The Pirates have interest in free agent starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick, Bill Brink tweets.
I'm going to file this one under "something the Pirates see that I don't." Kendrick is, by all appearances, a bad pitcher with a dwindling strikeout rate. He posted a 6.32 ERA last season and 5.1 K/9, and while that was for the Rockies, it isn't as if he was great in his previous two years in Philadelphia either. He walks too many batters, he gives up too many homers ... there's very little to like here, at least on the surface.
Bright side: He'll be cheap, and if the Pirates are expressing interest, there must be a reason. If there had been rumors about J.A. Happ before the Bucs acquired him in July, I wouldn't have been a big fan of acquiring him either, and that worked out brilliantly. So perhaps the Pirates will sign Kendrick and he'll become the next feather in Ray Searage's cap. As with the rumors connecting the Bucs to Justin Masterson, though, acquiring Kendrick obviously shouldn't be central to the Pirates' efforts to upgrade their rotation.