I was a bit disappointed to hear today that clubs are calling the Bucs on players but we’re asking for the moon. I respect that the season is about to start and some of the inquiries made could significantly impact our season if we traded the player asked about, but in at least one case I heard we were offered quite a haul and we still demanded more.
I’m going to go on the record as saying that the Pirates should air in the media their request to extend Maholm for two additional years. “We’ve approached Paul Maholm to extend his contract” would do it. If we can’t get him to ink those two years, then we absolutely need to be thinking hard about dealing him asap. We’ve already passed too many opportunities from what I’ve heard – some I understand because the players offered had little to no value for us in the short-term, but at least one offer had significant young talent involved which makes me wonder why we didn’t make the move.
The 2011 free agent market is potentially saturated with starting pitching which is likely going to drive down the return in trades so we can’t be hesitating like we are. I respect Frank Coonelly has to balance the financial needs of the organization (things like ticket and suite sales, corporate sponsorships, and the like) with betting the organization’s talent, but dang, we also can’t get stuck holding the bag because we failed to move. Been there, done that, with this regime already.
I suspect Coonelly and Huntington have made a measured decision that there will be quite a few clubs in the hunt in July which will reduce the number of arms available, but I think they measured with a bent ruler. I think there is a huge gap in talent between those who have it and those who don’t this year and I suspect we’re going to see a riverboat full of starters available to be moved in July at a significantly lower cost than Maholm because he has one additional year under his contract.
We can’t be hesitating like we are.. we can’t keep losing value.. we need to keep acquiring talent.. we can’t stop.
Take some risk Frank.. let’s pull the triggers on some of these deals. I understand you want to save face with the fans since you said you are done moving veterans, but you can’t stop in the mission.. you have to keep getting stronger.
And, no, this isn’t only about Maholm.. we’re passing by other deals too by asking the moon in most cases, I’m hearing.
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I’ve been hammered by folks wanting to know more about what the deal is in the minor league camp I’ve been concerned about. I’ll say this and then we’ll wait to hear what the Pirates have to say sometime in the near future.. there are reports that players are just up and walking away. I can’t say who is involved so don’t ask. I mentioned the other day that I hoped it all worked out and you never got to hear about it, but that evidently isn’t going to be the case.
Unfortunately, this has the chance to explode because quite a few people in the system are upset. Some have expressed their position with the Pirates, and some haven’t yet. Plus there are a few others on the cusp that the Bucs know about from the last couple of years.
Now I’m not trying to paint a picture that all is doom and gloom in the Pirates minor league system because it’s not. I talked about the potential for fallout/turnover from the shift in management style the last two years here.. we expect a tick higher rate of turnover because of that style change. Some refuse to buy in, others just hang it up for personal reasons. But at some point there has to be just as much an effort in retention as there is in development.
That’s all I should say right now. I hope some of it works itself out.
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Photo of Kratz not handling the throw as Iglesias scores today. Photo credit: Getty Images
I didn’t listen to the game since my son had a t-ball game but casually looking at the box score told me a few things.
Like we have no offense.
It’s amazing that John Russell started a solid contact hitting group and they pretty much came up empty despite near tropical storm winds in the area. But, neither did the Red Sox with their bazillion dollar lineup even with us throwing some 4A pitching their way later in the game. So maybe the hitters are still in la-la land? I usually think 20 – 30 AB is about what it takes for the average major leaguer to start seeing the ball well, maybe 50 AB to start getting in a groove, but, man, we’re not seeing anything out of anybody in our games unless it’s a blowout across the board.
I’m not sure what all that is about yet.
It was discouraging to see Carrasco with two walks in the five batters he faced, sad to see Clement picked off first (how. does. that. happen. with. Garcia. over. there??), nice to see Young swinging the bat as he’s surely being watched by a few teams (not that anybody will pay our price, that is), and strange to see a game ending triple play although not too unexpected considering it’s spring training and 4A players were in the game.
So we’re now 3-7. Not that it means anything but with all the youth, you really hope they would pull together at least in the spring and get the job done.
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This teacher just might be the Pirates next minor league pitching rover.
Goodness gracious.
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Not quite sure what you’re advocating Jake. Extend Maholm and ship him out (a McLouth like move), let it leak out that the F.O. is offering an extension (if it fails, all kinds of grief for failing), and why extend a contract now if he’s trade bait (the acquiring club could extend him). Who replaces Maholm? This org has to have some stability concerning players. I’m all for increasing the talent level, but any trade would have to have an awesome return.
Tell us what you heard. After all rumors are just rumors.
Trading for prospects is really old. Unless there’s real ML players coming in, let’s stick with what we have.
> Tell us what you heard
we’ve had quite a few offers for pitching and Maholm’s name has been mentioned recently.
> Not quite sure what you’re advocating Jake
If he inks a 2-yr extension, we keep him. If he doesn’t we deal him asap.
> Who replaces Maholm?
The 1st pick in the 2011 draft.
How much of the fanbase is truly left to alienate? Chances are if they believe in the front office/ownership at this point, trading players like Maholm, Duke, Doumit isnt going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Huntington should be able to act freely to do whatever is in the best interest of the team without someone looking over his shoulder at everything he does.
The reason this franchise won’t win with Nutting is simple as they will never spend any money. Maholm and Duke are gone! If they were free gents today, DUke wou;ld get a minimum of 3 yrs at 20 mill and Maholm would get a minimum of 3yrs at 25 mill. Nutting would never pony up that kind of cash. They’ll be dealt for more dead bodies in the mold of Moss and Hart. Nothings changed or will change until Nuttings gone. I wamura will never last until August and will be dealt for a lttle Sushi!
I doubt we will trade Maholm or Duke prior to the season. I don’t think the front office can handle another PR nightmare. Don’t blame them really. We just don’t have any staring pitching depth. young I could see go. we shall see. Crazy ending to yesterday’s game!
Bill
McSwain, one of your top 10 prospects, retired? Is this the catastrophe you are referring to?
> retired
Where did you hear this?
Retired isn’t the appropriate word, although it is the outcome. That is one part of many, yes.
What happened to McSwain, Elon boy, might as well tell us now drufan or Jake….
I’m not going to discuss any of the issues until things in camp settle out and the Pirates put it in the media.
What excuse do u have for C.C. today?
he was fine until the 3rd and then labored and got by on not so perfect stuff. He’s about a week or ten days behind our guys I’d guess.
Its spring training… wait til june and cc will be mowing the buccos down as usual.