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I figured a good way to get back into the blog considering its January and there's not a whole lot going on is to put out my projected opening day 25 man roster. The way this is going to work is I'm going to go through all the aspects of the team starting with the starting pitching going all the way down to my projected bench. One thing to remember when reading this is that obviously none of this is even close to official, through spring training and injuries to some many players could make the roster that would not even come to mind when I'm writing this post. For example I don't think there are to many people that would of picked Matt Hague to make the opening day roster at this point last year, but sure of enough he had his name called just like everyone else.
Starting pitching is where I'll start, when you look at the rotation coming into this year you see four out of the five spots pretty much locked up. First you see A.J. Burnett who had a fantastic come back season in 2012, making a strong impression on Pirate fans his first year in Pittsburgh. Secondly you see James McDonald who started the season as strong as anyone last year but quickly took a rapid left turn for the worse the second half of the season. The Pirates are also fortunate enough to have two quality left handed starters that are also pretty much guaranteed spots in the rotation in 2013. Wandy Rodriguez who was acquired from the Astros at the deadline last year is back for his second year in Pittsburgh. The second left hander the Pirates have this year came as much of a surprise when the Pirates announced that they would sign Francisco Liriano for 12.75 million over two years. I personally really like this sign as Liriano has some good stuff and high strikeout numbers, if he can learn to have a little more control he can be a really valuable piece to the Pirates this year. This leaves the Pirates with one open spot left in the rotation, the two it looks like it will come down to is Jeff Locke and Kyle McPherson, with possibly someone like Vin Mazzaro in the mix as well. It will probably be whoever pitches better in spring training will win the spot, but the Pirates might already have a favorite for the spot in mind. Another thing to remember is that Charlie Morton who missed most of the season last year with Tommy John surgery will probably be healthy and ready to pitch about two months or 60 games into the season, it will be interesting to see how the Pirates handle this situation when they get to that point.
My guess is the Pirates will probably go with a seven man bullpen to start the year with five locks at this point. The five locks are Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon, Jared Hughes, Tony Watson, and Bryan Morris. Grilli we know was signed to be the closer and although we don't know how the Pirates intend to use their bullpen I would tend to guess that Melancon who was acquired from the Red Sox in return for Joel Hanrahan will be used as some type of set up man. Jared Hughes and Bryan Morris are also strong right handers who will be used as mid to late inning guys. At this point it looks as if the only lefty in the bullpen will be Tony Watson and can be used as either a match up guy or for a full inning when needed. The last two spots are up for grabs and could go to either Chris Leroux, Justin Wilson, Rick van den Hurk Zach Stewart, or even Andrew Oliver. Both Oliver and Wilson are left handers and could make a difference if either one was added to be the second lefty in the pen. With two spots to give, at this point I would guess they would go to Leroux and Wilson, that assuming that the loser between Locke and McPherson for the fifth spot goes to AAA
Next we go to the outfielders with at least two spots locked for sure. The Pirates obviously have Andrew McCutchen who will try to continue what he did last year in center-field although that will not be easy to do. In left the Pirates have Starling Marte who will enter his second season and try to justify his title as one of the Pirates best prospects coming up through the system. In right is where we have a very sticky situation with four players who could win the spot with Travis Snider, Jose Tabata, Alex Presley, and the newly acquired Jerry Sands. The Pirates can probably choose two of these guys to put on the roster and my opinion it will be Travis Snider and Jose Tabata. I think Travis Snider will be the starter in right, I think the Pirates still have high hopes for Snider because if they didn't I don't think they would of traded Brad Lincoln for him straight up at the deadline last year I think Tabata will be the fourth outfielder because honestly Hurdle doesn't really seem to like Presley and the Pirates still probably want to develop Jerry Sands more before they put him on the big club. There always is the possibility that the Pirates keep both Tabata and Presley on the 25 man but I personally am very opposed to have 5 outfielders on the team especially when you already have someone like Garret Jones who could play right field with the drop of a hat.
In the infield it seems like the Pirates plan on using some kind of platoon at first base with Garret Jones and Gaby Sanchez even if it's not 100% right vs left or left vs right. At second the Pirates obviously have Neil Walker coming back for another season. At shortstop as much as many people hate to hear it Clint Barmes will be back again, even though he doesn't have a huge bat he does have a very nice glove which is first priority for a shortstop. At third base Pedro Alvarez will be looking to keep up his power numbers but cut down on his strikeouts, if he can do this it will be another big step for Alvarez. The Pirates in my opinion should have two back up infielders one being pretty much a lock with Josh Harrison who can play just about any position on the field, although he doesn't really play any of them to well. I'm not 100% sure who should be the second back up but I'm leaning towards Jordy Mercer, Mercer can play short and second and some potential at the plate.
At Catcher its pretty simple with Russell Martin another big signing for the Pirates this offseason is set to be the starter. The back up is once again "the fort" a.k.a. Michael McKenry who had a much better then expected season last year. I just think most people are going to be happy they don't have to watch Rod Barajas day in day out this season.
Sooo with all that it leaves my final 25 man roster looking something like this
Starting Rotation
A.J. Burnett
James McDonald
Wandy Rodriguez
Francisco Liriano
Jeff Locke
Bullpen
Jason Grilli
Mark Melancon
Jared Hughes
Tony Watson
Bryan Morris
Chris Leroux
Justin Wilson
Outfielders
Andrew McCutchen
Starling Marte
Travis Snider
Infielders
Garret Jones
Neil Walker
Clint Barmes
Pedro Alvarez
Catcher
Russell Martin
Bench
Josh Harrison
Jordy Mercer
Michael Mckenry
Jose Tabata
Gaby Sanchez
I think I should say this one more time, none of this means anything at all it's just kind of the way I think things will play out, but what do I know? I do know one thing for sure though, I can't wait for opening day to see how the roster really turns out.
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