By Jake, on August 4, 2010, at 10:29 pm |
Wednesday was player tool showcase day in Pittsburgh showing thousands of local children in the stands how best to try out for Pitt’s platform diving team.
First up was Pedro Alvarez who made numerous armstand back double somersault’s in the tuck position all day. Unfortunately, they all ended up being belly flops. Later he showcased his javelin throwing skills too but that resulted in a fan being hit in the face losing several teeth.
Next up in the tool showcase was Lastings Milledge who is said to be Alvarez’s diving coach. On Wednesday he showed why doing a reverse three-and-a-half somersault in the tuck position. Unfortunately for him, he needed to be in a pike position to catch the ball, but that didn’t matter.. he still scored a 9.2 from the fans for the dive.
Lastly, Andrew McCutchen’s front dive with a half twist in the straight knee position (how elegant) was the day’s best getting a 9.8 from the fans. But not the ball. But the kids understood – after all, he was beaned yesterday and was back in the lineup today while Jose Tabata – who isn’t a diver, he just runs – was resting comfortably on the bench.
Part II of the player tool display was demonstrated by Pirates pitchers who were performing for a soon to be released movie called ‘How to pitch to contact and remain alive’ which will also become an instructional video for the Pirates development system. I saw we did an excellent job.
Part III of the player showcase was demonstrated by newly acquired catcher Chris Snyder.. ‘how to block more efficiently than Ryan Doumit’. It took several takes before the director was able to get a wrap but was pleased in Snyder’s work effort. Snyder responded to that praise by hitting the ball squarely in the 9th resulting in double play thanks in part to his 9.2 second trot to first stopping to sign autographs along the way.
Part IV of the player tool showcase came after the game when a couple of the pitchers were told they didn’t work hard enough for the video and were sent out. Pirates management immediately brought up some depth from the minor league system called every GM in the game begging for some help to save face, and a couple of trading partners who have screwed are favorites of Neal Huntington responded by allowing him to get Chris ‘I love my straight fastball’ Resop from John Schuerholz’s Braves off the wire, and Chan Hoe Ho Park from Brian Cashman and the Yankees.
As for the baseball game, oh, we lost that puppy. But management said they were impressed that we didn’t commit an error all day, we only struck out twice as many times as we hit home runs which suggests that our slugging percentage is turning the corner, and our #6 starter actually held the mighty Reds to just three runs over five innings which shows our incredible starting pitching depth.
Management also wanted to thank Dusty Baker for the two cookies thrown.. one in McCutchen’s first at bat as sort of ”We’re sorry Cutch” type of apology for yesterday’s beaning, and the 9th inning cookie given to the Pirates ‘core hopeful organizational big shot player’ in Pedro Alvarez. The fans enjoyed watching these cookies sail, thank you. Oh, and we’re sorry Clement took liberties and went yard.. we told him to play nice.
As for the official scorer in Pittsburgh? I heard he lost his glasses a week ago and has decided to just list everything close as a H (hit) regardless of the credibility hit the game is taking.
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Yes it’s true, one of New Bucs readers actually sent a video in to ABC’s Extreme Makeover show asking them to come rebuild our ship. I’ve asked him to send me a copy of the video so we can display it.
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I mentioned yesterday Tabata looked rough legging things out and today he was on the pine. I’m guessing he’s having a hammy problem of some kind.
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Old McDonald goes to the mound Thursday and, if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to see a little Resop and Park action to boot (Bucs later announced Park will take the maximum two days to report so he can cry his brains out won’t show up until Friday). Just think.. that’s going to produce a better in-park display than any fireworks night ever could thanks to their ability to pitch to contact, a 10+ MPH wind blowing out, and the drier air mass moving in behind the morning storms. I’d guess this is a potential sellout opportunity for the Nuttings – no doubt about it.
Be sure to bring your sleeping bags to the park because the game might still be going at two 4 AM.
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Yeah, we added Resop and Park instead of letting Kratz throw more innings. What a bummer. Is anybody besides me wondering why we didn’t just bring up Brad Lincoln and put him in the pen so he’d get his feet wet? Yeah I know, that’s too logical for the group of bean counters we have.
I also thought I saw Kiko Calero’s name flash across my transaction list the other day when he was dropped from the Dodgers system. Gee.. a broken down Calero or Chan Ho Park. I think I’d rather give Calero a chance but he’d probably cost more than the $25k waiver wire fee plus salary we’d have to pay Park or Resop.
There sure are a lot of available relievers around – it’s pretty strange the only way Huntington can get a deal done is to pull junk off the wire. Or, maybe that’s all ownership will let him do since they haven’t dumped Doumit’s salary yet traded Doumit.
BTW, why the hell don’t the Pirates turn Doumit into a starter? Heck, just his presence on the mound will get him more strikeouts per nine than any pitcher we have.
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Here’s another evaluation missed by the Pirates new regime. I was talking with a scout who told me that Miguel Montero - the D’Backs catching phenom – was made available in 2008 and Huntington was one of the front offices that didn’t inquire evidently believing they had the equivalent in Doumit.
Ouch.
Heard today that Snyder has already had a run-in in the clubhouse. Evidently Snyder opened his mouth to Joe Kerrigan who put the young man quickly in his place. Ok, just kidding.. but just imagine Kerrigan, Doumit, and Snyder all wired up together in the clubhouse. Wow..
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Fun times are headed to Pittsburgh – Ryan Doumit returns to play right field Friday night. Or some night soon. I can’t wait to see him leg out a few misplayed fly balls into the corner, throw a few lasers twenty feet over his relay man, backup relay man, infield corner, and a few rows up in the seats. Should be exciting stuff. Gee, if we put Doumit in right, Tabata in center, Milledge in left, Alvarez at third, Jones at first, Snyder behind the plate, and Walker and Cedeno up the middle, I wonder if that defensive alignment would officially rank as the most range limited group in 100 years?
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Rockies back in town for four games. I think they are about to die a slow death here in Pittsburgh as Jim Tracy can’t seem to get his boys up for the task of competing down the stretch. Look for them to continue to fall flat on their butts on the road. That said, now watch them sweep us.
The Bucs slotted McDonald to face the Rockies in game one probably because they have been ice-cold with the bat on the road (lowest road BA in the game in July) plus they have been having a hard time against right-hand pitching lately (3-13 last 16 RH road starters). By all accounts, if McDonald lasts through three innings, we should win this game knowing we have stoppers like Resop and Gallagher available. Unfortunately Park won’t be available because if McDonald doesn’t make it out of the first inning, I really don’t know who the Bucs will throw in as their long man to take one for the team. Maybe Thomas? Certainly McCutchen.
Francis has been pitching extremely well lately (2.00 ERA last 3) so they key for us to be patient in the box and make him throw as many pitches as possible to get to their bullpen which has been as bad as the Pirates pen lately. Francis is typically good for 80 pitches and then blows up but since we have been mauling finesse pitchers of late, he might have an earlier than expected shower.
I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on any of these games because both clubs are mentally and physically beat and anything could happen. Don’t be surprised if you see a shootout at the PNC Corral all four games.
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It’s heartbreaking that Neal Huntington didn’t reach down into his system and give a couple of youngsters a shot to take the relief roles that were available. Lincoln clearly should have been one, Crotta might have been an acceptable choice (would require a roster move), or Bryan Morris could have gotten his feet wet a bit instead of going into shut down mode. Imagine our pen with Lincoln and Morris around? I’d take those odds for the rest of the season.
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Did someone say Chris Sale was promoted to the White Sox Wednesday? Oh my.. he’ll have a hard time first few out but I think he’ll settle in nicely.
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And now we find out why Russell Martin was rumored to the Bucs as a possible trade chip recently.
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Walk away Chuck – you lost when you signed the waiver. Pack up Nolan and head back home – we still love you even though you walked out on us.
By Jake, on July 31, 2010, at 11:00 pm |
I really like the addition of Snyder, who should provide the Pirates with a good temp at catcher until Tony Sanchez is ready or something else happens. He’s arguably as good a hitter as Ryan Doumit is, with much better defense, although he does struggle to control runners. — Bucs Dugout
So let’s look at Snyder. Besides his terrible year last year, he almost always puts up decent power and on-base numbers to go with his usually terrible batting average… He also throws runners out (30% career rate) and can by all accounts can catch a baseball. These are things that the Pirates’ current fleet of catchers all have trouble with to varying degrees… Chris Snyer doesn’t make the Pirates a playoff team in 2011, but he does make them a better team at a relatively low cost, so it’s hard not to like this deal. — Where have you gone Andy Van Slyke
Snyder is an upgrade over what Doumit has been the last two years. He has a low .231 average this year, but his .778 OPS is better than Doumit’s .741 OPS this year, and his .714 OPS last year. Snyder also has the edge on defense, and is fairly consistent, with a .773 OPS or better in four of his last five seasons. — BUCCO Fans
Let me start this off by stating that I respect the opinions of my fellow bloggers. Each seem to have formed their own opinion about the Snyder acquisition and they all seem to say the same thing — they expect Snyder to be an upgrade over Doumit defensively and they all seem to believe Snyder is at least as good as Doumit offensively, if not better.
I disagree on all counts.
That said, there’s one issue none of the bloggers even considered which, to me, is even more important — makeup. Part of Ryan Doumit’s problem in Pittsburgh has been his strong personality. Chris Snyder is of the same makeup and that caused him problems in Arizona too. This one area alone is HUGE and something I want you to remember going forward because you are going to see outbursts between Snyder and our pitching and field staff. Go to the bank on it.
Snyder has very little power as clearly evidenced by his career .387 SLG in nearly 800 AB hitting in the second best hitter’s park in baseball. If you dive into his stats a bit deeper you’ll find he had some quality at bats the first couple of years in the league which skewed his career numbers and then his production fell off the table as film ran the circuit and his injuries took their toll. Sure he can hit a mistake pitch, but so can Zach Duke.
As for his defensive skills, his career caught stealing rate is skewed by the veteran pitchers he caught over the years who knew how to hold runners. He does possess an average to a tick above average arm, but he has a long path to his throws which result in average pop times. Sure, he’ll catch an extra runner here and there over Ryan Doumit if for no other reason than he throws to the bag better. Doumit probably has the better arm, it’s just Doumit cocks his throws too long resulting in slower pop times. But don’t expect to see 30% CS rates from Snyder.. he’ll be lucky if he holds his current 20%.
As for blocking skills, Snyder does block better than Doumit but not significantly better by any means. Snyder is a big man — athletic, but big. His range has become limited over the last few years simply because of his injuries (groin and back). Will he keep the ball in front of him more than Doumit? Probably. Will you see full-arm extension picks like we see from Doumit? Probably not – at least Snyder attempts to move, but that movement also costs him some passed balls too.
The most pronounced difference between Doumit and Snyder is said to be in-game management and receiving styles. Snyder has been praised by several veteran pitchers for being able to read how a particular hitter is trying to set up a pitcher. But more importantly, he’s handled some pretty good arms over the years. Ryan Doumit probably doesn’t even know what I mean by setting up a pitcher, much less had the chance to receive better pitchers over his career. Many of those Doumit did catch walked away in disgust – he’s just a horrible receiver.
So what Snyder brings to the table is a strong clubhouse personality (called too abrasive at times) who should receive the ball and call a batter game than Doumit much in the same mold as a cheaper Kratz, and that’s about it. You’ll see a leader type on the field, which is a good thing for the fans, but how it goes over in our clubhouse is quite another thing. He’s not an upgrade over Doumit – that’s a joke.
We essentially got Ryan Doumit II with a lighter stick and a tick better receiving skills. Notice I didn’t say we got a better catcher, because we didn’t.. Doumit is the superior player despite his faults. When you throw in the fact we have a below average starting staff, and now a below average pen, you almost have to wonder what the Pirates are thinking by dethroning Doumit mid-season with a guy like Snyder. Don’t get me wrong – Doumit is one of the most prolific bad luck catchers I’ve ever seen, but Snyder’s fate is on the same path. Huntington has no place to play Doumit because he’s a fringe right fielder or first baseman and so that leaves him in a platoon role with Snyder, and significantly devalues him forward-looking.
Was it a good trade? I liked that we got rid of Church and Crosby who Neal Huntington made poor evaluations by adding to the roster and then John Russell played way too much. But the biggest loss to me was Carrasco.. he was a potential starter we gave up, and probably not too bad of one in the NLCD. Unfortunately, Huntington and his band of evaluators never gave him the chance to stretch out for us to ever find out. And the fact that Bob Nutting was able to put a few million in his pocket for immediate use while trying to get Taillon and all signed doesn’t hurt one bit.
On paper this seems like a good deal but as time rolls by and we witness how much Doumit becomes devalued, how little Snyder actually produces from the 7 hole (he’s a much better 2cd half hitter the stats suggest), and how many pushing and shoving matches take place in the dugout or clubhouse, I’m not so sure we got the best of the deal.
What we needed was for Bob Nutting to allow baseball operations to spend for a veteran catcher, not another potential clubhouse cancer with backup skills thrust into a starting role. What we need are better pitchers, not a tick better receiver. While this deal seems small, it could loom large down the road for Huntington.
As he’s ordered out the door.
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As for the rest of the players we received, I don’t know enough about them to comment although I heard pro scout Anup Sinha has the scoop on a couple of them and will be posting something over at Bucs Prospects in the next few days.
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The biggest deal of the day was the deals Huntington didn’t make. At least two clubs were all over Maholm but we stood pat wanting the moon. I’m not saying that’s such a poor position if we indeed extend him in the immediate future, but I don’t believe Huntington can get that done and therefore all we’re doing is losing more and more value every day Maholm is on our roster.
Like Doumit.
And Duke.
Etc..
Sometimes it’s not what gets done, but what doesn’t get done that should have. I think Huntington’s failure was in not moving his talent last winter and now Nutting is going to choke in lots of red ink the next 1.3 years because of it.
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Bucs mauled again in St. Louis, our middle infielders and first baseman are starting to look more and more like the Three Stooges.
Come on Frank – pull the damn plug on these yo-yo’s and let’s get some talent upstairs and in the dugout.
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Somewhere in Arizona Jerry DiPoto and company are laughing their asses off.
By Jake, on July 25, 2010, at 11:48 pm |
It’s plays like the one you see above where Pedro Alvarez tried in vain to corral Yorvit Torrealba’s average-hit ground ball in Sunday’s game which is causing internal grief inside the Pirates organization. You see, internally the Pirates are debating whether or not to move Alvarez to first base sooner than later because his footwork leads many to believe he’s never going to be an adequate third baseman.
And that’s where the grief starts.
What’s making the Alvarez debate interesting is that there are some who argue that because Alvarez is pigeon-toed it’s likely he’ll never be able to make the corresponding first moves necessary to even get to the next level. Call it ‘the internal belief’ factor, if you will. Then there are others who point to his thickness and still others who point at his instincts.. all trying to justify why Alvarez isn’t a fit at third defensively. In other words, it’s Alvarez that is the problem.
While those I spoke to around the game wouldn’t point fingers, one thing has become crystal clear – the Pittsburgh Pirates are not showing they have a desire to see Alvarez get to the next development level. And it’s not just Alvarez.. it’s Milledge, and Tabata, and Cedeno, and Jones.. it’s the entire core group. They are floundering, and floundering for a reason.
Last year two-a-days three times a week were automatic.. this year PNC Park is a ghost town when our young Bucs are in town. The net result of the decreased emphasis in development is showing up in poor fundamentals as well as the extremely high error rate.. the Pirates have already accumulated 73 errors in 98 games which is the highest rate since 2003. Last year the Pirates had only 73 errors over the entire year.. one of the lowest rates in quite a few years.
While you can argue the 2009 season began with Wilson/Sanchez/Adam LaRoche while also forgetting Wilson and Sanchez both hit the DL, you have to also consider that 60-80 games were played with the likes of Young/Vazquez/Andy LaRoche/Pearce/and Cedeno. And don’t forget for one second that those players were raw when they came to us.. Cedeno’s footwork was horrid, LaRoche was an error-machine, and Young at second was perhaps the worst defender at the position for us in decades. Yet those young pups finished the year strong.. so strong the Pirates remained at the top of the league in fielding.
Doumit is still catching and McCutchen is still in center, yet look at our defensive runs saved chart between 2009 and 2010:
We’re already -60 runs and every single position has declined. Not one position, not four, not six.. all nine. Now consider this.. that’s an average of -0.61 defensive runs per game which means we’re on course to end the year with an insane -100 defensive run swing from 2009. That’s crazy high.
Throw in the 86 stolen bases we’ve allowed on top of the 73 errors we’ve made, and then subtract the 18 we caught stealing, the Pirates now lead the major leagues in giveaway bases at 141 over 98 games which is 30% higher than the major league average.
When you look at the Pirates fundamental play on the field today versus where they were at just six weeks ago, you see a declining defensive core. What we are witnessing are the fundamental flaws in our development system, not fundamental flaws in player productivity. These players need better instructors, they need better motivators, and they need more commitment from the Pirates front office, all of which are failing them.
Going back to the internal grief, the Pirates seem to want to take the path of least resistence to accomplish their development goals instead of making good short-term decisions. Moving Alvarez to first might indeed be the right answer, I don’t know. But there’s no way to tell without an increased emphasis on development. Based on numerous reports I’ve received, Carlos Garcia isn’t the answer as an infield instructor – it’s over his head for numerous reasons. It’s a shame Perry Hill isn’t around but maybe the Pirates can bring him back, I don’t know. But something has to give as our direction is totally unacceptable.
This is also another perfect example why John Russell is failing as a manager. He is charged with managing the core operations of development with his staff and, while he might not be able to entirely help who is on his staff, he has failed to account for the growing dysfuncation in fundamental baseball play. He’s accountable.. not Neal Huntington, and not Frank Coonelly. It’s John Russell.
The current fielding chart is at the end of this post for you to play with but, no matter which column you sort, you’ll get the same answer – the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, as assembled, are one of the worst fielding teams we’ve had in this decade. We’re never going to turn a -60 defensive run squad into a positive figure the way we’re going about our business – forget that.
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Brad Lincoln was mercifully demoted to 3A after his Sunday start. Lincoln’s promotion is just another example of the poor developmental system we have in place all across this organization. Pirates management didn’t even bother to consult with some of their better evaluators before making the decision to promote Lincoln.. they just did it, and that pissed off some people in the organization.
Lincoln was clearly unprepared to compete at the major league level.. he never had a chance. You can point the finger anywhere you want but at the end of the day it was Neal Huntington who made the move.
Hopefully he’ll rebound.
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More scathing news over the next few days because there’s just too much to put in one post.
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Nothing new on the trade front other than we’re working to deal for a pitcher. I can’t tell you much about it because I don’t know that much, but it might be part of a bigger trade. We’ll probably start hearing more the next couple of days. Stay tuned.
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Anup Sinha has a nice article up at Bucs Prospects on prospect Alex Presley.
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In fantasy action, I went 3-0 this week and the two teams I drafted are now 11-5 and 13-3 (unbelievable), and the other team is 8-8.
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Here’s the current defensive stats:
| Team | LG | G | INN | TC | TC/INN | PO | A | E | DP | PB | SB | CS | E+SB-CS | E/G | DER | FPCT |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | NL | 98 | 855.7 | 3647 | 4.26 | 2567 | 1007 | 73 | 76 | 7 | 86 | 18 | 141 | 0.74 | 0.698 | 0.980 |
| Boston Red Sox | AL | 99 | 894.0 | 3720 | 4.16 | 2682 | 977 | 61 | 81 | 10 | 104 | 25 | 140 | 0.62 | 0.714 | 0.984 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | NL | 99 | 880.0 | 3665 | 4.16 | 2640 | 958 | 67 | 87 | 10 | 89 | 24 | 132 | 0.68 | 0.692 | 0.982 |
| Chicago Cubs | NL | 98 | 870.0 | 3607 | 4.15 | 2610 | 921 | 76 | 79 | 3 | 75 | 21 | 130 | 0.78 | 0.707 | 0.979 |
| Florida Marlins | NL | 98 | 872.0 | 3593 | 4.12 | 2616 | 899 | 78 | 83 | 6 | 79 | 29 | 128 | 0.80 | 0.699 | 0.978 |
| Kansas City Royals | AL | 98 | 865.3 | 3628 | 4.19 | 2596 | 963 | 69 | 87 | 4 | 84 | 29 | 124 | 0.70 | 0.700 | 0.981 |
| Los Angeles Angels | AL | 100 | 883.7 | 3680 | 4.16 | 2651 | 964 | 65 | 74 | 11 | 79 | 25 | 119 | 0.65 | 0.701 | 0.982 |
| Cleveland Indians | AL | 98 | 860.3 | 3805 | 4.42 | 2581 | 1152 | 72 | 119 | 7 | 76 | 31 | 117 | 0.73 | 0.699 | 0.981 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | NL | 100 | 888.3 | 3686 | 4.15 | 2665 | 955 | 66 | 91 | 3 | 70 | 20 | 116 | 0.66 | 0.683 | 0.982 |
| Texas Rangers | AL | 98 | 886.7 | 3647 | 4.11 | 2660 | 922 | 65 | 86 | 4 | 69 | 25 | 109 | 0.66 | 0.725 | 0.982 |
| Baltimore Orioles | AL | 98 | 865.3 | 3631 | 4.20 | 2596 | 968 | 67 | 84 | 2 | 55 | 17 | 105 | 0.68 | 0.692 | 0.982 |
| New York Yankees | AL | 97 | 862.3 | 3536 | 4.10 | 2587 | 908 | 41 | 95 | 8 | 79 | 16 | 104 | 0.42 | 0.719 | 0.988 |
| Washington Nationals | NL | 99 | 869.3 | 3710 | 4.27 | 2608 | 1022 | 80 | 80 | 2 | 40 | 19 | 101 | 0.81 | 0.701 | 0.978 |
| Detroit Tigers | AL | 96 | 851.3 | 3614 | 4.25 | 2554 | 991 | 69 | 103 | 5 | 57 | 30 | 96 | 0.72 | 0.703 | 0.981 |
| Atlanta Braves | NL | 98 | 871.3 | 3761 | 4.32 | 2614 | 1080 | 67 | 109 | 4 | 57 | 28 | 96 | 0.68 | 0.711 | 0.982 |
| Houston Astros | NL | 98 | 864.0 | 3673 | 4.25 | 2592 | 1014 | 67 | 89 | 6 | 54 | 29 | 92 | 0.68 | 0.678 | 0.982 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | NL | 98 | 872.0 | 3701 | 4.24 | 2616 | 1028 | 57 | 95 | 5 | 54 | 19 | 92 | 0.58 | 0.716 | 0.985 |
| Seattle Mariners | AL | 99 | 885.3 | 3709 | 4.19 | 2656 | 982 | 71 | 88 | 12 | 34 | 15 | 90 | 0.72 | 0.716 | 0.981 |
| San Francisco Giants | NL | 99 | 893.7 | 3608 | 4.04 | 2681 | 888 | 39 | 72 | 5 | 82 | 33 | 88 | 0.39 | 0.714 | 0.989 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | NL | 99 | 889.0 | 3760 | 4.23 | 2667 | 1025 | 68 | 84 | 6 | 49 | 30 | 87 | 0.69 | 0.705 | 0.982 |
| Oakland Athletics | AL | 98 | 872.7 | 3700 | 4.24 | 2618 | 1023 | 59 | 74 | 5 | 51 | 23 | 87 | 0.60 | 0.723 | 0.984 |
| Colorado Rockies | NL | 98 | 874.7 | 3733 | 4.27 | 2624 | 1051 | 58 | 109 | 10 | 53 | 25 | 86 | 0.59 | 0.704 | 0.984 |
| Chicago White Sox | AL | 97 | 861.3 | 3663 | 4.25 | 2584 | 1025 | 54 | 96 | 2 | 57 | 28 | 83 | 0.56 | 0.700 | 0.985 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | AL | 97 | 872.7 | 3616 | 4.14 | 2618 | 946 | 52 | 83 | 5 | 51 | 21 | 82 | 0.54 | 0.724 | 0.986 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | NL | 98 | 878.7 | 3810 | 4.34 | 2636 | 1108 | 66 | 108 | 5 | 28 | 24 | 70 | 0.67 | 0.711 | 0.983 |
| New York Mets | NL | 99 | 890.0 | 3699 | 4.16 | 2670 | 983 | 46 | 100 | 5 | 34 | 15 | 65 | 0.46 | 0.698 | 0.988 |
| Cincinnati Reds | NL | 100 | 899.3 | 3762 | 4.18 | 2698 | 1024 | 40 | 94 | 2 | 47 | 22 | 65 | 0.40 | 0.713 | 0.989 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | AL | 98 | 871.7 | 3713 | 4.26 | 2615 | 1049 | 49 | 105 | 3 | 40 | 25 | 64 | 0.50 | 0.703 | 0.987 |
| San Diego Padres | NL | 97 | 882.3 | 3694 | 4.19 | 2647 | 1009 | 38 | 81 | 9 | 51 | 27 | 62 | 0.39 | 0.718 | 0.990 |
| Minnesota Twins | AL | 99 | 882.3 | 3704 | 4.20 | 2647 | 1023 | 34 | 94 | 5 | 45 | 19 | 60 | 0.34 | 0.697 | 0.991 |
By Jake, on July 18, 2010, at 10:43 pm |
I wasn’t able to watch Sunday’s game but from the box score and recaps it seemed like a fun day at the park. Our ponies are all going right now and we all hope it carries forward down the path. We know better but, for now anyway, let’s enjoy the little run of good fortune which we’ve come accustomed to seeing a week or so after the break the last few years.
Nice to see Maholm shut down the Astros to just three hits. Anytime that happens there has to be some good defense behind him so I wish I had seen the game to witness it firsthand. What a monster Milledge has become this year with men on base – he’s simply filthy. Little good it’s done in the win column but still.. I wonder if he’d make a good 4th outfielder who could come off the bench swinging ala Young? You can’t leave him out there in right field with no power and no arm.. something has to give.
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So McCutchen went down, huh? I guess I’m glad I didn’t watch the game or I might have had a coronary. Taking his place in CF was Tabata? Oh my.. that’s a disaster just waiting to explode. I talked about this very scenario at the beginning of the year - that we didn’t have a credible defensive replacement for McCutchen and now we’re going to witness it firsthand.
On the one hand I think it’s a good thing – Tabata doesn’t project enough power to remain a left fielder and the only way we can muster enough trade value on him is to peddle him as a true-blue center fielder at the major league level. So give him a couple of times through the rotation out there and let’s see if he can learn to read the spin of the ball, the depth of the hit, and run some good routes. But I think I already know the answer to this question and I think you’re going to see the answer over the next week.
I don’t expect McCutchen to come back soon only because I feel like he had been playing with a lingering injury the last 3+ weeks. I suspect we’ll see him shut down for a week or more. That’s just a wild guess.. and I suspect that would change if Tabata makes a fool of himself out in center, but I don’t think he’ll be that bad.
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“Multiple sources said Friday that neither general manager Neal Huntington nor Russell is in immediate trouble, but those same sources expressed a strong sentiment that the current 10-game homestand could be influential as it relates to Russell and his staff.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 17, 2010
… the current 10-game homestand.. ????
WTF?
The organization has become fractured at the top over the last year (actually, it’s always been fractured since Huntington was hired but that’s a different story) and the distance between sides has steadily grown. Today that group includes so many people it isn’t funny from influential season ticket holders, to folks within/around the organization, and even, as Ken Rosenthal pointed out recently, at least one owner. This isn’t a small group of fans or bloggers talking - it’s now a major tug of war.
Dejan’s ten-day wrap is silly – nobody I’ve talked to could care less if Russell and his troops win all ten, or ten of the next twenty. Wins aren’t relevant — fundamental responsibility and organizational accountability are fueling the desire for change. Simply put, too many have witnessed and heard too much to ever change their minds that John Russell needs to be shown the door.
But it’s not that simple.
You see, Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly want Russell right where he is because he’s a devoted manservant to them. And Bob Nutting probably hasn’t gotten involved because — as we have witnessed since 2003 — Nutting seems clueless about baseball operations. I’m not saying he’s stupid – I’m saying he leaves those problems to Coonelly. But, as some have suggested, Coonelly has his own agenda – being the next Commissioner. My gosh, what would happen to that goal – or even to Frank’s executive career - if he came out and admitted he made a mistake in 2007 putting this “dream management team” together? He’d become the laughing-stock of baseball considering all the ridiculous statements he’s already made about them, don’t you think? He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place and not likely to make any waves/moves unless the entire fan base starts to become one collective pain in the ass.
That leaves Huntington to fire him but Russell has defended Huntington internally so much it has cost him credibility within his own field staff. Huntington is going to show his loyalty to Russell as long as he can and I assume that means until at least the end of the season – perhaps even to the end of his contract.
Unless someone above him pulls the plug.
Dejan is probably right in one regard – we have a front office full of executives and PR people who are probably praying this team runs off a string of wins playing fundamentally sound baseball so all this talk goes away. But it’s not going to.. the division is just going to keep getting larger imo.
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Update 11:49 PM — after posting this I started going through my e-mails and saw that quite of few of you sent me a link to the PG’s pay site where Dejan broke down part of Huntington’s Sunday media gathering. He reported, in part:
“Earlier, on his weekly radio show, Huntington strongly rejected the Post-Gazette report Saturday — citing multiple sources who declined to be identified — that the current 10-game homestand is critical for John Russell. “When you hide behind imaginary sources that aren’t going to go on the record, you can say anything you want,” Huntington said.”
I agree with Huntington on this one. As I said above, the 10-day window is indeed meaningless to those I have spoken to that want change.
But check out ole’ Neal losing his shit over such a meaningless post by Dejan. Not only did Huntington make a fool of himself, he made the org look bad too. I told you about the rift between these two last year and I figured sooner or later it would blow. Looks like the boiling point has been reached.
Huntington would have made an outstanding AGM.
’nuff said.
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Will there be token trades involving Andy LaRoche and Ronny Cedeno soon??? Oh man, I could go on and on but I’ll stop right here.
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Brewers are coming in town for a four-game set and they have been hitting the ball well lately too. Unfortunately for them, Capuano takes the mound in game one and if we don’t light him up like a Western Auto Store at Christmas time, our guys need a new profession. Karstens hasn’t looked that sharp recently and I think all the back and forth between starting and relief is starting to take its toll on him, but since he had a little extra time off during the break, I’m looking for a good game from him.
Gallardo is evidently coming off the DL Thursday to pitch against Ohlendorf and the nod has to go to Gallardo in that game – rust or not, Lincoln against Bush is an easy Bush win on paper especially since Lincoln will be throwing right behind Karstens, and I’ll tip my hat toward Wolf Wednesday. On paper, three of four to the Brewers. The only thing that can change that is if our guys get too big a big head after hammering Capuano.
If they do.
Oh.. and I’d hit Braun at least once in the series. LOL
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I was 3-0 in fantasy action during the limited week.. one team is now 12-3. Unbelievable.
By Jake, on July 16, 2010, at 11:07 pm |
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that a few people around the game felt that the Pittsburgh Pirates were entering a critical organizational period between July 5th and July 15th. In short, they believed that if John Russell was going to be fired, that was the time to do it. As we now know, the Pirates management team didn’t make a move and Russell remains employed.
And the Pirates continue to lose.
Over the break I had a wonderful conversation with an individual well-known for his teachings on the mental side of the game who has been watching the Pirates play the last few years. While I had his attention, I first asked about Huntington and Coonelly’s cultural change ideology and whether or not the return value could ever exceed the loss of player value purged, but then the conversation took a surprising turn.
Player makeup.
It’s a term we – as fans – frequently think of as it relates to a player’s character but after a 20 minute lecture where I was schooled on the subject, I learned it’s so much more than just character. As a fan-scout, I had always known a few of the areas he covered like attitude, perseverance, mental toughness, confidence, leadership, and poise, but then it turned deep – so deep there was no way I was going to be able to possibly understand it all without a Ph.D. in Psychology. It was that intense.
As fans, we see organizational attempts to modify player makeup played out in simple terms – a starter is benched or platooned in an attempt to force his competitive drive to the next level, or an inconsistent defender is benched multiple games in an attempt to force him to concentrate more. Typically these types of modification attempts rarely succeed over the long-term with established players and good examples might be Ronny Cedeno’s lack of consistent focus at short, or Lastings Milledge’s overall reckless play. Where it has a chance of succeeding long-term is when the player is introduced to these ‘building block’ concepts from the day they enter the system. In the Pirates case, they have chosen to utilize a harsh military style modification system where other organizations use other approaches. Some clubs don’t use any.
When Neal Huntington brought in Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, and Jeff Kartsens from the Yankees organization, he knew those players had been exposed to a disciplined system that went well out-of-the-way to teach the mental side of the game to their prospects. And he counted on that. Look at the results.. Karstens and Ohlendorf have typical 7th inning type of stuff and look how much Huntington has been able to get out of them. The same should be true over time with Tabata. They are focused, they are relaxed, and they can visualize the game. Those are some of the traits that allow tools to play at the major league level, and why players like Ohlendorf get away with a little more than their tools suggest they should.
Going full circle, John Russell’s biggest failing point has been the inability to motivate his troops on a consistent basis and part of that can be blamed on the talent he has been forced to work with, part of that can be blamed on the lateness of the organization to implement the psychological dimensions of the mental game within their team building processes at the major league level, but the biggest part should be blamed on the man himself — he’s just not a believable motivator which is a distraction to the players.
And it shows game after game after game. As an example of the distraction, look at these quick snips from Friday night’s game:
Poorly executed fundamental rundown by Ronny Cedeno.
LaRoche picked off by Quintero’s throw-behind in a late-close game.
Poor fundamental late-game blocking by Doumit with two men on.
John Russell didn’t make these mistakes, the players did. But in each case, a Pirates player failed to visualize or focus on the game in front of them and John Russell, as manager, is formally charged with the responsibility of having his troops ready to play baseball each night. I’m not suggesting every player has to play perfect – what I am suggesting is that fundamental baseball is John Russell’s responsibility and repeated fundamental errors require that he be held accountable.
Especially since these types of fundamental errors have become more and more frequent.
I understand there are business decisions playing out here as well – like Huntington being forced to play Doumit every day or risk losing significant value because he didn’t obtain a veteran receiver like some around the organization wanted, or Huntington and his scouting staff having made some poor evaluation decisions on some of our acquisitions which has led to many of the problems, or even Bob Nutting’s refusal to input cash during the rebuild.
But in order to regain control of the farce known as the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, management has to show some compassion to their consumer base and I believe that has to start with a renewed focus on the basics.
We first need to start with accountability to the players and fans to get the internal mental game back on track..
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It was nice to see Zach Duke pitch a strong 5th inning. The game was 2-1 Astros, he had Quintero at second with one out, and he stepped up his game and struck out Bougerois and Bourn to put down the Astros threat. That should have swung momentum our way – it was huge. But we choked in the 5th and went right back out and gave up two more runs in the 6th which nailed our coffin shut. It was a game we should have won.
The Astros scored one run in the first on a swinging bunt single, two stolen bases (second and third) on Doumit, and a ground ball rbi. Their fourth run was scored on a walk in the 6th, a single, Doumit’s passed ball allowing both runners to advance, and then a sac fly. Their fifth run was scored on a single, a balk, and a two-out single that McCutchen misplayed into a double. That’s three runs scored from BS which is becoming routine. This was a game the Pirates should have won.
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Lots of talk about Peter Gammons report that Neal Huntington won’t entertain offers for Hanrahan. I mentioned back at the start of May that Hanrahan was becoming filthy and to watch him. Hat tip to a scouting bud of mine who was all over him at the time. He’s done a great job but there’s no reason whatsoever for Neal Huntington to not entertain offers on him. That’s just nuts.
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Nice to see Cutch starting to come back around.
By Jake, on July 11, 2010, at 9:44 pm |
First things first, I’m planning on upgrading this site’s software over the All-Star break and will be back posting after Friday’s game against the Astros. So if you see things looking weird here and there over the next few days, you’ll know what is going on. For all you betting fools out there, I’ll post Jake’s Take selections Thursday night. If anything breaks, I’ll try to post an analysis but I’m not sure much will be happening until after the break.
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Lincoln threw 48% hooks to right handers and survived.. some. His line was fairly impressive (81 pitches, 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 HR) considering the position he was put in, but right-hand batters continue to have their way with him. His outs were 50/50 well-struck and benefited some from a very large ‘get away day’ strike zone, as did his opposing pitcher. But he kept his team in the game and that’s all that matters.
One thing I did notice happened in the first inning.. after he struckout Hart he glared into the Pirates dugout as if he was saying – wow, I did it. It was the first sign of life I’ve seen from Lincoln since his days in the lower system when he was rolling over everyone until he was hurt. I’ve been waiting to see that fire-in-his-eye look.
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What is there to say about how pathetic we are playing other than there is a lot more than youthful problems around this club right now. As I said earlier, there aren’t any signs suggesting Russell or Huntington will be given the boot but I certainly don’t know how either can be employed at this point.
The big operations move was to option Jaramillo down and I assume they will call up Kratz to catch since we have a front office of bean counters and Kratz’s sabermetric numbers suggest he’s in his breakout year. Little good that will do sitting on the pine. But since they want to push Doumit out the door, they have to give Kratz a chance with Kerrigan and his troops to see if they feel comfortable with him.
Along those lines, take a quick look at the last 29 game snapshot in our system (doesn’t include all the affiliates games on Sunday.. just the last 29 on record before I published this):
-58 runs, -27 wins.. even the minor league boys are starting to fall on their butts. Bradenton is doing well but as I’ve said all season, the FSL is unusually lacking in talent this year. Altoona is the one club that is rolling along consistently but even they are starting to bend lately considering they haven’t exactly been playing strong opposing teams over the last 30 days.
One thing that sticks out across our entire baseball operations landscape is how poor we are as a system on defense as almost every affiliate and the Pirates rank in the lower third of their league. That’s a sure sign of a drafting ideology to me.. or lack of emphasis on defense, if you will. Perhaps it also speaks volumes about the lack of emphasis on the subject in player development as well?
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Colton Cain was promoted to State College today. Bucs Prospects had laid out a plan to go take in several Bradenton/GCL games next week so that Cain could be seen since word around him was that he was settling in well, so this isn’t too much of a surprise to me. Locke was also promoted to Altoona and I’m not as confident he’ll do well like I am with Cain. We’ll see.
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Out of the blue, Mark Cuban has become interested in buying the Rangers. I think everyone wondered who was sitting on the sideline wanting to get a bid in because it was pretty obvious from the creditors they had wind of someone else’s potential involvement.
I mentioned last week I was stunned that Chuck Greenberg signed the waiver, and now this. I still believe Ryan/Greenberg have the inside track but you have to wonder how much more they will have to cough up to get the prize at this point. Is it really worth it? Hmm.. I’d rather overpay for underutilized Pirates myself.
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Talk about some pissed off fans.. evidently Neal Huntington mentioned to Dejan that he had control of Ryan Church for another year and there was a possibility we could see a Church/Milledge platoon through 2011.
That’s crazy but I covered yesterday why it might happen – Huntington is a bean counter whose evaluation skills have never been thought of as better than average by those I know around the game. He likes Church because the analytics suggest he should bounce back whereas the dope on Milledge is that he’s a cultural problem. Which poison do you want?
What Huntington said without saying, however, is that ownership must have already approved his short-term plan through at least 2011 and probably 2012, and that means we won’t be seeing any free agent bop bats patrolling in right field next year. That could change, but I doubt it will.
It also means there will be no commitment to improve the product.. what you see this year is what you will get next year save a cheap pickup here and there of some washed out vet looking for a ride, or what they obtain in any trades.
That’s what is sad about what wasn’t said.
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Have a great break! As Pirates fans, we all need some time away.
By Jake, on July 10, 2010, at 11:50 pm |
How could you possibly be upset with the outcome of Saturday night’s game? I mean, Jeff Karstens was on the mound and he held the Brewers to just five hits and four runs despite walking six and giving up two solo shots. Plus we scored our obligatory three runs.
What more could you ask for?
Ah, forget those limited range Pedro Alvarez plays where he failed to glove the ball once, twice, or was it three times – heck I lost count and since the official scorer was so kind to call them all hits, I couldn’t remember, and forget that the bottom of the 9th featured Doumit (who went yard pulling us within one), Church, Crosby, and Young, and please look past the fact we retired the middle of the Brewers order just three times out of 13 attempts or that we have set Brad Lincoln up to have to throw 70% curve balls tomorrow or he’ll be wiped off the face of the earth in one of the rocket shots likely to head his way (bullet proof vest day with Doumit resting).
It’s all meaningless.
All that matters to our front office is that this man:
still has a job so this man:
(Ryan Church — .566 OPS last 365 days) can continue to snitch in the clubhouse for management play. You see, developing players like Lastings Milledge (.723 OPS last 365 days and .911 OPS last 28) requires that the old-school ways Neal Huntington learned over the years from Dan Duquette slash Jim Beattie slash Dan Hart have to be played out even if he is a bean counter.. players have to earn their way to play every day. Don’t forget, baseball is an information business, right? You need to know as much as you can everywhere you can.
Mr. Church must really excel at his job while Cedeno and Milledge must really suck, huh? Or maybe Huntington just feels sorry for trading Church away in 2004 for this guy? Huntington was credited for the Church trade back then, just as he was credited for bringing Milton Bradley into the Indians organization.
And alas, we just added a new guy to the pen to assist with information gathering for Huntington – Sean Gallagher. Look for him to deliver some amazing snitch reports results down the stretch too.. just like Mr. Church or Mr. Crosby might be helping with. What a great group of guys we have. You know, it’s all about the culture baby.
 But never fear, John Russell is here. He may bore the living crap out of you in a conversation (he has that yes-man monotone voice down to a science) but he’s Huntington’s man and that’s all that counts. Like Church. Or Crosby. Or Donnelly. Or Gallagher. Or…
Hey, if we lose 100 games, so what? What right do we have as fans to question the Almighty Pirates front office? Besides, they are the best management team in baseball, don’t you remember?
How dare us think otherwise.
How dare us be negative.
How dare us compare this management group to a bunch of 5th grade nerds wanting to make everybody stand up and notice them.
Shoot, they are doing exactly what they being paid to do – make money for nerdy ownership. Rebuilding? That’s a secondary thought. Ask Bud Selig who will quickly tell you one of his fifty year old memories that Branch Rickey may have been run out of Pittsburgh, but his work eventually culminated in a winning ball club. Oh nevermind that was back before anyone knew video would be in the clubhouse, sabermetrics would be mainstream, and player salaries would skyrocket. Nor can you count the fact Rickey happened to be a reasonable scout and business man himself — possibly unlike anyone we have running this organization right now. Yet all that matters is that Selig says we’re on track and the player’s union supported him in that belief.
Essentially, we have no right to question all the losses, we have no right to question the lack of talent in the system, and we have no right to question who gets developed and who doesn’t. Don’t forget, we can’t shine their shoes with what we know about this game. They are all gods.
That said, look for another loss Sunday. One that will be painful heading into the break and be sure to thank Bud et al for all the wonderful 2010 memories.
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Lots of e-mail from readers questioning a report somewhere or another that Bryan Morris was projected as a potential relief pitcher. That follows on the heels of another publication a few weeks ago that said he might end up being a closer.
Look, I’ve told you my thoughts about our farm system – we don’t have any talent to talk about. We have a lot of average guys, we have some guys with more upside than others, but we don’t have any impact talent.
End of story.
As for Morris and his problems, Anup Sinha over at Bucs Prospects clearly outlined what he felt were Morris’ problems – he drifts in his delivery which he expects to cause command problems down the road, and as a result of the cross fade he’s liable to be an injury risk down the road. That article I linked to is just one of several looks at Morris this year. In another, Sinha mentioned that the Pirates were working hard on getting Morris more under control which was later evident in one start Sinha scouted.
Is Morris a sure thing? Heck no. When we obtained him he was a high-risk, high-reward young prospect.. nobody questioned his stuff, they questioned his makeup and his ability to stay healthy. Scouts were divided on whether or not he’d ever be a front line starter, and if he did, how long he’d remain one. We knew that and I’ve pushed those points in this blog ever since he was obtained.
Right now, he’s the best we have in the system so you better get behind him. He may end up being trade bait down the road, he may end up under the knife, or he may end up being our ace in 2012. Who knows.
But does he project as a reliever or closer? Absolutely not with the tools he has and anybody that says that doesn’t know how to evaluate talent. The kid’s in development where flaws are recognized and dealt with. Now, do we have good development men who can help Morris? That’s the question you need to be worrying about.
Not about Morris.
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Another thing I’m getting hammered with e-mails on is this supposed Cliff Lee for Jason Bay deal we missed out on. If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times, I don’t believe there ever was a deal on the table. I believe there was talk between Huntington and his ex-boss Mark Shapiro that ‘leaked’ to the media, I believe there might have been some offer from the Indians for Bay, but I have never believed Cliff Lee was destined to be a Pirate in a Bay deal, much less that Frank Coonelly killed “it” — it being Lee to the Pirates as we heard it.
What I do believe is that Shapiro was attempting to assist Huntington and Coonelly in building Bay’s value up in the marketplace and they leaked this story out. That’s what happens around this game between buds. Maybe Huntington did approach Shapiro about Lee for Bay but that’s probably about as far as that conversation ever went.
Don’t forget that Shapiro brought in Tony LaCava as a crosschecker in early 2000′s to help him to evaluate talent for their rebuild. LaCava was the one that helped put the deal together that brought Lee to the Indians and Huntington was around for that. Shapiro isn’t stupid.. he wasn’t going to let Lee go for Bay who was still playing less than 100%. Instead, he held on to him for another half-season and then got four prospects from the Phillies for a couple of month rental. Looking back today I think it’s pretty obvious the Indians didn’t want to add Bay’s salary to their books and probably felt they couldn’t turn him quick enough with him appearing still hurt.
But that’s all a guess.. I have no knowledge that there was or wasn’t a deal in place. Like you, I read all the reports suggesting there was but considering Shapiro was Huntington’s daddy at the time…
And a funny note to that 2000 draft Lee was in.. we took Sean Burnett in the first round of that draft and, believe it or not, we still have some of those evaluators hanging around that helped in that draft. And guess what.. one of the players Neal Huntington’s Indians drafted in that same draft now plays for the Pirates.
Yup.. Ryan Church.
Jason Bay, Cliff Lee, Grady Seizmore, Russell Martin, and Jeff Karstens? They were taken by LaCava’s Expos in 2000.
Funny how this game goes.
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Here’s a nice article I missed when it came out at the NY Times on Jason Bay claiming he wasn’t ready in 2004 when the Pirates brought him up.
By Jake, on July 8, 2010, at 12:40 am |
6-3 Astros, top of the ninth, two outs, Walker at third, Jones at first, and up comes the Pirates hope of the future – Pedro Alvarez. He looks at a hanging slider for strike one, swings through a slider away for strike two, and then embarrassed himself with an off-balanced, open-shoulder swing at a slider well off the plate for strike three and the Pirates lost yet another game.
The Pirates media department quickly fired up the spin machine and spit out a press release indicating the Bucs middle of the order went a robust 6 for 11 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored, Daniel McCutchen pitched a four-hitter over 5 innings, and gonna’ be All-Star Evan Meek was hitting 98 on the stadium gun. In the morning the casual fans will read that crap and start thinking – hey, maybe we are getting better while completely ignorant to the facts that over the last 28 games the Bucs:
– have averaged just 3.07 runs per game – by far the fewest of any club;
– offense has the fewest total bases and second fewest hits in the game;
– defense has committed the most errors during that period (24 in 28 games but in reality is probably more like 54 in 28);
– pitching staff have the fewest strikeouts in the game and batters have the third highest.
Now you can argue that events like Alvarez whiffing with two on and two outs in the 9th is related to his youth and that down the road that may not happen so much.. ok, fair enough. But tell me why we are getting completely dominated from one end of the spectrum to the other. I hear you – you are saying it’s because we are so young and we’re developing at the major league level. I see.. so then, answer this question..
Then why is our total 2010 production just 25% better than what we expect from a 25-man roster made up of replacement level players? And to be more blunt, how is it that, in the last 30 days, the team’s production is barely sniffing that 25-man replacement level status?
If you thought we had problems after the trades last year while scoring just 3.6 runs per game over our last 73, well, you are now witnessing a 15% decrease in run production since that time and each thirty days that ticks off the clock we’re losing more and more production. Over the last 156 games we’ve scored just 531 runs for a 3.40 per game average, over the last 61 games 3.11 runs, and over the last 28 games 3.07.
If we assume the league average is 4.32 runs per game (700 runs scored per year), and we’re at 3.07, how much better can each of these player produce over the next three years as they develop? 2% per year? 4%? 6%?? And while these players continue to get better, should we also assume the league pitching will remain neutral during that period? By that I mean, should we assume none of the clubs will be improving their pitching over the next three years? If they will be, how much will that potentially retard our youth’s growth?
All things being even, the probability the current Pittsburgh Pirates general 13-man position player roster improves their yearly run production 20% over the next three years is probably close to one-billion to one. That’s especially true the way the roster, and short-term replacements, are constructed – we’re a doubles oriented system from Pittsburgh to the GCL. Everywhere you look we have speed and below average power, to save a few. In fact, we’re a doubles oriented system with mostly poor defensive skill sets and no impact pitching anywhere in the system to speak of. Morris might be an exception but he’ll have to prove to me he can pitch at this level before I believe it. Maybe one day Taillon will too, if he’s ever signed. And perhaps one or two come forward to meet expectations as middle of the order guys one day. Perhaps.
But there is no way Bob Nutting will ever go out on the free agent market and buy top shelf pitching. Forget it. Nor is he ever likely to spend for the big bop free agent bats. So the Pirates are taking as many pitchers as they can grab hoping to one day be able to trade arms for bats (think Rays plan that never worked). Problem is, they passed up a lot of impact pitching to this point. And impact bats. And impact development staff. And impact scouts. And, and, and…
I don’t care how much of an optimist you might be, you still have to look at reality. Reality says our run production is falling off the shelf, our error rate in the system is increasing at an alarming rate, our system wide injury rate is skyrocketing, and we don’t have any impact players left in our system save, perhaps, Morris.
And here’s another simple point to ponder outside of the poor evaluations and assignments (like Walker) this front office has made in the last 18 months. Let’s talk about basic organizational philosophy a second. John Russell recently said:
“I know a lot of fans criticize me for not yelling and screaming, but I can’t do that,” Russell said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids who are just getting their feet wet in the major leagues. The last thing they need is me yelling and screaming at them.” — my emphasis
WTF?
The entire minor league system is run like a Marine basic training camp preparing boys to go to war. They are yelled at, screamed at, every second they are under intense supervision, they have to put t-shirts in certain places in their locker, they have bulletin boards humiliating players who don’t meet standards, and they are forced to hear and do things they never thought possible. Then there is Russell’s philosophy in Pittsburgh where he babies his troops and look what happens – they do what they want to do. It’s gotten so bad in Pittsburgh that Varsho has become so frustrated he’s gone out of his way to let it be known he won’t tolerate the fluff any more.
Yet it continues on a nightly basis.
There is so much wrong with this organization right now it makes Dave Littlefield days look like Jimmy Leyland world series days. I agree we’re in a rebuilding stage, but not the kind you thing we’re in. No, the only thing we’re rebuilding is the Nutting’s bank account after they bought out partners.
Who. Is. Kidding. Who?
How the Player’s Association could ever give their stamp of approval to this rebuild is a disturbing revelation and bad for the game. Perhaps they did it knowing Nutting was finally spending every penny he could get a hold of to buy out all the partners leaving him in total control and debt free and ready to take on the world? Fat chance he ever spends it on this organization outside of Dana Eveland and Sean Gallagher types (Billy Beane rejects). And there is even a fatter chance guys like Alvarez and McCutchen will ever allow them to spend it on any more than one free agent year, if they get lucky enough to get even one.
Ok.. enough of the rant. The big picture? Our stats are tanking like a lead ball in water and even if everyone picks it up some, we’re only likely to just get back to July 2009 levels. We need talent, we don’t need any more talk out of the side of front office mouths. The only way to get talent it to go pay for it.. take a chance, go spend $20MM to a club needing cash and wrestle one of their big corner OF contracts away. There are opportunities.
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On the Sean Gallagher acquisition, it’s just another move by the Pirates who are desperately trying to find back of the order starters to fill in so they can deal the few chips they have left. It’s not a deal that will make any difference at all and you can expect to be just as frustrated when he pitches as with Ohlendorf, Morton, McCutchen, etc, etc, etc, etc,..
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We’ve now allowed 10 home runs in the last 6 games. Ouch.
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What’s wrong with this picture?
What you don’t see is Ronny Cedeno who just flew out of the picture to the right trying to grab an errand Doumit throw while Bourn was stealing second. What you do see is that Doumit threw the ball to the wrong player who shouldn’t even be anywhere around the bag.
That’s about as confusing as this play:
What the…
That’s Doumit trying to save his life on a Meek slider that he expected to be a fastball. These two were so out of whack during the entire time Meek was on the mound, Meek stepped off like three or four times and Doumit make at least one trip out to talk to him — right before Meek threw this pitch with the bases loaded.
We just rock on defense baby.
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So what’s up with Moskos getting stretched out again? I assume this means the Pirates front office feels he can be the next Lopez for us? What a disaster. Why remove him from closing out games if he was excelling at it? I’m not sure I see Moskos having value as a 7th inning pitcher, and I’m not a big believer in having a left specialist on an NL staff. Hanrahan has been filthy lately but he’s injury prone and I still say Meek looks rough around the edges.
But what do I know?
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Here’s yet another national media publication telling their readership the Pirates are a joke. What’s funny about this one is that it is written by a guy who covers tennis, so even national publications seem to be assigning the “PIrates suck’ stories to lower level reporters now.
And how about this FanGraphs post on the Gorzelanny giveaway? Ok, it’s written by a kid who doesn’t really seemed very dialed-in to everything Pittsburgh, but still he made a couple of good points.. Huntington did give up on him.
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Maybe Oswalt will blow a gasket and we’ll find a win behind Ohlendorf?
Had to make you laugh somewhere in this post.
By Jake, on July 2, 2010, at 11:04 pm |
When your team ERA is under 1 over a four game stretch, you are going to win some games and that’s what the Pirates have done – win games.
Despite poor fielding and ridiculous risky chances taken, many of which happened to have worked the last few days.
Despite poor fundamentals on the base paths.
Despite hitting 0.018 points above the Mendoza line during the run.
Despite averaging 2.05 runs per game.
And most importantly, despite the pitching staff throwing cases of watermelons over the plate during the period.
Thank the statistical mean for our last few wins. As they say, everything cycles.
Oh, I suppose you can also throw in some cold batters in Chicago, a stiff wind blowing in at Wrigley, a Phillies team that seems jinxed at PNC, and two days of Phillies batters chasing an obscene number of offspeed pitches out of the zone they have rarely done this year.
Honestly, we are a pathetic looking group of baseball players on the diamond. Our third baseman has very little lateral range and now can’t even throw the ball consistently, our shortstops have a bit more range and have a bit more glove, but aren’t even league average defenders over the last month of play, our second basemen are targets on pivot plays waiting to be punched out cold and their footwork reminds me of Craig Wilson’s two left-feet approach, and who knows what has happened to Jones lately.. can’t keep his eye on the ball, he refuses to extend to grab poor throws, and he hasn’t picked many out of the dirt in quite a while. Throw in Milledge leaving his feet every other play while throwing every ball over relay men, McCutchen flat-out dropping balls, and throwing to wrong bases, Doumit with pop times exceeding 2.2…
Even if all these problems get 50% better, over a 162 game schedule we’re going to lose 10 – 20 games just from poor defense.
We can’t afford that margin of error with the roster we have. And least us not forget that we had one of the league’s top defenses behind average to better than league average pitching while also cranking out 725 runs scored before we starting blowing up the roster, and we still lost 90+ games.
So why does our short-term plan include fringe to average defenders, a doubles oriented offense, and below average starting pitching? And, how many people out there believe that is the combination that will eventually lead to more wins than losses down the road?
I certainly don’t.
Even if we assume we regain some of the arms that are being surgically repaired, or guys like Morris perform as advertised, and the entire group performs at least at league average rates, they are still all pitch-to-contact guys who will rely on their defense to make plays behind them. I hope you aren’t in the camp that believes Andy LaRoche can be turning 125 double plays per year in 2012. Are you?
Houston, we have a significantly larger problem than anybody is even considering. And don’t look to the minor leagues for any short-term help because there isn’t any there worth talking about.
What we truly have is a mixed bag of nuts and some of those are already cracked and exposed. Without adding some professionals to this roster who can hit, catch, and throw the ball, this rebuild will end up just like all the others – one big screwed up mess.
Now, who out there believes Bob Nutting will cough up $30MM in additional player salary in an attempt to at least field a somewhat more competitive team? Hmm.. I don’t see one single hand — and I shouldn’t because not one fan believes in the man. Yet some of you believe in his management team as if they are separate from Nutting.
I don’t get it.
Our short-term plan is totally screwed up and has been ever since we started dealing. Neal Huntington took his office and clearly stated his intention – his risk taking would come in the accumulation of lower level talent he amassed during his rebuilding trades. That is exactly what he should have done..
But he didn’t.
Instead, he brought in major league ready talent to fill a roster so Bob Nutting didn’t have to spend money on the free agent market during the rebuild. Instead of taking back a Lastings Milledge, we should have taken back two or three “A” prospects in A-ball.. instead of Andy LaRoche we should have demanded two more “A” prospects in the lower levels, instead of taking on Ohlendorf et al from the Yankees, we should have demanded Grade A lower level talent.
And taken our risks in developing that talent.. not LaRoche, not Ohlendorf, not Milledge, and not Tabata.. no matter what their contributions are or ever will be. Simply put, the sum of the performance the 0-3 MLB talent we received back can never exceed the sum of the equivalent lower level youth we should have received because, all things being equal in scouting and development, our haul would have been significantly more talented.
At least it should have been given the nature of value.
This is where Neal Huntington and the new regime failed in this rebuild. It can’t possibly succeed because they turned over the talent they had for the wrong return. I don’t care how much any of you like or dislike the trades because that’s not the point.. the point is, if Nutting had spent free agent money to fill his roster during the rebuild, and had Huntington proceeded with his long-term plan as he initially stated of seeking higher quality lower level talent instead of the 0-3′s he took back, our system should be stocked with impact talent right now instead of a lot of average guys who may or may not make it (Morris being the exception to the rule). Throw in the last three drafts on top of that talent and our system would be one of the most stocked in the game.
But it’s not.
If you can’t rebuild with additional compensatory draft picks, you have to rebuild risking with lower level impact probable prospects. By taking back as many 0-3′s as we did, we saved Nutting a crap load of cash in the short-term but also dramatically lowered our chances of a successful rebuild. Sure, Nutting has spent $8MM per year in his draft allocation budget to help the rebuild, but that’s peanuts compared to the $30MM+ he should have been spending on player salaries to field a roster after dealing all his veterans for youth. Had he spent both the $30MM plus the $8MM, we would be well into a decent rebuild. On top of that, Alvarez and Lincoln wouldn’t have had to be rushed up and we could have saved at least one year of McCutchen’s clock.
Instead, we have no impact talent in our minor league system now that Alvarez is in Pittsburgh, albeit Morris is the next best thing.
Now here’s the thing – any owner in their right mind would probably have fired Frank Coonelly, John Russell and Neal Huntington by now. By all accounts they have failed significantly worse than many of those losing their jobs around the game have. But it’s more than that – the fans lost their faith in them too. Instead of saying ‘I believe in this group’ as they did in the beginning, the fans now say ‘I’m willing to give them more time’ but many of those fans are now even abandoning that position.
But the owner hasn’t pulled the plug because he has a stable of ‘yes men’ willing to work paycheck-to-paycheck to save Nutting every dollar they can. Nutting doesn’t want to let these guys go – my gosh, that would require him having to hire new people who will want Nutting to spend money because that is what it will take to turn this whole thing around.
And Nutting has NEVER shown a propensity to spend any money outside of major league acquisitions where he was taken to the cleaners, like with Matt Morris or Iwamura.
Nothing has changed folks – we need ownership who will spend to field a competitive product. All this rebuilding crap over the last three years has gotten us nowhere because it should have been going on year-after-year anyway since we are a smaller market club.
We’re going nowhere.. spinning our wheels.. all for the sake of Nutting’s bank account. It’s 2003/2006 all over again folks. Get back out your yellow t-shirts.
After you finally wake up, that is.
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