Five players from the Pirates

There are actually quite a few players I like from the Pirates. One of my tried and true pitching tactics is to go for good starters on bad teams and the Pirates are a perfect team from which to try this tactic. Starting with:

Paul Maholm Everything in my brain says I shouldn’t like him in 2008 but my gut tells me otherwise. If you snag him and he stinks don’t say I didn’t warn you, but if he is great feel free to send me part of your winnings (or if you live in Pittsburgh send me a Primante’s sandwich). He got his BB rate under control in 2007 (forgive the pun) by putting up a 2.5 BB rate, and though his K rate dipped a bit, I am optimistic he can improve in 2008. The key here for young pitchers looking to take a step up is to show better command, and he did that. Wins may not be in the bank by a long shot, but a league average performance is, in my opinion. Plus, you have to like a guy that gives Billy Crystal his best fastball.

Adam LaRoche A nice backup first baseman if you miss out on a top guy, LaRoche should have a nice bounceback. His HR/FB rate dipped from his past norms in 2008. Even ignoring his big 2006 season, he had 15% and 16% FB rates in 2004and 2005 but last year it was only 11%. All else was pretty constant skills-wise, so he is a good bet for a return to his HR form as his HR/FB rate normalizes to previous levels.

Steven Pearce The one real bopper among the other fleet of foot and weak of bat Pittsburgh outfielders, it is nice to see the team being creative by moving him to the OF to try to get him some at-bats. I love Pearce and see him as a good ROY candidate if he gets the ABs. He was a beast in the minors last year but saw no erosion of his skills or power as he moved up the ladder quickly, which is a good sign that he is ready. Jason Bay would be gone by Opening Day if I were Neal Huntington.

Ian Snell I got him as a 15th rounder in a mixed league last year and hope to repeat this year. He is a very solid pitcher, like Jeff Francis, who just falls below the radar. He got his BB rate under 3.0 last year, resulting in a K/BB rate of a solid 2.6. Any further improvement could result in an ERA in the 3.50 range.

Ryan Doumit The Pirates should just put him at catcher and let him stay there. He has good offensive value as a catcher, and had 9 HR in 252 ABs with a very solid 136 PX and xBA of .281. Over a full season he would be an above average offensive performer, something the Pirates sorely need. Doumit is far better than Paulino and on this team every bit helps. While there are apparently concerns about his defense, about which I can’t really comment on, the fact is that the offensive difference more than makes up for it when your alternatives are Ronny Paulino and Raul Chavez.