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Another Prospect List

2012-01-28T19:58:00.002-05:00

It is the time of the year where top prospect lists appear all over the place. Yesterday Fangraph's Marc Hulet debuted his list of the top 15 prospects in the Pirate organization. It is a list where you will see all the familiar names that one would expect to see on the list, but in a different order, that made me think twice about the list.

Here is the top five: Cole, Bell, Taillon, Sanchez, and Grossman. Yes read that again. Tony Sanchez, while still a very good prospect at number 4. Also is there a name perhaps missing? Yes Starling Marte, perhaps the most gifted player to have played in the system (that leaves out Bell) is at number 6. I would definitely put Marte in the top 5.

The actual rankings of the players are really small quibbles. I find anymore I want to read what the reviewer has to say about the farm system as a whole. Like many other Hulet states the obvious. A system with a few high level talents, followed by a mis-mash of intriguing talent that either may or may not pan or or are too young to know much about.

Ranking Prospects

2012-01-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

On MLB.com Jonathan Mayo has been slowly debuting a list of the top prospects at each position. He has gone around the horn, but has the outfield as the last spot to debut. (A show on MLB Network will have the top 50 on Wednesday.)

In reading the list, there so far are three Pirates in the positional rankings. Two of them are obvious, Jameson Taillon (3rd RHP) and Gerrit Cole (6th RHP). The 3rd prospect is a bit of a surprise, as it is Alex Dickerson (9th 1B).

As with more scouting reports about Dickerson, it is noted he had a great collegiate career, but his numbers tailed off last season due to the new bats in college. Most reports then are like Mayo's in that he showed good things and it is mostly projection right now. While I like Dickerson's future, I find it sort of odd to think of him as one of the top first base prospects out there. Just with limited sample size in a level that had players younger than him, it seems out of place.

As for Taillon, Mayo notes the Pirates' kid gloves approach to limiting his arsenal, but feels, again like many, that once the gloves come off, he could move rather quickly. With Cole, his disastrous appearance in the Rising Stars game behind him, Mayo states that consistency is going to be key for Cole and that he can move quickly to Pittsburgh.

So far there are 3 Pirates in the 80 players ranked. How many more can they get? I would say a possibility for two more in outfielders Starling Marte and Robbie Grossman, maybe Josh Bell too. Who knows how they might get ranked, but they are perhaps the best shots to make it.

Avoiding Arbitration

2012-01-16T23:00:00.001-05:00

While the Pirates have been extremely quiet as of late, things have sort of picked up as they are avoiding arbitration with a few key pitchers.

First a few days back they agree to terms with Chris Resop on a one year deal to keep him in the Pirate bullpen. Since coming to Pittsburgh, Resop has been quite the find off the scrap heap. He has been that rather valuable go between in the pen that sort of holds things together.

Today it kept going as the Pirates avoided arbitration with both Charlie Morton and Joel Hanrahan. Hanrahan gets a rather sizeable jump in salary from $1.4 million to $4.1 million and bonuses. Morton gets $2.44 million for next season, whenever that might start.

It was more than a forgone conclusion that the Pirates would look to keep these players in the fold. I would have thought that there might be an outside shot that Hanrahan would have gone to arbitration, but since the Pirates as a team don't like going to arbitration, it was more than unlikely to happen.

A Season, A Game

2011-12-31T16:48:00.000-05:00

In summing up the year for the Pirates, I got to thinking that this whole year, can really be summed up in one game that was played this season. That game was played on a warm night in Atlanta at the end of July. Yes the 19 inning affair that the Pirates lost in extra innings. That game was part of a critical stretch for the Pirates has they were competing for first place, but were going to be playing a host of top teams. Trips to Atlanta, Philadelphia, and then a stretch with divisional foes with a west coast swing. It was going to be the challenge for the team, especially at the trade deadline.

A Neil Walker triple, a Pedro Alvarez single, and a Mike McKenry home run put the Bucs up 3-0 through 3 and they looked to continue their winning ways. Then in the bottom of the 3rd the Braves tied the score on Jeff Karstens and the Bucs with a couple of base hits. It would stay tied for the remaining 16 innings until another infamous play at the plate in Atlanta gave the Braves the win. The Pirates, seemingly out of gas after this marathon, started to see the wheels fall off the wagon. The downward spiral for the season started to take hold.

The game is like the season in that the Pirates were in the lead then saw all their hard work go for naught. It also had its share of heroes, like Daniel McCutchen pitching heroically in relief. Questionable calls by Hurdle, like not pitching Hanrahan in the game irked many Pirate followers. A strong performance from the bullpen and a cast of characters making up the offense, summed up what typified the season.

A couple days earlier Mike McKenry hit a home run to win a game against the Cubs at PNC Park. That might be the most memorable win of 2011, but the most memorable game has to be this one. It was this game that seemed to make me believe in the baseball Gods again. The Pirates of my youth were dashed away when Sid Bream slide across home plate in Atlanta on fall night of 1992. The dreams of this season seemingly did the same when Julio Lugo, according to Jerry Meals, missed the tag of McKenry.

Add to this one more irony of it all. The game lasted 19 innings. It has been 19 years and counting since that fall night in Atlanta with Sid. The game really seemed to be a coming together of fate, hopes, and dreams for anyone watching that game as a Pirate fan. Perhaps that is why it is still vivid to me and will more than likely be for so long from now.

Previewing Brad Lincoln

2011-12-28T22:30:00.001-05:00

There are plenty of interesting players to take a look at in the Pirates system. One such player is pitcher Brad Lincoln. He is interesting in that he has a long story in the organization and has not done much at the big league level. With the Pirates needing more pitching, could Lincoln step up?

The former first rounder has struggled to say the least in the Pirates organization since being drafted. Over work might have led to injuries early on and really ineffectiveness has hurt him since. Looking over his stats the ERA does not jump off the stat sheet, neither does hits or walks per 9. The WHIP does not either. If it were not for him being a first round pick, you really would have to wonder where the hype was.

That being said Lincoln has made it to AAA and the majors the past two seasons. He has had varying cups of coffee in the bigs the past two seasons, each with mixed results. 2010 was a bit of a disaster for Lincoln as he gave up a ton runs and hits.

Last season was no walk in the park, if him either, though he did drop his runs and hits allowed. His walks rose slightly, though so too did his strikeout rate.

Looking ahead to 2012, Lincoln is going to be 27 and we have basically seen his physical peak. It is not going to probably get much better for him. I have to wonder if now is a good time to ditch the starting and hope to make him a reliever. Granted there are plenty of relievers already, but Lincoln's stuff might work better out of the pen, where he can better utilize his fastball and breaking ball.

While the team might not exactly be thinking that, hoping that keeping him as a starter is better for depth, I would think a move to the bullpen would benefit him in the same way that the move benefited Daniel McCutchen.

Either way 2012 is a put up year for Lincoln. If he does not show marked improvement he could be on his way out or find himself lost in the shuffle of graduating arms.

Finding Pedro's Plan B

2011-12-12T23:59:00.002-05:00

The Pirates made that move to add a backup option at third base. Strangely it comes from another team within the division.

After the Brewers signed former Bucco Aramis Ramirez to a contract, the Brewers no longer needed the services of Casey McGehee. It was then that the Brewers and Pirates found a match with each other and consummated a deal that sent reliver Jose Veras to Milwaukee for McGehee.

Veras who pitched very well for the Bucs, aside from occasional spurts were nothing seemed to work for him, was eligible to be non-tendered. Unlike Garrett Jones, there really was not much talk about Veras being a guy that might be on the way out in that fashion.

Adding McGehee the team gets a player that is used to the division and knows the pitchers. He also had a good season two years ago, but fell off last season. He still did hit 13 home runs for the club. Most of McGhee's success in 2010 were due to his high hit total, which dropped off last season and caused a drop off in many of his other numbers. That has to be troubling to see, especially as he is getting older.

But in adding McGehee the club is not looking to add a guy to start, instead they are looking to add a guy that can play on the bench and fill in if needed. If McGehee were to be an everyday player, we might be in some serious trouble, but as a fill in he is OK.

Losing Veras may not be all that much to worry about. There are plenty of arms in the minors, as well as potential free agent finds that could replace him. Granted you never really want to lose a tried arm, but bullpen guys are replaceable. Clint Hurdle will find another righty to call on.

While this is another move that may make some roll their eyes, it is a move eyed to stabilizing the team for this season not really down the line. Adding McGehee adds some insurance if Pedro falters. There could be worse options, and there could be better (mainly Pedro plays well), but this is OK, I guess.

Busy Day Three

2011-12-07T22:54:00.001-05:00

The Pirates were extremely busy in the third day at the winter meetings. They went out and replaced Paul Maholm, shored up the bench, and removed some players from the roster to make some room. All of this for a shade under $6 million, without any incentives counted in.

First who left. Well one guy leaving, though if history is any indicator, he will be back is Pedro Ciriaco. Ciriaco acquired in a trade with the Diamondbacks, seemingly racked up the most miles possible between Indianapolis and Pittsburgh this season. Perhaps he will need to find a new AAA city to do that with, as he was designated for assignment today. I can't see where another team would really jump at him, unless they need a glove, so I would expect him to be back, at least not on the 40 man this time.

The second player to leave was catcher Jason Jaramillo. Jaramillo spent the majority of his time in AAA this past season. While I am not sold on him at the major league level, it is nice to have him around for depth. At 29 he is probably not going to be much more than he is now.

Who then joined the club? Well one was an old name, Nate McLouth, whose joining seemed to bring out a vitriol that I sort of did not expect. Sure many in the fan base love him as he was a scrappy can do guy that came out of nowhere and others just think he was a over hyped one year wonder. I have to ask myself if many would not think as negatively of him had he not won a Gold Glove, perhaps some in the stats community would not be as harsh.

As I mentioned earlier, adding McLouth is a better option than Xavier Paul. McLouth brings a broader skill set and more of a track record. If Nate can rebound a little, and perhaps being on the bench will do that for a more veteran player, he might be well worth it. As long as Nate is not taking time from Presley or Tabata, I am fine with the move. A backup was needed and Gorkys Hernandez is not ready, and in my opinion never will be.

Adding McLouth was not the only move, Huntington made today. He signed Erik Bedard to a one year deal, adding a free agent pitcher that has some upside. While he may not be the same Bedard that was once dominate and appeared to be the next ace of the American League, he is definitely better than most other options the Pirates could have taken. If Bedard can stay healthy, this could be a really good move.

As a lefty that struck out close to a guy an inning he could have real value at PNC Park. Bedard keeps the ball down and in the park, add that to a park that favors southpaws, and it is a possible good fit. I would say bringing in Bedard is immediately better than say Jeff Francis would have been.

While adding McLouth and Bedard may not get national headlines, the Pirates have made some holes a little less smaller today. Whether they have plugged them we don't know. Adding McLouth gives the bench some flexibility in the outfield and Bedard gives some strong upside on the mound.

Winter Meetings - Day One

2011-12-05T22:09:00.001-05:00

The winter meetings start this week and the Pirates have some needs that they may be looking to fill. The most glaring is obviously at first base. A position that has seemingly been a glaring hole for years, continues to be one this season. The Bucs are hoping that Derek Lee will sign up for another go round, though there has not been much movement on that front as of yet.

In the early going of the meetings the Pirates have been looking to mainly add depth to the roster than to fill holes, like Lee would do.

In being proactive in case Pedro Alvarez continues to be the El Toro we have seen, the club has been looking for a backup or second option. Ian Stewart (can we get any more former Rockies?) is the one that is the rumor du jour. While the club is not looking to replace Alvarez, they surely feel that he needs competition and that the club needs a decent backup plan should we have a repeat of last season. While Stewart might not be all that glamorous, having him with d'Arnaud and Harrison looks a lot better than just d'Arnaud and Harrision.

Additionally the club is looking to add to the outfield, yes the outfield. Granted you may think all the starting positions are spoken for, with McCutchen, Presely, and Tabata, the club is going to be looking for a backup guy to man multiple positions. With the glaring need at first base, Garrett Jones, unless non-tendered, is the major candidate there. leaving the outfield with no one. Enter Nate McLouth.

Yes that same McLouth that has seemingly fell off the face of the earth since being dealt, could return to the black and gold. I have to say that when I saw he was up for free agency the thought crossed my mind, it might be worth a try to bring him back as a bench guy. Maybe the home cooking will do good. If not at least he is a passable bench guy that can play all three positions with multiple skills. He might be an upgrade over Xavier Paul.

While there might not be some huge move this week, I hold out hope of a Hanrahan trade for some useful piece, the club is looking at creating backup plans for young players while trying to do its best to build a bench yet again.

Bring on the Barmes

2011-11-21T23:48:00.001-05:00

I can just sense the excitement in the air now the Pirates have brought Clint Barmes into the fold. Instead of retaining Ronny Cedeno, the Pirates instead went out on the free agent market and got the third best free agent short stop on the market, according to their rankings. Or so Jen Langosch puts it:

General manager Neal Huntington confirmed that, internally, Barmes ranked third on the team's list of free-agent shortstops, behind Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins. Unwilling to get into a bidding war for Reyes or Rollins, the Pirates immediately set their sights on Barmes.

The odds of the Pirates getting into a bidding war over Rollins or Reyes is about the same as me hitting the lottery tomorrow, three times.

As with Rod Barajas, I give Huntington credit in that he targeted his player and went and got him rather quickly. I just happen to disagree with the player he liked.

Barmes, 32, will make $10.5 million over two seasons. $5 million this season and $5.5 next season. Yes that does make him the current highest paid Pirate on the roster and perhaps the most overpaid.

Barmes, a righty, hit 12 home runs last season and has a well regarded glove. His home runs, despite playing in the favorable Minute Maid Park, did not tilt towards Houston. In fact he hit only 5 homers there, 2 of his 12 came here at PNC. There is some to like with Barmes.

What I don't like is perhaps what he cannot control. One he is 32 and eventually time will catch up to him. Maybe not this season, but perhaps next. Once time catches up, that range that you like now, might not be there in the field. The other clearly has nothing to do with Barmes, as other free agents Neal Huntington has brought in have failed miserably. Ramon Vasquez, Eric Hinske, Lyle Overbay, Ryan Church, the list goes on and on.

All that aside, Barmes might not be the best option, nor really the worst. He just might be the Pirate option. Kind of good, kind of bad, irritating at times, a joy to watch at others. He might be a steadier presence than Cedeno, but might be more likely to fall off with his production.

Setting the Roster

2011-11-19T02:37:00.001-05:00

The Pirates had to make some decisions about the 40 man roster on Friday, the deadline to add players in advance of the Rule Five draft. There were no real surprises as to who they added, as most fans when given a list of players that needed protected.

Added to the roster were Matt Hague, Jordy Mercer, Starling Marte, Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, and Duke Welker. Perhaps Welker is the one surprise, as you could say that perhaps Tim Alderson, Diego Moreno, or Brett Lorin might have gotten the nod over him, but there is no quibble there.

What is interesting is who was added earlier in the day and who was released to make room.

Earlier in the day the Pirates added Jeremy Hefner from San Diego, a right handed pitcher, and Brian Jeroloman, a catcher. Jeroloman is real head scratcher as he has seemingly no offensive value at all. Hefner is more than likely going to be the Brian Burres of the roster.

Being removed from the roster today were Matt Pagnozzi, if you remember his handful of games behind the plate this season, Xavier Paul and Eric Fryer.

In removing Paul they take away one of their better bench players, though you could argue that Gorkys Hernandez is the same player, just not left handed. I would rather have Paul, but that is more personal preference.

Removing Fryer is the one that makes no sense. He has more offensive upside than Jeroloman, and he has been working on other positions as well. I hope that he sneaks through and we can keep him, as I think there is some good value with Fryer, much more than a guy like Brian Jeroloman or Matt Pagnozzi.

Broken Hamate...Again?

2011-11-14T11:26:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I do often wonder if bad news just follows the Pirates around all the time. This time the news is that Robbie Grossman broke his hamate bone. If that bone in your hand sounds familiar, it should. Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte, and Jose Tabata have all had issues with the hamate bone.

Breaking the bone typically saps a player's power, as it is usually the bottom hand, when gripping the bat, that the injury occurs in. With Grossman, a switch hitter, he hurt his right hand, meaning that all that great progress with the switch hitting will slow.

It will be a couple of weeks until he is able to swing a bat, but the one big question about Grossman going into this upcoming season was going to center around power. Now this injury will more than likely hurt all power production in the coming year.

Hopefully Grossman is able to take this in stride, understand that the power might not be there, and continue to focus on controlling the zone. Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise, as we would not want him to turn into some sort of hacker, trying to hit the ball out of the park everywhere. Perhaps it will allow for more of a focus in the smaller things.

You still have got to shake your head as there seemingly is a black cloud above the Pirates. Sure the management over the years has made tons of mistakes, there also seems to be a good deal of rotten luck.

Second Thoughts

2011-11-13T23:34:00.001-05:00

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks baseball needs more instant replay, new Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein says nobody could party like the 2004 Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington wishes he had never traded Jason Bay.

Lost in this article about the Yankees and Red Sox, is the nugget at the beginning that Neal Huntington wishes he had never traded Jason Bay. He stated this in a panel of GM's of Epstein, Cashman, and himself in Vermont. It was an event hosted by Buster Olney for Hurricane Irene relief.

Of course ESPN focused only on the Yankees and Sox in the article, but the statement that he wished he never traded Bay, makes me wonder. I hope there is more to come from this.

Bringing in Barajas

2011-11-13T23:12:00.001-05:00

Last week the Pirates jumped into the free agent market, by signing catcher Rod Barajas. They signed the former Dodger to a one year deal worth $4 million, with a $3.5 million option for 2013.

Barajas will never excite those that value on base percentage, but he does have some good pop in his bat. Barajas hit 16 home runs in 2011 with the Dodgers, while still playing an average defensive value at catcher.

At his age, one could expect to see some dropoff, but the contract he signed is about what one would expect to see for a player of his value. He come cheaper than Doumit would have, who reportedly turned down $3 million from the Dodgers, while giving the team above replacement value.

While the signing of Barajas is not something to get all giddy over, it is nice to note that the Pirates made a move early to address their needs. They clearly targeted Barajas early as a replacement and struck quickly. That clearly is much better than sitting around waiting for who falls, as has been the case in years past.

The shopping list shrunk a little last week, but there is still plenty more room to improve.

Slow Going

2011-11-08T23:02:00.001-05:00

It has been kind of slow on the news front since the end of the World Series. The team has not really been in very many rumors. Today they were linked to Cuban defector, Yoenis Cespedes, a centerfielder.

Cespedes is a guy that scouts are saying has the best skills of any Cuban in some time. That is saying a lot. He is 26 so he would be expected to make an impact this season if signed by a big league team.

Who knows maybe the Bucs take some of the money that they are not spending on Cedeno, Maholm, Doumit and others and spend it on this guy. Projections have him needing at least Chapman money to sign, which would be slightly over $30 million.

It would not be bad to perhaps overpay for this talent. It is not everyday you have a freak athlete with baseball skills show up like this.

Other names thus far linked to the team are Clint Barmes, formerly of the Astros and of the Rockies. The Clint Hurdle connection is there, as he played for him in Colorado. Signing Barmes will be like every other free agent signing in recent memory. He is an aging player that does not swing the bat all that well to begin with. Sure he is good in the field, but he is also aging so he will eventually lose a step.

Signing Clint Barmes will be akin to Lyle Overbay, a disaster, if you are expecting any offense. He might get by as a defensive player, but even then one should curb their enthusiasm.

Who knows what other rumors may pop up in the near future. It is going to be 15 days to the free agency arbitration deadline so that might spice some things up. I cannot wait to keep reading about how the club intends to offer arbitration to Derek Lee.

Take a Breath

2011-11-01T23:43:00.002-04:00

Now what? The team has made some moves to let guys walk or choose to walk, how will they replace them? Who might also be joining them? Right now there are a bunch of holes in a lineup that was not all that great to begin with. Going around the horn we have catcher, first, short, and you might as well say third, to go with a starting pitcher or two.

Some rumors had the club looking to Carlos Pena, Ramon Hernandez and Jeff Francis to fill some of those voids. Funny thing is at various points in the last twelve months, all of those players seem to have been associated with the Pirates before.

Many are fretting that the team has no direction this offseason. That they are foolish to think that the team can build through free agency. That might be the case. Or it might not be the case either. Huntington should have money to spend this offseason, how he spends it is going to be watched closely.

Maybe he'll be able to lure someone unexpected. Maybe he has something up his sleeve. I don't know, but it is too early to really jump up and down just yet.

Sure I don't know if cutting Cedeno was right, I think he should still be here. Maholm perhaps as well, though I can live without him. The catchers should be gone, no question.

While the plan looks really fuzzy right now, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt right now. I want to see what happens in the coming weeks, as by the time of the winter meetings there should be a much clearer picture. I think at that time we can really start to debate the offseason, now not so much.

Judgement Day

2011-10-31T22:13:00.001-04:00

Today was the day for the Pirates to decline options on players, that had options in their contracts. The Pirates went all in and did not pick up the options on any of their players. Now Chris Snyder, Ryan Doumit, Paul Maholm, and surprisingly, Ronny Cedeno are all free to go elsewhere.

Also being outrighted to AAA, essentially allowing them to leave via free agency, are Brian Burres, Kevin Hart, Steve Pearce, Brandon Wood, and Aaron Thompson. Those moves coupled with the inevitable free agency of Derek Lee an Ryan Ludwick give the Bucs 33 men on the active roster. I don't know if I can remember such a large purge of the roster in one day.

Perhaps the only real surprises of the day were Maholm, who really is not a surprise, and Cedeno. there was some thought that the Bucs might bring back Maholm if they wanted him to help solidify the rotation. It was also widely assumed that the price tag on Cedeno was going to be right, if he started at short or was a utility infielder.

Seeing Maholm go leaves a rather big hole in the rotation. While never a superstar, Maholm was a steady and reliable presence, that now the team will look to replace via free agency or graduation from the minors.

Letting Cedeno walk is a horrible move in my opinion. I do not see where there is an in house option. d'Arnaud is not ready and he is perhaps the best option. A shortstop could be pricey on the free agent market and might not be better than Cedeno.

Today is the first day in what will more than likely be a rather weird offseason. I don't know if anyone seems to know what will happen.

Declining the Catchers

2011-10-21T20:45:00.003-04:00

Per MLBTradeRumors, via Jen Langosch, the Pirates plan to decline the options on Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder. It is no surprise.

From Huntington:

"The impact Snyder has had on our staff since he got here is measurable," Huntington said. "That's an important element for us to keep in mind. His impact is measured much more than just in batting average and home runs that he hit. If he gets healthy and is able to come back, those benefits are still tangible."

I assume he means that he is measuring days on the disabled list, as that really is the only measure you can look at during Chris Snyder's tenure.

As for Doumit:

"In Ryan's case, he's obviously swung the bat as well as he has since 2008. He has still worked hard defensively."

He can keep on working hard, he will never be an adequate defensive catcher.

Perhaps the best quote:

"We have some level of interest, in a vacuum, of keeping both players," Huntington said

In a vacuum of course, we should be players for Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols this offseason.

So long Doumit and Snyder.

Looking Into the Future

2011-10-12T23:52:00.000-04:00

The new broke today that the Pirates are leaning towards not picking up the option for Paul Maholm for next season, not wanting to spend $9.75 million for his services. Nothing has been made official as of yet, but it appears they have at least told Maholm of this fact.

Maholm will then hit the free agent market to see what he can get in free agency. Whether he gives the Pirates another shot to sign him, is another matter all together.

Not brining back Maholm leaves a fairly sizable hole in the rotation. He has been the anchor for sometime and not brining him back signals one of two things: one, the Pirates think that they can perhaps bring in someone better or they think that they can have someone in house replace him.

As we witnessed last season, the Pirates are not very good at luring valuable free agent talent to Pittsburgh. Their best signing was in getting replacement level All-Star Kevin Correia to come to Pittsburgh. Maholm is more than replacement level.

In house there really is no one that is ready to step up. Sure there are tons of arms that they would like to get innings, but no one is ready to replace Maholm, not even the men who were in the rotation is a sure thing to take a step forward.

But in reality the decision to not bring back Maholm is simply that they want to bring in some of the younger arms. With Maholm they would not have a rotation spot to take, with him gone Rudy Owens, Jeff Locke and others have a spot to compete for.

Like it or not the Pirates are perhaps again not improving for next year, but are perhaps again looking to improve down the line.

Pirates Move Back to KDKA

2011-10-12T21:50:00.001-04:00

In what was perhaps one of the worst kept secrets in Pittsburgh sports, the Pirates have announced a deal with KDKA-FM, also known as the Fan in Pittsburgh. It was pretty obvious that when the downsizing of the sports department happened at 104.7, it was only a matter of time until the Pirates moved. Coming back to the KDKA name, albeit on the FM dial, is like a homecoming of sorts.

While I think there is a lot, and by a lot I mean tons and tons, to be desired with the on air talent on the Fan, being on an all sports station on the FM dial is probably the best move for the Pirates.

What Do We Have: Bullpen

2011-10-03T22:33:00.000-04:00

Neal Huntington must like to play with middle relievers. It seems every year he likes to comb through the free agent market to find minor leaguers, cast offs, and other misfits to build a bullpen. Huntington did it this past season and I am sure that he will take joy in doing again for next season, though he might have less spots to work with.

Joel Hanrahan, the all star closer, took a huge step forward this season and is a sure lock to be offered a contract. If the Hammer is in a Pirate uniform next season is another question, as he could be moved if the right opportunity presented itself.

Also coming back, and hopefully bouncing back from injury, will be Evan Meek. Meek did not really pitch all that much this year. He was hurt in the spring and the injury got exacerbated as the season started, and he never really came back. If he is able to bounce back to be the Meek of last season, he will be a great one two with Hanrahan.

Chris Resop is first time arbitration eligible and will more than likely come back. Resop has been a rather reliable arm for the Bucs. Jose Veras is also arbitration eligible and I would guess that he would come back as well. Jason Grilli might be on the fence to come back, but one can envision him returning.

Tony Watson has pitched extremely well out of the bullpen and is a strong candidate to be the one of the lefties in the pen for next season. Danny Moskos made his much anticipated major league debut this season and could be in the mix to make the bullpen next season to join Watson.

Other non veteran arms that could make up the bullpen include Daniel McCutchen, who has come up big numerous times this season, Chris Leroux, whom management seems to like, and Jared Hughes, whom has been given quite a few looks since his call up.

There are many in house options for the bullpen, as there is perhaps a bullpen and half on the roster now. How it plays out will probably be decided rather quickly as we will see who gets tendered or non-tendered rather quickly. Of course will also be around that time the Huntington will continue to add arms as well.

One would think that not much would change with the bullpen, but bullpens change. Huntington likes to look for arms that intrigue him. I would think that the bullpen will be a strength again for the club, but who is in it is up in the air right now.

What Do We Have: The Rotation

2011-10-02T23:17:00.000-04:00

The following pitchers have started games this season for the Pirates:

Charlie Morton
Jeff Karstens
James McDonald
Ross Ohlendorf
Brad Lincoln
Jeff Locke
Kevin Correia
Paul Maholm

On that list there are a few surprises. One no one would have thought Charlie Morton would have the season he had. Even the most optimistic would not have said he would last the entire season in the rotation and take some strong strides. Jeff Karstens might have been the biggest surprise, as he was not in the rotation, and ended up being the most dependable arm. James McDonald also had good season, his first full time as a starter in the big leagues.

Among the other surprises are that Kevin Correia was an All-Star. Paul Maholm finished the season as a Bucco, and on the DL. Jeff Locke made a handful of starts, when many may not have thought that would happen.

While there were some surprises, we really don't have too much that is concrete going into next season. The only guarantees are that James McDonald, Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens will more than likely be in the rotation. All good options, but no certain things there.

Ross Ohlendorf might not be tendered an offer and could still return though, I would think his starting days might be behind him. Brad Lincoln has shown some signs of being a starter, but it will not be a sure thing for him. Jeff Locke will be more than likely competing with Lincoln for the final spot next season.

Kevin Correia is due to return, but do the Pirates want to have him back. And if so will they want him in the rotation? He has been sort of replacement level on the season, so a move out of the rotation would not be horrible.

Paul Maholm is the wild card. There are arguments to be made to keep him and to let him go. If he comes back, he will surely be in the rotation and will more than likely do what he has done the past 7 seasons.

Outside of these players, Rudy Owens will perhaps make a run at the fifth starter, though Locke might have a leg up at this point. Justin Wilson could be in play as well, though he did pitch in the bullpen later in the AAA season.

I am sure that the Pirates will be linked to some free agent pitcher like last winter, remember Jorge De La Rosa?, but might end up over paying slightly to get that guy. If Maholm is out of the picture, that slight overpay could be worth it if it is the right arm.

In the end, the Pirates rotation will continue to be work in progress. there might be less work next season than in seasons past. The team is still an arm or three away in the rotation.

What Do We Have: Centerfield

2011-10-02T22:40:00.000-04:00

There is perhaps one positon n the entire roster where I think any Pirate fan can agree that everyone is pretty sure of what we have. That position is in centerfield, where the all everything Andrew McCutchen resides.

McCutchen made some big strides at the plate in 2011, the September swoon notwithstanding. He showed more power and presence at the plate than in years past. There were times where he might have been one of if not best hitter in the league. We got to see glimpses of what is possible, once he feels even more comfortable in the majors. He has the ability to make it look really easy and fun to watch.

Really there are no questions about centerfield. The only question is how long/when they approach McCutchen about an extension.

What Do We Have: Right Field

2011-10-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer the Pirates signed Jose Tabata to a long term deal, signing through the 2016 season with options that can keep him in Pittsburgh until 2019. That is quite a long time and a decent investment in the young man.

Tabata started the season in left field, but as the season progressed and Alex Presley got called up, shifted to right field. Tabata seems to really like the move, as he is literally playing in the shadow of his hero, Roberto Clemente.

Tabata is not nearly the player that Clemente was, but does play with a bit of that Clemente abandon when he has been healthy. That is the key with Jose Tabata, can he stay healthy. Looking at his data over at Baseball Prospectus, it looks as though he will have missed close to 70 games this season to various injuries. When healthy the club has a guy that they can put at the top of the lineup to get on base, and is an asset in the outfield. The move to right will more than likely help increase his defensive value, as playing at PNC's right versus left, is much less ground to cover.

As with many positions in the Pirates regular lineup, right field is clearly going to be for Tabata. Barring any changes due to free agency, he will be out in right to start next season, which is a good thing as there is not a ton of outfield options.

What Do We Have: Left Field

2011-09-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

Left field has been home to some players with some pop in their bat in recent Pirate history. Brian Giles was an excellent power hitter in Pittsburgh. Jason Bay had a big stick too. Now the man patrolling left field, has a stick, but it is not so big, but it will do some talking.

Alex Presley has been a bit of a phenom the past few seasons. Rising from minor league after thought to the starting left fielder in a few seasons. He brings a great deal to the lineup as he can do a little bit of everything. There is enough pop to keep them honest, a good eye, nice contact, and nice legs when he gets on the bases. Putting him as a lefty at the top of the lineup, gives the team some much needed speed.

That speed that Presley shows on the bases, also helps considerably in the outfield, especially in the spacious confines of left field at PNC Park. Having Presley be able to run down balls into the gap that McCutchen might not be able to get to is a good thing to have.

I have no doubt that Presley will get the call on Opening Day 2012. If it is not him it may mean that he was traded, that the team somehow lured a top free agent, or a minor leaguer like Starling Marte had the biggest spring in recent memory.

Looking further down the line, Presley might not be the long term answer, but he has seemingly shown that he is going to be a useful ballplayer for the club for a few years. His broad skill set will keep him up with the big league club for awhile.

What Do We Have: Third Base

2011-09-29T21:13:00.000-04:00

There might not be a guy that the club was expecting so much for, but got so little out of this season than Pedro Alvarez. El Toro was more like El Raton this season. Alvarez provided more rehab articles than any player in recent memory this past season.

I am sure that there might be some whispers around 115 Federal Street that Pedro might not have been as prepared as he should have been this season. There might be some truth to that. Just as I am sure that there are many whispers abound as to what the future holds for Pedro.

The team wants him to go to Winter ball, but they can't make him, which to me is a bit of a head scratcher. He does not have to go the whole time, but a few weeks would not kill the guy. Then again I am not a professional athlete, what do I know.

Also in looking into the future with Pedro, could a position switch be in the cards? Anyone that can make any type of projections about the future, can look at Pedro and immediately say, "Yes he will be a first baseman some day." The Pirates have a problem staffing first base, so why not kill two birds with one stone?

It might be a possibility that Pedro moves, and if so it will not happen overnight, but will take time to get him acclimated to the position, perhaps all of next spring and then some.

If the move does happen this offseason, I'd expect to see the Pirates sign a stop gap guy to hold down the fort at third. Someone that could platoon with say a d'Arnaud or Josh Harrison. If moving Pedro to first clears that position up, it would quickly make third base a very murky situation.

Preseason Predictions: A Look Back

2011-09-28T22:53:00.003-04:00

Before the season, I made few observations/predictions about the 2011 season. Let's take a look and see how correct/wrong I was.

Five Predictions

1. Neil Walker will prove that last year was not a fluke and will continue to hit well.

I'd say that this was a solid prediction, though like Nostradamus, I made a rather vague prediction. Looking back over the season, Walker might have been the most consistent Pirate hitter.

2. Ryan Doumit will finish the season in black and gold. Is this a good or bad thing?

Surprisingly he did finish as a Pirate, and well it was not really a good or bad thing, as he missed a majority of the season.

3. Anthony Rendon will be the first overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, though he won't sign until the deadline.

Well this was not a good one, as the team select Gerrit Cole instead.

4. Andrew McCutchen will be joined by a teammate in Arizona for the All-Star game. I hope Joel Hanrahan does not have any plans for the second week of July.

I forgot about this one, but that was a pretty good guess. I would have never guess three All-Stars, but naming two out of three ain't bad is it?

5. 75 wins. That would be a huge improvement, but one that I see as the best case scenario and one that hopefully happens.

For awhile I was hoping that they would blow this number out of the water, but instead they just missed it by a few.

What Do we Have: Shortstops

2011-09-27T23:25:00.000-04:00

There is perhaps no player on the Pirates that will generate more discussion and perhaps scorn than Ronny Cedeno. Many simply cannot stand how Ronny will from time to time simply seemingly forget that he is playing baseball at that time. Mental errors really hurt him at times.

There has never really been a question about the physical skills of Cedeno. He can more than physically play shortstop. In fact he took great strides this season, especially defensively. While he is not the gold glover that the announcers sometimes make him seem to be, he is above average. Add in the fact that that he is not a complete zero at the plate, you wonder why some may want to run him out of town. It is not as though starting shortstops are growing on trees around baseball.

Cedeno is due a raise, approximately $3.5 million for next season, which is again still a bargain considering what is out there. I shudder to think of the Pirates going out on the free agent market and finding someone to come in at shortstop. That guy would be considerably more expensive and perhaps not all that much better production wise.

Many are going to clamor for Chase d'Arnaud to be the shortstop next season, but really he has been very overmatched. His defense has been somewhat shaky and has clearly been overmatched at the plate. Right now Cedeno is a better option than d'Arnaud. In a year or so that might not be the case, but for the time being, keeping Cedeno is not the worst thing in the world.

What Do We Have: Second Base

2011-09-26T23:02:00.000-04:00

The Keystone corner might be one position on the field where the Pirates right now are comfortable. Neil Walker, the former catcher, has made big strides this season and has seemingly put a stranglehold on the second base position for the Bucs.

Walker has improved defensively this season, which was the one real goal for Walker this year to see if he could stick at second. While there is still plenty of room to grow defensively, this still just his second season playing the position. With more time in at second, he will be more than serviceable at second.

Offensively Walker took some steps forward. He was a solid run producer for the club and, as of this writing, has 12 home runs. If he could add some more power and draw just a few more walks, he could be a really special offensive player at second base. Right now he depends too much on getting a hit than a walk, which is not alarming but could be a problem if bat speed slows down. This could also be a reason why when he slumps he really slumps.

After Walker there is not much in terms of second basemen. Josh Harrison could be classified here, but he has more experience at third. A host of potential shortstop candidates could be placed here if they fizzle there. Guys like Chase d'Arnaud, could one day be considered a second base option.

For the time being the Pirates could be a lot worse off if they did not have Walker. Having him at least gives the Pirates some level of comfort. A definite storyline moving forward will be whether the Pirates extend Walker to a long term deal, which could very well happen, as it makes baseball and PR sense.

What Do We Have: First Base

2011-09-25T22:31:00.000-04:00

It has seemingly been since Willie Stargell moved to first that the Pirates have been struggling to find someone to replace him. Recent attempts included bringing in Adam LaRoche, Lyle Overbay, and Derek Lee. All of had some sorts of 'success' but have not been the answer.

Many are going to clamor for the Pirates to bring back Derek Lee. He has played well for the Pirates, but bringing back Lee will only again put a band aid on a bullet wound. He would only be here for a season or two at most, leaving the club still without a solution.

Garrett Jones is another option at first base, but he has been tried there before at first base. The club seems like him in the outfield and in his platoon role.

Other options include Steve Pearce, who is out of options and probably on his way out, Matt Hague, who to me is the new Steve Pearce, and not ready prospect, Matt Curry.

That leaves the Pirates with little options. Even if the club were high on Hague, you could not really count on him for much offense being a rookie at the big league level. If they like Jones as a platoon, we might be in store for a first base platoon between Jones and someone else, perhaps a free agent. Another possibility is that we could see a free agent first base signing, either from the major league level or a minor league guy like Garrett Jones was a few seasons ago.

To really attempt to fix the situation, a trade might be the best scenario. Trading from strength to another team to find a first baseman. Looking at a team that has a guy that is blocked at the big league level or has lost out on a position battle, might be the best case.

What Do We Have: Catchers

2011-09-22T00:27:00.000-04:00

The catching position is one where the Pirates have seemingly had trouble finding a guy to hold down the fort since Jason Kendall became an expensive and not very useful player. This past season, I believe the Pirates have used 7 men behind the plate, maybe even more. Right now there are 6 catchers on the roster, but not all will be a part of the team next season.

Easily we can scratch Chris Snyder off the roster, he is injury prone and will be too expensive. Snyder, who appeared in more games last season with the Pirates than this season, will not be really missed.

Ryan Doumit, a vanguard of the past few Pirate teams, will more than likely be following Mr. Snyder out of town. Doumit he of the defensive deficiency and the bat that only plays as a catcher, but he does not play defense as a catcher.

That leaves a MASH unit of players that will perhaps make up the catching position for the Pirates; Eric Fryer, Jason Jaramillo, Michael McKenry, and Matt Pagnozzi. The recent acquisition of Pagnozzi perhaps tipped Huntington's hand of going into next season with a bunch of guys and finding one that sticks.

That is perhaps the best option at this point. One a free agent would only be for one season and would not be much better than Chris Snyder or Ryan Doumit. Additionally the top catching prospect on the farm, Tony Sanchez, struggled at AA at the plate. The organization would more than likely love to have him straighten things out in the minors than in Pittsburgh, leading to a lame duck type of year.

The best guess then for what to expect next year would be a stop gap at catcher, until Sanchez is ready. A combination of Michael McKenry and either Pagnozzi or Jaramillo is what we can expect. The Pirates will more than likely simply bide their time until Tony Sanchez is ready. If they can get good defense from this platoon, it might not be all that bad, but we cannot expect to see much offense if any.

Falling Apart

2011-09-21T01:00:00.001-04:00

It has been awhile since I posted, as I have been traveling and under the weather, but luckily nothing really has happened all that much with the Pirates. Mainly the wheels have continued to fall off the wagon as the season draws to a close. Words seemingly cannot explain how much the team has changed from the one that had played earlier this season. They look more like the same old Pirates than the Pirates that looked to be perhaps turning a corner.

Where we fooled this season? Perhaps. Where we simply just not there yet? Maybe. Are we close to becoming a contending team? I don't know. I will attempt to take a look at those questions as we wind down more this season. What can we expect from the various players on this team, where does improvement need to be made?

This season was fairly important for the Pirates and this upcoming offseason might be one of the most important in team recent team history. How they are able to address the shortcomings of this current team and position it for the future will determine a great deal this offseason.

Has the team grown or has it stayed pretty much the same? That is the question to be asked and one to try to figure out.

Extending Andrew

2011-09-13T23:19:00.002-04:00

MLB Trade Rumors linked a story from ESPN.com that stated that the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen were far apart on signing a deal. That of course was reported by Jim Bowden, who must have been using some connections from his days serving under Syd Thrift, to glean this information.

I would think that if they were really far apart the local guys would have heard this already. I don't know if they are far apart, but I do know that the Pirates need to do what ever it takes to ensure that Andrew McCutchen is happy and in black and gold.

Look at the recent games. They only reason to watch is to see what he does. What he has been doing is phenomenal. He is starting to really tap into the potential that many saw as he came up through the system.

We are seeing a break out of power from the young centerfielder, while also not seeing other parts of his game suffer. Quite literally, we are seeing Andrew McCutchen slowly figure it all out.

As he figures more and more out about the big league level, he will become even more dangerous than he is now, which is a pretty scary thought. What is more is how depressing that it is thinking if he is not a Pirate.

Tim Dierkes says that it might take a contact similar to that of Justin Upton to get him to sign. Many would have thrown that out there as what to expect without knowing too much about the contract talks. I would not be surprised to see him get that money. If the team wants to start building at the big league level, ensuring that Andrew McCutchen is locked in is a huge part.

Neal Gets His Deal

2011-09-11T23:32:00.002-04:00

What had seemed to be inevitable happened for fact on Sunday, the Pirates extended the contract of Neal Huntington for three more seasons. It was almost a forgone conclusion that he was to be extended, it just finally happened in time for his weekly radio show so that it could be discussed in some detail.

With the news of the signing, it is a time for some reflection as well as to look forward to what the future might hold.

In his previous 4 seasons, Huntington has done what frankly needed to be done. The team was full of players that would not be with the team much longer and it was faced with a farm system that had nothing to be able to send to the majors. Huntington then embarked on a fire sale of epic proportions moving anything that was seemingly not nailed down for any type of useful player that he could get via trade.

Some of those trades worked out and some did not, but in the grand scheme of things accumulating players was basically all that could be done.

Additionally the team adopted a much more aggressive route to the draft, spending top money to land players that they felt were top level players. It has brought in many more talented players than previous regimes, though we are still some time away from seeing if they spent on the right players.

Spending money on major league players seems to be a fault of Huntington as he has failed to spend wisely in the free agent market. Aside from minor league deals for bullpen arms and the Kevin Correia deal, his signings of guys like Ramon Vasquez, Bobby Crosby, Eric Hinske, Ryan Church, Lyle Overbay, Matt Diaz, amongst others have not really panned out well for the club.

While Huntington has grown a great deal as a GM there is still plenty more room to grow. He has implemented a great deal to improve the organization, though with this current deal, the focus is going to be more on what he does with the major league part of the organization.

Many eyes will be watching what he does to fill the holes at the major league level this offseason. There are glaring needs at first, short and catcher. How he goes about filling those will determine how hot his seat gets next season. If the Pirates were to have a season like the current one next season, it might be mighty hot for him.

A Tale of Two Pitchers

2011-09-07T23:32:00.000-04:00

I found the following stats below rather intriguing when you look at the two of them together.

	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
Player A	3.66	26	26	162.1	160	72	66	11	50	6	97	1.29	8.9	0.6	2.8	5.4	1.94
Player B	3.7	28	27	153.1	143	76	63	10	55	1	139	1.29	8.4	0.6	3.2	8.2	2.53

Granted there is a huge difference in those numbers as one was put up by a major leaguer and the other by a minor leaguer. Nonetheless, I was taken aback by how similar they are with the results. Essentially they are very much alike, except the one strikes out a lot more batters that the other, while giving up slightly more walks.

I don't want to make the direct comparisons, just found it interesting to see how these two players have performed this year and finding such a striking similarity was odd.

The one has pitched in the majors for 7 seasons, he is the one with the top stats. That would be Paul Maholm. The bottom guy? Well he is set to make his big league debut on Saturday. Those are the stats of Jeff Locke.

Again I am not saying Locke could be Maholm or do what he did, but the stats are interesting to look at.

Paul Maholm Moving On?

2011-09-06T22:38:00.001-04:00

Today the Pirates placed Paul Maholm on the 60 day DL, essentially ending his 2011 season. Is it his last in the black and gold? It could very well be his last, as he has a rather pricey option to come back next season, that hte Pirates might not pick up.

A first round pick out of Mississippi State in 2003, Maholm was seen as the quintessential safe pick. A lefty with some plus pitches for a college guy. Seemed projectable. Could move quickly. He would never really be an ace, but could be very dependable.

Essentially that was the case with Maholm. He pitched some in 2003 with Hickory in 2003 then made it to Lynchburg in 2004. 2005 saw his best minor league season, as he started at Altoona and made it to AAA, going 7-3 in 22 games, striking out 96 in 117 innings. He would then go 3-1 in 6 starts in Pittsburgh that season. From then on he would be a fixture in the rotation.

The wins and losses seemed to fluctuate for Maholm and on the surface make him look like a worse pitcher than he was. He was pitching on some pretty bad teams with poor run support, so the losses would pile up. If you look at the other stats you could really predict what he would do. You could literally pencil in 170-200 innings pitched, 100-120 K's, and 60 BB. His best season might have been 2008 when he went 9-9 and made career highs in innings pitched, 206, and K's, 139.

He was and is not a swing and miss guy. He pitches to contact and depends on the team around him to help him. He sometimes hurt himself with the long ball, but more often than not you could say the rest of the team let him down.

Have we seen the last of Paul Maholm? Maybe. He is going to be pricey next season and he could be showing some signs of wear now that he has been on the disabled list a bit. I could see bringing him back for one more year, but not many more than two.

Would you want to have one more year of Paul Maholm or would we want to start to see what all of these young guys can do? Eventually they will need their trial by fire and keeping Maholm and tried hand that is not going to improve nor stay here longer is going to help that process.

Maholm has been a big part of the Pirates during the last 7 seasons. Perhaps it is time to move on and let others take their turn. It might not be easy to do, but might be the best for the organization.

First Base

2011-09-05T00:51:00.001-04:00

With the Bucs taking two of three from the Cubs on the road, it should give fans a good feeling about the upcoming series against the Astros, but recently they have had problems with the Astros, so it is not the good feeling one once had.

As the season is slowly drawing to a close, one thing has jumped to my mind. It is whether or not the Pirates should look to try to bring back Derek Lee for next season. In the offseason, he was a target of the Pirates to play first, but he went to Baltimore instead.

Clint Hurdle seems to want to have him back as he would like to have veterans available. That is no argument at all. I'd like to have Albert Pujols, but he makes as much sense as bringing back Lee.

The club is past the point of looking for duct tape fixes. Bringing in Derek Lee would be yet another fix like that. I would much rather see the club try an internal and younger candidate to see if they have one, or trade for a younger more attractive candidate.

This club needs to be looking towards the future and not continual stop gaps. To a certain extent they did do that this season. Many younger players played and played significant time. Bringing back Lee would essentially repeat this season again, leaving first base up in the air for the near future again.

As nice as having Lee hit that grand slam over the weekend was, it will be better if it is done next year by someone who is part of the future.

Shocker

2011-08-31T23:50:00.000-04:00

Today two things happened that I did not really expect to see happen this season. One involved something on the field and the other off the field.

On the field, I did not think that we would see the Pirates lose a series, let alone get swept, by the Houston Astros. Yes the Astros that are having a horrendous season. One on par with the Pirates of last season if not worse.

It is amazing what can happen in just a few days or a month. Things can be looking so great, only to see them fall completely apart.

The other took place away from the field, but almost provided the biggest shock of the season. Matt Diaz, he of the complete failure as a free agent signing, was dealt to the Atlanta Braves for a PTBNL or cash. Cash also went to Atlanta with Diaz.

This is unbelievable on many levels. One Diaz was simply wasting space and sucking up money. His defense was like an adventure that Lastings Milledge could not attempt, and his hacks at the plate made him look completely lost. Add to that, Diaz is contractually binded to a team the next season after this one. If you thought this one was a doozy, imagine the sequel.

Being able to pawn him off on Atlanta was like a gift from above. It almost does not matter the amount of cash sent down south, all that matters is that it was a very clean way of getting rid of a mistake.

From the Hole

2011-08-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

As the season seems to wind to slower and slower grind, one of the more interesting stories to see as the season progresses is how the team handles the starting shortstop position. It would seem that this might the beginning of the battle to see who will be the starter next season, as we watch Chase D'Arnaud and Ronny Cedeno go head to head.

So far it seems that they are taking turns at the position with there being no clear cut favorite. Many fans I am sure are tired of seeing Ronny Cedeno out there over and over again. I sort of am as well, but have to wonder if the devil you know is better than the one you don't.

Ronny Cedeno may never be much better than he is now. He is perhaps one of the most frustrating players on the team, as he has a bunch of physical tools, but consistency and the mental approach hold him back.

With Chase D'Arnaud you have a guy that is a bit of a spark plug, is just as athletic if not more than Cedeno, but so far has struggled offensively.

The question is can D'Arnaud improve at the plate enough to make him comparable to Cedeno at this point? If one believes that he can adjust then it is a no brainer to perhaps non-tender Cedeno this offseason. If there is a question as to if D'Arnaud can do that, then we might see Cedeno again.

I have to wonder then, will we see a lot more of D'Aranaud as the season progresses? One would think so. If he can handle it, it saves money and perhaps improves the team.

Calling Up the Hague

2011-08-29T23:06:00.000-04:00

With September fast approaching, many are awaiting the number of September call ups. The Pirates are in a weird position this season as many of the call ups will be players that have already played a lot this season, as injuries have taken a toll. One player that some think that might get a shot is Matt Hague, firstbaseman at AAA.

I don't see how the Pirates will play Hague as they seem to want to play Derek Lee at first and will need to also get Garrett Jones some at bats as well, leaving the number of at bats as negligible for Hague.

There is no doubt that Hague has had a good season at AAA. He has 35 doubles, 12 HR and 73 RBI. His slash line stands at .306/.368/.458 which is also pretty respectable. What would we get with him at the major league level though?

Hague is in his age 25 season, his first at AAA. I have to wonder how much production we would expect to get from Hague, who seems more like a line drive hitter than a power hitter. Add to the fact we will be playing at PNC with its spacious left field, and you can bet that his power will drop off.

I just don't see where there is excitement with adding Matt Hague. To me he is a little one dimensional offensively and that won't be enough at the big league level. That is not to say I would not encourage him to surprise, but if he gets added for September, I am not going to expect much at all. For one he won't get any opportunities and two, when he does, it will be a struggle.

Thinking of Robbie Grossman

2011-08-25T22:40:00.001-04:00

In looking over minor league statistics, one of the first things that I look at are walks and strikeouts. I like to look at that rate to see if the player has a sense of the strike zone or seemingly is flailing away at whatever is thrown up there to him. Usually there is some sort of a disparity between the two, but in looking over Robbie Grossman's stats, well it is pretty even and rather eye catching.

It has been pretty well documented that Grossman is the first to hit triple digits in runs and walks since Nick Swisher did it, but what was not as noted was that Grossman also just hit triple digits in strikeouts as well. What exactly does that mean?

For one, Grossman, with all the walks, seems to have a pretty good grasp of the strike zone. Patience is not an issue with him, though at the same time he is striking out a good bit, it is still 100 K's in over 450 at bats, a rate you would love to see drop.

In addition to the good eye, Grossman has also been slugging the ball more with 13 home runs, 30 doubles, and 2 triples, as well as being a threat on the bases with 24 stolen bases.

I have to ask myself the question though, what is the organization trying to prove with him in Bradenton? Why is he not in Altoona? It is obvious that the pitching in the Florida State League is a little below him, simply from all the walks. I'd love to see him in AA and see what he does against better pitching.

In AA would he hit more as the pitchers are in the zone more often? Would he struggle more with strike outs or would he adjust? How would his power translate by coming up north later in the season? These are questions that could have been answered if he was promoted at some point this season. We would know a whole lot more about Robbie Grossman than we do now.

So why has he not been promoted? One perhaps the team does not want to rush him, as they did push him a bit out of the draft, so allowing a good deal of success at a level might help down the line. Or they could be hoping that the K's do drop. Or perhaps more likely they want him staying at center and that position is manned by Starling Marte in Altoona.

Grossman has had a solid season where his game has made tremendous leaps. The OBP is great though I'd like to see the K's drop and see more hits. Maybe in hindsight challenging him at Altoona might have been a good move, if anything it would give more insight into what kind of player Grossman is now.

So Long Steve???

2011-08-23T23:10:00.001-04:00

With the news that Steve Pearce was going on the disabled list with a hurt finger, the writing is on the wall that perhaps he is finally done as a Pirate. Out of options and deep into arbitration, I don't see how the team would be willing to bring back an injury prone player that does not hit quite enough to play the positions that he fits best at. Myself, I have tired of seeing Steve Pearce, as to me the Pearce that many think they were getting was the once dominant minor league Pearce, instead of the teasing/injury prone one that we have been treated to.

Drafted out of South Carolina as a college senior, a typical Littlefield move, Pearce was sent to Williamsport in 2005. He promptly hit 7 home runs and drove in 52 RBI, while posting a .301/.381/.474 slash line. That is some pretty good production for their first taste of pro ball, even if he was older than you'd like for the level. In 2006, Pearce would go to Hickory then get promoted to Lynchburg during the season. At age 23, Pearce posted 26 home runs and 98 RBI in 131 games. His strikeout rose, his batting average dropped, but his OPS rose. It looked like the power was very intriguing to say the least, but age was still somewhat of a question mark, and the rise in K's was alarming, but not too worrisome.

In 2007 Pearce rocketed through the system like no other prospect had in some time. Starting in Lynchburg, then to Altoona, then to Indianapolis, and finally a September call up, Pearce was all over the place. In 134 minor league games, he hit 31 home runs and drove in 113 RBI. He cut down his K's and posted a great slash line of .333/.394/.622. All solid numbers. In 23 games in Pittsburgh, he would not hit a home run, but would muster 20 hits in only 68 at bats, while playing RF and first base.

In 2008 Pearce would spend 103 games in AAA and 37 games in Pittsburgh. He would hit a total of 16 home runs and drive in 75 RBI, while rising his strikeouts, striking out 20% of the time in Pittsburgh. 2009 saw him spit the season a little more evenly with 77 games at AAA and 60 in Pittsburgh. He would hit 17 home runs and drive in 80 and his plate discipline seemed to return that season, buoyed by his AAA performance.

The past two seasons with injuries plaguing him, Pearce has hit only 7 home runs in two seasons, 6 of them in the minors. He also has driven in only 40 runs in two seasons, with 27 coming in the minors. Add to that fact that he is striking out more than ever, 22% of the time in the majors, well it adds up to him not being invited back next season.

Pearce caught the attention of stats geeks with his rocketing through the system and power at multiple levels. The average fan liked him as he was a 'top prospect' when there really were not any in the system. Despite the great early success, injuries, strikeouts, and perhaps pushing too hard, did in Pearce. Additionally not having a set position in the majors also seemed to hurt. He was always the square peg in the round hole so to speak, adequate at first and perhaps trying too hard anywhere else.

The major league Pearce is what he was. He might have been a AAAA type of hitter with no position, the type of player the Pirates seemingly can grow on trees. Just like some of those players, he had the injury issues as well, helping him not live up to the potential that was apparent to many when he was crushing minor league pitching.

Redeemption

2011-08-22T23:20:00.002-04:00

With a double header on the docket for today against the Brewers, one would have thought that things would not be all that pretty for the Pirates. In the first game, that was indeed the case as the Brewers did what they have done countless times against the Pirates, pile on the runs. Just when I thought it could not get any worse, they go out and do this....and totally redeem themselves, if only for one game.

Only with the benefit of the doubleheader the Pirates had a chance to go out and redeem themselves and did so in grand fashion, scoring 7 runs in their part of the seventh.

I believe at one point the Brewers threw over 50 pitches in that one inning alone, as the Pirates rolled around the bases.

It could not have been much better in that second game, as the Brewers, typically brash and trash talking, did little of that as the Pirates put up the runs. Hopefully this can be a springboard to taking the series from the Brew Crew, as there is nothing better than beating this team. Granted it does not happen all that much, but when it does happen it feels good.

Speaking of the Brew Crew, could that not possibly be any more annoying? Granted they are having a great season, but for the past 4 seasons they have walked around like the own the entire National League. It only gets worse when Pirates fans are treated to watching Nyjer Morgan walk around like he is something extremely special and important to the Brewers' success. This team has only made the playoffs once in this stretch and have finished under .500 in the past two seasons since, losing in the playoffs.

How About Neal?

2011-08-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

In the past few weeks the Pirates have made many moves that have added to the future of the team, as well moves that have involved a significant outlay of money. We had the trade deadline, the draft, and recently the Tabata extension.

All of this has me wondering, when will Neal Huntington get his extension?

It would seem that the team would want to lock up the guy that is going around spending money like there is no tomorrow, but yet they have not publicly said that Huntington has been extended. One would have to think that Coonelly and Nutting like what he has/is doing, or else some of the recent developments might not have happened.

To me it is a no brainer to extend Neal Huntington, one can never know until it acutally happens.

I would like to see more extensions come on down the line for players like McCutchen or Walker, but the most important might be that of Huntington himself.

Extending Tabata

2011-08-21T23:31:00.001-04:00

The Pirates have long been talking about wanting to sign their 'core' to longer terms contacts to keep them in black and gold. Over the weekend they did just that by signing Jose Tabata to a long term extension. The extension might keep Tabata in Pittsburgh as long as 2019.

From MLB.com, the details of the contract are:

Tabata will now earn $500,000 this year, along with a $1 million signing bonus. His salary will jump to $750,000 in 2012, $1 million in 2013, $3 million in 2014, $4 million in 2015 and $4.5 million in 2016. That totals a guaranteed $14.75 million.

The club options attached to the extension give the Pirates the ability to keep Tabata from becoming a free agent until after the 2019 season. Those three options are worth $6.5 million (2017), $7.5 million (2018) and $8.5 million (2019). There is a $250,000 buyout attached to each option, if it is not exercised.

This deal does a good bit for the Pirates. One it gives them the cost certainty and control of a player that they like, in Jose Tabata. Those two points are key. Secondly it gives them some control over the free agency years by tacking on the options. If Tabata continues to grow as a player, they could have him for a very long time, through his most productive and peak seasons. If the power ever comes with Tabata, this is a very good deal, even if that does not happen, it is still a cost effective contract.

For Tabata he get money up front that he perhaps did not see coming his way and it gives him a sense of comfort in knowing that he is in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future, which seems to be a pretty big factor for him. He clearly wants to be a Pirate and feels very comfortable here.

In the end the Pirates may have come out big in this deal as it is fairly cheap through the arbitration years, especially if Tabata continues to grow as a player. That almost $15 million guaranteed is not all that much.

I'd say that this a good deal for the Pirates and helps to bring some clarity to the future of the Pirates lineup.

Backdraft 2003

2011-08-18T23:59:00.000-04:00

Many may remember the 2003 draft as the fabled "Moneyball" Draft, where Michael Lewis followed the goings on in the A's draftroom. Here in Pittsburgh Ed Creech and Dave Littlefield put there heads together and came out with their own kind of 'moneyball', cheapness. It is not that they went totally safe and signable, but out of the 50 drafted, they only signed 19, a pretty small number. Of those 19 only four so far have made the major leagues.

The Bucs had the 8th pick that year and were torn between picking Mississippi State lefty Paul Maholm or Texas lefty John Danks. Creech said that they really liked Danks, but went with Maholm as he could 'fasttrack' to the big leagues as a college pitcher. I would have to say that with this first pick, they did a good job. Danks cracked the White Sox rotation last year and had little success, while Maholm looks like a good fit in a big league rotation.

With their second pick the Pirates again took a lefty pitcher, Tom Gorzelanny. It seemed it might be a slight reach, but as Creech said, "We wanted him and we wanted to make sure we got him. Philosophically, if you like a guy, you take him -- even if it's early." It paid off as Gorzelanny, like Maholm, had become an important part of our young rotation.

After those two, the Pirates almost seemed better off to not pick any more players. After Gorzelanny, the club selected Steve Lerud, a high school catcher, who topped out in the upper minors, making the 40 man. Pitcher Kyle Pearson and Craig Stansberry rounded out the top 5 selections.

The rest of the draft was a like a who's who of minor league filler for the Pirates farm system. Picks like Adam Boeve, Dustin Molleken, Pedro Powell, Craig Picart, and Clayton Hamilton, though he did not sign with the Bucs.

Other notables included Butler product, Jacob Cuffman, who looked like he could be a special player, but injuries derailed him in the lower minors prior to ever getting much of anywhere. Cuffman was a bit of a cautionary tale for many Pirate pitching prospects of the era. Some talent and upside, but never seemed to do much of anything in the farm system.

Joining Cuffman as another local product, was Josh Sharpless, from Allegheny College. Sharpless was a participant in the 2006 Futures game, but he did not have much of a future after that. He was out of the Pirates organization by 2008 and seemingly out of baseball after the 2009 season.

The 2003 draft is look at what the Pirates used to do in the draft. They took a safe pick in Maholm, followed that up with an upside guy in Gorzelanny, then seemingly punted the rest of the way. Sure many of the players seemed like there could be some upside, but really there was not much there. A guy like Jacob Cuffman, even if he panned out, would not have been a huge difference maker. Same goes for all the organizational filler as well. Even with the team missing out on all of those players, adding the value that they have gotten from Paul Maholm makes up for most of the misses.

24 Hours

2011-08-16T23:36:00.000-04:00

What a difference a day makes!

Last night we were treated to the great news that the Pirates wrapped up one of the better draft classes in baseball as they were able to land Gerrit Cole, but more importantly add Josh Bell. For a team that is sorely lacking in top level talent, they were able to add two guys that have very potential to be top level talent in the future.

Then as this great news was sinking in, we were told earlier today that Pedro Alvarez would be optioned back to AAA to make room for Jose Tabata. That is a sentence I never really thought I would have to write. I did not think that this season Pedro Alvarez would have a lost season, but he has. He has not improved at all this season and is a bigger question mark going into this offseason than last.

Why did it come to this? There are many possible answers, but the most basic is that he just maybe was not fully ready. The team took their time with him last season in promoting him. When many wanted him up they kept him down in the minors, saing he still needed time. Perhaps he still needs even more time. I just don't want Pedro to turn into another cautionary tale of young talented Pirates, like Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez was clearly brought up before he was ready and was yo-yoed back and forth to AAA and the majors, missing on valualbe development time.

I am not saying that Pedro needed a ton of development time, but may be a little more is needed as he is looking lost at the plate and he is taking that out into the field with him. Hopefully he can get his mind straight down there and have a solid final month.

After hearing of the demotion prior to the game, a game that pitted the Bucs against Chris Carpenter, it would ahve been assumed that things would not go good. They did indeed look like that when Hanrahan, in another non save situation, blew a lead. Luckily Neil Walker bailed him out and Garrett Jones took former Bucco* Arthur Rhodes to the Allegheny for the walk off. An exciting comeback.

It was a wild 24 hours for the Pirates. Full of joy, some disappointment, and more joy.

Early Read

2011-08-16T00:14:00.003-04:00

It appears via Twitter that the Pirates have signed both Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell. Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated first broke the news, then later others chimed in like John Manuel of Baseball America. Early reports have Cole getting $8 million, the richest deal in Pirates draft history, and Bell getting $5 million, which would be a record for the second round.

In two players the Pirates have spent $13 million. Add in the money spent on the others and we could be looking at one of the highest dollar figures in draft history, let alone Pirate draft history.

One has to give the Pirates credit here for getting both Cole and Bell signed. Many did not seem to think that Bell was signable, but Huntington and Greg Smith took a gamble. It may pay off handsomely, as hitters like Bell don't grow on trees. Neither do pitchers like Gerrit Cole. I would venture to guess that the top five prospects in the Pirates system looks radically different right now then it did about 15 minutes ago.

There will be more to discuss, but right now, it is a good feeling that the Pirates were able to get both signed. It shows commitment and follow through by an organization that desperately needed to add more top end talent to the fold.

Signing Day

2011-08-15T10:05:00.000-04:00

Monday marks the end of yet another signing period for the MLB Draft. At midnight all players will need to have signed a contract. The Pirates have been very busy signing many players up to this point. I believe at this point it is either 21 or 22 players that have come to terms. Most of the attention is going to be focused on two players that have yet to come to terms, that is first overall choice Gerrit Cole and second round choice Josh Bell.

Obviously the Cole contract will more than likely not be announced until after the deadline, as whatever terms are agreed upon will be agreed upon only minutes prior to it. Upon signing with the club, he may immediately become their best prospect. Adding him as a fast track arm to go along with Jameson Taillon would give the team two top arms.

What could make this a very special draft class would be if the team were to secure the rights to Josh Bell. Much has been said of Bell and his demands as well as his supposed preference to go to school. Everyone has a price and it will be interesting to see if the Pirates are able to hit that price. If they do it might be a record for the second round and would make the heads of some in the MLB offices spin.

It will be a very interesting day to say the least, as the Pirates are looking to sign many others aside from Bell and Cole. Adding additional players on the final day, could make the draft class one to keep an eye on.

On the Road in Altoona

2011-08-14T21:52:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, we took a trip up to Altoona to view the Curve in action. Action we did see as the Curve hti 3 home runs, two of them from Quincy Latimore. Among the interesting notes from the game were:

Quincy Latimore swings through a pitch

Starling Marte can cover a ton of ground. He never seems to make running catches, why?, because he is already there waiting for the ball. His range in centerfield is something to behold. His speed on the basepaths is also very impressive as well as he takes the extra base rather frequently.

Starling Marte legging out an infield single

Starling Marte at the plate

Marte at his most dangerous, on the bases

Brock Holt played shortstop and showed some decent range there. While he played a lot of second earlier in the season, with Jordy Mercer at short, the move to shortstop could be one in another long line of throwing shortstops at the wall and see what sticks.

Brock Holt

Andrew Lambo looks like the Lambo of last season, too bad he is not doing this in AAA, though.

Lambo strokes a double

Lambo rounds third on Sanchez hit

Phil Irwin pitched a pretty good game. He had seven strikeouts in the game and never seemed to be really working all that much on the mound, after a rough first. It seemed somewhat effortless for him at times. He could be a real sleeper.

Phil Irwin delivers a pitch

Bryan Morris warming up in the bullpen was something to see. He threw away a few pitches while warming up. He calmed down once in the game and pitched two scoreless. He showed a good fastball and a breaking ball, but it was nothing that blew me away. You could see that there was talent there, but one did not walk away going, "I really saw something."

Bryan Morris delivers a pitch

Tony Sanchez had a hit or two and looked much more comfortable at the plate then earlier this season. He did not really have to do much defensively, but seeing him look more comforable and hitting the ball with some authroity was good to see.

Tony Sanchez looks for a sign

Sanchez strokes one to right

The other highlight was seeing former Bucco Mark Parent coaching the Reading Phils. It brought back memories of him and Rich Aude in the early 90's.

Former Bucco, Josh Rodriguez

First baseman of the Future?, Matt Curry

Mark Parent with John Suomi

Weekly Farm Report

2011-08-11T22:35:00.000-04:00

Team of the Week:State College Spikes
Hitter of the Week:Starling Marte, Altoona
Pitcher of the Week:Zack Dodson, West Virginia

Indianapolis: 4-3 For theWeek

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Hague	5	12	2	0	2	9	2	5	Great week, 9 RBI
Harrison	5	11	5	0	1	4	1	0	Keeps hitting
Marte, A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Bowker	5	9	3	0	1	3	2	4
Hernandez, Go	2	6	1	1	0	4	3	4
Jaramillo	2	4	1	0	1	4	2	2
Fryer	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	5
Durham	2	5	2	0	0	1	1	2
Ciriaco	1	3	0	0	0	2	0	7	K's and more K's
Mercer	8	10	4	1	0	6	1	3	Strong week
Clement	3	7	0	0	0	2	3	3
Bocock	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	2
Tabata	5	7	4	0	0	1	4	3	Rehab

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Thomas, J	6	6	2	2	3	5
Burres	9.1	11	6	6	4	10	1			2 starts
Moskos	4.1	4	1	1	0	2				Nice work
Leroux	3.3	4	1	1	4	3
Owens	2.2	8	5	5	0	2		1		Done for season?
Ascanio	3	1	0	0	1	3
Olson	4.1	10	6	6	2	2		1
Watson	1	1	0	0	0	0
Wood	2.1	2	0	0	1	2			2	Racking up saves
Wilson	2	0	0	0	1	1				Exiting early
Gallagher, S	7.3	3	1	0	7	6				Good work
Hughes	3.1	4	2	2	2	2	2
Jackson	1.2	4	5	4	2	1
Ohlendorf	6.1	7	4	4	1	3		1		Rehab
Thompson	3.2	5	1	1	0	0	1

Altoona: 4-2 For theWeek

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Marte	7	12	1	0	3	7	1	1	Power surge!!!
Latimore	2	5	3	0	0	3	0	11	Tons of K's
Chalk	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	0
Watts	1	2	1	0	0	2	3	3
Holt, Br	9	8	3	0	0	2	4	3	Solid
Sanchez, T	3	6	1	0	0	3	4	5	Nice week
Picart	2	5	1	0	1	5	0	2
Curry	3	2	0	0	0	2	3	3	Tailled off
Norman	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Lambo	3	7	2	0	0	5	3	4
Rodriguez	3	10	1	0	1	5	4	4
Sanchez, Y	3	5	0	0	0	0	1	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Dubee	3	2	0	0	0	2				Solid
Alderson	1.1	1	0	0	0	2
Claggett	3	5	2	2	0	1		1
Locke	5.2	4	0	0	2	6	1			Good start
Colla	5	4	1	1	2	6	1
Pribanic	6	5	3	3	4	3
Krol	2	2	0	0	0	0			1	Nice work
Thompson	1	0	0	0	0	0
McSwain	2	1	0	0	1	2
Morris	2.1	1	0	0	1	2	1
McPherson	12	13	8	5	2	11	1	1		Roughed up in one
Irwin	5.2	3	2	1	0	6				Nice stuff

Bradenton:4-2 For theWeek

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Grossman	4	8	2	0	1	5	0	6	No BB's???
Chambers	2	4	2	0	0	1	2	13	Tons of K's
White	4	8	1	0	2	4	2	7
Rubinstein	2	2	1	0	0	1	2	1
Gonzalez, E	5	11	2	0	2	8	2	3	Lots of Hits
Gonzalez, B	2	4	1	0	0	0	1	0
Cabrera	6	9	1	0	1	6	1	2	Solid week
Santos	4	9	2	1	1	6	2	0	Good week
Brown, K	2	2	1	0	0	1	1	1
Paulino	3	6	0	1	1	2	0	0
d'Arnaud	3	4	1	0	1	3	1	0	Rehab
Presley	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	Rehab

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Leach	3	5	3	3	1	1
Moreno	2	0	0	0	0	2
Erickson	3.1	6	3	3	1	4
Welker	2	1	0	0	0	3			2	Two saves
Foster	4.2	3	1	0	0	2		1
Sinkbeil	6	4	3	0	0	3
Beckman	1.2	2	0	0	0	0
Baker, N	6.2	2	1	1	2	6	1			Nice start
Ramos, J	8	15	13	11	4	4	1			Really roughed up
Cox, T	2.3	0	0	0	1	2	1
Cumpton	4.2	7	4	3	2	1		1
Waldron	5.1	3	1	1	2	4	1			Solid

West Virginia: 3-3 FortheWeek

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Maggi	3	12	3	0	0	2	2	2	Lots of hits
Howard	5	2	0	0	0	2	6	5
Grovatt	4	5	1	1	1	3	3	1	Nice week
Noris	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
Mort	1	7	1	0	0	4	1	2
Emsley-Pai	1	2	1	1	0	1	1	5
Rojas, M	6	7	0	2	0	3	2	5	Nice
Vasquez	3	9	1	0	0	3	0	3
Avila	0	5	0	0	0	2	2	3
Diaz	2	4	2	1	0	5	1	2
Lyles	3	2	1	0	0	2	3	2
Bencsko	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Navarro	5	5	3	3	3	5
Cain	1.2	8	7	7	0	1		1		Bad outing
Decker	3.1	0	0	0	2	3			1	Nice work
Von Rosenberg	6	4	1	1	1	6				Great start
Fuesser	3	5	5	2	0	4		1
Lopez	3.2	2	1	1	1	4
Sadler	4	2	0	0	0	3				Solid
Pounders	2.1	1	0	0	4	2				Solid work
Townsend	2.2	2	0	0	0	2
Taillon	4	3	3	3	3	2				Limiting innings
Black, V	2.1	4	5	4	2	2		1
Ennis	1	3	1	1	1	1
Singh, R	1	1	0	0	2	0	1			Picks up win
Dodson	12	8	2	2	2	4	2			Workhorse

State College: 5-2 Forthe Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Gourley	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
Trent	2	3	2	0	0	2	4	2
Gonzalez, S	3	6	0	1	0	1	3	0
Freeman	5	13	5	1	0	5	4	3	Strong week
Skirving	2	5	1	0	0	1	0	5
Lewis, T	1	3	0	0	0	1	3	3
Fuselier	4	2	0	0	0	1	1	2
Lashmet	1	4	0	0	1	6	4	4
Singer, K	4	7	0	0	1	3	3	6	Nice week
Ponce, A	6	4	0	0	0	3	4	2
Dickerson	8	8	4	0	1	7	3	5	Strong week
Sosa	1	6	2	0	0	7	2	2	Lots of RBI
Gamache	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Stevenson	11	12	5	5	1	3		1		Lots of hits
Kingham	11	8	2	1	1	5				Nice week
Payne	2	4	1	1	1	0	1
Montero, Jo	2.2	3	2	2	3	1
Hafner	6	2	0	0	0	4	1			Solid
Kleis	4	0	0	0	1	0
Brito, Je	3.1	6	4	4	2	0		1
Benedict	5.1	7	3	2	2	0
Allie	1	0	0	0	1	0				Slow going
Archibald	3	3	0	0	2	2			1	Nice work
De Leon, E	4	4	3	2	0	1
Jefferson	5	4	0	0	2	3	1			Solid work
Poytress	2.1	1	0	0	3	4	2
Cooper	3	1	2	0	0	4				Good work
Castro	4	3	1	1	1	4
Kilcrease	0.1	0	0	0	0	1

Bradenton: 3-3 For theWeek

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Hanson	1	3	1	1	0	3	2	5
Carvajal	7	8	1	0	0	1	3	1	Lots of hits
Garcia, W	1	3	1	0	0	3	1	2
Polanco, G	3	7	0	1	0	0	0	1	Nice week
Osuna	1	1	0	0	1	2	1	2
Lakind	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	4
Schwind	3	2	1	0	0	1	2	2
Aponte, F	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3
Nivar, G	0	3	0	1	0	2	1	1	2 RBI
Urena, Lu	2	4	1	1	0	0	2	3	Nice week
Child	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
Hornback	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	1
Bishop	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
Cayones	2	5	1	1	0	2	3	4	Good work
Gamache	2	5	0	0	0	3	2	5	Nice week
Jones, R	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Neverauskas	4.1	6	2	2	2	2	1			Nice work
Campos	1	0	0	0	0	0			1
Weidman, B	8	9	4	3	0	4		1
Pevny	2.2	3	3	2	1	1	1
Trepagnier	1	0	0	0	0	1
Lee	2.2	2	0	0	2	3
Heredia	3	2	0	0	2	2	1			Good stuff and win
Kilcrease	1	1	0	0	1	3
Mateo	4	2	0	0	0	3				Solid
Parsons	2	6	5	5	0	3		1
Mendez	2.2	0	0	0	0	4			1	Power pitching
Hernandez, Ji	2	2	1	0	1	0			1
Almonte, B	1.2	5	5	5	2	1
Sanchez, I	0.2	2	2	2	2	0
Lodge	2.1	6	6	6	1	3				Roughed up
Lopez, C	3.2	7	4	4	0	1		1
Herrand	2	1	2	2	0	1
Creasy	2.1	5	3	1	2	1
Inman	1	0	0	0	0	1				Inman sighting!

Out by the Bay

2011-08-11T01:39:00.001-04:00

Somehow the Pirates were able to take 2 of three from the Giants in San Francisco, doing so while having an offensive outburst in the game on Wednesday. With what they did on the homestand, it did not look like they would be putting up much of a fight on the road, but perhaps they needed to get away from home for a while.

It is a good thing that they have sort of changed their recent winning ways as they now head to Milwaukee in what will be a huge series for the team. It is big in many ways, one in that they need a good showing against the Brewers to remain in any type of competitive role in the division and the fact that this will be one of two upcoming national broadcasts, getting blown out on national television would not look good.

How things shake out in Milwaukee will be very interesting to see. The team has had a bad run, but looked like the team from earlier in San Francisco. I guess it continues the theme of this being a strange season. I would almost not be surprised to see them sweep the Brewers, with the way things are going.

Great Trades - Ricardo Rincon to Cleveland

2011-08-09T23:33:00.000-04:00

After the 1998 season, Cam Bonifay made a trade that he probably still talks about to anyone that will listen. It was a trade so good that he probably should have quit while he was ahead. In November of 1998 he sent left hander Ricardo Rincon to Cleveland for outfielder Brian Giles.

Rincon was signed out the Mexican League by the Pirates and had spent time as botht he left handed specialist and the closer for the Pirates. Rincon is remembered by many as being a part of the combined no hitter with fellow Mexican Francisco Cordova. Rincon appeared in a total of 122 games for the Bucs, earning 18 saves, and posting a 3.17 ERA.

Cleveland at the time was looking for another World Series appearance and was also looking for a lefty out of the bullpen to help in the playoffs. Adding Rincon would give them that guy, unfortunately for John Hart he gave up Brian Giles to get him.

Giles had been an outfielder and DH for the Tribe, never getting 400 at bats in a season for them. He did produce, hitting a then career high 17 home runs in 1997. Coming to Pittsburgh and getting an everyday chance, Giles blossomed into a slugger. He would drive in over 100 RBI three times and hit over 35 home runs 4 times. Giles was, during his time in Pittsburgh, one of the more underrated sluggers in the entire game.

Giles would spend 5 seasons in Pittsburgh, racking up 165 home runs and 506 RBI, clearly his best seasons of his career. In his short period of time, Giles name appears in many offensive leader categories for the Pirates all-time.

Rincon would pitch 4 seasons for the Indians, appearing in over 200 games for the Tribe. He pitched in the post season twice for Cleveland, both times being wildly ineffective for the team and never helping them advance past the divisional series.

While Rincon was not horrible for the Indians, he is still simply a relief pitcher. He was not a game changer in his position. The Pirates added Giles, clearly one of the more productive hitters of that era, and in Pirate history. Anytime you can turn a lefty reliever into an All-Star outfielder, you need to make the trade. Bonifay did that and added a star for the Pirates.

The Bold Move

2011-08-07T23:23:00.002-04:00

In the lead up to the trading deadline, I was one that was on board with the team making some sort of move to add to the current roster. A move of some sorts would allow the team to perhaps cash in on the run of luck that they were having. Bolstering the team could somehow put them over the top for this season, taking advantage of the division race, while not mortgaging the future.

Now a week or so into it, as the season seems to be spiraling out of control, I wonder if the bold move would have not been more trades for the future. It was clearly a sellers market this year. Take a look at what Colorado got for Jimenez, or Houston for Pence. Imagine if the Pirates had tried to sell off Maholm, Hanrahan, Jones, Diaz, whomever else was not nailed down.

Could packaging Hanrahan and Maholm gotten the team a few prospects that could make a big difference in the near future? What if selling off someone could have gotten a younger first baseman or another catcher? Adding too the core of McCutchen, Walker, Tabata, and Alvarez might have been the more prudent move.

Some out there were angry that the Pirates did not land a Hunter Pence. I don't know what they were thinking, but that is lunacy. Perhaps we should be angry that they did acquire Ryan Ludwick and Derek Lee. Perhaps we would have been better served at this deadline if Maholm or Hanrahan were wearing different jerseys right now.

Of course it is all in hindsight right now, but I have been wondering if the team might have been better served continuing to stay the course for the future.

Weekly Minor League Report

2011-08-04T22:53:00.001-04:00

Team of the Week: Bradenton Marauders
Hitter of the Week: Wes Freeman, State College
Pitcher of the Week: Jordan Cooper, State College

Indianapolis: 4-2 For the Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Hague	4	8	0	1	1	7	3	3	7 RBI
Harrison	3	5	1	0	1	5	5	1	Nice discipline
Brown, D	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
Marte, A	1	2	2	0	0	4	0	3
Toregas	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bowker	5	6	1	0	1	5	1	5
Hernandez, Go	5	5	2	0	0	1	2	4
Jaramillo	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Durham	1	5	1	1	0	2	0	7	Lots of K's
Ciriaco	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	Back in AAA
Mercer	6	7	3	0	0	3	2	3	Nice week
Perez, M	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Doumit	3	6	1	1	0	2	3	3	Rehab
Clement	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1
Bocock	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Welcome

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Lincoln	3	11	6	6	0	3		1		Roughed up
Thomas, J	2	3	0	0	0	0
Burres	2.1	6	6	6	3	1				Roughed Up
Moskos	4	8	4	4	0	6
Leroux	1	1	0	0	1	1	1
Owens	6.2	8	5	5	2	6	1			So So
Ascanio	2	4	4	4	2	2
Olson	5.1	2	1	1	5	4
Wood	5	3	1	0	2	4	1		2	Nice week
Wilson	3.2	6	3	3	3	2		1
Hughes	3.2	2	1	1	1	5
Jackson	3.1	3	1	0	3	0
Ohlendorf	11	9	4	3	6	4	1			Rehab

Altoona: 3-3 For the Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Marte	4	9	4	0	0	4	0	2	Strong week
Latimore	3	6	1	1	0	4	3	6
Chalk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Watts	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
Holt, Br	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	3
Sanchez, T	2	6	1	0	0	4	1	6	Nice week
Picart	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	2
Curry	5	3	1	0	0	0	3	8
Norman	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lambo	4	9	1	0	2	3	1	5	Strong week
Rodriguez	1	3	0	0	1	3	2	4
Sanchez, Y	3	9	2	0	0	3	1	2

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Dubee	1	2	0	0	0	0
Alderson	4.2	11	8	8	2	3		1		Ugly
Claggett	2	0	0	0	1	2	1
Locke	7	4	1	1	2	6				Nice start
Colla	9	9	3	3	2	7		1
Pribanic	3.1	12	6	6	1	3		1		Ugly
Krol	2	3	1	1	0	3			1
Thompson	4.1	4	1	1	0	2				Nice work
McSwain	1.2	1	0	0	0	1
Morris	3.1	5	1	1	0	3
McPherson	6.2	4	1	1	1	10	1			Tons of K's
Irwin	5	8	2	2	0	3	1

Bradenton: 5-0 For the Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Grossman	7	5	1	0	1	1	3	3	Good numbers
Chambers	3	7	1	0	1	9	5	5	Tons of RBI
White	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0
Rubinstein	1	2	0	0	1	4	1	3
Gonzalez, E	2	7	0	0	0	2	2	2
Gonzalez, B	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	2
Baker, A	2	2	0	0	0	2	2	2	So Long
Cabrera	5	10	1	0	0	4	5	1	Lots of hits
Santos	8	7	1	0	1	4	3	2
Brown, K	2	5	1	0	0	2	0	1
Paulino	3	7	2	0	1	5	0	2
Marquez	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Moreno	2	2	0	0	0	1
Erickson	3	4	2	2	0	2
Welker	2	0	0	0	0	1			1
Lorin	6	3	0	0	0	5	1			Nice start
Foster	1	0	0	0	1	0
Sinkbeil	6	4	1	1	0	2	1			Nice work
Beckman	2	1	0	0	0	1
Baker, N	6	4	4	4	2	4
Ramos, J	7	5	0	0	0	2	1			Good work
Cox, T	2	2	1	1	0	1
Cumpton	6	4	1	1	1	6	1			Solid
Waldron	2	1	0	0	1	1	1

West Virginia: 3-4 For the Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Maggi	4	5	1	0	0	3	4	5
Howard	5	8	2	0	1	3	4	5	Strong week
Grovatt	4	10	1	0	1	3	1	2	Lots of hits
Noris	3	5	0	1	0	3	0	6
Mort	2	3	0	0	0	0	3	3
Emsley-Pai	0	4	2	0	0	1	3	2
Rojas, M	3	6	2	0	0	3	2	3
Vasquez	5	7	0	0	1	2	1	3	Nice week
Avila	3	8	2	0	1	2	3	3	Nice hit total
Diaz	2	2	0	0	1	2	0	1
White	0	4	0	0	0	3	2	3
Lyles	1	8	1	0	0	4	0	4
Bencsko	1	3	2	0	0	2	1	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Navarro	9	10	3	2	1	11				Tons of K's, ND
Cain	5.2	8	2	2	4	4		1
Decker	4	2	0	0	2	5			1	Strong
Von Rosenberg	5	7	4	3	0	4		1
Fuesser	12	10	4	4	3	5	1			Lots of IP
Lopez	3.1	4	2	2	4	4		1
Sadler	4.2	1	0	0	2	6				Good work
Pounders	3	3	1	1	1	2			1
Townsend	4	2	1	1	1	3		1
Taillon	2	4	3	3	1	4				OK
Black, V	3	4	5	5	2	1				Not good
Ennis	4.1	4	2	2	2	2	2
Singh, R	4	4	2	2	1	6				Nice work

State College: 6-2 For the Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Gourley	1	6	3	0	0	4	0	5	Good week
Trent	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Gonzalez, S	3	7	0	0	1	4	2	2
Freeman	6	14	2	0	2	4	2	8	Coming into his own?
Skirving	1	8	3	0	1	2	1	4	Great week
Lewis, T	2	3	0	1	0	1	1	3
Bencsko	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
Fuselier	4	3	1	0	0	0	3	3
Lashmet	1	5	2	0	0	4	3	2	Nice week
Singer, K	3	4	1	1	0	2	2	2
Ponce, A	5	5	1	0	0	1	4	0
Dickerson	2	4	1	0	0	2	6	6	Good eye
Sosa	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Dodson	6	6	2	2	1	8				Good work, ND
Stevenson	3	7	5	5	0	1
Kingham	5	4	1	1	1	3	1
Payne	2.1	2	1	1	2	2
Montero, Jo	3	2	1	1	0	2			1
Hafner	7	7	3	2	2	3	1	1		Nice work
Kleis	2.1	2	1	1	2	1
Brito, Je	4	2	1	1	1	0			2	Strong week
Benedict	3.1	9	8	8	1	3		1		Not good
Allie	0.2	0	1	1	3	2				Wild thing
Archibald	2.2	2	1	1	1	1
De Leon, E	2	1	0	0	2	1			2	Good
Jefferson	12	7	5	4	8	13				Tons of K's and BB
Poytress	3.2	0	0	0	1	5	1
Cooper	9.1	7	0	0	4	1	2			Great week
Castro	3.2	7	3	3	0	0	1

Bradenton: 2-4 For the Week

Player	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Note
Hanson	5	6	2	0	0	5	1	3
Carvajal	7	10	0	0	0	4	2	3	Nice hit total
Garcia, W	1	7	2	0	0	3	3	3	Nice week
Polanco, G	4	5	1	1	0	2	1	1
Osuna	3	2	1	0	0	1	1	1
Lakind	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	3	Slow
Schwind	5	3	0	0	0	3	5	3
Aponte, F	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Nivar, G	1	2	0	0	0	2	1	3
Urena, Lu	1	3	0	2	0	2	2	0
Child	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	0
Hornback	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Bishop	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	1
Cayones	4	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	Nice week
Clement	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Gamache	4	2	0	0	0	1	1	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W	L	S	Note
Neverauskas	4	5	1	0	3	3				Solid
Campos	3	1	0	0	0	4			1
Weidman, B	4	6	4	4	1	3
Pevny	2.1	4	3	3	3	2		1
Trepagnier	3.1	6	3	2	0	3
Lee	2	1	0	0	0	1				Good work
Heredia	3	7	5	5	1	1				Not good
Kilcrease	4	1	0	0	2	6	1			Good work
Mateo	6	5	3	3	3	8	1
Parsons	1.3	4	2	1	0	0		2
Mendez	2	4	2	2	0	2
Hernandez, Ji	4	2	0	0	0	2				Strong
Almonte, B	1.2	0	1	1	5	2
Sanchez, I	2	3	3	3	2	1
Lodge	1	0	0	0	0	1
Lopez, C	5	4	1	1	1	3
Herrand	2.2	2	4	4	4	2		1
Creasy	2	2	0	0	1	1				Nice work

The Other Deadline

2011-08-04T11:17:00.000-04:00

With all the buzz around the non tender trading deadline, many may have forgotten the much more important deadline for the Pirates, the draft pick signing deadline. While there is much glitz and glamour to the trading deadline the life line of the Pirates is the draft, making August 15th much more important to the team than the trading deadline.

Number one overall choice, Gerrit Cole will more than likely wait until the 15th to sign, but I cannot envision any way that he would not sign. Once he puts his pen to paper, he will more than likely be the top prospect in the farm system, with Jameson Tallion, last year's first round choice, right behind.

Cole's signing and the story line leading to it, will be a side show compared to everyone watching what prep outfielder Josh Bell will do. Depending on where you look, it is anywhere from 30% to 60% that he signs, or is it goes to Texas. Again it depends on where you read.

I will say this, he would not have secured Scott Boras to be his advisor if he was not interested in hearing what teams had to say. I think he will listen, though it might not be until the last day, but offers will be given and exchanged. Whether he signs or not, is a huge question mark, but perhaps no bigger than any other top prep talent with a big commitment. If the club were to add Bell, then the Pirates would have an excellent draft class, adding a top college arm and one of the top prep bats, is a nice day at the office.

It Continues

2011-08-04T00:07:00.000-04:00

It is weird when a Pirate game that is lost by the Bucs, 1-0 is seen as a big disappointment. Alas that has what has seemingly transpired this season. Sure Charlie Morton pitched a gem. He really needed to do that. Sure the team only gave up one run, but in the end it is still a loss, the sixth straight by the Pirates.

Losing this many in a row is different for this team, as it went the bulk of the season never losing more than two in a row. Now to roll off almost a week straight of losses, there might be some in that clubhouse really struggling for answers. I am not sure that there are any answers to be had really. Many might have been waiting for this to happen, the Pirates falling apart. Others maybe were thinking that the good times would continue to roll. It might be more complicated than that.

Really this game underscored what has been an issue all season. The offense really, really stinks. The club mustered only 4 hits in this one. Andrew McCutchen somehow made it to 3rd base in the first, making him the closest Pirate to score tonight. The swings and misses continue to doom the offense, as there were 9 tonight. Getting a hit is one thing, but the Pirates have struggled all season to simply get it in play.

If the offense continues to sputter, this could be a really long August. There needs to be some signs of life in the lineup to have the team do much of anything in the win column.

Draft Review: Clayton Holmes

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Clayton Holmes
6’4 225
RHP
Slocomb HS, Alabama

Drafted: 9th Round (#272)
Commitment: Auburn University
Holmes came into the 2011 draft with an impressive high school resume, having been an all conference selection every year. His stats took a bit of a dip his senior year compared to his junior year so that might have played a role in his slide along with his Auburn commitment.

Strengths: Extremely athletic for his size with a solid fastball that tops out at 95-96 MPH.

Area for Improvement: Command though it’s said to be improving.

Overview: The top rated high school player in the state of Alabama coming into the 2011 draft, one could really call Holmes a late bloomer. He was a lightly recruited player through his junior year but seemed to garner the attention of some big schools following how he pitched last summer when Auburn came into the picture.

Chance of Signing: He’s going to be a tough sign for the team considering his commitment and that he’s considered an excellent student but that’s become the norm for the organization with the way they’ve drafted in recent years. I’m sure the Pirates have a price tag on him as to how they value his worth; I’m interested to see how far apart the two sides actually are. If he signs I wouldn’t expect it until the end of July or early August. One has to wonder though how much the signing of Josh Bell plays into the Pirates signing him and some of the other early round high school arms.

Behind the Dish

2011-08-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

It will only be a few days and Ryan Doumit will be coming off the DL. Obviously to make room for him, Eric Fryer, who has played well in his very limited duty, will get sent back to the minors. The Pirates could really use Doumit's bat, but Michael McKenry has been a rock behind the plate.

What will the Pirates do when they have both of them on the 25 man? I got a feeling that we might see Doumit in 2 of every three with McKenry doing a lot of catching for a backup. It might be a little like what we had at the beginning of the season with Snyder and Doumit.

The interesting part will be to see how the Pirates might miss McKenry in the lineup. His defense has been excellent and seems to call a good game. Those are two things you would never say about Ryan Doumit. That will be the trade off defense for offense. Right now, offense is perhaps needed more.

Hit Two For Me, Will Ya?

2011-08-01T23:23:00.003-04:00

Shawon Dunston.

I had visions of him when Derek Lee hit his first home run. Then when he hit the second, Root Sports started to show shots of Dunston in his Pirate debut. It seems all so long ago when the Pirates, the Freak Show Pirates, made a trade as they were in a playoff push. Adding Dunston, at the time, was one of the greatest things the Pirates could do. I remember vividly thinking that he would be the one to send us over the top and defeat the Astros. Alas it was not to be.

Derek Lee comes to the Pirates with not so much fanfare, but after tonight many will expect him to literally carry the club on his back. He did so tonight, but I would not expect that from him down the stretch continually. In one game though he showed that Lyle Overbay was indeed a poor player. Defensively the team looked different with Lee and anyone with a grasp of baseball could see that his offensive skills are now better than Overbay.

What was perhaps most striking about the game was the lineup that the Pirates sent out there against Chicago. Batting Andrew McCutchen in the leadoff spot is a little different, especially as he is perhaps your most productive hitter, but there are limited options. I would have sent out a lineup such as this:

Cedeno
Jones
Walker
McCutchen
Lee
Alvarez
Ludwick
McKenry

Again not ideal and it scares me to see Cedeno at the top, but there are limited options. The offense will look different in a few days when Ryan Doumit returns. Having Doumit bat 7th or 8th would be a big boost.

Hopefully adding Doumit, Lee, and Ludwick gives the team a boost that will help in breaking them out of this funk.

Shot in the Arm

2011-08-01T00:04:00.001-04:00

The road trip seemed to be wearing on the Pirates. They had a long series with the Braves and then get a trip to Philadelphia to play perhaps the best team in baseball. It almost seemed unfair to the club. The series in Philly showed that the team seemed to be a little off. There were plenty of mental mistakes that took their toll.

There is going to be one quick fix the Cubs are coming to PNC park. Another fix might be the infustion of some new blood to the lineup in the form of Derek Lee and Ryan Ludwick. Both are veteran players that have performed well in the past. While they may not be having the best of seasons this year, they both represent upgrades of some sort.

In getting Lee, the Pirates acquire a hitter that has been hitting better than his numbers show. He has been on a hot streak of sorts recently, which is the exact opposite of Lyle Overbay. Adding Lee improves the defense and if he makes contact, he will assuredly improve the offense. It would be difficult not to.

Ludwick will more than likely help fill the gaping hole that is the in the Pirates outfield for the time being. Eventually as others. like Alex Presley, get healthy, he will take over the Matt Diaz role. While Ludwick has not been really hot at the plate, he has a long track record, is good in the field, and cannot be worse than Diaz can he?

Adding these two pieces cost the Pirates little to nothing. Aaron Baker, who has shown great power, but is buried in the organization depth chart, was sent to Baltimore for Lee. Baker could be something special, but the team likes other players like Matt Curry, Alex Dickerson, and Matt Hague. Losing Baker does not hurt all that much. With Ludwick it is the classic PTBNL, so you know it won't be much, more like the Padres wanted to get rid of the contract more than anything.

Adding Ludwick and Lee do not all of a sudden put the Bucs over the top, they do help to stave off the problems that the team has been getting into. Each will more than likely perform better than who they are replacing and that was the goal. The Pirates clearly wanted to improve today, but not mortgage the future. A look around baseball saw many top prospects getting dealt for players, the Pirates don't have the depth do that just yet.

Adding the two new guys will improve the team and hopefully give a shot in the arm to a team that looked a little lackluster.

All Quiet on the Trade Front

2011-07-30T15:16:00.002-04:00

Everything seems to be pretty quiet as far as the Pirates are concerned on the trade front. Some of the other teams int he division, the Brewers and Cardinals appear to be active, but the Buccos are not quite just yet. There of course is still time left, but the window is closing.

I can only hope that if a trade is not done, that the team finds a way to extricate Lyle Overbay from the lineup. If that be internal or external, either way is fine with me.