The Pittsburgh Pirates might discuss a new deal with shortstop Ronny Cedeno, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLB Trade Rumors. The Pirates declined Cedeno’s $3 M option, paying the $200 K buyout instead. We’ve also heard that they’re looking at Ramon Santiago, so clearly the team is prioritizing defense at shortstop over added offensive production.
Middle infielders have been going quickly on the open market. Jamey Carroll just signed a two year deal for $6.75 M with the Twins. Mark Ellis signed a two year, $8.75 M deal with the Dodgers. Aaron Hill signed a two year deal for $11 M. John McDonald signed a two year deal for $3 M. Out of those players, only Carroll and McDonald could be considered for the shortstop position. It seems that the Pirates will have to give out a two year deal for anyone they want to get, although if they’re looking for a defensive option I’d expect the price to be closer to McDonald rather than Ellis, Hill, or Carroll. My guess is that someone like Cedeno or Santiago will cost somewhere around two years and $4-5 M total.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Cedeno should still be a back up choice – there’s no need to rush into bringing him back or signing Santiago. Barmes’ price is probably going too high right now looking at how the market is going, but there’s still Gonzalez, Hairston and Punto – and how many starting SS gigs are there?
I’m really hoping that Huntington bids on Hiroyuki Nakajima – he’s solid defensively and is the second best hitter in Japan. He could prove to be a huge upgrade
I don’t really think it is a huge hole anyways. There is still plenty of time to either sign someone else or make a deal for someone possibly even better that we can control longer…besides going from Cedeno to a Mercer/d’Arnaud/Harrison/Brock Holt 4-some isn’t that great of a dropoff from where we were.
by not picking up Cedeno’s option I thought it meant that NH might be trying to see if he could get someone better than Cedeno for 2012. I’m still hoping that was reason and it wasn’t just monetary decision.
IMO, it was both
Interestingly enough the second most similar player on baseball refference’s similarity score to Cedeno is Ramon Santiago…so either flip a coin, or see which one you can get a better deal with. The other two closest to cedeno are Glenn Hoffman and Andujar Cedeno…which doesn’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies.
Without any knowledge of what the Pirates know or who they are dealing with, I would say that Cedano is the best option for them, I would like to see them take him on a 1 year deal.
I am guessing here, but I have to believe that Cedano will want a 2 year contract and the Pirates probably would like to sign him for one year knowing that D’Arnaud and Mercer will be ready probably sometime this year or next year.
I do agree that they should have just taken Cedano to Arbitration, but if you look at it their way, the Bucs are thinking he would get much more than he would have been worth to them if he went to Arbitration, defensive shortstops do not make 4mil a year, he probably wants 7-8mil for 2 years, with D’Arnaud and Mercer pretty close to ready, I can see their reluctance to sign Cedano.
Just pointing this out: Cedeno wasn’t eligible for arbitration. He had an option for $3 M, which the Pirates bought out for $200 K.
Seems, as always, that opinions continue to vary towards Cedeno. It was foolish to buy out his contract, then moreso to consider resigning Cedeno. Which is it—do the Pirates want him or not!
Unless a rabbit is pulled out of the hat, the Pirates have no fulltime SS as of now. Do they expect to sign Cedeno for less than $2.8MM? Ronny and his agent have to be commended if they’re willing to discuss a contract at this stage or things must be really dead on the free agent front. I’ll pass a left-handed compliment to the F.O. also for saying they’re willing to sit down and negotiate, although when April comes I won’t be shocked if Ciriaco is the opening day starter.
You’ve dug a huge hole, Mr Huntington. Hopefully, you know what you’re doing.
It is actually smarter to buy him out, explore other options, and then continue talking to him. Especially if he has expressed interest in staying…which I think he has.
This is a bridge that needs burned IMO. I like Ronny, I just think he’ll not make the leap that he needs to make in a Pirates uni – I think it’s better for both to go in a different direction.
Frankly, I’d love to see Mercer get the job full time. I like his power and D combo and his average will come. He is the future. D’arnaud I think is a future utility star at the inf positions and possibly others, a great speed guy off the bench.
I like Harrison and Alvarez to platoon until they are ready to move Alvarez to first full time – then Harrison gets 3rd. If he plays the way he did last year I really saw a Terry Pendleton type player and that was a very nice 3rd player.
If Harrison or Alvarez don’t come round the options seem to be a few years away, so you’d have to go outside the system. Regardless for Ronny, the best path is out of town, but I wish him luck finding the talent that he surely has.
i see where youre coming from, but a couple things:
1– harrison. i really like him as a utility guy, but he has some shortcomings, no pun intended.
comparing him to pendleton pretty much ends at being short and stocky. pendleton was
a much much better defender. harrison, however, does have nice bat control.
2– alvarez needs to stick at 3B for now. a 1Bman needs to be found out of system, at least
for the time being. pedro has time to move to 1B later. a pedro that cant hit at 3B also
cant hit at 1B.
i defended Ronny as much as anyone over the last 2 years. but if mercer, or even d’arnaud is ready, then ronny should be expendable. santiago could be that bridge too.
well said, brian
Right WA. Not to mention Pendleton had a lot more power also. I would choose Santiago over Cedeno, but maybe just because I am ready to see someone else in a Bucs uniform. They are almost the same guy. Santiago maybe slightly better hitter and Cedeno a slightly better fielder. I think Santiago’s hitting the last 3-4 years gives him the edge. I like Mercer and D’Arnaud’s skillsets but it’s tough to say whether either of them will ever hit higher than .250. …and D’Arnaud’s defensive lapses need to be corrected. I do agree that D’Arnaud could be a util type. I could see him learning the OF pretty easily with his quick first step and solid arm.
I would be happy if they could get him back for next year at $2.5-3M with a team or mutual option for 2013 at $3-3.5M. If d’Arnaud or Mercer can step up this year, no need to exercise. But if they don’t, keep looking for external options.