Comments on: First Pitch: Free Agency Begins

By: Matt Beam

Matt Beam — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:07:01 +0000

Would you trade Joel to the Bosox for Bryce Brentz and Daniel Bard?

By: emjayinTN

emjayinTN — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:35:47 +0000

Tim: Thank you for the update. One question about Jason Grilli – did the Pirates try to talk to him before the deadline or were they willing to just let him find a home elsewhere? I liked him a lot, but his stats went down at the end of the year. Did they feel his K/W would put him at a salary level beyond where we wanted to go?

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:16:00 +0000

If Sanchez can post some solid defense and at least a .650 OPS, I’d be ok with him and McKenry splitting time. sad thing is that a .650 OPS would be an improvement over Barajas

Actually, i think sanchez could be a little underrated at this point. Looking at his stats, the kid gets on base and might have found a power stroke in Indy.

While Napoli or even Martin would be nice, they probably aren’t going to happen.

i just realized that i couldn’t remember McKenry’s first name. I’m just used to calling him Fort all the time haha. Mike. that’s it.

By: leadoff

leadoff — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:55:34 +0000

Getting rid of Correia to me is a gamble, he was steady, but not spectacular. In the 2nd half he was as good as anyone on this staff.
The free agent class has very little to offer at any position, no sure cures, just a lot of money spending. The toughest position by far for the Pirates to fill is catching.
Unfortunately there is not one catcher on the free agent market that is a better value than the McHenry. The Fort at this point is a solid catcher and should improve with age. Anyone thinking they are going to find or trade for a catcher that catches every day is dreaming, there isn’t one and if the guy catches every day, they ought to fire the manager, they need to find someone to compliment McHenry.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:52:49 +0000

As far as catching is concerned, I’d be much more willing to part with some serious prospects to get the right long term option than to keep going year to year with glorified back-ups. As I see it, that’s really all the Pirates have access to via internal and free agent options. I’m still hopeful that Sanchez could pick it up and be at least average with the bat as far as catchers are concerned, but he hasn’t really shown or proven a lot since he broke his jaw to argue that he’s anywhere close to a sure thing.