With Albert Pujols now in Kardashian territory, and Prince Fielder likely to be the next player to show up in an Eminem song, the Reds’ Joey Votto is the obvious choice for the best first baseman in the NL Central.
Sure the Cardinals brought in Lance Berkman and the Astros have Carlos Lee, and the Brewers and Cubs have unproven no-names Mat Gamel and Bryan LaHair respectively, but the Pirates technically don’t have their 2012 first basemen locked up yet.
As of right now, Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee are headed for arbitration and are likely to be the Buccos only options at the one bag, but if the team were to go after Derrek Lee, give him what he wants, and bring him back to the Burgh, the Pirates could have the Central’s second-most productive first baseman for the first time since Kevin Young…who’d you think we were going to say, Randall Simon?
The Buccos did a great job avoiding arbitration with their pitchers this offseason and they likely want to do the same with Jones and McGehee and even if they head to a courtroom to finalize a salary, both guys will be in black and gold when the season starts. But neither is a better option at first than Lee.
Sure, Lee turned down the Buccos’ salary arbitration offer that probably would’ve landed him $7.25 million, his salary from last year, but he’s not exactly getting the interest from other clubs that he thought he would. That means Lee could end up retiring if he doesn’t get picked up by one of the teams of his choice.
At 36, Lee’s definitely on his way out but we saw last year what he could still do at the plate even with the rest of the Bucs struggling to score runs. And if he’s just going to be sitting on his couch, why not pay him the money he wants to see if he can help put a stop to the losing.
He only played in 28 games for the Buccos after the trade deadline but every time he was in the lineup he had an impact. He hit .337 with 7 homeruns and 18 RBIs. So what if he only hit .246 in 85 games while he was with the Orioles the first half of the year – the American League’s not for him. He still hit .285 for the year; that’s 42 points better than what Jones did.
It’s unlikely that had Lee been in the Burgh the entire year that his numbers would mirror his 28-game sample but even taking his age and the Bucco’s downfall into consideration, he still would’ve finished the year with more than 30 bombs and close to 100 RBIs. Compare those numbers with Andrew McCutchen’s team leading 23 homers and 89 RBIs, and Neil Walker’s team-high .273 batting average, and it would have been awfully nice to have D-Lee here for a full season.
If Lee could come anywhere close to hitting that production in 2012, can you imagine the damage the Pirates’ offense could finally do with Jose Tabatta, Walker and McCutchen hitting in front of him? In ’05 he hit 46 homers and had led the majors with a .335 average; in ’09 he batted in 111 runs; and in years that he’s played at least 100 games for the same team, he’s only had an OPS below .820 once. He’s a career .281 hitter, with a .365 on-base percentage and .859 OPS; the Buccos need that kind of production out of their first baseman.
Jones is definitely a fan favorite but he’s never come close to hitting the numbers he put up in his first year with the club. As a 27-year-old back in ’09, Jones hit 21 bombs (and I mean bombs) and hit .293 in 82 appearances. The following year he played in almost twice as many games but hit the same number of homers and saw his on-base percentage drop 64 points. Last season he hit a whopping 16 home runs with 58 RBIs in 148 games.
He’ll be 31 this year. He’s not a starter. It’d be great for the Pirates to agree to a contract and keep him as a reserve first baseman and a fifth outfielder but for Jones to be an everyday starter just means the Buccos have no other choice at the position.
The same goes for McGehee. He’s been starting in Milwaukee for the last three years, but he’s been doing his starting at third base. He’s only played first 11 times in his 437 games as a pro; so to say he’s an option to start there is insane. He did have a down year last season but in ’10, McGehee hit .285 with 23 homers, 104 RBIs and had a .801 OPS. Plus, McGehee was brought in to challenge Pedro Alvarez, not fill the first-base void.
D-Lee is the only man that can fill that void, and do it successfully. This is a guy that’s won a World Series, won division titles, has been to two All-Star games and has three Golden Gloves. There’s not a player in the Pirates’ clubhouse that can say the same. And D-Lee has been through six teams in his 14 years, he knows what to expect from just about every NL team, especially in the Central, where he spent six full seasons.
Lee is just waiting for the market to come to him. Well, the Pirates are part of that market and that’s exactly what they need to do. Yea, he’s going to cost close to $10 mil and no, he’s not the long-term answer, but if the Buccos want to stop the losing before the streak turns 20, Lee is the best only option for 2012. If Neal Huntington was willing to take a chance on Lyle Overbay then why not with D-Lee?
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