Should We be Concerned About the Pirates?
Russell Martin signed a five-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier today. It was somewhat unfortunate, but Martin was looking for more years and more money than the Pirates would give him. Should we be concerned about the Pirates in 2015? No, absolutely not. Just because a team lacks in one area doesn't mean they can't upgrade in other areas. The Pirates acquired catcher Francisco Cervelli just in case Martin would sign elsewhere. Also, they plugged one of the holes in their starting rotation by signing A.J. Burnett. The Pirates are not done this off season. They have many more holes to fill. One of them is the starting rotation. As of right now, the Pirates have Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett, Vance Worley, and Jeff Locke slated to be in the starting rotation. The Pirates could look at pitchers on the free agent market like Justin Masterson, Brett Anderson, or Brandon McCarthy. Also, they will have to fix the bullpen. The bullpen was an absolute force in 2013. In 2014, the bullpen did not help. There were some bright spots like Tony Watson, who was a 2014 All Star selection. On the other hand, there were a lot of troubles within the bullpen. Closer Jason Grilli, who was an All Star in 2013, struggled during the 2014 season and was subsequently dealt to the Angels for their struggling closer Ernesto Frieri. Frieri was not much better. His struggles continued and was released soon after. Justin Wilson struggled with his control and was sent to the Yankees in the Francisco Cervelli trade. Jeanmar Gomez was inconsistent in 2014 and was designated for assignment at season's end. After not making any trades at the Trade Deadline, the Pirates claimed pitcher John Axford off waivers from the Indians. Axford struggled and was also designated for assignment. Another problem for the Pirates in 2014 was the first base situation. The Pirates started the 2014 season with Gaby Sanchez and Travis Ishikawa as their two first basemen. Ishikawa's poor play resulted in the Pirates making a trade with the New York Mets to acquire Ike Davis. Davis and Sanchez struggled throughout the season and both could be non-tendered this off season. Pirates fans, don't fret. Just because the Pirates were unable to bring back Russell Martin doesn't mean the Pirates will be a worse team. They have a lot of work ahead of them this off season and it will be interesting to see the team come April, 2015.
I do remember Russell Martin being good for the Pirates. It stinks that their are still athletes out their in all sports that leave the team, because they do not get the amount of years or money they want for their production. I believe that this can not be stopped. The player's agent also plays a role in whether they stay or go. It's just sad to see players to go because of money. Come on they get paid millions of dollars already.
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