My Pirates 2016 season preview: Roster

     We know very well how the last few years have ended for the Pirates. Without going into great detail, we can say it's been a disappointment. The Pirates have done some things this offseason to try to get them over the hump. Dumping Charlie Morton and trading hometown hero Neil Walker. Losing AJ Burnett, JA Happ, Joakim Soria, Antonio Bastardo, and Aramis Ramirez, as well as non-tendering slugger Pedro Alvarez. Lots of pieces went out the door, but many others came in. Among those big names were Jon Neise, Ryan Vogelsong, John Jaso, Neftali Feliz, and many others. Yes, the Pirates have had a topsy-turvy offseason. Despite this, many are still predicting that they will have a very good season, and possibly another playoff berth. Today, I will be going over how I project the Pirates' roster will be built up and who will be on the 25-man after Spring Training. 

*Projections based on everyone being healthy 

Starting lineup:

RF Polanco

2B Harrison

CF Cutch

3B Kang

LF Marte

C Cervelli

1B Jaso/Morse

SS Mercer

Pitcher

Analysis: I like Polanco and Harrison as the 1 and 2 hitters. They'll see more pitches to hit that way with Cutch batting 3rd. Despite Jaso being an on-base machine, he'll hit lower in the lineup to balance it out more. The middle of Kang, Marte, and Cervelli isn't quite the most destructive, but it's formidable. Pirates lineup is built on a good balance of speed, contact, and power. This is a formula adopted from the Royals, who have baffled the MLB with it the last two years. 

Bench:

1B/OF Jason Rogers

Utility Sean Rodriguez

C Chris Stewart

1B Morse/Jaso

OF Matt Joyce

Analysis: This is a deep bench, with a lot of versatility. The signing of Joyce will help the OF depth a whole lot, and provide the Pirates with a real 4th OF, making Rogers and Rodriguez more or less pure IF depth, which is always needed. Florimon will not be needed for a bench because, despite his one clutch hit last year, he's not a good enough hitter to make this bench right now. Willy Garcia will likely not break spring training on the 25-man as the 4th OF because it might kill his development, as he is seen as a starting OF. There's no room right now. Joyce makes more sense with his experience. 

Starting rotation:

Cole

Liriano

Neise

Vogelsong

Locke

Analysis: The only reason Vogelsong is 4th starter is to split up the 3 lefties as best they can. There is little doubt the Cole and Liriano are the top 2 guys. Though the Pirates rotation looks weak in comparison to previous years, which means nothing anymore because their rotation always exceeds expectations.

Bullpen 

Melancon- Closer

Watson- Set up

Feliz- Set up

Caminero- middle/set up

O'Flaherty- middle/specialist

Hughes- middle 

Nicasio- long relief/Hybrid

Analysis: This bullpen also has a lot of versatility to it. Many guys can do many different things. Teams won't know who they will see out of that bullpen until the 8th and 9th with Watson and Melancon. Now, the Pirates are going to have some extremely tough bullpen choices, but I think they'll choose O'Flaherty for that last spot based on him being a lefty and his past accomplishments prior to last season. Though, Haley, Holdzkom, Lobstein, Luebke, Scahill, and others will make contributions. It seems to always work out that extra guys are needed. Pirates depth in the bullpen isn't a problem. It's whether that depth is good or not. Much of that is based on Ray Searage, who has his hands full this time around. 

     Tomorrow, I will highlight a few Pirates' players that I think will exceed expectations in 2016. Stay tuned for that as I continue my series of Pirates projections for the upcoming season.