Rockies Sign Vizcaino

Pirates fall short in bidding for Vizcaino
Thursday, December 13, 2007
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pirates narrowly missed out on a big step toward addressing their need for right-handed relief.

According to a high-ranking team official last night, they fell just short in the bidding for free agent Luis Vizcaino, who apparently has decided to go with the Colorado Rockies, the only other finalist for his services as of late yesterday afternoon.

Vizcaino, 33, had a 4.30 ERA for the New York Yankees in 77 appearances last season, striking out 62 and walking 43. Each of the previous three seasons, his ERA was 3.75 or lower.

The Pirates were a late arrival in the bidding for Vizcaino, because their need was not heightened until Salomon Torres was traded Friday. They have only three experienced pitchers in the bullpen.

With ownership's blessing, they went after Vizcaino "very hard," in the words of the team official. It was not known how much the Pirates offered or what Vizcaino apparently has accepted from Colorado, but the Pirates probably went with a high salary on a short-term contract, as per general manager Neal Huntington's philosophy regarding relievers.

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