THE BULLPEN

Well, so far this offseason, it looks like your Pittsburgh Pirates have whiffed with the moves they've made. Leading off, the Pirates did not make a 1 year qualifying offer to RH A. J. Burnett at a cost of $14.1 million. Had the Pirates done so and A.J. signed with another team, the Pirates would have received a draft pick in return. Next up, the Pirates did not tender C Michael McKenry, instead trading for light-hitting backup Chris Stewart, in the process sending Tony Sanchez to another year of AAA. They followed up that questionable move by signing RH Edinson Volquez to a 1 year, $5 million deal. Volquez was awarded this contract after posting the highest ERA in the National League last season. The list of maddening moves (or non-moves) continued to grow as they brought back SS Clint Barmes, who was next-to-last in OPS in all of MLB last season. On top of that, the Pirates failed to upgrade at either the RF or 1B positions, something that sorely needed to be done. They're going to make a go of it with "internal" options. To add insult to injury, now comes word that AJ is coming back for another season but not necessarily with the Pirates. Philly and Baltimore have been tossed around as possible destinations for the RH. The Pirates organization has an opportunity here to save face with their fan base and upgrade the team at the same time. Pass around a hat and pony up the cash, if you have to. Although you would think that after team president Frank Coonelly declared the Pirates television deal among the upper half of MLB in terms of revenue, that the Pirates could afford it. The Pirates blew it when they didn't offer AJ the $14.1 mil. That would have been a steal compared to the contracts that have flown around this winter. Or they could have gotten an ever-important draft pick (even though several players that were tendered are still on the market: Cruz, Morales, Drew, etc.). Sure, AJ got to be a pain with some diva-like antics towards the end of the season. And he took exception to Gerrit Cole starting game 5 of the NLCS over him. Love him or hate him you have to love that the guy is a competitor. He wants the ball every 5th day and he's going to go out and give it his all and eat up innings for you. If the Pirates don't want that, surely there are other teams that do. It's time to step up to the plate, Pirates. Do you want to continue to field a winning team or not? Let's Go Bucs!!!!!