Pittsburgh Pirates News: Team Signing Pitcher Tyler Chatwood

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to add some veteran arms to their pitching staff. Well, they apparently have reached a deal with one.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were rumored to be interested in adding at least two starting pitchers this offseason. At first, it was reported by Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic that the Bucs were interested in veteran starters Jose Quintana and Kyle Gibson. Since Biertempfel put that out both have signed elsewhere.

Looking at both players' deals, the Pittsburgh Pirates were never going to pony up that kind of cash for a free agent. Gibson will make a flat $10 million with the Orioles in 2023, while Quintana will be making $13 million with the New York Mets. Looking back both were probably never really on the Bucs' radar if that was the deals they were being offered.

Since then, the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed veteran pitcher Vince Velasquez. Velasquez signed for just over $3 million, well below what the two previously mentioned earned on the open market. So it should come as no surprise that the team is not actually looking to spend meaningful money to improve the rotation.

Well, now they have added another veteran journeyman on a minor-league deal. According to FanSideds' own Robert Murray, the Pittsburgh Pirates have reached an agreement with veteran starter Tyler Chatwood. Chatwood is most noted for his years with the Colorado Rockies, but he also appeared with the Cubs for a few seasons.

Last year he split time between the Toronto Blue Jays and the San Francisco Giants. Between the two teams he generated a 5.63 ERA across 32 innings of relief. The expectation will be for Chatwood to enter Spring Training as a starter. He will be on the outside looking in to gain a rotation spot and it would not be surprising to see him head North with the team.

The one thing that makes Chatwood somewhat interesting is the fact that he is a groundball pitcher. Major League Baseball seems to be heading back towards more of a groundball approach. Chatwood's career ground ball rate is actually over 50%, including last year. With the new rules limiting the shift and banning of "sticky stuff" Chatwood, who owns a carer ERA of 4.35, could be a good buy-low candidate.