Rob Biertempfel reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates are no longer pursuing infielder Wilson Betemit. We heard yesterday that the team was closing in on deals with Betemit and Nate McLouth. The McLouth deal is done, and is expected to be made official today.
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Tim is the owner and editor in chief of Pirates Prospects. He started the site in January 2009, and turned it into his full time job during the 2011 season. Prior to starting Pirates Prospects, Tim worked with AccuScore.com, providing MLB, NHL, and NFL coverage to various national media outlets, including ESPN Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Sports, and the Wall Street Journal. He also writes the annual Prospect Guide, which is sold through the site. Tim moved to Bradenton in 2013, and will be providing live coverage all year of the Bradenton Marauders, GCL Pirates, instructs, mini camp, Spring Training, and lunches at Mixon's Fruit Farms.
December 7, 2011 at 2:53 pm
why?
December 7, 2011 at 4:05 pm
They determined that he hit too well to be on our team.
December 7, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Disappointment, but tempered some by the Bedard signing.
December 7, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Hitting coach thought he couldn’t get him to regress enough in one season to make it worthwhile. :>)
December 7, 2011 at 8:05 pm
No loss here… Betemit is way too Adam LaRoche-like streaky, and without the power. He gets extremely hot for 2-3 weeks, then goes back into his normal 2 hits in 40 ab weeks.
At the end of each year somehow his average looks good, but it’s only from the several little hot streaks he has each year where he goes like 20 hits in 40 ab.
You can’t trust Betemit to produce on a consistent daily basis, just like LaRoche used to be for us, but again, without even the home run/extra base power LaRoche has.