Pirates Prospects has a good compilation of rumors involving possible upgrades to the Pirates’ bullpen, ranging from the Orioles’ Koji Uehara to the Phillies’ Jason Grilli.
Personally, it’s hard to see why the Pirates would acquire a reliever for the major-league bullpen, unless he’s a lefty (and both Uehara and Grilli are righties). Uehara is good and useful, but I’m not sure why the Pirates would want to pay what I assume would be a considerable price to get him, since the righties in their bullpen have largely been very good.
I’ve heard a lot of fans complaining about setup guys Jose Veras and Chris Resop, but those complaints are really wrongheaded. Both those guys are striking out more than a batter an inning, and while they haven’t been Hanrahan-grade dominant, the Pirates have much more pressing needs than upgrades on Veras and Resop. The Bucs’ other bullpen righties, Dan McCutchen and Chris Leroux, have also been good enough that I’m not really sure where a journeyman like Grilli would fit.
The Pirates have serious holes in their offense. I’m not opposed to upgrading the bullpen if an upgrade comes cheaply, but I don’t think a cheap upgrade will be easy to find, and the Bucs have much more pressing problems.
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