Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pirates scouting James Shields tonight
As the Pirates seek a starting pitcher, the team continues to take the stance that they will only give up assets for a non-rental starter.
The Pirates continue to look into Tampa Bay’s James Shields, a pitcher GM Neal Huntington has been high on for a while now and has been asking about for over a month, a team source said earlier this week. The Rays are reportedly at least listening on Shields who is 8-6 with a 4.36 ERA. He’s an innings eater, ranking 8th in AL with 123.2 innings pitched and 6th in strikeouts with 114. Shields is so attractive on the trade market to teams because he could be under team control through the 2014 season. Shields is making $7 million this season, following by a $9 million club option with $2.0 million buyout in 2013 and a $12.0 million club option with a $2 million buyout in 2014. The Rays are reportedly looking to get an impact major-league bat or a catching prospect in return for Shields.
The Pirates tonight are among several teams with a talent evaluator in attendance tonight, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports report. In addition to the Pirates, Detroit, Anahiem, Boston, New York Yankees, San Francisco and Toronto also had scouts in attendance tonight and believed to have their eye on the 30 year old Shields.
