PIRATES ACQUIRE RELIEVER SORIA
CINCINNATI — Angling to turn a strong relief corps into an even more formidable unit, the Pirates spent the final days ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline today upgrading their bullpen.
The acquisition of righthander Joakim Soria from the Detroit Tigers Thursday gives the Pirates four legitimate lateinning relievers. To get Soria, the Pirates sent Class AA Altoona shortstop JaCoby Jones to the Tigers. The Soria trade came about 18 hours after the Pirates purchased right-hander Joe Blanton from the Kansas City Royals for cash.
The Royals displayed the effectiveness of a strong back end of the bullpen in 2014, when Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland helped Kansas City reach the World Series.
The New York Yankees have had similar success this season with Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances.
“It’s not as easy as you might think to put three or four relievers out there that can shut the game down to six innings on a consistent basis,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
“You’re still going to have games where your starters, for whatever reason, aren’t going to give you the innings you need. I do think our overall awareness of having those guys has probably picked up a little bit.”
Soria is owed roughly $2.4 million of his $7 million salary. Blanton is due about $350,000. Both are free agents after this season.
The Pirates bullpen had a 2.71 ERA before the game Thursday night, the fourth-best mark in baseball. General manager Neal Huntington said Mark Melancon will remain the closer, with Soria sharing the setup role with Tony Watson. Huntington also suggested that the Pirates will not add a starting pitcher.
“We don’t see the ability to acquire somebody that we would drop into the rotation ahead of one of our current starters at the present time,” he said.
The Pirates continue to chase the St. Louis Cardinals, who are in first place in the National League Central Division and the only other team in the division currently adding before the 4 p.m. deadline today. The Milwaukee Brewers (Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers) and Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Cueto) are selling, while the Chicago Cubs have stood pat.
The Cardinals added relief help by acquiring Steve Cishek from the Miami Marlins, and, after Matt Holliday went back on the disabled list Thursday, the Cardinals traded for Brandon Moss.
“Our focus was internal and doing what we could to help us get better,” Huntington said.
Blanton, 34, who struck out 40 in 41⅔ innings with a 3.89 ERA for the Royals this season, will serve as a swingman.
The Los Angeles Angels released him in March 2014, and, after signing with the Oakland Athletics and making two starts in the minors, Blanton left the minor league affiliate.
“My plan was to never play again,” he said.
Blanton rejoined the game when Chicago White Sox reliever Zach Duke moved close to him and needed a throwing partner.
“I realized at one time I was decent at this thing,” Blanton said. “I was actually having fun going back out and throwing the ball around, so I said, maybe I’ll just give it another whirl and try to correct a few things mechanically and see what happens.”
Blanton’s agent called some teams, Blanton threw bullpen sessions in front of scouts, and the Royals liked what they saw.
“It was a little refreshing, honestly,” Blanton said. “Mentally and physically, probably for me probably a little more mentally at the time. It was good to get away from it, not ideal by any means, but I think in the long run I think it helped me. I don’t think I’d be where I am right now if I didn’t get away.”
The Athletics drafted Blanton in the first round in 2002.
He pitched for Oakland, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Angels and Royals in his 11-year career, almost exclusively as a starter, and won a World Series with the Phillies in 2008.
Soria, 31, signed as an amateur with the Los Angeles Dodgers but reached the majors with the Royals, who had selected him from the San Diego Padres in the 2006 Rule 5 draft. He made the All-Star team in 2008 and 2010, and missed all of 2012 because of his second Tommy John ligament replacement surgery.
Jones, 23, was just promoted to Altoona. In 423 plate appearances for Class A Bradenton this season, he hit .253 with a .313 onbase percentage and 10 home runs.
The Pirates drafted Jones out of LSU in the third round in 2013.
The Pirates have some shortstop depth in Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker among others.
“Detroit was strong on wanting him as the return,” Huntington said. “We really hated to give him up.”
The Pirates also traded minor league infielder Justin Sellers to the Chicago White Sox Thursday for a player to be named later or cash.