Black Friday: Free Agents Who Could Come at Bargain Price for Pittsburgh Pirates

As billions of dollars are spent this weekend by holiday shoppers eager to find items at discounted prices, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington will remain hard at work making deals with free-agent starting pitchers to bolster the rotation.  

It is safe to say that none of the big-name free-agent pitchers such as Jon Lester, Max Scherzer or James Shields will come at a discount, but there are a few players in mind who the Pirates may be able to start working on a deal with.  

Let's take a look at three starting pitchers who may come at a fair cost.

Jake Peavy, SP

Tannen Maury/Associated Press

A 13-year veteran, the 33-year-old Jake Peavy has been named to three All-Star teams and has won one Cy Young Award in his career.  

However, the last time he posted a 15-win season was back in 2008, the year he won the Cy Young Award by going 19-6 for the San Diego Padres.  

Although he pitched poorly for the Boston Red Sox in 20 games with them in 2014, he looked like a different pitcher when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants.  Peavy went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 12 starts, as he helped the Giants barely hang on to a wild-card spot and eventually go on to win the World Series.  

Given his age and the strong finish he had in 2014, Peavy will likely be seeking at least a two-year deal, but if he is able to perform in the National League as he did with the Giants, the Pirates should be willing to offer him that deal.

Justin Masterson, SP

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

In 2013, who would have thought that Justin Masterson would likely come at a reasonable price?  

That season, he notched three complete-game shutouts and went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA for the Cleveland Indians.  He was a huge factor in the team's journey back to the postseason.  

In 2014, however, the Indians traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals after he went just 4-6 with a 5.51 ERA in 19 games.  After the trade, the 29-year-old was even worse, going 3-3 with a 7.04 ERA in nine games.  

Don't get me wrong: Masterson has not been great throughout his career, owning a career 60-72 record and a 4.24 ERA.  

Still, with the promise that he showed in 2013, it would not be a bad idea offering him a fair contract comparable to the one the Pirates gave Edinson Volquez in 2014 (one year, $5 million).  

After all, Volquez and Masterson have posted almost identical numbers throughout their careers.  In 10 seasons, Volquez has gone 66-59 with a 4.44 ERA while Masterson's career ERA (as I stated above) stands at 4.24.  

Given the fact that Masterson is still in his late 20s, it would not be surprising to see him take a short-term contract (maybe two years, $15 million) to try and improve both his statistics and market value for 2017.  

While it would be a gamble signing him, the Pirates know that gambles sometimes pay huge dividends, as it did in the case of Volquez in 2014.

Brett Anderson, SP

PAUL BEATY/Associated Press

This may be the biggest gamble of all pitchers on the market this offseason, as Brett Anderson's career has been riddled by injuries.  

In 2009 (his rookie year), Anderson made 30 starts for the Oakland Athletics, going 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA and finishing sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year race.  

In five seasons since, Anderson has failed to even make 20 starts in a season.  

After undergoing Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow in 2011, he has not had any major arm problems since.  However, in 2014, his season ended abruptly as he was forced to undergo back surgery. 

While Anderson may be the biggest gamble on the market, the rewards could be even higher, as he is still only 26 years old and has plenty of baseball left in him.  

More importantly, he is a southpaw, which the Pirates could desperately use in their rotation if they either fail or neglect to bring Francisco Liriano back.  

Given his injury history and young age, Anderson should not come at a steep cost, and if all else fails for Huntington and the Pirates, this may be the move to make.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.