Pirates Eye Blalock, Ankiel

The Pirates have some money to spend this offseason, and they may be looking to hand it to Hank Blalock or Rick Ankiel.

The decision to sign one of these guys will largely effect the roles of Garrett Jones and Jeff Clement. If the Pirates do go out and sign Blalock, Garrett Jones would find his home in right field, as Blalock is a corner infielder. However, if the Pirates sign Rick Ankiel, Garrett Jones will be asked to play first base. Either way, Jeff Clement doesn't have anywhere to play. My guess is that they would use him as a bench player.

Personally, I want to see Jeff Clement play first base for the Pirates next year, however, it's not very likely that he would play better than Hank Blalock would. Blalock hit 25 bombs in 123 games last year, which shows some serious pop in his bat. However, his average was very poor, at .234. Clement hit .274 with 21 homers last season in AAA with both Tacoma and Indianapolis. There are major question marks for Clement when talking about his major league career. The Mariners had pretty much given up on him, mainly because they were trying to make him a catcher. The Pirates ruled that out completely and have set him at first base, despite Clement's bargaining to be moved back behind the plate.

The other issue here is what to do with Jose Tabata if they sign one of these guys. It would not make much sense to pay Ankiel or Blalock for one year and then sit them on the bench when Jose Tabata gets called up in the middle of the season. It would make even less sense to leave Tabata in the minors all season. One thing the Pirates will not do is bring Tabata up and NOT start him every day. When he comes up, he is going to be the new every day right fielder.

So the Pirates have some options, along with some logjams. You basically have Garrett Jones, Jeff Clement, and Hank Blalock as possible first basemen, and then Rick Ankiel, Jose Tabata, and Garrett Jones as possible right fielders.

If it were up to me, I'd sign Hank Blalock. I would have Jeff Clement on the big league club and use him in a bench role, spelling Blalock and possibly even Doumit once every week or two. Garrett Jones would start in right field until June or July, when I would bring up Jose Tabata. Now, if Lastings Milledge isn't performing, I would start Tabata in left and leave Jones in. However, I would take Milledge's future with the Pirates over Jones' any day. The fact is that Jones is now 28 year olds, and Milledge is 24 makes the difference. Milledge's ceiling is much higher than Jones, and Tabata's ceiling towers over both of them.

All said and done, it's a good problem to have.