Although Mark Melancon is leading Major League Baseball in saves, the Pirates’ bullpen was a slight issue for the team, at least in terms of depth. Last season, he hit.288/.347/.503 with 23 home runs and 70 RBIs in Single-A West Virginia. He converted 23 saves in 26 opportunities while posting a 2.85 ERA in 43 games and allowing 32 hits in 36 innings with 36 strikeouts and 11 walks.
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Just before 7 p.m. Thursday, the Tigers finalized a deal to send closer Joakim Soria to the Pirates for minor-league shortstop JaCoby Jones.
Huntington said that Soria will surely help them after acquiring Joe Blanton from Kansas City. He is expected to share setup duties with Tony Watson in Pittsburgh. Which brings the Pirates back to the bullpen, their chosen unit to upgrade. “It was a situation to get a real good middle infielder in our organization in exchange for Joakim, based on what we’ve been discussing”, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “It pretty much came together today”.
The return for Soria wasn’t significant, nor was it expected to be – as the market for closers is slim this time around, unlike when the Tigers acquired him from the Rangers last July. This will likely be a bitter pill to swallow for some Pirates fans, as the toolsy Jones was somewhat of a cult favorite among the prospect-watching set. “You recognize faces because some of these guys have been playing for a while”. If they’ve essentially waved the white flag for 2015, trading their closer-who’s a free agent at the end of the year-is a sensible move. As always when discussing the Pirates’ finances, which I know are a third rail at times, I’m not arguing for or against these policies, merely offering an explanation.
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New York sent right-hander Jose Ramirez and outfielder Ramon Flores to the Mariners in the deal completed a day before the non-waiver trade deadline. The Pirates have a group capable of shortening games like that.
