Pittsburgh Pirates Sign Jeff Karstens to One-Year Deal


(Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports)

With the 2013 season just a few months away, the Pittsburgh Pirates are relieved to know they’ll have one of their starting pitchers back this year–Jeff Karstens.

The right-handed pitcher agreed to a one-year deal on Thursday worth $2.5 million as he looks to build off his first winning season in 2012 since he was a rookie with the New York Yankees in 2006. Last season, Karstens started 15 games for Pittsburgh and finished with a 5-4 record to go along with a 3.97 ERA and 66 strikeouts.

Karstens may not stand out like some of the other pitchers in baseball, but hopefully this move will help the Pirates build off of last season in which they finished with a 79-83 record. In fact, there was a point during the 2012 season in which Pittsburgh looked like one of the top teams in baseball–so it’s obvious the potential is certainly there for them to compete once again in 2013.

This will be Karstens’ sixth season with the Pirates and as mentioned before, the team hopes the winning record from last season is a sign that he’s finally turning things around. The fact that the team was willing to bring him back for at least one more season despite failing to record a winning season until his fifth year shows they must have some sort of confidence in him for 2013.

Otherwise–what would the point have been to chalk up that kind of money for one season when they could have just parted ways with him and be done for good?

“Like” Dan Parzych on Facebook

Be sure to follow Dan on Twitter @DanParzych

Where Does the Ace on Your Favorite MLB Team Rank?
Check Out the Hottest WAGs of MLB players
Who is Every MLB Team's Most Underrated Player in 2013?


We Recommend

MLB Rant

Around the Web