-P- I asked Nate Silver to clarify his position on Brent Lillibridge:
Nate Silver: Lillibridge is hard to peg. His minor league numbers were very good, but he was oldish for his levels, and this profile of a plus defensive shortstop with tons of speed is something you'd usually associate with a Latin American player who came into pro ball when he was 17. Not a 'polished' college player like Lillibridge.
The way that PECOTA seems to resolve this is by saying that Lillibridge is quite good already, and can be promoted aggressively (perhaps to the majors), but probably will not get a ton better. That seems reasonably fair to me. If I were doing a personal list, he'd probably rank in the 20-30 range rather than the Top 10 or 15.
-P- Trot Nixon has signed a one-year deal with the Indians for $3 million. At that price, I wouldn't have been opposed to the Pirates picking him up, as long as he wouldn't be presumed to have a starting job.
-P- The Adam LaRoche trade is official.
-P- The Bucs have avoided arbitration with B.P. Chacon by signing him to a one-year deal. No word on money yet.
-P- No link here because it's insider-only, but former Jays assistant GM Keith Law apparently said in a recent chat that there's a rumor going around that the Bucs need to do better this year for Dave Littlefield to keep his job. That's coming to you third-hand, so take it with a grain of salt, but still.