Pirates Sign Rod Barajas

The Pirates have kicked off their offseason earlier than most would have expected by signing free agent catcher Rod Barajas. That will make Barajas the Opening Day and every day (as every-day as a player of his age and position can be) catcher for 2012.

Barajas is 36 years old and has been in the league since 1999. He spent 5 years with the Diamondbacks, 3 years with the Rangers, a year with the Phililes, two years with the Blue Jays, a half year with the Mets, and a year and a half with the Dodgers.

Most recently, Barajas hit .230/.287/.430 in 2011 with the Dodgers. He played just 98 games last year but managed to hit 16 home runs. He has had 6 seasons with 15 or more home runs, and should help this offense significantly when you look at the bat's that he will be replacing (Michael McKenry, Jason Jaramillo).

Defensively, Barajas has been a pretty good catcher. He has never been fantastic, but he will certainly get the job done. You really did not know what to expect defensively from McKenry, and Jaramillo has never been the greatest, so I do not consider this a downgrade on that side of the ball.

It is pretty surprising that the Pirates have made a move already, and there is no reason to be really excited about this one, but the fact is that it makes us a better baseball team for the 2012 season. Having McKenry and Jaramillo as the catchers would have been incredibly ugly, and it's good to see that management wasn't going to let that be the only options.

I'll have much more about Barajas up later, since that's really the only thing to talk about in Bucco world right now.