Evan Meek

Picking up Meek in the Rule 5 draft might represent Neal Huntington's best move as Pittsburgh's GM. Meek, who possesses an honest mid-90s fastball, heads into spring training in a battle with Joel Hanrahan for the closer's job. Manager Clint Hurdle has stated that he prefers having one stopper, but it's hard to guarantee either will stay healthy or exclusively pitch in the ninth inning all season. Meek compiled a 2.14 ERA in 80 innings and struck out 70 batters. Pittsburgh looked mostly toward Hanrahan to close games out following the trade of Octavio Dotel. Meek, who blew six of 10 saves chances overall, converted three of four after July. Still, at age 27, he's just now tapping into his potential. Huntington hasn't ruled out trading Meek or Hanrahan for the right package, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Pittsburgh stick with the successful duo again in 2011.

Meek missed a golden opportunity to establish himself as a major league reliever in 2009 due to an oblique injury that sidelined him for the last two months of the season. Before getting hurt, Meek showed some positive signs, limiting batters to 34 hits and a .209 batting average in 47 innings. Of course, control presented an issue for the Rule 5 pickup, as evidenced by a 42:29 K:BB ratio. Following the team's decision to non-tender Matt Capps in December, Meek and Joel Hanrahan might get looks to close out games in 2010.

Meek has reportedly found control to go along with a fastball that varied in speed last year from 84 mph to 97 mph. No kidding. The Rule 5 pickup, who was sent back to Tampa Bay and then bought back by the Bucs in 2008, displayed some promise during winter ball. According to Latin American scouting director Rene Gayo, Meek's light bulb went off in the Mexican League, where he compiled nine straight scoreless outings en route to a 2.93 ERA and .167 opponent's batting average. The enigmatic right-hander will be in the mix for a bullpen spot in 2009, trying to build upon his minor league performance which included a 2.51 ERA and 51:17 K:BB ratio in 32 combined Double-A and Triple-A appearances. At 25, the window of opportunity is closing for Meek, though the Pirates have plenty of room for pitchers with upside.