The Pittsburgh Pirates left the 2015 Winter Meetings with a new starter and a bullpen arm. Did they do enough?
The 2015 MLB Winter Meetings are now officially behind us. Teams such as the Pittsburgh Pirates will now go back to their respective locales and continue to build their teams for the 2016 season.
The Pirates saw themselves at the center of many different rumors, each to a varying degree. Some of those rumors still swell as I write this. Mark Melancon continues to be the subject of a few team’s inquiries – most notably the Nationals – and though he says otherwise, Neal Huntington may still be in the market for a starting pitcher.
In moves that actually got consummated, the Neil Walker for Jon Niese deal became official, and the team acquired right-hand reliever Juan Nicasio, recently of the Dodgers.
Our take on the Walker deal can be found here, and emotions are still raw even two days removed from the trade. For even more lively discussion on what Niese brings to the table, please visit our friend Matt Gajtka’s piece over at DkPittsburghSports.com. I still find a lot to like in Niese. However, in grading the trade on December 11, months before either player partakes in baseball activities with their new club, the scales of the trade tip slightly towards the Mets.
Is that such a bad thing? There are situations – in baseball more than any other sport – in which hard decisions have to be made. Not every team can “win” every trade. The Pittsburgh Pirates were facing one hard, unyielding fact: Walker’s time as a Pirate would end after 2016. Making a move to bring back something of value had to be done during the off-season. A mid-year trade would not bring the return the Pirates were seeking.
Simply put, this was a move that had to be done. For better or worse.
Juan Nicasio was an intriguing signing. He brings with him great velocity, with his four-seam fastball averaging just under 96 mph. His little-used changeup comes in around 88 mph, and his slider clocks about 87 mph. Both the slider and fastball have good swinging strike percentages, each at about 12 percent. For more on Nicasio, please read our own Steve Kubitz’s take here.
Nicasio has started in the past, so he may take over the hybrid depth starter/long reliever role previously manned by Joe Blanton.
NIcasio’s signing mirrors the Niese acquisition, as both have several controllable years in tow. Nicasio will first become eligible for arbitration after 2016, and can become a free agent after 2017. The signing also mirrors last year’s Antonio Bastardo agreement. In both years, the Pirates identified a bullpen piece in the $3-4 million range and acquired pieces to fill in the blanks, also seen in last year’s Arquimedes Caminero deal.
As we stand today, one day removed from the winter meetings, the Pittsburgh Pirates have embarked on their annual journey to retool their roster. Coming off of a 98-win season, fans may be left wanting more.
There is plenty of offseason left, and this team is certainly not done building.
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