I thought this was noteworthy since Justin Masterson is my favorite out of the bounce back pitchers who are available this off-season. Bill Brink says that the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t currently one of the teams who have checked in on the right-hander.
#Pirates are not currently among the dozen or so teams that have checked in on Justin Masterson, according to his agent.
— Bill Brink (@Bill_Brink2) November 18, 2014
This could mean a lot of different things. The Pirates have already signed A.J. Burnett, and you could argue that he’s a sort of reclamation project. Right now they probably need a pitcher who will provide a little more assurance of strong production. That type of pitcher would require a bigger financial commitment, but the Pirates have that left over after Russell Martin signed with the Blue Jays. Someone in the Francisco Liriano/Brandon McCarthy tier of pitchers would make sense.
This could also just mean that they don’t like Masterson’s chances of bouncing back, rather than totally eliminating them from the reclamation project scene. They definitely need one more starting pitcher, since the current rotation is Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett, Vance Worley, and Jeff Locke until Charlie Morton returns. They might be able to get creative and add two starting pitchers, especially if they’re going with Pedro Alvarez at first base (leaving all of the remaining money for pitching). In that scenario, they could add an established player, plus a reclamation project.
What we do know is the obvious, that they don’t appear to be in on Masterson at this time. While I like Masterson as a bounce back candidate, I trust Ray Searage, Jim Benedict, and everyone who was responsible for all of the previous reclamation projects.
