Pittsburgh Pirates Notebook: No. 1 pick Gerrit Cole Shines in Arizona Fall League
By Matt Shetler
It’s been a couple of weeks since my last Bucco’s Notebook, but with the World Series still being played, news is few and far between at the moment, but let’s take a look at a few bullet points.
– No. 1 overall pick Gerrit Cole has turned some heads in the Arizona Fall league thus far.
In his third AFL start, the 6-foot-4 right-hander yielded one unearned run over 3 2/3 no-hit innings as the Mesa Solar Sox outlasted the visiting Scottsdale Scorpions, 10-5. Cole struck out four, walked one and threw 54 pitches — 36 for strikes.
Cole improved to 2-0 in the AFL and in his previous start on Wednesday, retired the first eight batters he faced.
– As expected, the Bucs will decline the options on both catchers Chris Snyder and Ryan Doumit. While that is the smart move, it also leaves the Bucs extremely thin behind the plate throughout the organization. That means finding a veteran catcher that can serve as a stop-gap until the organization deems Tony Sanchez ready has to become a priority.
Going with Michael McKenry as the everyday backstop should not be considered an option. The Fort, while a nice story, could serve as a nice number two catcher, but he clearly showed the inability to serve as the club’s top option.
Offensively he performed at a below replacement level and his numbers were ugly. He was often overmatched at the plate and his .222 AVG and .276 OBP just won’t cut it in a Pirates lineup that has trouble scoring runs to begin with.
As for where the Pirates should turn for a replacement, look for general manager Neal Huntington to improve the position through trade. Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli has been linked to the team, but that’s not much of improvement. As for free agent catchers, the market is thin; although a veteran like a Rod Barajas or a Ramon Hernandez may be worth a look on a one-year deal.
-With Snyder and Doumit’s options likely not to be picked up, Huntington must still decide on what to do with the options on Paul Maholm and Ronny Cedeno. As I reported last week, Maholm’s $9.75 mil option is very unlikely to be picked up although it hasn’t been ruled out completely.
As for Cedeno, his $2.8 mil option makes sense for the Bucs and I would expect them to pick it up, but I would also expect that the shortstop position will not be Cedeno’s to lose. The Bucs will give Chase d’Arnaud a long look in spring training and may look elsewhere for a better everyday option. Cedeno will have to win the job and won’t be handed it.
– Next week I will take a look at the Pirates arbitration eligible players and some outside options they may consider at first base.
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