Stark's Rumbling and Grumblings

According to Jayson Stark we'll be signing PAUL BYRD!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings

WHAT THEY NEED: Veteran starting pitcher.

FREE AGENT WHO COULD TOP THEIR LIST: Paul Byrd.

HOW THEY'LL SHOP: If you paid attention last July, you might have noticed this is a team expunging veterans, not collecting them. So free agency isn't the Pirates' kind of shopping scene. But they are looking for an established starting pitcher who can provide some semblance of leadership and mentorship to the young group. And GM Neal Huntington knows Byrd well from their time in Cleveland. So he's one potential fit.

What the article suggests certainly coincides with NH's statements on the issue, but the overall sense I have is that we have gotten so bad that a player will only come here if there is no other viable choice. Given how many teams are looking for pitching, I suspect that any pitcher even remotely good enough to help us will have other opportunities. We will only get someone if we pay enough more than the other guys to be attractive, or if we look for someone who has been written off by others and is after a one year stint to prove he's recovered from whatever and still able to pitch at the major league level.

Does Paul Byrd fit any of those categories?

I really have trouble believing that the Pirates will have any luck coming to an agreement with an mid to high level FA. I can see some possible low level FAs signing late.

As others have mentioned it would take more money then the Pirates will pay to bring anyone of real value to Pittsburgh - which is sad