back to Nova, who looked incredibly comfortable as a Pirates after the trade deadline.
- Among the more interesting starting pitching candidates who were recently non-tendered include San Diego Padres starter Tyson Ross and Diamondbacks hurler Rubby De La Rosa. Ross is a seven-year veteran right-hander. His timeline for 2017 is a bit unknown, having had Thoracic Outlet Surgery in October, which carries a four-to-six month recovery period. Still, there is a lot to like in Ross, including his 56 percent groundball rate. With a career 8.5 strikeouts per nine and 3.38 FIP, teams will definitely be willing to take their chances to bring his talent into the fold. De la Rosa, also a right-hander, shares similar intrigue and injury questions. Oft considered to be on an inevitable course to Tommy John surgery due to elbow issues, De la Rosa nonetheless put up 9.6 strikeouts per game in 2016, but is considerably more raw than Ross.
Not only will the Pirates look to add to their starting pitching, their bullpen is in a constant state of flux as well.
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