The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of five teams reportedly in on Justin Masterson, according to Jon Heyman.
5 teams in on masterson, including Pittsburgh. Good bounce back candidate #Masty
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 7, 2015
This is the second time we’ve heard about the Pirates being connected to Masterson, and I gave my thoughts on him as a reclamation project the last time around. He makes sense in that he is a heavy ground ball pitcher who has had a lot of success in the past, and the Pirates have done a good job getting pitchers like him back on track.
The Pirates definitely need at least one starter, and while they’ve been connected to Scott Kazmir today, it would make sense for them to continue the reclamation project approach that has worked so well for them. Of course, there’s nothing preventing them from adding two starters, and they’d need to do that if they dealt a starter for Mitch Moreland.
Trevor Cahill just signed today for a one year, $4.25 M deal with the Cubs. Masterson was expected to get less than Cahill, so he wouldn’t end up being that expensive of a starter. Finally, there’s the track record to consider, which brings us to this joke from Neal Huntington:
Neal Huntington: “I know if I were a pitcher, I’d be paying us to come here. The return on investment is significant.” #Pirates
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) December 7, 2015
Basically what everyone ever has said about the guys who cash in on their time with Ray Searage and the Pirates.
