Since the day Scott Olsen was signed, people have been speculating that he was going to end up in the Pirates’ bullpen. Olsen is at best the Pirates’ sixth-best starter right now and at worst probably something like their eighth or ninth best. He hasn’t pitched well in the Majors since 2006. He’s a lefty, which the Pirates didn’t have in the bullpen until signing Joe Beimel (who we now know could very realistically need Tommy John surgery) a couple weeks ago. Literally the only thing that made sense when the Pirates’ signed Olsen was that they were planning on putting him in the bullpen.
So when Neal Huntington said that between Charlie Morton and Olsen someone obviously won’t make the rotation and the guy that doesn’t could end up in the bullpen, how does Olsen react? Like a brat, apparently. He told Colin Dunlap today that “[he’s] a starter” and that he wasn’t brought in to pitch in the bullpen and if the Pirates want him there, they’d have to have a “conversation” about it.
**BEGIN DREAM SEQUENCE**
Neal Huntington: Hi, Scott. We’re sending you to the bullpen.
Scott Olsen: F— no. I’m a starter.
Neal Huntington: You’re a bad starter. You’re a starter with a big career platoon split. You’re a starter that we think isn’t as good as Charlie Morton, who was pretty much the worst starter in baseball last year. You’re a starter that couldn’t crack the rotation for a team coming off of a 105-loss season in which we gave up 866 runs. Maybe you should think about all this in the bullpen.
**END DREAM SEQUENCE**
Why does Olsen feel like he can get away with making this kind of demand? Olsen can rant all he wants about how the Pirates didn’t bring him in to be a bullpen guy, but the Pirates did give him a Major League deal. I can’t say for sure, but I’m betting that the Phillies or Yankees weren’t beating down his door with a guaranteed big league contract. So he shows up in camp, gets hurt, and gets all indignant when the bullpen gets mentioned.
If this guy opens the season anywhere other than cut or in the bullpen, I’m going to be disappointed.
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