Glasnow could begin season in the bullpen
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Without specifically saying that Tyler Glasnow would open the season in the Pirates bullpen, general manager Neal Huntington Tuesday alluded to the possibility.
“I don’t want to single him out, but we are more open to one, maybe two young starters being in the bullpen to start the season, with the idea in the long term we believe they’re starting pitchers,” Huntington said on the second day of the winter meetings at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.
In a world where the Pirates don’t trade Gerrit Cole, the starting rotation lkely will contain him, Jameson Taillon, Ivan Nova, Chad Kuhl and Trevor Williams. Kuhl made 31 starts and improved as the season went on, and Williams pitched well after taking over for Taillon and later Glasnow.
Glasnow, 24 began the season in the rotation and started 12 games before the Pirates demoted the righthander. He had a 7.45 ERA and walked 29 batters in 54⅓ innings, with 12 home runs allowed. In the minors, he figured it out. Pitching with improvedvelocity and better offspeed pitches, he got minor league hitters out with stuff that would play in the majors rather than just overpowering them — a 1.93 ERA in 93⅓ innings, a .535 OPS allowed, and140 strikeouts.
Upon Glasnow’s return to the majors, he faced the same problems as before.
Huntington said Monday that Steven Brault also might open the season in the bullpen and serve as the second left-hander in addition to closer Felipe Rivero. The Pirates have five righthanders with more relief experience than Glasnow. Daniel Hudson and George Kontos will set up Rivero; Dovydas Neverauskas and Edgar Santana likely will earn spots; and A.J. Schugel has pitched well at times.
More Cole interest
The Baltimore Orioles joined the list of teams that have at least checked in with the Pirates about Gerrit Cole, according to a source.
Cole has garnered interest, according to multiple reports in the past couple of weeks, from the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, and given his status — young, talented, controllable for two more years at reasonable salaries — that certainly isn’t the end of the list.
ESPN reported that industry folks think the Pirates are prepared to trade Cole if their asking price is met.
The Yankees would seem to fit. They are seeking starters while trying to reduce their payroll to less than the $197 million luxury tax — no small task after taking on $265 million worth of Giancarlo Stanton’s salary. They drafted Cole in the first round of high school in 2008, but he chose to attend UCLA. And Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Huntington have pulled off several trades in recent years: A.J. Burnett, Chris Stewart, Francisco Cervelli, Ivan Nova.
MLB Trade Rumors projects Cole to make $7.5 million in 2018, his second year of arbitration. He will reach free agency after the 2019 season. Trading Cole would net the Pirates the best return among players they likely would consider moving, but also leave a hole in the rotation.
A fourth outfielder
The Pirates are considering the acquisition of a fourth outfielder via trade or free agency to allow Jordan Luplow to begin the year in Class AAA Indianapolis, Huntington said.
“He didn’t have a ton of at-bats down there a year ago,” Huntington said.
“If that’s where we end up, that’s great. If we end up with Jordan on our major league team, then we’ll go forward with that as well.”
Luplow, 24, was promoted from Class AA Altoona in late June and got 86 Class AAA plate appearances before his promotion to the majors in July. He received an additional 96 in August, after being sent back down, before finishing the season in the majors.
Other notes
The fact that the Pirates had a lot of money in their international bonus pool received national attention in Shohei Ohtani’s recruitment. The roughly $2.3 million in the bonus pool that must be used by June 15 could be used for signing more international free agents, trades or both, Huntington said. ... Jose Osuna, who is playing third base in winter ball, will play both corner infield spots in spring training. “We’ll get a really good read from there as to how we feel he best fits for us and how we can best help him in his career,” Huntington said. ... The Pirates bought the contract of outfielder Bralin Jackson of the Washington Wild Things of the independent Frontier League. Jackson was the MVP of the league’s 2017 All- Star Game.