Pirates Acquire Atkins, Wimberly, and Thompson

The Pirates have had a busy couple of days, and have made some pretty influential signings the last few days.

Corey Wimberly:
Wimberly is a 27 year old utility player that was drafted in the 6th round of the 2005 draft by the Colorado Rockies. He played 135 games for the Athletics triple-A team last year. He hit .284/.373/.354 in that time while playing all over the field. He played 50 games in left field, 39 games in center, 31 at shortstop, 17 at third base, and 11 at second base. He stole 56 bases in his 135 games, which is pretty impressive and says a lot for his athleticism. Wimberly doesn't have the makings of anything but a bench player, and probably won't be in Pittsburgh at any point in 2011, but he's a good organizational depth guy to have and can be used in a lot of ways.

Garrett Atkins:
Atkins is a very popular name, he was one of the best third baseman in the National League in 2006, hitting .329/.409/.556 with 29 home runs. His numbers have fallen steadily ever since that year, and he posted a career low .214/.276/.286 last year with the Orioles (in only 44 games). Atkins plays third and first base. The Pirates signed him to a minor league deal, but he has a good chance at being in the majors if he performs well in spring training. He would be best used in a platoon at first base with Overbay; Atkins is a career .294/.379/.467 hitter against left handers, while while Overbay hits .259/.308/.402 off them. Overbay hits .279/.375/.463 off righties, so a platoon with those two guys could work out pretty well. I'd be surprised if the two them were able to hit over 30 homers combined for the Pirates, so they wouldn't be the best power hitting options at first base, but they should hit well enough to knock in McCutchen, Tabata, Walker, and Alvarez, whom we are expecting to be on base quite a lot in 2011. I like the acquisition of Atkins and hope he can turn his career around and put up better numbers in 2011.

Aaron Thompson:
The Pirates picked up Thompson off waivers after they DFA'd Wil Ledezma. Thompson was a first round draft pick in 2005, and will be 24 years old by seasons beginning. This move was necessary because Ledezma is one of the only left handed relief pitchers available right now. Thompson has never pitched in the major leagues, which makes this move kind of questionable. In 2010, he pitched 136.2 innings in double-A and 5 innings in triple-A, all as a starter. He had a 5.80 ERA with 1.79 K/BB in double-A, which doesn't really seem to warrant that promotion to me, but whatever. Thompson doesn't seem like a major league ready pitcher, but he will most likely be turned into a reliever, and could be successful in the majors just because he is a lefty. He would surely be used a specialist, which really should help him out. I don't understand letting go Ledezma, but in fairness, he was not good last year, racking up a 6.86 ERA in 19.2 innings for the Pirates. He was extremely good in triple-A which earned him the call-up, but less than 20 innings doesn't seem like a big enough sample to warrant the Pirates giving up on him.

There's a lot to talk about with the signing of Atkins, the first thing being the possibility of the platoons at first and right field next year. Also, the move shows that the Pirates really don't have much faith in Steve Pearce anymore, and I would be surprised to see him in the majors again.

I'll talk more about this when I have a little more time. I've been hitting the tweets hard lately, so be sure to check me out @McEffect.