The Pittsburgh Pirates have made their signing of right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez official. The deal is for one year and $3.15 million.
In a press release, Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington announced that Velasquez would join the starting pitchers.
“We are happy to bring Vince into our starting pitching group,” said Cherington. “He has a starter’s repertoire and we are looking forward to working with him and watching him start games in black and gold.”
This clears up any question as to what role they signed Velasquez for, though I wouldn’t take this to mean that he has a starting role locked down. Ideally, the Pirates would add another starter, and have enough go right in Spring Training that Velasquez becomes the number six guy out of the bullpen.
That said, the Pirates gave starting roles on one-year deals to Tyler Anderson and Jose Quintana, who both made less than Velasquez. This seems to me like the same type of move, with the Pirates aiming for a value starter.
The 40-man roster is now full with this signing being official. That won’t last long, as the signing of left-handed reliever Jarlin Garcia still needs to be completed.
