Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen: One Ace, Some Wild Cards, and Plenty of Deuces

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a team that probably doesn't expect to compete in 2009. After all, when you're mired in a 16-year losing streak, why would you? However, that doesn't mean there aren't some interesting things going on with them.

If you didn't know, and I forgive you if you didn't, the Pirates front office had a shake-up last year. CEO Bob Nutting was replaced with Frank Coonelly, and GM Dave Littlefield was replaced with Neal Huntington.

Other changes were made, but these were the biggest, especially when the former GM's Wikipedia article reads more like a long joke or list of failures than anything else.

One of the shifts that have happened as a result is that the Pirates are no longer out to win 75 games. They're rebuilding from the ground up now, and they've got some interesting prospects to prove it.

A criticism of the Littlefield era is that he stockpiled bullpen arms. That's not a bad idea on a winning team, but when your team rarely has the lead, a bullpen featuring Matt Capps, Salomon Torres, Damaso Marte, and Mike Gonzalez doesn't really do much for you.

Littlefield flipped Gonzalez to Atlanta in exchange for Adam LaRoche, but the strategy of stockpiling unneeded bullpen arms didn't change. This became all too obvious when Danny Moskos, a reliever for most of his college career, was drafted ahead of Matt Wieters, widely touted as a can't-miss prospect and the best hitter in the draft.

The Pirates have a different approach now: Minor leagues before anything else, but position players and starting pitchers come in ahead of the bullpen. As such, Huntington tore apart Littlefield's pen by trading Salomon Torres to the Brewers and Damaso Marte to the Yankees.

That's not to say that Neal Huntington is disinterested in relievers. In fact, most of his free-agent acquisitions have been flame-throwing relievers with control issues. Presumably, he's hoping they can straighten out in the minors and be ready when the Pirates are a competitive team.

This puts the 2009 version of the Pirates bullpen in limbo. It won't be a good pen, but it will be younger and of more long-term value than the previous one. Let's take a look at what I mean by that.

Matt Capps is the ace of the bullpen. He's not just good in a “compared to the rest of these shmucks, this guy is an ace” way; he's actually a dominant reliever. He's good for 20 saves a year with Pittsburgh, but put him on a team where he gets more opportunities and he can rack up 40.

Saves are a bad way to evaluate relief pitchers, but Capps is also a strikeout machine, racking up 39 in 53.7 IP last year while walking only five. At 24 years old, the Pirates were wise to lock up his contract, because it's feasible that he'll be around when they can contend.

John Grabow, Tyler Yates, and Denny Bautista are all similar, mediocre players, and are only on the team to fill spots on the roster until someone better is ready.

There is a part where this gets interesting, though.

Romulo Sanchez is a middle reliever that's posted some impressive numbers in the minor leagues. So far he's floundered in the majors, but he's still a young pitcher (24 years old) who has plenty of time to develop. He's probably ready to start taking some lumps at the major league level.

By the way, there's a movement going on in the Pirates blogosphere. The Pirates are hosting a fan vote for a bobblehead that they'll give away this year, and there's a write-in slot on the ballot. Pirate blogs are rallying for people to write in Romulo Sanchez to shake things up. So, if you have the time, vote for Romulo!

Evan Meek is another interesting bullpen candidate. During his stint with the major league team last year, he did nothing but stink up the place. However, since that time, he's been setting AAA on fire with his light-speed fastball.

At 25 years old, if he makes the major league roster out of spring training, Meek could be a bullpen player to watch. Fantasy players, take note of him as a mid-season sleeper.

Craig Hansen may be someone to keep an eye on, but possibly only in the train-wreck sort of way. Early in his career, he was touted as a future star, but the Red Sox rushed him to the majors at age 21 and he had control trouble. Since then, he hasn't been able to make the adjustment to being the dominant pitcher he was in the minor leagues, even when he's playing against other minor leaguers.

New Pirates pitching coach Joe Kerrigan has worked with a slew of similar players and turned them into success stories, so there may be hope yet for Hansen, but it's looking like he may be lost.

Sean Burnett is a sad story, but he could turn into a story of perseverance. Burnett was slated to be a starter in the Majors, and he showed a bit of promise during a 13-game stint in 2004. However, he went down with an arm injury and had to have Tommy John surgery, and he's never been able to re-establish his stamina.

In 2008, he showed promise as a reliever coming out of spring training but failed to make the team.

When he was called up later, he again showed promise of developing into a decent reliever. If he makes the pen out of spring training, he could be effective, but he doesn't appear to be dominant even as a reliever. Still, he'll make a better middle reliever than someone like Denny Bautista, and that accounts for something.

So, there you have it. Your 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen. It won't be pretty, but at least it's not ornamental.

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