NewsInbox: Who will get chance to catch on?
Beat reporter Jenifer Langosch answers Bucs fans' questions
By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com
10/28/09 4:46 PM ET
From the cavernous Yankee Stadium, where Game 1 of the World Series was hours away from beginning on Wednesday (barring this pesky rain, of course), I bring you another Inbox edition.
How are the Pirates going to handle the catching situation with Robinzon Diaz and Jason Jaramillo? Though Diaz's batting average was better, Jaramillo made a strong case to start in a Major League uniform as well. Would they trade away Ryan Doumit and give Diaz and Jaramillo a chance to start? Or will they keep three catchers in the Majors?
-- Derek S., Bradford, Pa.
Currently, the Pirates have no intentions of trading Doumit away before next season. Obviously that can change at any point, but as I finish answering your question, I'm going to do so under the assumption that Doumit will return. With five bench spots available to manager John Russell, no, I don't see a scenario in which he would keep all three catchers on the big league roster.
So whom do you go with? The matter is complicated by the fact that Diaz is out of options next year, meaning that if the Pirates don't put him on the Major League roster, the club risks losing him. This could actually make Diaz a viable trade candidate this offseason if management doesn't expect Diaz to supplant Jaramillo as the backup next year. You'd obviously rather trade Diaz and get something in return than lose him in early April potentially for nothing.
It's pretty clear that Diaz has the better bat and Jaramillo is the stronger of the two defensively. In the end, you can expect that defense will win out. The Pirates were pleased with how well Jaramillo handled the pitching staff and would rather sacrifice some batting average percentage points for an above-average defender.
I feel losing infield coach Perry Hill will be devastating for the Bucs. They retained pitching coach Joe Kerrigan because the pitching staff improved, but doesn't anyone think that maybe the defense had something to do with that? With a young team making such defensive improvement, they needed to give Hill the key to the city, for goodness sakes.
-- Mike H., Norwich, Ohio
There is no question that Hill was a huge reason why the Pirates' defense made such marked improvement. But I've gotten all sorts of e-mails regarding Hill and there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding as to why he won't be returning. First, Hill was the one who ultimately made the decision not to come back. The Pirates made it known early that they wanted to retain Hill, which is why the organization continued to negotiate with him for weeks after he turned down the club's initial offer. The Pirates exercised Hill's option for 2010 and GM Neal Huntington said that the team also offered to restructure the contract to Hill's liking.
In the end, none of this worked. Hill has not ruled out coaching again, but he did not want to come back to Pittsburgh. His relationship with management was strained after the team traded away three-fourths of the starting infield unit before the end of July and that relationship never healed. It didn't matter what type of contract restructuring the Pirates were willing to do. In fact, I believe Hill had his mind made up not to return weeks before the season ended.
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What is the conclusion on Kevin Hart? He seemed like a promising pitcher with the Cubs. What were the major attributes of his struggles in Pittsburgh?
-- Mark M., Brush Valley, Pa.
The jury is still out on Hart, and on the trade that landed him. Right now, the Pirates have not looked like a winner in the deal. Anyways, Hart and the Pirates attributed almost all of his struggles to the delivery changes Hart made after joining the club. In essence, Hart was tweaking his motion on the fly, without the luxury of being able to practice repeating it off a national stage.
The hope is that by the time the season starts next year, Hart can find that much needed consistency. When he showed flashes of it, Hart did look quite capable of being a good complement at the back end of the rotation.
Hart's struggles did not help his standing in the rotation going into 2010. He is the one guy that ended the year in the rotation who will really have to earn his job. I'd still say that based on his potential he is a favorite to grab that final starting spot, but it's certainly no given.
What is the status of Jeff Clement? He seemed to just fall off the radar during the final 30 days of the season, but I see that he is still on the 40-man roster.
-- Steve D., Des Moines, Iowa
You stopped hearing about Clement late in the season because he stopped playing. Clement suffered an oblique strain that kept him out for 10 days in late August/early September. He did appear in Triple-A Indianapolis' last two games of the season, but was scratched from the Pirates' September callup list because of the late-season injury.
Clement was with staff during the Pirates' recent instructional league but did not participate in on-field activities. He is said to be completely healthy now, however. As things stand now, Clement will come into Spring Training with the chance to compete for the team's starting job at first base. The Pirates remain optimistic about Clement's offensive potential, but there are still questions about his defensive abilities.
Why should Pirates fans believe that this front office will go out and get the players the team needs in free agency so that the Bucs can be contenders in 2010?
-- Ryan C., Sumter, S.C.
Quite frankly, I think Pirates fans have every reason to be skeptical of any management team until one does, in fact, put a legitimately competitive team on the field. It's part of my job to tell you what management says it intends to do. Huntington has said that the Pirates will look to be more aggressive in the free-agent market than he has been the past two years, which is partially a product of having much more financial flexibility. Knowing, too, that the Pirates don't have many major trade chips left, the team's immediate needs really do likely have to be addressed through free agency.
Now, I can't make you believe any of this if you don't want to, as it's certainly your prerogative to ask for results before anything else. And I know you all haven't seen results in a long, long time.
I keep hearing about people wanting Andy LaRoche to be the second baseman. My question is why isn't Neil Walker being considered for second base? His stats are average for a third baseman, but as a second baseman he could be above average. What do you think?
-- Frank R., Beaver Falls, Pa.
There is no player that I get more questions about than Walker, which is likely because he is the local Pittsburgh guy that everyone has followed for years. Here are my few thoughts regarding this question. First, Walker has not yet established himself to be a Major League player. That means it is probably a little premature to start changing Walker's position (again) simply because he has potential.
Walker hasn't yet shown enough offensive consistency in Triple-A to prove that he is ready to be a starter in the big leagues. That should be his primary priority going into 2010, not a position change.
Second, there is a chance that Walker could eventually make his mark as a utility player. He can obviously play third, he can catch, and his athleticism would probably allow him to be a decent outfielder. If he isn't going to be the Pirates' answer at third base then this is probably Walker's most likely path to the Majors even more so than a pure position switch to second base.
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
