Pirates Sign Juan Cruz

The Pirates have signed 33-year old right handed pitcher Juan Cruz to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

If you like the WINS statistic, you'll be ecstatic right now. Cruz went 5-0 last year in 28.2 relief innings with the Tampa Bay Rays. This guy simply cannot lose. No I'm joking.

Cruz posted a 3.88 ERA in 2011 with 8.5 K/9 and a ridiculous 5.2 BB/9, so he was extremely lucky to not give up a bunch of runs. He pitched just 5.1 innings in 2010 after posting an ugly 5.72 ERA in 2009 with the Kansas City Royals.

For his career, Cruz has a 4.13 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9. He strikes a lot of guys out but also walks a bunch. That explains why his hits per nine is pretty low at 7.8.

This is a good, safe signing. There's basically no risk with minor league signings, and Cruz is a guy that can strike some people out and has had some experience. For right now he's just a AAA depth bullpen arm, but if the Pirates have some guys go down with injuries, he could step into the big league bullpen and get a big out when they need him too (or blow a game with a series of walks). I don't think he makes the big league club out of spring training (although he's certainly one of the competitors), but he will be one of the first guys to get called up if they are in need at some point during the season.

It's also important to note that Cruz pitched in the A.L. East last year, and spent a lot of his career in the A.L. Central. The lineups in the National League (especially the Central) are a lot more pitcher-friendly, so Cruz could definitely see an improvement in his numbers because of that.