Time Waster: Home Run Derby

In doing some random internet searching about the Pirates, I stumbled upon this from Hulu.com. Hulu is a website that has movies and tv shows available to view. One such TV show is Home Run Derby, from the 1960's. You can see the Pirates Dick "Dr. Strangeglove" Stuart compete in the tournament. Also appearing is Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Eddie Matthews and others.

It is definitely worth a look. It has nostalgia, camp, and baseball. It is really cool to watch, funny at times, and joy. I'd highly recommend it.

Prospect Flashback: Javier Martinez

For me the major league Rule 5 draft is always an exciting time. Maybe because being a Pirates fan over the last 18 years I’ve come to realize that the team won’t be signing any high priced or even marginally priced free agent talent so the chance to steal someone from another organization for next to nothing is at least one thing to look forward to. Back in the old days and I use that term loosely, the talent that could be acquired in the Rule 5 was a little better then it is today. Grant you, it was still watered down but with rule changes in the last decade enabling teams to hold onto players for that extra year it’s diluted the talent even more. None the less, to me personally, it’s always exciting to take a chance on a young player and see if you can strike gold.

Following the 97 season, Javier Martinez was a little known, hard throwing Puerto Rican righthander from the Cubs Organization, a former 3rd round pick by them in the 94 draft. He had missed a good bit of the 96 season while recovering from elbow surgery so the 97 season was pretty much a waste for him while he recovered. While pitching that off season in his native Puerto Rico he adjusted his mechanics some and managed to get a little more life on his pitches, touching 95 MPH. Apparently intrigued by him and his new found power arm the Pirates paid the Oakland A’s $100,000 to draft Martinez with the first overall pick and send his rights to the Pirates. The Pirates used Martinez sparingly throughout the 08 season mainly using him in games that were pretty much out of hand. Despite the limited play, his number were more than respectable, he posted an 0-1 record in 37 appearances and striking out 42 batters in 41 innings pitched. The one major problem he encountered was his control, walking 34 batters. That was something that dogged him throughout his minor league career and something that hopefully more minor league seasoning would rectify. All in all it was a promising debut for the young Martinez and one that the Pirates had hoped to build off of. Unfortunately an arm injury that he suffered during spring training in 99 killed any chance of him making the team when they broke camp for that season. He missed a vast majority of the season with injuries and when he was healthy he struggled in his appearances with both AA Altoona and High A Hickory. By the time November of 99 rolled around, the Pirates had designated him for assignment to make room for younger players that needed to be protected, most notably Rico Washington and Humberto Cota. Martinez was eventually released by the team in December of that year probably due to the injury issues, but I’ve been unable to find any articles that reference an exact reason for the release.

Martinez managed to make a go of it for a total of 11 seasons, hanging around in the Reds farm system for a few years then catching on with Baltimore and even a Mexican League team but never again was able to make the majors. Probably the most success he had over his professional career was the one season he worked mop up duty in the Pirates pen. I can only imagine that the Pirates had fairly lofty plans for him going forward since he projected to being a back of the bullpen power arm or even a possible closer given time but the injuries seemed to derail any chances of that happening. Although his time in the Pirates organization was short, he still made an impact, albeit a small one, with the franchise. It was for his work that one season that makes him my favorite Pirates Rule 5 pick in recent history, now we wait and see if Donnie Veal or Evan Meek can steal that title away from him.

Working Out the Rust

The AFL was Tony Sanchez's WD40.

Jen Langosch has an article that takes a look back at Tony Sanchez's Arizona Fall League. The young catcher struggled at the plate and by some accounts even behind the plate. His performance, numbers wise, is a little disconcerting as he has put up great numbers as soon as he signed with the Pirates. It seems a little out of character for him.

Kyle Stark is not all that worried. Stark tells Langosch:

"I think it was more he was just rusty getting back out there," Stark said. "Actually, he stung some balls and didn't have the results and tried to do a little bit more. We were pleased with how he went about things. The results just weren't there."

So it seems then that the brass is not all that worried. They liked what they saw from him, he was just a little rusty that is all. It might become a little more worrisome if Sanchez has results like this when he starts the year in Altoona. It iwll be interesting to see how he handles that jump, as the level of competition and the level of pitching improves greatly. We will quickly know how he can handle it all.

One additional interesting note from Stark in regards to Josh Harrison, who had a good fall:

"He's a guy that's going to continue to challenge people to think that he's better than what they think,"

I find that pretty interesting for Stark to say that he is better than people think. I have thought of Harrision in the past as a diamond in the rough, but he could also just as easily turn into Jim Negrych. Time will tell, but it clearly looks like Stark is tabbing Harrison as a sleeper.

Trouble Counting

Count von Count, Pirates 40 man advisor

The 40 man roster is supposed to be 40 men at this time of the year. The Pirates officially announced the signing of Kevin Correia on Friday at 5 PM. By adding Correia the roster stood at 41, but since apparently the MLB offices close early or something on Friday, the club supposedly had until Monday, to making a corresponding move.

It is a little after midnight, now on Tuesday and there are still 41 men on the roster. That to me does not make much sense at all. There should have been a corresponding move, no?

It was rumored over the weekend that they may have been buying time to trade Ryan Doumit to free up a space.  That may have been the case, but it still does not mean that they could possibly go into Tuesday with a overfull roster. It would have been easy to remove some pitcher from the roster to make room but they did not.

Are we indeed going to see some trade? Or is the club exploiting some little known rule that allows for the extended roster at this time of the year? Whatever it is, I am getting a little anxious to see the move that is made.

Overbay at First

Can Overbay take advantage of the short porch?

In the offseason plans for the Pirates, as with almost every Pirate offseason of recent memory, the do to list included a first baseman. The club has tried over the years to add a first baseman. There was Sean Casey, Randall Simon, and of course Adam LaRoche. None seemed to either do much or live up to expectations. Neal Huntington this year has put forth his first baseman in Lyle Overbay.

Overbay, as you may remember, was once the younger slugger with the Brewers, prior to Prince Fielder. He has since been in the American League, playing for the Blue Jays. As a Jay he has prospered, establishing himself as a solid hitter in their lineup.

It is that solid hitter that the Pirates are hoping they get, after signing Overbay to a one year $5 million contract. In Overbay the Pirates are getting, an aging player, but not too old, that has some pop in his bat and is an above average fielder.

Many may look at Overbay and wonder why sign him? Well believe it or not signing Overbay is an offensive upgrade, as he hit better than Garret Jones last season, who is now going to move to the outfield. Adding Overbay and being able to platoon Jones with Matt Diaz is an upgrade to the Milledge and Jones numbers from last season. Is it a huge upgrade, may be not, but and upgrade nonetheless.

Add in the fact that it is only a one year deal and really is not all that bad. Some may complain that they are not going to be giving time to John Bowker or Steve Pearce. I have to ask what have they done that warrants them to get a chance? Pearce has seemingly had nine lives and Bowker was the Giants version of him prior to coming over to Pittsburgh.

Adding Overbay is a good move, one that we perhaps did not see coming, but one that will help the current team become a little more competitive this season, while we look to build longer term.

Rule Five Pick - Josh Rodriguez

With the Rule Five draft approaching and the Pirates, looking at perhaps drafting yet another pitcher, they went and made a slight surprise and instead selected another middle infielder, just hours after missing out on JJ Hardy.

Rodriguez is not going to replace Ronny Cedeno, but he might be replacing Pedro Ciriaco on the big league roster, once the season starts. Ciriaco was probably going to be the multi position middle infielder to back up everyone. Instead with the selection of Rodriguez, who played at AAA last season, will get that shot as the Rule Five selection.

By adding Rodriguez, the Pirates created a log jam of sort of useful middle infielders. There is no real superstar in the whole group, just nice players. Rodriguez, Ciriaco, Friday, D'Arnaud, Mercer, and Harrision. All are pretty good, none real good, or absolute major league caliber guys.

It will be interesting to see if Rodriguez can stick. Almost every report I read on him states about the same thing, is that he is going to be a good utility guy, but not much any more than that. A utility guy we could use, especially one that is not really going to cost all that much.

Pirates Rule 5 History

On the eve of the Rule 5 draft while everyone is talking about and wondering what the Pirates might do, I wanted to take a look back at some of their previous picks and what became of them with the Pirates. Throughout the history of the Rule 5, the Pirates have had a great deal of success with some of their picks most notably Roberto Clemente but also more recently with All Star Evan Meek. Over the years we’ve seen a number of changes to the rules and with expansion we’ve seen the talent available get diluted some but none the less it’s still around and there still can be diamonds in the rough to be found. I attempted to capture all of the Pirates major league and minor league picks over the last decade and where possible offer some info on them. As a side note, it’s funny to look back at all of the minor league picks in the early to mid 2000’s when the Pirates had a very thin system. I wouldn’t expect that Pirates to draft a lot of players in the minor league phase this year considering the depth that they currently have but then again one never knows.

2009
Major League Phase:
John Raynor OF Florida Raynor made the team as an extra outfielder but only saw limited playing time. Eventually when the Pirates needed additional roster flexibility they were forced to designate him and attempted to work out a trade with the Marlins but unfortunately to no avail.

Triple A Phase:
Rodolfo Cardona SS Baltimore Drafted by the Pirates to add additional infield depth to their minor league system, Cardona offered more with his glove then his bat. He played the season out for the Bradenton Marauders in a utility role and became a minor league free agent at season’s end.

2008
Major League Phase:
Donald Veal LHP Chicago Cubs Veal made it through the 2009 season with limited action at the major league level, spending most of the time either on the DL or in the minors on rehab stints. The Pirates sent him to the Arizona Fall League following that season to get him some more work where he fared well and looked to be a contributor for the 2010 season until he was sidelined with Tommy John surgery. The Pirates recently non tendered him and from the sounds of it, look to bring him back for 2011 if possible on a minor league contract.

Triple A Phase:
Andres Santos LHP New York Yankees The first of 3 clever picks by the Pirates in the minor league phase, Santos was once a highly sought after Latin American player who signed with the Yankees for $300,000 in 2003. He had promising stuff but inconsistencies and injuries took their toll. The Pirates sent to the Gulf Coast for the 2009 season but there he struggled. The Pirates eventually released him in March of 2010.

Rafael Quintero RHP Cleveland The Pirates took him from Cleveland with the second pick in the minor league phase with interest in his power arm. After a solid 2009 in the Dominican summer league, Quintero looked like he could be a steal and ready for a break out in 2010 but he struggled mightily in the Gulf Coast League and was released in March of 2010.

Gerardo Esparza RHP Seattle The last of the 3 DSL players selected, Esparaza missed 2 seasons after having undergone TJ surgery but came back strong in the Dominican League in 2008. The Pirates rolled the dice on him but much like Quintero and Santos, he was knocked around in the Gulf Coast League and was released by the team in March of 2010.

2007
Major League Phase:
Evan Meek RHP Tampa Bay After bouncing around with a few teams prior to going to Tampa, the Pirates saw something in Meek that they really linked. Much like Donnie Veal, Meek was over matched in him limited major league time and suffered from control issues. The Pirates were though able to work out a trade with Tampa, sending them cash to retain his rights. A little over 2 years from the trade and Meek was an all star. It remains to be seen if he’ll be the full time closer for the team or if he’ll even be with them by the start of the 2011 season.

Triple A Phase:
Josh Hill RHP Minnesota After signing with the Twins in 2001, Hill was a solid organizational arm for the organization but never a top prospect. The Pirates took a flier on him and he worked well as a bullpen arm and starter for Altoona during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Mauricio Mendez RHP Boston Signed by Boston in 2003, the 6’6 Mendez was a tall-lanky pitcher who had posted solid minor league numbers for Boston in the Dominican and Gulf Coast League out of the pen before being taken by the Pirates. He never appeared in a game with a Pirates farm team.

Corey Hamman LHP Detroit Much like Josh Hill, Hamman served as a solid organizational arm and a swing man, pitching for Altoona and Indianapolis from 2008-2010 and posting a 3.74 ERA for the Indians in 2010.

Double A Phase:
Rafael Cruz RHP Los Angeles Angles A lanky 170 pound Mexican pitcher from the Angels organization, Cruz pitched in the Angles farm system from 2004-06 then in 2007 pitched for a Mexican League team. The Pirates took a chance on him but he never dressed for them, apparently pitching again in the Mexican league in 2008 before calling it quits.

2006
Major League Phase:
Sean White RHP Atlanta Shortly after being drafted by the Pirates they shipped him off to Seattle for cash considerations where White has been ever since. He appeared in 38 games for Seattle last season, pitching out of the pen and posting a 5.24 ERA. His best pro season came in 2009 when he had a 2.80 ERA in 52 games for the Mariners.

Triple A Phase:
Moises Robles RHP New York Mets The Pirates drafted Robles from the Mets despite never pitching in the US. He posted a 0.60 ERA in 19 games for the Mets Dominican League squad in 2006. Robles continued to play through 2009 for the Pirates making it as high as AA Altoona and going 8-14 with a 4.35 ERA as a Pirates minor leaguer.

Double A Phase:
Kevin Cave RHP Florida Originally drafted in the 17th round by the Marlins out of Xavier University in 2001, Cave was the Marlins #16 prospect heading into the 2004 season. From the scouting reports I’ve read of him, he seemed to have good stuff but he needed to work on his mound presence since he seemed to let him emotions sometimes get the best of him. He never ended up playing in the Pirates farm system.

2005
Major League Phase:
Victor Santos RHP Kansas City I think most Pirates fans will agree this is one that isn’t worth discussing. The Pirates took Santos so that they could get a rotation arm with some major league experience on the cheap. Santos provided little, pitching one season with the team and posting a 5-9 record to go along with a 5.70 ERA.

Triple A Phase:
Jeff Cook OF Arizona A former 5th round pick by Arizona out of Southern Mississippi, Cook’s best season came at High A Lancaster for the Dbacks in 2005 hitting .314 with 19 homeruns as a 24 year old. He never played in the Pirates farm system.

Henry Cabrera RHP Boston Signed by Boston in 2002, Cabrera pitched for 2 seasons in the Pirates farm system, starting out at short season Williamsport and making it up to Lynchburg in 2007. He served mainly as a swing man, pitching in 22 games for Hickory in 2007, 12 of them being starts.


Richard Suomi C Oakland Suomi was more of a jack of all trades playing 6 different positions throughout his minor league career. With the Pirates, he only played one season where he hit .260 for Lynchburg in 2006.

Brad Correll OF Philadelphia A former 19th round pick out of Limestone College by the Reds in 2002, Correll played one season with the Pirates. During the 2006 season at Lynchburg, Correll hit .254 with 6 homeruns.

2004
Major League Phase:
None
Triple A Phase:
Richard Acosta RHP Baltimore I was unable to locate any info on Acosta.

Felipe Garcia RHP Detroit Taken by the Pirates from the Tigers, Garcia was in the organization for 3 seasons, having his best year in 2005 when he went 4-5 with a 4.37 ERA in 36 games. He missed all of the 2006 season, possible due to injury and eventually signed for Boston as a minor league free agent following the 2007 season.

2003
Major League Phase:
None
Triple A Phase:
Justin Lord RHP Kansas City Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Royals in 2001 out of Florida State, Lord pitched for the Pirates organization in 2004. There he split time between Lynchburg and Hickory and posting his best numbers with Lynchburg going 2-2 with a 2.96 ERA. Following the 2004 season he went to the Independent Leagues where he pitched until 2008.

Gary Thomas OF Chicago White Sox The 5’7 Thomas was originally drafted by Oakland in the 23rd round of the 97 draft but the Pirates drafted him from Chicago after he was signed by them to a minor league contract. He posted his best numbers with Oakland in 2003 while with High A Modesto, sporting an 821 OPS to go along with 12 homeruns and a .303 average. The Pirates sent him to Altoona for the 2004 season where only hit .226 before being released.

Alex Gordon OF Baltimore Not to be confused with the Alex Gordon who plays for Kansas City, this one was originally signed by Baltimore as an undrafted free agent in 1998. His best minor league season came with Bluefield of the Appalachian League in 2000 when he hit 13 homeruns to go with a .269 average. He never made an appearance for a Pirates minor league organization.


2002
Major League Phase:
Matt Roney RHP Colorado Much like Sean White in 2006, Roney’s rights were sold to Detroit shortly after being drafted by the Pirates. The former Rockies first round pick had limited success at the major league level, going 1-10 with a 5.44 ERA over the course of 2 seasons. He last pitched at the Major League level in 2006.

2001
Major League Phase:
Luis Ugueto SS Florida Seems like back in the day the Pirates took the opportunity to make a couple of dollars of the Rule 5 Draft. Ugueto was the first of 3 players that they selected during that decade that they shipped off after drafting, this time to Seattle. Ugueto managed to stick on the Mariners roster through 2002 and later got a cup of coffee with them again in 2003 but was never able to get back to the majors. He last played for a major league organization in 2007 with Minnesota’s farm system.

2000
None
Triple A Phase:
Yurendell DeCaster 3rd Tampa Bay DeCaster goes to show that sometimes you can get someone in the minor league phase that might develop into a prospect. It’s a long shot but it does happen. DeCaster was a relatively unknown player when the Pirates selected him but he slowly worked his way up through the farm system and eventually got a cup of coffee with the Pirates in 2003, albeit 2 at bats resulting in 2 strikeouts. DeCaster is probably best known though on the international stage, since he’s from Curacao he’s represented the Netherlands in a number of international events, including the Olympics and the World Baseball Classic.

Matt Diaz - the New Guy

Will Diaz be the righty to Garrett Jones' lefty?

In adding Matt Diaz for two seasons, many immediately wanted to compare this to the Eric Hinske deal from 2009. I get the comparison, both are more veteran players that are signing with the Pirates. One difference is that Hinske only signed on for one season, Diaz is coming on for two. Another is that Diaz may have more potential in his bat then Hinske did.

Granted Diaz did not perform all that well last season, but the season before he was pretty solid. He sported a slash line of .313/.390/.488 with 13 home runs with the Braves. In coming to Pittsburgh, the hope is that he can return to more of the Diaz of 2009, especially if he is going to be a platoon player for the club.

Diaz hits lefties really well, a career .334 hitter. It is the righties that he struggles against, though the Pirates have a guy in Garrett Jones that hits righties well. So it would make sense that these two are going to be platoon partners, thus maximizing the potential between the two.

In signing Diaz could we not have seen the same type of splits a little cheaper with Lastings Milledge or in using Steve Pearce? Thrilledge batted .320 last season against lefties and despite his defensive 'shortcomings' may be a little more mobile than Diaz in the field. Pearce as well, though he has not played the outfield in sometime, has a career .304 average against lefties.

The platoon might have been there in house, but something about Diaz is more appealing to the club. Perhaps there is more of a track record or the veteran presence may provide less risk than Milledge or Pearce. Either way Diaz is not being brought on to be some centerpiece, he is going to be a platoon guy/bench player and is better than many other options for that duty that we could have.

Rotation Options

Is Morton going to be the 5th starter?

Somehow after years of the Pirates not having any options at all for their rotation, it seems that the team is now starting to get some options. It is the result of trades, signings, and development that has finally put them in some sort of position to have depth there. It is a long road still to go to have a real solid rotation, but in 2011 there are going to be plenty of options there.

First you would have to grant a spot in the rotation to the following:

Paul Maholm - he is turning into the gray beard around here, but the reliable lefty will once again mount the rubber for the Corsairs this season.

James McDonald - the sensation from the left coast will no doubt get another spot in the rotation. McDonald seems to have the stuff that the Pirates have been looking for in some time, the stuff of an ace.

Ross Ohlendorf - the smartest guy in the locker room had yet another solid season, despite the record. He has done nothing to warrant being removed from the rotation.

Kevin Correia - after signing a multi year deal recently, the first by a free agent pitcher and the Pirates since Pete Schourek, will more than likely get another rotation spot.

That will leave the following competing for the final spot; Scott Olsen, Brad Lincoln, Charlie Morton, Daniel McCutchen, Jeff Karstens. That is a lot of guys competing for one spot. That is not even including dark horse guys like Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris, and Rudy Owens. The depth at AAA is going to be pretty deep, with actual prospects, as well as guys need some final grooming.

I would peg Olsen and Morton as favorites right now, with Karstens and McCutchen targeted more for the bullpen. Who knows for certain though how it will play out. It is still a month or so until any mini camp and a good two months until pitchers and catchers. A lot can change, but so far we have seen a change, options, real ones.

More Pitching

Can Correia stabilize the rotation?

Huntington continues to add to the pitching depth by signing Kevin Correia to a 2 year deal worth about $8 million. Correia was with the Padres, where he bounced from the rotation to the bullpen for a few seasons. He had a break out in 2009, where he a 3.91 ERA and 142 strikeouts in almost 200 innings pitched.

Last season he took a bit of a step back, but the step back was partially due to him allowing a few too many home runs. Those home runs allowed seemed to be more to bad luck, as he as for a career a 10% HR/FB ratio, but last season it ballooned to 14.8%. Considering a return to the mean in 2011, then you really don't have that poor of numbers.

It is funny though if you compare him to Zach Duke (comparing new pitchers to Zach Duke a new past time of mine) and they are both projected to be pretty similar. Correia with more strikeouts, but less walks and even a lower ERA. Granted the projections probably will need adjusted to both pitcher's new ballparks, but probably won't change all that much.

Fangraphs even had a piece comparing the value of the two, stating that this season Duke might be a better value, but throw in next year and Correia could provide more value.

Personally like the signing. It bests the Olsen one by a country mile. It was quoted by one scout to Dejan, that Correia could be our 1 or 2 starter, but I am hoping he is our 4 or 5. If he could eat innings and strikeout players at a fair rate, we could have a bargain.

Adding Olsen

Neal Huntington seemingly wasted little time in signing Scott Olsen for around $1 million, plus incentives to make the contract go higher. It is all pending a physical, which with Olsen's history is not a slam dunk.

The cost is minimal but has a fairly high reward as Olsen was a highly regarded prospect until attitude problems and injuries derailed him. Olsen has not been that good of a pitcher since he rocketed on the scene 4 or 5 years ago. It has been steadily downhill and he has been hit around a good bit.

It might be the injuries or the attitude, but his performance has gone downhill a good bit. He has lost velocity on his fastball and has been hit around a lot more because of it.

Really he seems to be a different version of Zach Duke. His evil twin if you will, though younger. They both have similar numbers that give the sign that they are better than they are, both left handed, both once hot prospects that have fallen, and both give up a bunch of hits.

The question is then can Olsen replace Duke? Maybe. There are really a lot more question marks following Olsen than Duke. Strangely, I actually might want Duke more than Olsen.

Lastings Let Go

I did not comment on this over the weekend, but I found it a surprise that Lastings Milledge was let go by the club. Granted they have been saying that they would want him back, probably in a minor league deal.

It is surprising that they just let him go as it was not as though he was going to cost a lot more than he made last year and he has a few more years of control left. Call me crazy, but at Milledge's age, it seems pretty dumb to just let him walk away from the club. It is not as though is is not useful as a player.

It seems though that the team likes the others in the mix for the right field spot, namely Bowker, Jones, and somewhat reluctantly Ryan Doumit.