Fix the Bench!
by Charlie
on May 5, 2008 9:52 PM EDT
Here's the bench so far. I assume, for the purposes of my argument here, that Ryan Doumit and Chris Gomez are de facto starters at catcher and shortstop, respectively. Feel free to take issue with that assumption in the comments if you'd like to propose some other alignment. Gomez has been the best hitter of the three-headed shortstop monster, and his defense at short, while bad, hasn't been worse than Bixler's and it certainly hasn't been worse than Rivas'.
PLAYER
POS.
STATS
Ronny Paulino
C
.227/.320/.273
Brian Bixler
IF
.191/.240/.234
Luis Rivas
IF
.204/.218/.241
Doug Mientkiewicz
IF
.188/.278/.250
Nyjer Morgan
OF
.143/.250/.179
Obviously, this is a sad bunch. In addition to hitting poorly, all of these guys except Mientkiewicz have had big problems with other aspects of their games as well. (None of the other four play good defense, and the two who have foot speed haven't figured out how to use their brains to transform that speed into baserunning ability.) The bench hasn't been the Pirates' worst problem, but it isn't as if any of these guys are future franchise players, so there's really no reason for the Pirates to stand pat with them.
Just for fun, and taking big trades out of the equation, here's what I propose:
-P- There has to be a backup catcher, and Paulino isn't that bad as far as those types go, so he stays.
-P- Two utility infielders aren't necessary, especially since Mientkiewicz can play third. Option Bixler back to Indianapolis, where he can get some at bats. Keep Rivas for now, but only because (I think) he'd have to be DFAed to go back to AAA. If the Pirates lose him now, they risk running really low on infield options until Jack Wilson returns. So keep Rivas on the bench -- just don't play him -- and DFA him when Wilson returns.
-P- Keep Mientkiewicz, but keep your eyes open for something better.
-P- As per my post earlier today, option Morgan to Indianapolis and bring up Kevin Thompson, who's tearing it up at AAA and could be a nifty right-handed pinch-hitting option.
-P- Get someone cheap who can hit even a little, preferably an outfielder, to occupy the last bench spot. I don't know who that would be, but it shouldn't be hard to find a player who can put up a .700 OPS off the bench. Dan Johnson was DFAed by the Rays last week. The A's recently signed Joe Gaetti. A defensively-challenged guy who can hit even a little would be an improvement. Craig Wilson might fit the bill, but first he needs to hit better at Indianapolis.
Your thoughts?
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Someone cheap who can hit even a little:
The Rangers just DFA’ed Jason Botts last week. He’s struggled in the majors, but he hit .320/.436/.545 at AAA last year, and he has a career minor-league line of .293/.399/.484. Kid’s a real big moose, probably limited to LF/1B/PH. If he’s free/cheap, he could be a good bench fit for us.
Mets grabbed one of the other quality power options when they signed Val Pascucci a few days ago.
by Vlad on May 6, 2008 12:07 PM EDT 0 recs
You’re right. Botts is interesting. I’d forgotten about him.
by Charlie on
May 6, 2008 2:27 PM EDT
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Val Pascucci
stinks. He wasn`t any good in Japan with that big swing so I don`t see how he would be any good in MLB. The pitchers would have to be stupid not to find holes in his swing.
He can connect once in a blue moon on a Brad Eldred-type homerun, but that`s about it. He can`t play defense at a corner OF spot or 1B worth a darn, either.
by patthatt on May 6, 2008 8:36 PM EDT 0 recs
Hey, what do you want?
There aren’t that many unsigned PCL HR champs floating around, now are there? Anybody we add on the cheap is going to have some holes in his game. Right now, Pascucci’s strengths (good batting eye, good power) would’ve helped us more than his weaknesses (defense, contact) would’ve hurt us.
Right now, our top source of bench power is Dougie M. Sometimes (as in the rotation right now), you have to just take the best available alternative and run with it.
Also, I’m tired of Pirate fans comparing every minor-league power guy to Brad Eldred. Eldred was an exceptional case: the truly elusive one-tool player. Other than the ability to hit the occasional fastball a long way, he had literally no baseball skills whatsoever. He ran like a Molina and fielded like a lawn gnome, and his swing wasn’t even in the same zip code as any pitch with the slightest bend or wiggle. Weaknesses with running, fielding, and breaking stuff are fairly common. Weaknesses of the same magnitude as Eldred’s are the stuff of legend.
To put it another way, the Pacific Ocean and a bottle of Yoo-Hoo are both wet, but you stand a much greater chance of drowning in the former than the latter.
by Vlad on
May 7, 2008 12:57 PM EDT
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You do lawn gnomes a disservice, IMO.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -- HST
by cocktailsfor2 on
May 7, 2008 1:02 PM EDT
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Given the way Morgan has run around the field this year like he never received a word of coaching in the minor leagues, you have to wonder whether a competent minor league coaching staff might have been able to help Eldred to smooth out his weaknesses a little bit. He probably came through exactly the wrong organization.
by Charlie on
May 7, 2008 5:21 PM EDT
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Maybe with breaking stuff.
I think he was just too fundamentally lacking in agility to do much for his speed/range, though.
by Vlad on
May 7, 2008 8:26 PM EDT
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That’s probably true. I meant mostly with his approach at the plate. The Pirates were probably telling him to worry about the strikeouts (which is obviously fair) and not bothering at all with his trouble drawing walks.
by Charlie on
May 7, 2008 9:38 PM EDT
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Vlad
I understand where you are coming from. I`m just saying that I`ve seen Pascucci over two seasons against higher level pitching than AAA and he just doesn`t cut it. I`d rather see them recall Craig Wilson if he gets it going in the next few weeks. Pasucci hit some bombs over here, but he bombed in the end after many chances from Bobby V. I agree with you that something has to be done, though, when you consider the non-options that pretty much fill the Bucs` bench now.
by patthatt on
May 7, 2008 5:27 PM EDT
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Vlad
Sorry if I was a little too critical before. It`s just the idea of Pascucci on the Pirates` bench to me would be similar to them asking the Yokohama BayStars to release JJ Furmaniak so that he could replace Rivas on the roster.
In fairness to Pascucci, he did play 103 games here over two seasons with a .243 average and 21HRs. He probably could have played a little more but for the foreign player limit.
http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=1905
Kevin Thompson makes sense to replace Morgan, Gomez goes back to utility duty after Jack Wilson comes back, and I still think that Craig Wilson should get a chance to provide a little pop off the bench IF they think his shoulder will hold up. Otherwise, I guess they`ll just have to keep looking for waiver wire options.
by patthatt on May 7, 2008 10:49 PM EDT 0 recs
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