Casey swap puts him on the spot

By Marc Lancaster
Post staff reporter


SARASOTA, Fla. - In a sense, Dave Williams got lucky by sticking with his original organization as long as he did.

Drafted by Pittsburgh in 1998, Williams spent eight years moving through the Pirates' organization before spending his first full season in the majors in 2005. Such mutual displays of patience aren't all that common in baseball. Often times, one party or the other gives up when immediate results aren't apparent. But even when Williams didn't perform as well as he could have, the Pirates gave him the benefit of the doubt.

He made the club as the fifth starter last season despite allowing 40 baserunners in 24 innings spread over six spring training outings. It's fair to say not much was expected of the man at the back of the rotation for the team that ended up having the worst record in baseball's largest division, but Williams still managed to go 10-11 with a 4.41 ERA in 25 starts.

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