Meek heads to DL; Daniel Moskos Called Up

As a Pirates fan, you knew something wasn't quite right with Evan Meek.



After going 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 8 innings of work this season, Meek will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder injury. In 2010, Meek went 5-4 with a 2.14 ERA in 80 innings while being selected to his first All-Star game. Coming into this season, Manager Clint Hurdle elected to place Evan Meek as the setup man while naming Joel Hanrahan the closer. This one-two punch was widely regarded as one of the better relief tandems in the league and while Joel Hanrahan has been spectacular, Evan Meek as been abysmal.


Replacing Meek will be former first round pick Daniel Moskos. Coming out of Clemson, Moskos was selected by the Pirates 4th overall in the 2007 Amateur Draft. Unfortunately, this was not a talent-based pick for the Buccos, but rather a signability pick made by, then General Manager, David Littlefield. The Pirates could have taken Matt Wieters who, at the time, was touted as the next Joe Mauer. While Wieters has yet to live up to that hype playing for the Baltimore Orioles, Moskos has struggled throughout his minor league career. Last year in AAA Indianapolis, Moskos went 0-5 with a 10.38 ERA; hardly the type of performance worthy of a call-up.

The most disappointing part of the Moskos selection was the amount of talent surrounding the first round of that draft. The Pirates did not have power hitters in their system back in 2007, nor did they have power-arms with front line rotation stuff. Yet, the Pirates took a reliever. Here was the scouting report on Moskos courtesy of MLB.com:



"Moskos entered the season as one of the, if not the top, college reliever in the draft class, helped by the fact he throws from the left side. When Clemson made him their Friday starter out of need, it was a win-win, with scouts able to see if his three pitch repertoire would hold up over more innings considering he uses maximum effort delivery. He was pitching well and deep into games later in the year but the jury was still out whether teams believed he could start long-term."



To paraphrase, a lot of question marks but talented enough to possibly be a solid reliever.


Still, as long as the Pirates continue to lose, this draft will be as highly rated on the all-time-bonehead-front-office-decisions list as the Aramis Ramirez trade. Players drafted after Moskos who are either in the Majors or on their way to stardom include: Matt Wieters, Ross Detwiler, Matt LaPorta, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Dominguez, Jason Heyward, J.P. Arencibia, Andrew Brackman.


Nevertheless, Moskos has a chance to ease the pain for Pirates fans if he can pitch effectively in a late-game role. Given the successes of Jose Veras and Chris Resop in the 8th inning role this season, it looks as though Moskos will be used sparingly to start. However, given the lack of left-handed arms in the bullpen, Daniel Moskos can stay in the Majors if he becomes effective while Evan Meek is on the mend.


The fan's reception of him in Pittsburgh should be interesting to say the least. It has been reported that Moskos will meet the team in Colorado.

written by Jon Pennline