Pittsburgh Pirates secure two-year contract with Clint Barmes – MLB News
Considered to be one of the most dependable defensive shortstops, Clint Barmes and the Pittsburgh Pirates signed a $10.5 million deal two-year contract, on Monday, November 21.
Once representing the Colorado Rockies and helping them to win the 2007 World Series title, Barmes is ideally suited for the Pittsburgh Pirates considering the vacuum that the team has in the shortstop position.
With the contract signed, he is the highest paid player of the Pirates now after Ronny Cedeno was replaced. With the likes of Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes in the free-agent shortstops’ list, Barmes might have sounded the most appealing asset to the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
This was something that the Pirates’ general manager Neal Huntington alluded to after the contract was signed.
"Much like the catching market, we felt like it was in our best interest to go get the guy that we wanted and felt like we had a legitimate chance to get," Huntington said. "In the past we sat back and waited to find and hoped that we could get a good player.”
The fact that Rollins and Reyes were to be paid highly if any contract was to be signed with them, the reasonable price was in the Pirates’ favour. Barmes, on the other hand, found it appealing as well.
Barmes was recently part of the Houston Astros. The fact that he gets a guaranteed two year deal favours him a great deal as well. He is a tremendous player with immense talent.
"The deal that the Pirates were offering -- the guaranteed two years at shortstop -- it was hard to pass up," said Barmes, who spent 2011 in Houston. "This is the first big contract that my family and I have been able to agree upon."
A look at the Barmes’ statistics in 2011 Regular Season shows he maintained a decent average of .244, hitting 12 homers in the 446 at-bats during the 123 games he played with 39 RBIs and a total of 109 hits, having a .312 OBP and .386 SLG record.
When he enters into next year’s MLB, it will be interesting to see what impact he has and how he is able to help the Pittsburgh Pirates achieve what the Colorado Rockies did in 2007.
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