CRAIG WILSON

11/30/76; '95 2nd (Toronto); Huntington Beach, CA (HS)
R/R; 6-2, 225

Level	BA	OBP	SA	AB	2B	3B	HR	BB	K	SB	CS
1995 R (Tor)	.283	.367	.484	184	14	1	7	24	44	8	2
1996 A (Tor)	.261	.316	.402	495	27	5	11	32	120	17	11
1997 A+	.264	.350	.476	401	26	1	19	39	98	6	5
1998 AA	.331	.399	.507	148	11	0	5	14	32	4	1
1998 A+	.269	.348	.507	219	12	2	12	22	53	2	1
1999 AA	.268	.367	.508	362	21	3	20	40	104	1	3
2000 AAA	.283	.383	.598	396	24	1	33	44	121	1	2
2001 NL	.310	.390	.589	158	3	1	13	15	53	3	1
2001 AAA	.289	.333	.444	45	2	1	1	2	14	0	0
2002 NL	.264	.355	.443	368	16	1	16	32	116	2	3
2003 NL	.262	.360	.511	309	15	4	18	35	89	3	1
2004 NL	.264	.354	.499	561	35	5	29	50	169	2	2
2005 NL	.264	.387	.421	197	14	1	5	30	69	3	0
2005 AAA	.381	.480	.857	21	1	0	3	3	6	1	0
2006 NL	.267	.339	.478	255	11	2	13	24	88	1	0
2006 AL (NYY)	.212	.248	.365	104	4	0	4	4	34	0	0
2007 NL (Atl)	.172	.304	.259	58	2	0	1	8	25	0	0
2007 AAA (CWS)	.180	.275	.262	61	2	0	1	7	28	0	0

The Pirates signed Wilson to a minor league deal about a week after the 2008 season began, bringing back to the organization a player who for years was one of the team's leading sources of controversy. The Pirates originally obtained Wilson in a trade with the Blue Jays. He was consistently a productive hitter in the minors and adapted quickly when he got promotions, but it became obvious that the team had little regard for him. The most telling point came when he had a strong season in AA in 1998 coming off Tommy John surgery, yet he started off the next season as the third string catcher in AAA behind two veteran non-prospects. He began hitting PH homers, though, so the team started playing him and he finished with a huge year. Nevertheless, he was given no chance to make the roster the following spring. He only got called up due to injuries and he only stuck in the majors because he kept hitting PH homers, eventually tying the single-season record.

Although he was nearly always one of the team's two or three best hitters from 2001 through 2004, the Pirates repeatedly brought in inferior players to block him from getting regular playing time. In the end, he always got significant playing time because of injuries or the embarrassingly poor performances of other players. What seemingly turned management off was Wilson's propensity to strike out-he broke Donn Clendenon's team record in 2004-and his weak defensive play. Of course, the latter excuse was hard to swallow when the team twice brought in Randall Simon to play ahead of him. Wilson was a catcher in the minors but rarely played the position in the majors. He instead played primarily 1B and RF. As a hitter he was never willing to adjust his approach, which was to swing for the fences, with two strikes or with men on base, which probably irritated his managers. He never drew a lot of walks, but always had above-average OBPs because he got hit with a lot of pitches.

Wilson missed much of 2005 with a broken hand. In 2006, he was once again one of the best hitters on a bad team, but manager Jim Tracy-who had a propensity for allowing his personal feelings about players to determine his decisions-took an extreme dislike to Wilson. He eventually buried Wilson on the bench, refusing to play him in even obvious situations. The Pirates eventually traded Wilson to the Yankees for Shawn Chacon. Wilson struggled with the Yankees and again early in the 2007 season in both the majors and minors. His problems may have been injury related, because he had shoulder surgery and missed most of the season. He signed a minor league contract with the Reds in the winter of 2008, but the deal was voided when he failed a physical.

With Steve Pearce expected to play RF full-time, Indianapolis began the season without an experienced firstbaseman. Instead, Adam Boeve moved there from the OF. It remains to be seen how much Wilson will play. He'll at least have to show that he's recovered from the shoulder surgery. It's unlikely he'll make it to Pittsburgh unless there are several injuries.

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