The 32 year old Watson had moved up the ladder through his seven years in Pittsburgh as he evolved from long man to LOOGY to setup man and at the beginning of this season-closer,which turned out to be a role that he struggled with and was removed from in June.
Watson will likely be used in a setup relief role as a Dodger and will be a compliment to the closer Kenley Jansen there.
Watson still throws hard and could have success with the team with the best current record in baseball..
Tony Watson was the last of a bunch of prospects that ranged back to the beginning of 2007-when I was in my first few years of autographing,still learning the ropes of the hobby and the first year of this blog.
The blog has changed through the years and back then it was prospect heavy.
I still enjoy prospects,but I've changed a little bit because I've grown tired of the large cost of prospect books (Baseball America is now to the point of after shipping and taxes of being over forty dollars!)
Watson and Jared Hughes (Released at the end of last season,now with the Brewers) were the last (other than Andrew McCutchen) of that initial Pirates prospect series to remain as a Pirate and I always enjoyed seeing how they managed to perform in their big league career.
It's fun to look back at those posts and see who I was right about and who I was wrong on as well....
The Pirates are bringing in two players from the Dodgers system that were at Low A Great Lakes,and were assigned to Low A West Virginia for the Pirates.
6'6 Oneil Cruz is playing shortstop currently,but appears to be headed to third base considering his frame.
Cruz hit .240 as a Loon with eight homers,so he shows power potential,but the bad news is that there is a LOT of swinging and missing with 110 strikeouts in 89 games.
Cruz did receive a near million dollar bonus from the Dominican Republic and considering his age (19) and the Dodgers aggressive handling of him (Low A was his first year playing in the United States),he still has potential..
Angel German is reported to be a hard thrower (mid 90's) and posted a 1.91 ERA for Great Lakes,which looks sharp.
German is 21,which isn't old for the level and throws strikes (37 strikeouts to 14 walks),but I always wonder when pitchers are already full time relievers in low A.
The normal handling of pitching prospects is to try them as starters for as long as you can before moving to the bullpen.
Guzman's arm is intriguing,but there has to be a reason...
Back later with more!
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