(Including Major and Minor League Stats)
Hitting
Pitching
Depth Chart
| POSITION | PLAYER |
| Catcher | 1) Ronny Paulino |
| 2) Ryan Doumit/Humberto Cota | |
| First Base | 1) Adam LaRoche |
| 2) Brad Eldred | |
| Second Base | 1) Jose Castillo |
| 2) | |
| Third Base | 1) Jack Wilson |
| 2) | |
| Shortstop | 1) Freddy Sanchez |
| 2) | |
| Left Field | 1) Jason Bay |
| 2) Jody Gerut/Luis Matos | |
| Center Field | 1) Chris Duffy |
| 2) Nate McLouth | |
| Right Field | 1) Xavier Nady |
| 2) Jose Bautista | |
| Starting Pitchers | 1) Zack Duke |
| 2) Ian Snell | |
| 3) Shawn Chacon | |
| 4) Paul Maholm | |
| 5) Tom Gorzelanny | |
| 6) Sean Burnett/Brian Bullington | |
| Relief Pitchers | 1) John Grabow |
| 2) Salomon Torres | |
| 3) Matt Capps | |
| 4) Damaso Marte | |
| 5) | |
| 6) | |
| 7) |
Projected Lineup
| CF | Chris Duffy |
| 3B | Freddy Sanchez |
| LF | Jason Bay |
| 1B | Adam LaRoche |
| RF | Xavier Nady |
| 2B | Jose Castillo |
| C | Ronny Paulino |
| SS | Jack Wilson |
Pittsburgh (NL)
2006 Record 67-95 5th place
Major Acquisitions
1B Adam LaRoche
Injured Players returning in 2006
N/A
Part time players in 2006 with major roles in 2007
CF Chris Duffy
SP Tom Gorzelanny
Position Battles
Brad Eldred missed most of the 2006 season, but before that he was a big time power prospect, hitting 107 home runs in about 1500 minor league AB's. If he puts up a good spring, it would allow the Pirates to move Nady to RF and give them a potential 30-35 home run bat in the middle of the lineup. He will be 27 in July, so they certainly won't be rushing him. For the record, Bautista will also be 27 during the season and hasn't had nearly the level of success Eldred did at the minor league level.
Updated 1/17 - with the LaRoche/Gonzalez trade, Eldred will miss out on an opportunity to win a big league job in 2007 barring injury. The big position battle in the spring will now pit Salomon Torres, John Grabow and Matt Capps against each other for the closer position. Damaso Marte has the best numbers of the group, but is more of a lefty specialist. He might also get a look, but I think Grabow will win the job. His strikeout numbers have been above average. His control has always been issue and he'll need to improve here in order to match Gonzalez's production. Although Gonzalez's control didn't hold him back.
Closer Situation
Mike Gonzalez saved 24 games in his first year as a closer, while striking out 10.7 per 9 IP. He will be the closer in 2007.
Updated 1/17 - see above. This will be a battle in March between Torres, Grabow and Capps.
Sleeper Candidate(s)
Brad Eldred could easily put up a 30 home run season with 500 AB's if given the opportunity. Ronny Paulino had a very solid rookie year, albeit with no power, and should build on that in 2007 - his minor league career showed 15-20 home run power. Chris Duffy had an outstanding finish to the 2006 season which was overshadowed by his horrible start. He could be good for 40 steals to go with a .350/.360 OBP.
Rookie Report
The Pirates don't have much at the higher minor league levels. For future impact rookies, click here.
| SP | Brian Bullington | He could compete for a starting spot in 2007, but avoid him, his career minor league numbers are nothing special - K/9 of 6.7 and K/BB ratio of 2.7. |