According to Keith Law, the Pittsburgh Pirates have traded outfielder Quincy Latimore to the Cleveland Indians for right-handed pitcher Jeanmar Gomez.
https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/289101241362046976
Gomez has thrown 206.2 innings in the majors, with a career 5.18 ERA. He doesn’t have impressive ratios, with a 4.9 K/9, a 3.1 BB/9 and a 1.2 HR/9. Most of his time in the majors has been as a starter, including the 2012 season when he made 17 starts and had a 5.96 ERA. In his time in Triple-A last year, the 24-year-old had a 4.41 ERA in 69.1 innings, with a 7.0 K/9 and a 2.2 BB/9 ratio. Matt Bandi profiled Gomez last year in his Exploring the Arsenal series. The right-hander is another sinkerball pitcher with a high ground ball rate, which the Pirates seem to love.
Gomez was recently designated for assignment by Cleveland last week. His addition is puzzling. He’s out of options and hasn’t put up impressive numbers throughout his career. His stuff doesn’t separate him from any of the other similar pitchers on the roster. My guess is that the Pirates saw something they liked, or the current group liked him from when they were in the Cleveland organization.
Latimore had some of the best raw power in the system, but could never support that power. He had trouble hitting for average, which was mostly due to his plate patience issues that led to high strikeouts and low walk rates. The power was intriguing, but he was unlikely to make it to the majors without fixing those other issues.
UPDATE 5:05 PM: Pirates have made the deal official. The 40-man roster is now at 40. The 2013 payroll page is updated with the move.
