The Pittsburgh Pirates made two moves while I was away and neither were exactly moves that made me leap into the air...
The ugliest,in my opinion,is the signing of 38 year old righthander Ryan Vogelsong,who continues to bounce from the Pirates to Giants and now back to Pirates in his big league career.
Vogelsong,who revived his career in San Francisco after disappointing as a Pirate (want to feel old? That was in the Jason Schmidt trade in 2001!!!) and then failing in Japan,looks to be either possibly the 4th/5th starter or possible depth in the long relief/spot starter slot.
Vogelsong went 9-11 with a 4.67 ERA in the last of three less than stellar years after his two year revival upon a mainland return.
My take is this-I know longtime readers know that I've never been a fan of Ryan Vogelsong and it's not personal,but I was amazed that the Giants received the two years of quality that they did and now that was four years ago!
Now the Pirates apparently are going to plug Vogelsong in their rotation and I have concerns about any rotation that will (unless another move is on the way) feature Jon Niese,Jeff Locke and Ryan Vogelsong as 60 percent of their rotation-that is not the rotation of a contender.
Pittsburgh has to be hoping to see a strong two months from Tyler Glasnow at Indianapolis and maybe even Jameson Taillon before the season ends to shore this up to hopefully move Locke and Vogelsong to spots that they wouldn't need to count on as much,but that's asking a lot and walking a fine line...
Pittsburgh also brought in another journeyman bat to compete at first base as the team traded with Milwaukee for 28 year old (turns 28 during spring training) Jason Rogers.
Rogers put together a .296 4 HR and 16 RBI in a 86 game stint that saw his first extended big league action,
Rogers might be a 4A bat that can help off the bench and can play first and third (although he is reported to be not very slick with the leather at 3rd),but the alarm here are these-at his age,if he had potential,why did Milwaukee wait so long and if he could help the Brewers and at a low cost-why didn't they keep him?
The cost wasn't excessive in Keon Broxton,who might wind up being a Rajai Davis type (speed off the bench.4th-5th outfielder) at his best and disappointing minor league pitcher Trey Supak.
Supak was the the Pirates second round pick out of the Texas high school ranks,but in two years in the system has produced little in stops in the GCL and in Bristol as an Applachian leaguer.
Low risk unless Supak finds his game,but I doubt the return will be anything to get excited about....
That concludes the news other than Allen Webster,who the team recently bought from Arizona was released,so that Webster could sign with a Korean team...
Back later with a combined PPM and look at Andy Lee vs Billy Joe Saunders....
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