Top Five Pirates Late January Free Agent Signings
As we sit today on January 13th, 2021, several of the game's top Free Agents are left without a team. The Hot Stove has been more of a low simmer with many players still waiting for their big-money contracts. The trade market has been active, with guys like Blake Snell and Yu Darvish on the move, but other than that it has been quiet. However, with about a month remaining before the start of Spring Training in February, there is still time for that next big splash to be made. While the Pirates aren't a team that normally makes a splash with the Big Time free agents, they have still made several late January moves to help bolster their team. Players are usually more flexible and it allows teams like the Pirates to get better quality talent at cheaper prices.
For the Pirates, this has resulted in some good talent that has helped the Pirates down the stretch. One recent example of a late move that benefitted the Pirates was when they traded for Corey Dickerson on February 22nd, 2018. Dickerson ended up playing two seasons in Pittsburgh and won his first Gold Glove while hitting over .300. Today, we are looking back at the top 5 Pittsburgh Pirates Free Agency signings in late January. This does not include any players acquired in trades and only includes players signed between January 13th and January 31st. The five men on this list all impacted the team in a positive way and went on to have good careers in Pittsburgh.
#5 RHP Franicsco Cordova: January 18th, 1996
Towards the end of January before the 1996 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to add to their pitching depth. There was an open spot for a long-reliever on their roster and the team took a chance signing amateur free agent Francisco Cordova. He had spent the previous four seasons pitching in the Mexican League, and he ended up impressing the Pirates enough to name him to the Opening Day Roster in 1996. He put together a solid season that year, appearing in 59 games, six starts, and going 4-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 99 innings of work. He even served as the team's closer for a time that season and went 12-18 in save opportunities. However, the starting rotation was where he belonged and he would move there in 1997 and stayed for the next four seasons.
Over his five seasons in Pittsburgh, Cordova put up good numbers, going 42-47 with a 3.96 ERA over 753.2 innings of work. He struck out 16.7% of the hitters he faced over his career and was known for his solid control with a walk per nine rate of just 2.8 over those five seasons. However, what he will be most noted for in his Pirates career is his combined no-hitter on July 12th, 1997 with Ricardo Rincon. It was Cordova's best start in a Pirates uniform as he went nine-inning while walking two and striking out 10 batters. However, the game was still scoreless after nine and Cordova had thrown 121 pitches. He was relieved by Ricardo Rincon and the Pirates won the game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th. It was the first combined no-hitter in team history and is the last no-hitter thrown by the Pirates.
#4 OF Lee Lacy: January 19th, 1979
When you think of the 1979 World Series Champion Pirates, you think of the big names like Willie Stargell, Omar Moreno, and Bill Madlock. However, even the bench players contributed that season, and Lee Lacy was one of those back-ups that paved the way to the World Series. The Pirates signed Lacy on January 19th, 1979, hoping to tap into his playoff experience. The outfielder had been to the World Series four times in his career with the LA Dodgers and provided the Pirates the push to the World Series in 79. During that 79 season, Lacy appeared in 84 games, hitting .247 with five home runs and 15 RBI, while going 1-4 in the World Series.
Eventually, Lacy would go on to win a starting outfield job with the Pirates in the early 80s and was a starting outfielder from 1982-1984. He finished his Pirates career hitting .304 with 35 home runs and 172 RBI over 638 games played. He was never an all-star caliber ourfielder, but he consistently hit in the .300s throughout his time in Pittsburgh. He left the Pirates in free agency following the 1984 season and went on to play three more seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. He retired following the 1987 season wrapping up a 16-year Major League Career where he was a career .286 hitter for four different teams.
#3 RHP Jeff Suppan: January 31st, 2003
Throughout his Major League Career, Jeff Suppan was known as a middle of the rotation, innings eater. He was never an all-star caliber pitcher, but he had enough success to anchor a spot in the starting rotation. He spent 17-years in the MLB and went 140-146 with a 4.70 ERA over 2542.2 innings of work. Before the 2003 season, the Pirates were looking for a veteran presence to add to their rotation, when Suppan became available. They ended up signing him, and he began the season in the middle of the Pirates rotation. He was coming off a down year with the Kansas City Royals in 2002 and was looking to rebound with Pittsburgh.
He rebounded nicely with a typical Jeff Suppan type season that saw him go 10-7 with a 3.57 ERA over his first 21 starts with the Pirates. He dropped his ERA by more than 200 points and was generating soft contact throughout the season. With the Pirates falling out of contention, the decision was made to deal Suppan at the trade deadline. It was the return the Pirates got for Suppan that rates him #3 on this list. On July 31st, 2003, the Pirates traded Suppan to the Boston Red Sox and got Mike Gonzalez and Freddy Sanchez in return. Sanchez went on to win a batting title in 2006, and Gonzalez was a consistent young starting pitcher for the Pirates. Suppan went on to play eight more years in the MLB and retired after the 2012 season.
#2 IF Pokey Reese: January 30th, 2002
In the era right before Jack Wilson took over as the Pirate's full-time shortstop, the team was in search for someone to fill the position. The Pirates had had a good look at Pokey Reese over the years as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, and the infielder was a free agent following the 2001 season. He was on the decline, hitting .224 with nine home runs and 40 RBI for the Reds the year prior, and was looking for a bounce-back. He signed with the Pirates at the end of January and became the team's starting shortstop. In 2002 it looked like Reese had found his contact swing again as he hit .262 with four home runs and 50 RBI while stealing 12 bases.
It was just what the Pirates needed that season, and they decided to bring him back for 2003. He served as a mentor for the young Jack Wilson during that season and appeared in just 30 games hitting .215 with a home run and 12 RBI. Meanwhile, Wilson was thriving in his new role as the team's starting shortstop and Reese's time in Pittsburgh was coming to an end. He continued to work with Wilson, especially on the defensive side of the ball, for the rest of the season. With Wilson fully initiated to Major League Baseball, the Pirates granted Reese free agency at the end of the season. It was a short run in Pittsburgh for Reese, but he filled an area of need and mentored a young talented apprentice.
#1 RHP Dock Ellis: January 14th, 1964
Doc Ellis was one of the most notable starting pitchers in Pittsburgh Pirates history. His famed LSD no-hitter lives on in Pirates lore and he was a big part of the 1971 World Championship team. However, before all that he was just a young pitcher from Los Angeles, California. He went undrafted out of Los Angeles Harbor College but was determined to go pro in baseball. It was on January 14th, 1964 that he got the opportunity as he signed on as an Amateur Free Agent with the Pirates. Four years later, Ellis was a member of the Pirates starting rotation and would stay there for eight seasons.
Ellis's best season came during the 1971 Championship year as he led the Pirates rotation to the World Series. He earned his first and only All-Star Game appearance and went 19-9 with a 3.06 ERA over 31 starts that season. Ellis would post double-digit wins in six of his eight seasons in Pittsburgh and finished his career a two-time World Champion as he appeared in three games for the Bucs during the 1979 season. In nine total seasons with Pittsburgh, he went 96-80 with a 3.16 ERA over 1430 innings of work. He might have just been a young kid at the time of his signing, but Ellis turned into one of the elite starting pitchers of the 70s for the "We Are Family" Bucs.
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