Get Your Grilled Cheese Ready!

Jason Grilli re-signed with the Pirates today for 2 years and $7 million. Good deal in my opinion because I thought he'd cost more. Rumor is he turned down more money to stay which makes me happy because it shows me loyalty is not completely dead in the MLB. We gave him his great opportunity and he payed us back for it. Grilli struck out 13.8 batters per 9 innings last year and if he can replicate that, this will be a steal. Pretty good for a guy we got for absolutely nothing 2 years ago. In the big picture however this means we can trade Hanrahan and be confident with Grilli as the closer. I'm sure the Pirates put some things in place during the Winter Meetings regarding Hanrahan trades that were contingent on Grilli re-signing so I'd expect Hanrahan to be traded as early as this week right before Piratefest. Teams to watch on that front: Tigers, Dodgers, and Mariners. All are interested in him and we could get a starter like Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang, Rick Porcello, or Jason Vargas in return. Overall, I'm happy with the deal and it helps us in much more ways than it hurts.