We Have Seen The Last of Paul Maholm

I just realized this. Paul Maholm has pitched his last game in a Pirate uniform.

Is that a hasty assumption to make? Maybe. But check out the facts.

Maholm is due to be a free agent this offseason, although the Pirates could pick up the $9.75 million option to keep him around. When the Pirates were in first place and he was pitching great, that seemed like a legitimate thing to consider. However, it looks different right now.

When you look at his 2011 season as a whole, it wasn't stellar. A 3.66 ERA with 26 starts and 1.94 K/BB ratio. Sure, that's a solid season, and certainly did a lot to help this team this year. However, the Pirates are a small market team and it does not make a ton of sense to shell out that much money for an average starter, even if he would be one of our best.

Aside from that, let me say this. I do not think Maholm would have the same success he had this year in 2012. I think this year was largely flukey and what we saw in the second half is more what you should expect from him next year. Despite that, there is something to be said for a guy that doesn't miss starts (I still do not buy his injury this year being legitimate), but you do not pay a guy with a career ERA of 4.36 that much money when you are the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Looking aside from the money perspective, the Pirates have a real log jam at starting pitcher next year. Taking Maholm out of the picture entirely, there is going to be at least seven guys competing for five slots. James McDonald, Charlie Morton, and Jeff Karstens are locks to take three of those spots, and the final two will be fought for by Kevin Correia, Brad Lincoln, Ross Ohlendorf, and Jeff Locke. If Maholm comes back, he would automatically be a lock for the rotation because of the money he will have got. He could easily not be in the top five in that group of players in terms of ability as a starting pitcher, so why pay him way more than you are paying everyone else? It does not make sense, and even if it did make sense, the Pirates are not the team to throw money around loosely.

So all of that said, I firmly believe that Paul Maholm has thrown his last pitch in a Pirates uniform. That means he was 0-5 in his final seven starts as a Pirate and watched his season ERA climb from 2.96 to 3.66 in his final 48.1 innings.

All-in-all, Maholm is a great guy and has given a lot to this franchise. He was never in the news for the wrong reasons and was an absolutely gamer in his time with Pittsburgh. He gave it 100% all the time and it was too bad that he could not be a little more consistent. He will be missed, but I think the money would be missed more.