General manager Neal Huntington told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com that the Pirates and Chan Ho Park have mutual interest in the veteran reliever returning to Pittsburgh in 2011, but it sounds like Park would have to settle for a minor-league contract with an opportunity to compete for a bullpen spot in spring training.
He was a bust in New York after signing a one-year, $1.2 million contract last winter, but Park’s struggles can be traced to serving up seven homers in 35 innings for the Yankees. Obviously that’s not a positive thing, but his ground-ball rate suggested it wouldn’t continue and sure enough he allowed just two homers in 28 innings after the Pirates claimed him off waivers in early August.
His overall numbers include a 4.66 ERA and 52/19 K/BB ratio in 64 innings and Park was a big part of the Phillies’ bullpen in 2009 with a 2.52 ERA and 52/16 K/BB ratio in 50 innings. At age 38 and with the poor first-half showing in New York he’s unlikely to be in high demand, but he still looks very capable of being a solid middle reliever and probably still warrants more than a minor-league deal.