2015-16 Pittsburgh Pirates

WIth the St. Louis Cardinals and resurgent Chicago Cubs, we found ourselves in the most dominant division in baseball in 2015. To remain competitive, the organization determined we would have to make one unpopular move with our tremendous fan base by parting ways with Neil Walker. With a salary approaching $11 mililon for 2016, we non-tendered the Pittsburgh native to use the money to pursue a starting pitcher – and we got the one we wanted. We were able to secure free agent J.A. Happ, another of pitching coach’s Ray Searage reclamation projects. Happ was simply the best lefthander in the NL in the second half of the season not named Clayton Kershaw.

The organization also parted ways with first baseman Pedro Alvarez, trading him to the Baltimore Orioles for lefthanded flamethrower Brian Matusz, who is replacing Antonio Bastardo. Our club was also able to bring in veteran righthander Tom Wilhelmsen from Seattle for a pair of minor league pitchers. Those two wili join Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, Arquimedez Caminero and Joe Blanton to form the deepest and best bullpen in the game.

When the opportunity to pick up free agent pitcher Doug Fister was presented for a mere $3 million, ownership was happy to go a bit over budget to bring in a veteran to replacement for retiring A.J. Burnett. Should Searage work his magic on Fister, that will give the Pirates a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Happ, Charlie Morton and Fister with Jeff Locke adding depth and top prospect Tyler Glasnow ready to join us for a second-half push.

We needed to find a replacement for Walker, and we feel Asdrubal Cabrera was a steal for $2.5 million on the free agent market. He’ll also be able to give us a backup at shortstop for Jordy Mercer and allow us to keep Josh Harrison in a super utility role (2B, 3B, RF, LF), once Jung Ho Kang returns form his leg injuries. We believe Michael Morse and Andrew Lambo can hold down first base, and we think super hitting prospect Josh Bell will be ready by midseason to assume a spot in the middle of the order.

Our outfield is set with Andrew McCutchen flanked by budding stars Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco with Harrison and Jaff Decker in reserve, and our 1-2 catching crew of Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart returns intact.

2016 will be a very challenging season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but we believe we’ve made the moves to put our club in position to earn a fourth consecutive postseason appearance and go deep into the postseason.