THE BULLPEN

     It's over, the fat lady has sung. The 2015 MLB season is in the books. The Kansas City Royals are World Champs. Now, the other 29 teams will begin their goal to usurp KC next season. That includes our Pittsburgh Pirates. With the World Series over, eligible players are able to declare free agency. Their teams can negotiate with them until the free agent signing period begins on Saturday, November 7. Today, Mrs. Black-N-Gold takes a look at the Pirates potential free agents.

1)LH Antonio Bastardo-The Pirates made a trade with Philly last offseason to land the lefty reliever. It took him awhile to earn Manager Clint Hurdle's confidence, but Bastardo came on strong in the second half of the season. Still, don't look for the Pirates to make a push to keep the southpaw, especially with Tony Watson as their top left-handed specialist.

2)RH Joe Blanton-The veteran right-hander was a deadline pick-up that helped the Bucs tremendously down the stretch. His ability to pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen helped keep the starters fresh. But Joe is a little long in the tooth and has already retired once in his career. The Pirates should be able to find long relief somewhere off the scrap heap.

3)LH JA Happ-Mrs. Black-N-Gold would love to see the Pirates retain this lefty. She admits she wasn't very high on Happ when the Buccos added him at the deadline. His first start in Black-N-Gold, a 5-0 loss to the Cubs, did nothing to endear JA to Black-N-Gold Nation. But then, something magical happened. Mrs. Black-N-Gold doesn't know if it was help from pitching guru Ray Searage, the water from the 3 Rivers or a combination of the 2 but somehow Happ turned it around to go 7-2 with a 1.85 ERA for the Buccos. Because of this newfound success, the lefty will be in high demand. The Pirates lost out in the Edinson Volquez sweepstakes last season after helping revitalize his career. And look what happened. Eddy was just crowned a World Champion with the Royals. Don't let the same mistake HAPPen twice. Sometimes you have to overspend a little to get what you need.

4)OF/1B Corey Hart-Sorry, this one's a no-brainer. The Pirates didn't even allow Hart to rejoin the team after coming off the DL. Hart's career is flat-lined.

5)UT-Sean Rodriguez-Mrs. Black-N-Gold isn't quite as enamored with the super-utility man as Hurdle was. He is a good defensive replacement, especially at 1B for the woefully dreadful Pedro Alvarez. But his lack of offense can be vexing. He's Ben Zobrist without the bat. The Pirates have a knack for finding no-hit utility men. Maybe they ought to make it an offseason priority to find one who CAN hit.

6)RH Joakim Soria-It looked like Soria's tenure with the Pirates following his pick-up at the trade deadline was up-and-down. He probably prefers the closer role to that of a setup man, anyway. Plus, Soria is on the wrong side of 30. They may be able to find a younger, cheaper option.

That's it for the Pirates free agents. Mrs. Black-N-Gold would really only like to see the Bucs keep Happ and hit the market or the dumpster to replace the other dearly departed. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is concerned, though. 4 of the 6 FAs are pitchers. The Pirates recently lost another pitching guru, Jim Benedict, to the Miami Marlins organization. This offseason, the Buccos will see just how much Benedict brought to the table in assessing talent and turning that talent into production. Let's hope the ship doesn't sink. Let's Go Bucs!!!!!