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Pirates One of Five Teams Interested in Bartlett

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The Pirates are one of five teams interested in Bartlett.

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Tampa Bay Rays are closer to trading shortstop Jason Bartlett than ever before, and mentions the Pittsburgh Pirates as one of five teams that have shown interest.  I looked at two potentially available shortstops earlier today in J.J. Hardy and Ryan Theriot, but didn’t include Bartlett for a very specific reason.  There are two things that stick out when I look at Bartlett’s career numbers.

First, there’s his hitting numbers:

2007: .699 OPS

2008: .690 OPS

2009: .879 OPS

2010: .675 OPS

One of these things is not like the other one.  Bartlett improved his stock in 2009 with a huge year at the plate, but looking at his surrounding years, that looks to be a career year.  Even his previous high of .760 in 2006 (in 333 at-bats) doesn’t come close to the 2009 numbers.  Concern number two comes on the defensive side:

2005: 26.3 UZR/150

2006: 17.8 UZR/150

2007: 9.2 UZR/150

2008: 2.8 UZR/150

2009: -6.9 UZR/150

2010: -13.8 UZR/150

Bartlett has seen his defensive stats go on a steady decline every year, to the point where he was worse defensively in 2010 than Ronny Cedeno.  Bartlett’s sub-.700 OPS isn’t much of an upgrade offensively over the current Pirates’ shortstop.  He’s also only under control for one more season, and due a raise over his $4 M salary in 2010.

The Rays reportedly want bullpen help in exchange for Bartlett, and for the Pirates that could mean either Joel Hanrahan or Evan Meek.  I wouldn’t trade either player for one year of Bartlett.  Right now he looks like a one year wonder at the plate, with declining defensive skills at the age of 31.  I would much rather see the Pirates trade for J.J. Hardy, or try and get Ryan Theriot from the Dodgers.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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