28-year old righty swinging Ronny Cedeno will go into the 2011 season as the Pirates’ starting shortstop once again. Cedeno played in 139 games for the Pirates last season and he was 120 of 468 (.256 avg, .675 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 8 homers, 38 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. That is about the best the Pirates can hope for out of Cedeno offensively because he’s not much of a hitter. Cedeno made 18 errors in 136 games at SS for the Pirates last season while showing slightly above average range. If Cedeno plays good defense, the Pirates will forgive his relative lack of offense.

25-year old righty swinging Pedro Ciriaco played in 8 games for the Pirates last season and he was 3 for 6 (.500 avg, 1.500 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI. He also played in 110 games in AAA-ball in which he was 126 of 476 (.265 avg, .667 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 6 homers, 57 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Ciriaco made 26 errors in 115 games at SS in the minors last season, but he has the reputation of being a good defensive SS. Ciriaco will have to beat out Josh Rodriguez & Corey Wimberly if he wants to win a job on the Pirates’ bench.

26-year old righty swinging Josh Rodriguez was a Rule 5 Draft Pick over the winter (from the Indians) so he has a leg up on the competition for a bench spot. Rodriguez played in 54 games in AAA-ball last season at SS and he made 10 errors, so he has a lot to work on this spring.

27-year old switch hitting Corey Wimberly played in 135 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 151 of 531 (.284 avg, .727 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 3 homers, 57 RBIs and 56 stolen bases. He made 4 errors in 31 games at SS in AAA-ball last season. Wimberly’s speed and versatility give him a good chance to win a job on the bench.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PIRATES SHORTSTOPS IN 2011: C-

25-year old switch hitting Neil Walker was solid as a rookie for the Pirates last season and they hope he’s even better in 2011. Walker played in 110 games for the Pirates last season and he was 126 of 426 (.296 avg, .811 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 12 homers, 66 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Walker will be hitting near the top of the lineup for the Pirates and he’s a good fit there. Don’t be surprised if he hits around .300 with 15-20 homers in 2011. Walker was a 3B in the minors but he switched over to 2B to get him to the show. He made 7 errors in 105 games at 2B for the Pirates last season and there is reason to think he will get better with practice this spring.

26-year old righty swinging Josh Rodriguez was picked off the Indians’ roster in the Rule 5 Draft over the winter so the Pirates will have to keep him on the active roster all season or offer him back to the Indians for half price. Rodriguez played in 107 games in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 113 of 380 (.297 avg, .862 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 13 homers, 57 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Rodriguez can play all over the infield and 2B isn’t his strongest position as he made 4 errors there in only 23 games in the minors last season.

27-year old switch hitting Corey Wimberly and 25-year old Pedro Ciriaco could also get some P.T. at 2B at some point in 2011 for the Pirates. Wimberly had 3 errors in 11 games in AAA-ball last season at 2B, so he has a lot of work to do defensively before he’s ready for the show. Ciriaco is a natural shorstop. He played 1 error-free game at SS for the Pirates last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES IN 2011: B+

The Pirates signed 34-year old lefty swinging Lyle Overbay over the winter to take over as the starting 1B. Overbay played in 154 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 130 of 534 (.243 avg, .762 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 20 homers, 67 RBIs and 1 stolen base. I look for Overbay’s average to come back up in 2011 as he has a career batting average of .274 with a .805 OPS in his first 10 years in the majors. Expect him to hit .270-.280 with 15-20 homers in 2011. Overbay will improve the defense at 1B too as the Pirates had a ton of issues there in 2011. He had 6 errors in 153 games at 1B last season.

29-year old lefty swinging Garrett Jones played in 112 games for the Pirates at 1B last season and he made 9 errors there. He will spend most of his time platooning in the outfield with Matt Diaz (likely in RF). 29-year old switch hitting Ryan Doumit played 3 games at 1B for the Pirates last season making 1 error. He will spend the bulk of his time behind the plate in 2011 for the Pirates.

27-year old lefty swinging Jeff Clement played in 54 games for the Pirates last season and he was 29 of 144 (.201 avg, .605 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 7 homers and 12 RBIs. Clement whiffed 37 times while only walking 6 times for the Pirates last season as he came up to the plate hacking. The Pirates actually designated Clement for assignment but no other team wanted him so they brought him back for 2011.

31-year old righty swinging Garrett Atkins played in 44 games for the Orioles last season and he was 30 of 140 (.214 avg, .562 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. He is a better hitter than he showed last season and he is a career .285 hitter with a .799 OPS in his first 817 games in the majors. In fact, from 2006-2008, Atkins averaged 95.3 runs scored, 25.0 homers and 110.0 RBIs. He could rebound in 2011.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PIRATES 1B IN 2011: C+

The Pirates catchers showed that they could hit for power but that was about the only thing that they were good at. 29-year old righty swinging Chris Snyder likely comes into spring training #1 on the depth chart at catcher but he will have to hold off Ryan Doumit to keep the gig. Snyder played in 105 games for the D-Backs & Pirates last season and he was 66 of 319 (.207 avg, .696 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 15 homers and 48 RBIs. The Pirates hope that Snyder hits for a higher average in 2011 while maintaining his power. He had 4 errors and 6 passed balls in 101 games behind the plate last season so he will need to improve to live up to his reputation of being a good defensive catcher. Snyder threw out 14 of 82 (17.1%) runners trying to steal against him last year and catchers had a 5.16 ERA with him behind the plate.

29-year old switch hitting Ryan Doumit is a much better hitter than Snyder but he’s also one of the worst defensive catchers in all of baseball. Doumit played in 124 games for the Pirates last season and he was 102 of 406 (.251 avg, .738 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 13 homers, 45 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Doumit has the potential to hit over .270 with 20+ homers but he won’t get that chance unless he improves his D. Doumit had 6 errors and 9 passed balls in only 110 games behind the plate and that’s pathetic. Doumit only threw out 6 of 90 (6.7%) runners trying to steal on him last season and Pirates’ pitchers had a 4.95 ERA with him behind the plate.

28-year old switch hitting Jason Jaramillo started last season as Ryan Doumit’s backup but he was really bad. He played in 33 games for the Pirates last season and he was 13 of 87 (.149 avg, .434 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. Jaramillo seemed to take his hitting problems behind the plate with him last year. He had 3 errors and 1 passed ball in 31 games behind the plate for the Pirates last year. He threw out 6 of 28 (21.4%) runners trying to steal on him last season but Pirates’ pitchers had a 5.68 ERA with him behind the plate. Unless the Pirates trade Snyder or Doumit or one of them get hurt, Jaramillo will be starting the 2011 season in AAA-ball.

28-year old righty Dusty Brown will also be in camp for the Pirates. He played in 7 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 3 of 12 (.250 avg, .583 OPS) with 2 RBIs. He also played in 74 games in Rookie+A+AAA-ball last season and he was 57 of 248 (.230 avg, .718 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 8 homers, 30 RBIs and 1 stolen base. In 7 games with the Red Sox last season, Brown had 2 passed balls but 0 errors. He threw out 1 of 7 (14.3%) runners trying to steal against him last season and Red Sox’ pitchers had a 4.04 ERA with him behind the plate. I think Brown will be sharing time with Jason Jaramillo in AAA-ball when the 2011 season begins.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PIRATES CATCHERS IN 2011: C-