KevinAppleby.com

Spring Training is underway, so it's time that I start discussing the Pirates' upcoming season.
Today, I'll take a look at the infield.
The rates I'll be using as estimations are ZiPS projections from Baseball Think Factory's Dan Szymborski.

C - Humberto Cota (.238/.296/.373) and Ryan Doumit (.264/.327/.424)
1B - Sean Casey (.313/.373/.441)
2B - Jose Castillo (.277/.325/.394)
SS - Jack Wilson (.272/.314/.395)
3B - Joe Randa (.277/.332/.440)

Well, that's not exactly an infield filled with heavy hitters, now is it??

Cota will likely see the majority of the time behind the plate despite being a worse hitter than both Doumit and Ronny Paulino. He's a better defender than either of the others, but that sub-.300 OBP is tough to swallow.

At the corners, the Pirates will have two newcomers in Sean Casey and Joe Randa. Both are veterans that can draw a walk and have nice doubles power. Normally, that's not how you want to describe your corner infielders, but the Pirates need players that are actually able to get on base. It's tough to score runs from the dugout. I've heard people knock both of these acquistions, but I'm actually pretty fond of these moves and think they'll help the team. After all, they're only replacing Daryle Ward and Freddy Sanchez/Rob Mackowiak.

Up the middle, Jack Wilson and Jose Castillo return. Neither one is a good hitter(Castillo's 2005 OPS+ was 87, Wilson's was 72). However, they should form one of the better double-play combos in the NL.

Defensively, this is going to be a very good infield. Randa has a solid reputation, but it looks as if he may be a slight step down from Sanchez. Casey will be a pretty significant upgrade over Ward/Eldred. As mentioned above, Wilson/Castillo has a chance to be a very nice combo up the middle.

Offensively, Casey is the only one who's going to provide much offense, and he could still be worse than the average 1B due to the nature of the position. Castillo and Doumit both have room to grow. If the Pirates are going to get more offense than expected from the infield, it's going to come from one of those two.

Depth: Ronny Paulino is waiting for a chance behind Cota and Doumit. At first, Craig Wilson could easily slide to first and Brad Eldred is going to be in AAA getting some more seasoning. At third, Freddy Sanchez is probably Randa's equal. Sanchez can also back up Castillo at second. At SS, the team could be in trouble if Wilson goes down. There doesn't seem to be anyone pushing for major league playing time right now.

Overall: While this isn't a group of All Stars, there aren't any glaring holes. They upgraded at first and are counting on natural progression for improvement at a couple of other spots. Signing Randa to replace Sanchez is questionable, but not indefensible. For the Pirates, this looks like a pretty good group.