If the Pittsburgh Pirates decide to place another statue outside of PNC Park, may I suggest the following inscription?
Give me your tired, your poor hitters, your waived masses yearning to breathe free
Following the Brandon Wood acquisition, the Pirates are taking a chance on outfielder Xavier Paul, claiming him off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Paul has been a reserve outfielder for the Dodgers since 2009, and spent most of 2010 on the bench. He's played left and right field exclusively, getting just a single inning in center over his major league career.
Paul, a fourth-round pick out of high school in 2003, is a career .233/.280/.329 hitter in the majors, though he is a .291/.360/.449 career hitter in the minors, including an impressive .320/.380/.502 line in AAA.
The Pirates' starting outfield is set with Jose Tabata, Andrew McCutchen, and Garrett Jones, and Paul will try to squeeze onto a bench that already has Matt Diaz and John Bowker as extra outfielders.
