Pittsburgh Pirates Roundup: Melancon Trade Bait And More

The crew of the Jolly Roger may be on shore leave, but the news about the Pittsburgh Pirates continues from the North Shore. Let’s gather around the warm glow of the internet and see what the pundits with keyboards have been turning out.

Joel Reuter from Bleacher Report rates the Pirates as the sixth best potential free-agent destination in all of Major League Baseball. He sees the increase in the payroll from last season and feels the Bucs should be National League Central contenders in the 2016 season and beyond. Will Pittsburgh exceed the 100 million a year payroll mark over the next few seasons?

Over at CBSSports.com, Jon Heyman reported on Monday that the Pirates are making right-handed reliever Mark Melancon available. It would seem that today’s general managers are not apprehensive about moving their closers. Heyman believes that Pedro Alvarez is also available and could possible benefit from going to a new team/city. Is this the off-season we see Alvarez go to the American League?

Dave Silva at NBCSports.com has the list and it includes Jung Ho Kang of the Pirates as a finalist for National League Rookie of the Year. Third basemen Kris Bryant of the Cubs and Matt Duffy of the Giants join the Pittsburgh infielder on the ballot. The Baseball Writers Association of America declares who won the award on Monday, Nov. 16th. I believe that Kang merits the award, but it is going to go to the infielder from the Windy City.

More from Pittsburgh Pirates

• Pittsburgh Pirates: A Look Back at 2019
• Pirates: Hiring Don Kelly Yet Another Smart Offseason Move
• Pirates’ Solid Offseason Continues with Hiring of Derek Shelton
• Pirates: Derek Shelton Makes Most Sense As Next Manager
• Pirates: Drew Smyly Makes Sense as Potential High-Reward Signing

Rum Bunter‘s Ethan Obstarczyk thinks the Pirates should keep an eye on the Giants’ Tim Lincecum as a possible pitching project for Ray Searage. Obstarczyk likes having Lincecum as an option for the right price. His loss of velocity is a concern for whoever inks him to a deal.

Alexander Chismar of the Pittsburgh Sporting News believes the Pirates lost more than a player following the bidding war for first baseman Byung-Ho Park. They may have missed out on a lucrative revenue stream. The writer points out that Korean companies made offers for television visible signage at PNC Park when the Pirates signed Jung-Ho Kang. Pittsburgh could have benefited more ways than one from having the two KBO teammates in the same uniform.

Next: Pitt Basketball Season Preview: NCAA Tournament Bound?

Remember that December is going to be fun for fans of the Jolly Roger. PirateFest is Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13 and the event is at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The session on Saturday is free and open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday is set aside for Pirates’ season ticket members. It was one of their options to have a PirateFest VIP experience as one of their 2015 Membership Experiences.