Options aplenty coming out of spring training

by Brandon Posa

The word out of Bradenton today is that the Pirates may be willing to shop around outfielders Jose Tabata and Travis Snider. The Pirates front office clearly has to be pleased with the progress that top prospect Gregory Polanco had shown while in Major League camp, as well as his success playing winter ball. As long as he starts out well with Indianapolis, it's easy to see Polanco roaming right field in Pittsburgh by the middle of June this season. This isn't any breaking news, but it's something that needs to be thought about with the excess amount of outfielders the Pirates could have come the middle of the summer.

The inevitable call up of Polanco will create a logjam of outfielders on the big league club. Tabata is owed $12+ million, while Snider is still in his arbitration years. If everything goes according to plan, there are simply no starting spots in the future for both guys, as Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Polanco are the future of the Buccos' outfield. That being said, it would certainly be nice to have one of these two bats coming off the bench as the fourth outfielder for the next few years, so it will be interesting to see which direction they decide to go. The mantra that is heard across every camp, every year is that one player is "in the best shape of his life," or looks "hungrier" than ever before; Snider has fit that role this spring, all the while collecting 8 hits in 26 at-bats so far, while Tabata has seen his share of struggles at the plate with only three hits as of March 17. A platoon in right field has been the default solution this winter, but if Snider proves that he is able to handle a starting spot until Polanco is ready, then it may be time to see if a package can be created around a cost-controlled Tabata for either another first baseman, catching depth (now that Chris Stewart may be destined for surgery), or however else the front office sees fit.

In addition, reliever Vin Mazzaro is rumored to be the odd man out of the Bucs' 7-man bullpen. Heading into the Spring, Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, and Justin Wilson were all locks due to their performance last season. With three spots left, the Bucs had four possible pitchers to fill those spots: Stolmy Pimentel, Bryan Morris, Jeanmar Gomez, and Mazzaro. All four are out of options, so the only choices are to make the team, be traded, or be cut. The potential of both Pimentel and Morris is just too much to give up on right now, as both could be late-inning power guys, fill the long-relief role, or even make the occasional spot start. In 80.2 innings last year, Gomez contributed 8 starts for the Pirates, as well as sported a WHIP of 1.15, compared to Mazzaro's 73.2 innings and a 1.20 WHIP. Both pitchers are comparable in the sense that it is not difficult for Neal Huntington & company to pluck these types of pitchers out from the market; with that being said, it's even easier to replace a guy like Mazzaro, despite his great statistics from last season. This is just the type of problem that a small market team like the Pirates wishes they could have every year, with every position on the roster. Depth is crucial for every team, as evidenced last season by the Buccos use of 12 starting pitchers during the regular season. The Pirates have shown recently that they can effectively create a successful bullpen out of a collection of low-profile guys, and then when there are too many competing for jobs, move one or more for other necessary pieces for the club and/or depth. Time will tell to see if there are any interested bidders in the next 13 days before the 2014 season opens up.