Pirates add some pitching depth

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Brian Burres, Neal Cotts, and Tyler Yates to minor league contracts today. Burres and Cotts are both left handed, and we're all familiar with the right handed Yates.

Burres turns 29 in April, and has 265 career innings in the majors, with a 6.08 ERA, a 5.7 K/9, a 1.39 K/BB, and a 1.1 HR/9. Burres has mostly been a starter in his career, with 214 of his 251 innings in the rotation with Baltimore and Toronto. In his 51 innings as a reliever he's posted a 7.2 K/9 and a 1.32 K/BB ratio. He also hasn't had much of an advantage against left handers, with a .302 BAA and a .814 OPS versus lefties, compared to a .298 BAA and a .839 OPS versus right handers. In his career at AAA he has a 4.02 ERA in 261.2 innings, with a 7.2 K/9, a 2.36 K/BB, and a 0.9 HR/9, mostly as a starter.

Cotts turns 30 in March, and has a career 4.63 ERA in 256.1 innings pitched, with an 8.3 K/9, a 1.79 K/BB, and a 1.3 HR/9. He put up a decent season in 2008 with a 4.29 ERA in 35.2 innings, with a 10.9 K/9, a 3.31 K/BB, and a 1.8 HR/9, although he was mostly used in a LOOGY role, making 50 appearances. Left handers are a career .253/.335/.456 against Cotts, while right handers are a career .248/.353/.405, which doesn't really make Cotts a very effective LOOGY option.

Cotts was non-tendered by the Cubs after undergoing Tommy John surgery last July. He isn't expected to be ready until the middle of the 2010 season, at which point he could compete for any job openings.

Yates is the same as Cotts. He underwent Tommy John surgery in July, and won't be available until the middle of the season. Yates posted a 3.96 ERA in 50 innings out of the Braves' bullpen in 2006. In 2007 his ratios actually improved, with Yates cutting almost 1.5 BB/9 from his 2006 season, however his ERA jumped to 5.18. The Pirates traded Todd Redmond for Yates in 2008 and watched him put up a 4.66 ERA in 73.1 innings, although his control numbers fell back toward their 2006 totals. The big problem with Yates has always been control, as he only has one year out of the last four seasons with a BB/9 ratio under 5.0.