Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pirates Get Their Closer

The Pirates now have a closer finally closing the deal with Octavio Dotel. To make room for Dotel, Anthony Claggett was dropped from the 40-man Roster. Claggett was picked up off of waivers from the Yankees last year and is no big loss. He was a possible contender until the Pirates started signing so many veteran bullpen guys. That made Claggett expendable.

More importantly Dotel is the 9th inning guy. He is a strikeout pitcher and that is what is appealing. He has not closed for a while, but has experience doing it. And you want a guy that can get the big K, and Dotel has that ability. This is about as good as it was going to get with the Pirates. He ought to have a nice season and rounds out a very revamped and impressive bullpen. Hanrahan and Meek remain the long term options, but lots of experienced guys now surround them and Dotel anchors the back end. If the Pirates can produce the offense, the bullpen ought to hold this year.

The Pirates also signed another outfielder from waivers. Brandon Jones is the newest Pirate, but I am betting not for long. Rumors abound that the Pirates are trying to get more room on the 40-Man roster and might trade two or three players for one, probably one prospect who does not need to be on the 40-Man. Jones and Stephen Jackson who is designated for assignment will probably be a part of this. It is known that Jones was claimed by more than the Pirates, but the Pirates got him since they had the worse record. Thus, interest in Jones is out there. Stephen Jackson was another bullpen possibility being moved. He had a 3.14 ERA in 40 appearances, but his K/BB ratio was not good and pointed to possible trouble. I liked Jackson last year because he was one of the few that got results, but I can live with many of the new pitchers brought in by the Pirates.

Overall the Pirates got better today with the signing of Dotel. And I trust the trade will be made with Brandon Jones. After the Bixler trade, I am a full blown believer in this front office.

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