Pirates Sign Wil Ledezma

Well I'm short on time so this'll be short.

Today the Pirates signed left handed pitcher Wil Ledezma to a minor league deal. Ledezma pitched 38.6 innings last year in the minors and put up very solid numbers - a 3.49 ERA while striking out over a better per inning. However, his time in the major leagues has not been as impressive. Last year he only notched 5.2 innings in the bigs, but in 2008 he had a 4.17 ERA in 58.1 innings, while making 6 starts. His strikeout rate was impressive once again, as his K/9 rate was a sterling 8.2.

All-in-all this is a very nice sign for the Pirates. The minor league deal means he won't immediately be on the Pirates 40-man roster, but my guess is that he will be in Pittsburgh on opening day coming out of the pen in matchup situations. This is exactly what the Pirates needed to strengthen their pen, a cheap lefty who can strike a better out in a big situation. He is going to give up some runs, you aren't going to see a sub-4 ERA from him, but he definitely makes the Pirates better.