The Pittsburgh Pirates roster that could have been

THE ROTATION:

SP: Francisco Liriano

SP: Gerrit Cole

SP: J.A. Happ

SP: Mat Latos

SP: Jon Niese

Even before the season started, you would have been hard pressed to find a Pirates fan who would say Mat Latos and J.A. Happ wouldn’t be better than Jeff Locke and Ryan Vogelsong, and knowing what we know now, that wouldn’t have changed.

If the Pirates found a trading partner for Charlie Morton, they certainly could have found one for Locke too, and the security in Vogelsong’s performance as a Pirate would have been in looking at his stat sheet from last decade, not watching with bated breath as he takes the mound now.

Latos’ performance in 2015 could have turned out not to be a fluke, or he could have turned in the 0.49 ERA performance for the Pirates, instead of the White Sox.  Even if it wasn’t a fluke, perhaps, the Pirates could have found somebody, even just one capable pitcher in the minor league system to take his place.  It’s not like they don’t have any of those waiting around.  A lot of fans wanted the Pirates to resign Happ, even after seeing the price tag of three years and $36 million.  Latos and Happ solidify the rotation and signing them takes advantage of the minor league depth in the same way resigning Stewart and Polanco did for other positions of depth in the system.

Rotation Total: $38,264,667

Roster Total: $104,853,833

We may have spent a little more than the Pirates did this offseason, but we did come in just under budget.  How do you think our roster compares to the Pirates opening day roster?  Would you have done it any differently?  Let us know in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.

Featured Image Photo Credit: FairTradeMilwaukee.org

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