Late Innings

The Pirates and All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth agreed on a contract today:

Outfielder Nate McLouth reached agreement Tuesday with the Pittsburgh Pirates on a $15.75 million, three-year contract that includes a team option for 2012.

The agreement was struck hours before the scheduled start of a salary arbitration hearing in Phoenix.

I’m not sure how much his first year of free agency will be (the “team option"), however in either case this looks like a good deal on behalf of the Pirates. Once again, Neil Huntington quietly is making moves that will make this team respectable in the semi-near future, very similar to how Mark Shapiro is handling his team’s contention status in Cleveland.

In either case, using the wonderful data that’s available at FanGraphs:

Granted McLouth’s defense might be overrated (especially with last season’s Gold Glove in his pocket), he’s still a valuable player by far. Even with that dragging defense, he’s still worth 3.6 wins above replacement, or worth about 16MM last year. He’s getting 15.75MM over the next three years. Good deal indeed.

Pirates’ fans don’t have much to look forward too, however they should be pleased of the direction that Huntington is leading the team. Over the past two years, we’ve seen affordable extensions given to Ian Snell, Matt Capps, Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit and now McLouth. The Pirate ship is clearly steered in the right direction. Now the fun part will be seeing this team in three years, when McLouth, Jose Tabata and (another talented McOutfielder) Andrew McCutchen are patrolling the team’s outfield.