PITTSBURGH —\u00a0 In a rather weak free agent market, the Pittsburgh\u00a0 Pirates continue to be aggressive in improving the club for 2012. On Monday, the Pirates announced that they have signed shortstop Clint Barmes to a two-year deal. The contract is expected to be worth $10.5 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a good number of clubs that are going to need shortstops,\u201d General Manager Neal Huntington said. \u201c[Jose] Reyes and [Jimmy] Rollins sit one and two, and for us, Clint was three on that list. As we started to look at the alternatives, as we looked at the attributes that Clint brings to the table, it\u2019s an above-average defensive player, it\u2019s positive intangibles. He sits in the middle of the pack in terms of offensive production for shortstops. So combining offense with well-above defense, with a quality guy that\u2019s excited to be a part of what we\u2019re doing at a position that is defense first for us, we thought it was a great fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old Barmes spent the 2011 season with the Houston Astros and hit .244 with 27 doubles and 12 home runs in 123 games. Barmes numbers at PNC Park were a reason for the veteran infielder to come to Pittsburgh. Barmes hit .385 with two home runs, three RBI in 26 at-bats last year. Over his last three seasons, Barmes has hit for a .346 clip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed coming to the ballpark,\u201c he said. \u201cI honestly don\u2019t know the numbers and where they stand. I know it\u2019s a pretty deep left field and it\u2019s not as good to right-handers and it is to left-handers with the right field fence and the dimensions. I have had some success here. I\u2019ve always enjoyed playing here. That definitely helps with making the decision to sign here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barmes said the huge factor in coming to Pittsburgh was the Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle. Barmes, who was drafted by Colorado in 2000, spent eight Major League seasons with the Rockies, where Hurdle was the Manager from 2002-09.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he definitely played a big part in that,\u201c Barmes said. \u201cEven last year, up until the trade deadline, he mentioned that they were trying to get me over here. A chance to play under Clint again, knowing him, playing for him earlier in my career definitely played a part in all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the decision to sign Barmes to a two-year deal gives Chase d\u2019Arnaud plenty of time in the Minors. The 24-year-old made his Major League debut with Pittsburgh in June, but went .217 over 48 games and committed nine errors combined at short and third base.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still think the world of Chase,\u201c Huntington said. \u201cWe still think Chase is still going to be a very good big league shortstop\u2026We still believe he\u2019s got a ways to go before he\u2019s ready to be that everyday big league shortstop. But he\u2019s going to get everything we have to get that out of him because we still think its in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChase is a guy that has not played a ton of shortstop. He bounced around with us as we pared him with Jordy Mercer. This was the first year as a pro that he got litigate consistency at shortstop. In college, he played more third base then he did shortstop. Most every young player benefits in playing more than sitting and Chase is serving no acceptation to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
d\u2019Aranud is just one of the many exciting prospects that are in the Pirates system. Barmes, who spent the 2011 season with the Astros in the same division as the Pirates, saw the potential that the club has and is excited to be a part of it.<\/p>\n
“The young talent that they\u2019ve got, and with the season that they had last year, the ways the started the season, I think there\u2019s a lot of promise, a lot of good things to come in the organization,\u201c Barmes said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to step in and play a leadership role on the infield. I think there\u2019s no reason with the talent and with the organization is heading, I think it\u2019s safe to say it\u2019s only getting better and I\u2019m very excited to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barmes led National League shortstops in UZR (7.9) and UZR per 150 games (10.8), according to fangraphs.com. Additionally, Barmes tied for first among all qualifying Major League shortstops in UZR per 150 games for shortstops with 1,400 or more innings in 2010-2011 (11.9).<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say I pay a whole lot of attention to it,\u201c Barmes said of the stats. \u201cI really don\u2019t understand how they figure all that stuff in or how they add it all up. I obviously wouldn\u2019t be where I\u2019m at without my glove, with what I\u2019ve done defensively. I take a lot of pride in my defense\u2026I\u2019ve only gotten better every year that I\u2019ve played and the more experience I\u2019ve gotten I\u2019ve gotten more confidence and the better I played at shortstop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club declined Ronny Cedeno\u2019s $3 million option earlier this month. Although Cedeno had a great defensive year in Pittsburgh this season, the Pirates wanted to go in a different direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cRonny obviously played great offensively this year for us,\u201c Huntington said. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about that. Offensively Clint brings more weapons to the table\u2026.Clint it a very steady, very reliable solid-to-plus defender, one of the best in baseball over the last couple years. He\u2019s going to be an additional presence in our clubhouse, some veteran leadership, some presence to help some of our young guys continue to grow and develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barmes said he had a handful of offers from other clubs but felt like Pittsburgh was a great fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cant say very many,\u201c Barmes said. \u201cMy agent had talked to a few teams, a handful of teams. From the way that we understood it, a lot of those teams were looking at a one-year deal. A couple of them were at second base. This deal that the Pirates were offering —\u00a0guaranteeing two-years at shortstop–\u00a0it was hard to pass up. And they were looking to find a shortstop as soon as possible. We kind of had to make a decision. We are extremely happy and pleased. Pleased to be back with Clint Hurdle and playing for him again. That\u2019s kind of why we made the decision we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the two-weeks the Pirates have been aggressive on the market singing free-agents. In early November, the Bucs inked catcher Rod Barajas to a one-year deal. In years past, Huntington said they would normally sit back and wait but felt the need to be more aggressive to continue to improve the club moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past we\u2019ve sat back and waited to find whatever else everybody picked through and hoped that we\u2019d get a good player,\u201c he said. \u201cIn these two instances, we decided to be aggressive and go get the guys that we wanted and that we felt that we could get.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could have been patient and maybe there was a better deal for us out in December, or maybe there\u2019s a better deal out there for us in January on ether of these players. But at the same time, we might have ended up with our sixth choice for catcher and our ninth choice for shortstop. We decide these two players we\u2019re worth being aggressive. We\u2019re trying to take steps forward as an organization. We like what they bring to the table, we like what they bring to the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make room on the 40-man roster for Barmes, the Pirates have designated catcher Brian Jeroloman for assignment. Jeroloman was claimed off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.<\/p>\n
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PITTSBURGH —\u00a0 In a rather weak free agent market, the Pittsburgh\u00a0 Pirates continue to be aggressive in improving the club for 2012. On Monday, the Pirates announced that they have signed shortstop Clint Barmes to a two-year deal. The contract is expected to be worth $10.5 million. \u201cThere\u2019s a good number of clubs that are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1733,616,760,855,926,425,619,645],"class_list":["post-8803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional","tag-clint-barmes","tag-clint-hurdle","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-houston-astros","tag-neal-huntington","tag-pirates","tag-pittsburgh","tag-ronny-cedeno"],"yoast_head":"\n