By Jake, on January 5, 2010, at 8:14 pm | 31 comments
I need opinions on a couple of your expectations.
Assuming Pedro Alvarez joins the Pirates before the All-Star break, how do you think he will do the rest of the year in each category:
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How did we miss out on Casey Kotchman? I’m stunned. Not only would his defense have greatly aided the development of Pedro Alvarez as well as Ronny Cedeno’s scatter brained play, but his bat would have extended our lineup. For those of you who don’t buy into his bat anymore, then think threat if nothing else. I happen to believe his two-year downhill was partly due to nagging injuries and problems at home.
I can’t believe we weren’t in on him, unless it was the money since he was a super-two. Or, is it possible that Seattle was only Kotch’s first stop? Naw, things like that only happen with other teams, right? Hmm..
And for the record, I don’t think Jones is Kotchman. Not even close, although Jones had a Cinderella year.
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Matt Holliday signs a $120M/7 deal with the Cardinals. At 30 with somewhat downward trending stats! And you still believe the Pirates have any prayer at all of competing in a six-team division with the Cards and Cubs in it?
Puh-lease.
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$40 to attend a baseball coaches clinic (among others) with Jimmy Leyland and Rich Donnelly January 31st in Wheeling, WV, of all places? OMG. Please tell me I have a reader from WV who can sign me up as a temp so I can attend. Wow.
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Randy Johnson announced his retirement today. What a shame considering the man still throws the ball better than three-quarters of our entire pitching staff.
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Folks in Erie, PA, are pissed off they were left off the Pirates caravan. Today I received the 16th e-mail telling me how upset they are. How ironic.. won’t buy a ticket except for opening day but want the caravan.
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I mentioned the other day that I heard Paul Maholm’s name growing louder and louder in the circuit and today one person with an AL club told me that earlier in the winter they were told Maholm and Duke weren’t available. That matches what someone from an NL club told me last week too.
Now I wonder if the timing of their requests was just off (too early in the offseason), or if the Pirates brain trust finally decided they better deal Maholm now or forever lose value, or if my sources (several and growing) about Maholm’s name being out there right now are just incorrect? One person said the cash-strapped Dodgers might have interest and someone else told me they see Maholm as a #3.. or better.
I think we’re about to find out in the next week or so.
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A Pirates blogger at Operation Shutdown, who stumbled spelling Huntington’s first name (as if I should say anything), talks about Huntington’s love for the waiver wire and Rule 5.
By Jake, on January 2, 2010, at 3:48 pm | 22 comments
Paul Maholm’s name is flying all over the circuit right now and I’m guessing one team must be in heavy pursuit of him since I’ve received a couple of e-mails from plus people asking if I knew the team. But so far I’ve not had any independent confirmation that anything is imminent. I would guess there is a heavy debate internally with the Bucs whether he would get more in return this winter or next July since he’s certainly not likely to bring as much next winter with all the arms that look to be available in free agency.
Timing in making this move is critical, imo.
His remaining contract is $20M/3 if you include the buyout and he’s easily worth 3 WAR per year on the free agent market meaning about $12M per. Even if we discount him to $10M per, that’s $30M and, less the $20M owed, that leaves no less than a $10M surplus right now not including the fringe benefits. So he’ll bring a nice package right now, that package dwindles to perhaps three-quarters value by July and half by the end of the year.
So in my unprofessional book, now is the time to deal him because I believe we can get $15M or more in surplus.
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So let’s assume for a second the Maholm rumors are accurate and he is eventually dealt this winter clearing $20M off the books. If Doumit was dealt as well clearing another $25M off the books, someone tell me why we couldn’t be a serious player for Aroldis Chapman? Ok, the main school of thought is that the young man is raw, will demand a contract in the $30M range, and may not sign with us even if we were the top bidder for his services.
So you ask why in the world should the penny-pinching Bucs put so much guaranteed money into one player who is far from a sure thing?
Let’s think outside the box a second. Let’s assume he’s 26 years old instead of 21, let’s assume he never develops a true third plus pitch, let’s assume his control remains average at best, let’s also assume he matures and hardens some, and let’s assume he never needs TJ surgery and can stay healthy. What we would end up with would be a gas throwing southpaw who can also throw a devastating slider.
In other words for PNC Park and the Pirates, a true ace.
Sure, there’s a lot of risk in things like his mental approach, injury potential, and inability to pitch instead of throw, and then there’s another risk in that our organization isn’t very well-known for developing pitchers and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon.
But if Chapman throws just one year assuming the qualities listed above and what we know of his stuff today, his value could be $20M or more to us; two years in Pittsburgh, $40M; and so on. But it’s more than that – he fits our stadium and league better than most, he’ll miss major league bats which we sorely need, and he compliments our current second wave.
Now the question for all you folks is – do you spend $30M on a five/six-year deal on Chapman knowing he’s going to need at least a year and maybe two before he can be ready for Pittsburgh, or do you keep spending the money (and taking the risk the players will ink) on hard signs from the first year player draft? At the end of the day you have to decide what is more important.. developing multiple players or putting your stock in one significant player?
The business side of the game under el’ cheapo Bob Nutting means we’ll never be serious players for any of the top Latin players. But doesn’t that have to end? Sure it does - Nutting either needs to bring in additional partners to rev up the cash flow or he needs to pull it out of his own pocket. We simply can’t compete without some reinvestment and taking some risk. Lord knows the Yankees and Red Sox have paid us more than enough over the years for us to be able to afford quite a few risks like Chapman, yet we never take a chance. As I said, that has to end.
Ok, I’ll get off my soap box and walk away with my head between my legs because I know full good and well there is Nutting I can do to change anything and also knowing Doumit and Maholm will probably be dealt clearing $45M off the books and we’ll end up with seven prospects giving us 45 player years of control.
But little talent.
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I first mentioned AJ Cole’s name in my blog in 2008 after I saw him throwing 98 mph and mentioned him again as a potential #2 sleeper pick in the 2010 draft a few months ago. Now he’s nearly a consensus top five pick. I don’t know if he’s going to remain there but there’s no doubting this young man’s ability to bring some serious heat.
With the second pick it’s inconceivable that Neal Huntington will pass up either Bryce Harper or Jameson Taillon depending on which one falls to us. These two young men are light years ahead of the pack right now and very well could break even further away with solid play this spring. In my book, AJ Cole represents the only player who could seriously challenge Taillon and Harper although some like the chances of LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo who I’m not sold on just yet. Just don’t count Cole out just yet.. there’s a rumor running around Miami circles that he can hit triple digits.
Harper, Taillon, and Cole.. those are the three names to watch this spring from your box seat. Unless we pull another boner drafting for need, one of those three are sure to be our first round pick.
By Jake, on December 29, 2009, at 9:48 pm | 36 comments
In one of my recent posts I told you that I spent part of two days talking with ex-US Steel CEO David Roderick who had been associated with the Pirates in one form or another for decades through three ownership groups beginning in the seventies on John Galbreath’s board.
The man is a true legend in recent Pittsburgh Pirates history, and even a bigger legend in the city of Pittsburgh. Bluntly put, if there is a more powerful person in Pittsburgh over the last half-century, or a more knowledgeable person about the Pirates over the last thirty years, I don’t know who it could possibly be.
When Mr. Roderick spoke about the Galbreath family I could feel the love pouring out of his heart as he spoke. When Mr. Roderick spoke about the Pittsburgh Associates who bought out the Galbreath family, again I could feel the genuine care he had for the group and their mission. The same was even true when he spoke about Kevin McClatchy and his goals which he supported.
Then he stunned me when he said:
“The current group shouldn’t be owners.”
I swear it took me a minute or two to regroup after he said that.. my mouth went dry, my heart started racing wildly, and my brain instantly froze. When I became capacitated again I listened intently to him recite his reasons why and nearly went into cardiac arrest by the time he finished. All I wanted to do was to reach through the phone and hug the man for every fan who had felt the same pain I had felt watching this team recently.
As I held back my tears of joy, I rambled question after question at him and he gallantly answered each and every one of them. Toward the end of our conversation it dawned on my inexperienced journalistic mind that his intentions were for the city he cherished with all his heart, and to the organization he loved so dearly. The Nuttings weren’t the target of his discontent — their business model was. A model he was none to happy with.
I told you this simple story because I personally walked away with newfound hope knowing a person with his credentials was as concerned as I was as a fan. No, it won’t equate to more wins in 2010, I’ll grant you that. But his passion is so profound and his connections so deep, others are sure to listen to him and that’s all I can ask for as a fan in things I can’t control. I pray you walk away with that same sliver of hope I did.
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ESPN 1050 is reporting the Mets have signed Bengie Molina and that, ladies and gentlemen, starts the clock on a possible Ryan Doumit trade. I assume it’s going to take either a young major league ready power corner outfielder with a glove to get the job done, or a package of prospects and a free agent corner outfielder signing. Just wild guesses. I still don’t buy into the ‘we’ll hold him until July hoping to raise his value’ because Huntington has been burned too much with that game. Stay focused – if Huntington gets a package even close to reasonable, I believe Doumit is history.
I’m also starting to hear Paul Maholm’s name for the third time this winter. I don’t have any information other than his name is floating in so far unsubstantiated circuit rumors, but the fact his name is out there again tells me we must be getting some inquiries on at least a couple of our young starters.. Maholm being one of them.
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I keep saying things like ‘if Huntington gets’ but we all know the real deal. This is, and will remain, the Frank Coonelly Show.
By Jake, on December 8, 2009, at 11:37 pm | 20 comments
I broke down and bought my six-year-old a set of US Kids Clubs and took him out on a walkable nine-hole this evening and we had a blast. He’s just 45″ tall but amazed me with some serious swing speed from the light driver. While he routinely hit thirty or forty yard drives, one time he drove the ball about seventy-five and his eyes lit up like deer in headlights. Then a little smile came out and he said in an excited voice after I que’d my third tee shot of the day: dad, that’s almost as far as yours! He came home, ran to the playroom, pushed the Wii aside pronouncing it ‘baby stuff’ then grabbed his clubs and started cleaning them.
What an amazing transformation from one day of golf. Aren’t kids great?
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Doumit talk is heating up as we expected but don’t expect the return to be a reliever folks. Come on now.. I’m guessing even Selig would kill that one. And from what I’m hearing, I’m not so sure his landing spot will be Toronto anyway.
Maholm is getting some serious play in the circuit as I suggested he might. I’m starting to think Huntington just might have something close to a workable deal in place for him or he wouldn’t have pushed out the ‘we’d be better waiting until other pitchers are off the board before dealing him because his value would be higher’ type of BS. He’s priming someone knowing he has genuine interest across the game so I suspect he’s closer to being dealt than any of us realize.
All I can hope for is that any return for Doumit, Maholm, Duke, etc, ends up being solid lower level prospects instead of MLB ready type players. I’ve been totally against us feeding our senior club or the first wave from the beginning so I think it’s crucial we start focusing on wave two now (say, low to upper A ball).
Last thought.. trade and free agent value is at the bottom of the barrel, about half to two-thirds what it averaged over the last three years. Obviously clubs are still dealing but from a different stand – they are swapping book value for book value or not doing the deed in many cases. That makes me wonder if we should even be thinking about trading someone like Maholm right now? Trade Doumit now? Sure. Duke? Ok. But Maholm? No, not unless we obtain pre-2009 value for him. I’m guessing he’s one of the few guys left on our roster who very well might command more in July to a contender in need than he’ll fetch this winter. I could be wrong since about one-quarter of his contract value will have been used up, but that’s what I’m thinking.
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My Rule 5 guess, Will Inman, doesn’t seem to be getting much play around the game. There’s something about that kid I’d take a chance on if his medicals are decent. But then again, I would have signed Scheppers too.
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Didn’t I mention the other day that I was concerned about the exodus of national journalists to MLB? Now Peter Gammons is joining them.
How do you spell antitrust lawsuit?
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Not one, but two new Pittsburgh Pirates coverage paywalls going up? Don’t be shocked if you have to start paying for more coverage this season, except here that is.
By Jake, on December 6, 2009, at 2:33 pm | 6 comments
How easy is this one if you are a Pirates fan and want to see a competitive club in 2010? Adding Bay, Holliday, Lackey, Cabrera, Harden, Gonzalez, and Cameron at a cost of about $65M per would probably go along way making that happen while we wait for the “prospects” to show up, huh?
Did someone say the Nuttings own the club? Oh, well, then I guess I’ll have to settle for a simple Rule 5 pickup like Will Inman instead.
There is an immense divide between the old timers joined at the hip with this organization.. some believe the pitching is deep enough to allow a run at competition regardless of the below average offense penned in the short-term plan with a little help from the baseball gods, while the other side believes better men than Coonelly and Huntington, in better times to boot, have tried rebuilding ground up in this city and every one of them failed meaning, what we’re seeing is nothing but ownership abusing the rules for their own financial gain. No matter who you talk to they fall into one of those two groups and the deeper you dig into the hip, the more apt they are to say we’re witnessing rule abuse which is the side of the fence I sit on too.
The obvious debate: you’re not going to be very competitive in a six-team division scoring just 650 runs in a season if you don’t have at least a couple of the top one-third-tier pitching arms in the game on your staff and a solid complimentary bullpen and defensive unit to back everyone up. Unfortunately for the fans, the Pirates don’t even plan on opening the year with one-quarter of their short-term position players of the future in Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata, who will both return to minor league Romper Room and wait out the paradox of super-two status before being called up. See the abuser doctrine fellows above.
If you have been following the way Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington have forced the rebuilding show, you’ll have noticed that last year it was high A-ball that reaped the rewards of the ‘throw everything we have in one place and hope it wins’ doctrine, this year it looks to be 2A’s time, and in 2011 3A and Pittsburgh are said to be the focus. So if you buy into orderly progression without regression, then 2010 in Pittsburgh will be nothing but another summer camp for the youth with an emphasis on player development at the wrong level.
But who said rebuilding was fun?
Clearly there will have to be some fallout after what is sure to be another 90 loss season (remember, orderly progression) because club level executives have refused to utter the “R” word and what few loyal fans they have left are going to vocally demand accountability much like the old timers joined at the hip of this organization are already starting to do. Will John Russell be the fall guy? That’s certainly more likely than Neal Huntington.
So as we head to the winter meetings I expect Huntington to continue Frank Coonelly’s plan of allowing Nutting abuse under the guise of rebuilding and anyone on the roster owed more than minimum wage being shopped hoping they are able to wipe another $10M – $20M off the short-term books. Perhaps the latest media outcry on revenue sharing abuse backs them in the corner and makes them think twice about the timing, but I doubt it myself.
We’ve already heard the rumors that Joe Kerrigan wants a new catcher so Doumit is clearly the most obvious candidate to be dealt first. I don’t personally buy into the tagline that we’ll hold him to July to try and raise his value because everyone in the game knows the guy can rake and will play 140 games as long as he’s only catching 30 of them. In other words, he is what he is and four months won’t raise his value enough to make waiting to see if he gets hurt worth it. He’s history unless everyone tries to sucker punch Huntington.
Since Paul Maholm made it clear he wants out of Pittsburgh as fast as possible when he refused to include any free agency years when extended, it’s only logical he’ll be shopped too considering three consecutive years of improving stats under three pitching coaches. He’s a solid back of the order innings eater who is one of the more ’mature for his age and experience’ pitchers in the game, so he very well might end up being a 65% – 75% win guy on a tier-one club. Huntington has to sell high with Maholm and now is the time. I suppose the same could be said of Zach Duke – now is the time to deal him since he’s coming off a solid year.
I suspect Huntington won’t get the offer he wants for Maholm but will eventually deal Doumit, will listen in on Duke, Cedeno, Jones, Milledge, Ohlendorf, and LaRoche, and look for cheap pen help. Look for the Red Sox and Pirates to pull off a multiple player deal and look for a few rumors out of the D’backs and Rays camps with our names on them.
Most importantly if you are a fan of the team is that you don’t expect too much.
By Jake, on November 23, 2009, at 1:55 am | 34 comments
If you happen to have an RSS Cloud aggregator on your desktop, then you’ll benefit from some new software I added to the blog today which will allow you real-time updates. The change was necessary for syndication.
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New York Daily News columnist Bill Madden sent a second shot across the bow of the USS MLB that Admiral Selig seems to be limping toward dry dock. Fortunately for Selig the shot was wide of the MLB but ended up striking Captain Nutting square between the eyes on the USS Pittsburgh Pirates. Madden said in part (I’m putting all this in the blog because links dry up):
“Now on to Manfred, the Pirates and Boras. It seems this past week, Boras and Manfred got into a little hissing match over a column I wrote back in August which reported that the Pirates received a total of $75 million in revenue sharing and central fund monies (shared national TV, marketing, licensing, MLB Network and WEB site revenue) before they sold their first ticket.
Unbeknownst to me, Boras, with whom I have not exactly enjoyed a warm and fuzzy relationship through the years, threw those figures out last week, only to have Manfred, baseball’s VP of Labor Relations, fire back, saying: “He completely made those figures up,” adding that the Avenging Agent was living “in a fantasy land.” Manford also told Foxsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal that “no one club is getting $80 or $90 million in combined revenue sharing and Central Baseball funds,” even though the Florida Marlins, in fact, got $40 million from each, to top all teams with $80 million., according to my sources. This prompted Boras to counter: “There is factual merit to the facts Madden reported and that is why Rob didn’t address it in August. Why did it take him three months to comment on it?”
In the meantime, Pirates President Frank Coonelly insisted that the $35 million Central Fund figure Boras is using is “inaccurate” – and to that I must confess Coonelly is right. When I first reported the $75 million booty the Pirates received, I broke it down to $35 million in central fund monies and $40 revenue sharing. In fact, it was just the opposite, but the bottom line is, it still adds up to $75 million.“ (Also see: Madden’s August 1, 2009 warning shot article and his first true cannon shot August 15, 2009)
Coonelly, however, said the Pirates’ income from Major League Baseball was “well below” that $75 million figure. He said his club received substantially less than $40 million in revenue sharing last year, but declined to say what the specific numbers were.
Madden continued in his latest article:
And here is another figure Coonelly will probably want to refute: According to my sources, the Pirates were one of the teams to make a profit this year – approximately $14 million, which is not bad for a team with 99 losses and 17 straight losing seasons.
What we do know is Pirates chairman Bob Nutting is not re-investing his revenue sharing in payroll, although there are disturbing rumors in Pittsburgh that he’s using the Pirates’ money to subsidize the hemorrhaging at his Seven Springs Ski Resort in Champion, Pa.
I mentioned here back in early October that perceptions in the area were that Seven Springs was having problems, so Madden’s news on that subject isn’t new to me. Nor is it new news that the organization took home a sizeable profit because it has been doing so for several years based on all the written reports (about $60 million by my guess last five years) without any real backlash from the local media or fans (except my constant hounding, that is).
But what is new is that Philly lawyer Frank Coonelly has been blatantly called out as a liar by Rosenthal and Madden’s insinuations. That is the last thing in the world the Nutting clan want to see happen right now because it also calls their credibility to the mat at a time they appear headed for a ‘one year grab as much profit as possible in 2010′ run.
This is far from over as even my phone is ringing from investigative research types now so sit back and wait for the next round to be fired. In the meantime, don’t expect any changes in the way the Pirates go about their business. But I am very pleased to see national media types and some inside the game start to openly question the financial motives of Ogden and Robert Nutting. It’s long overdue since local media has become too soft on the subject.
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I’ve brought all this up before and I think it is worth mentioning again now, how do you think the players in our system (from Pittsburgh to Bradenton) feel after reading these types of reports in the national media? Think hard about it.
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If you look at the chart on the left you can see that, since Ryan Doumit joined the Pirates in June 2005, when he started the game as a catcher the team has a .390 winning percentage over 259 games. When Doumit wasn’t the starting catcher, the team winning percentage was .413. That’s a 0.023 percentage difference and if you multiply that times a 150 game season that we would expect Doumit to start as a catcher, having him start cost us 3.5 wins per year.
No, that’s not perfect science by any means considering the magnitude of other variables, but it does hint at value. Now look what happened when he started at first or in right – we played almost .500 baseball over 78 games and his ‘value’ jumped 15.5 wins the other way. Wow. Again, splitting 78 games up over several years is hardly providing us with credible results, but still, there you go. If you are Huntington, how do you pass the chance to test the theory further?
Now look at our starters.. when Duke took the mound to start a game the team winning percentage has been .392 since he joined the club. That is a negative 1/2 win per year off the team’s actual winning percentage since he joined the club while also assuming he makes 35 starts.
Maholm? Over 127 games his starts have resulted in a .465 team winning percentage on a club that has gone .405 since he’s been in Pittsburgh. Ohlendorf had a good year but only started 29 games so it will take another year of starts to get a better handle on his ‘value’ to the club. But for right now, he’s the highest of the four pitchers listed at +3.4 wins last year. Realize the +/- wins are based against the overall team winning percentage during the time that player has been with the club and assumes 35 starts.
I think it’s clear Maholm is our best starter by far based on his consistent results and I think it’s equally fair to say he would provide an average or better than average MLB team with middle of the order expected results.
None of this proves a thing of course but it does point us in a direction.. if Doumit is going to be dealt then Huntington needs to consider more value than what he has produced as a catcher while hampered with numerous injuries.
And Huntington also needs to consider moving Duke. in fact, I’d move Duke to AZ for Snyder in a heartbeat and pick up some change along the way (too late now that they got Heilman?). Then I’d keep Doumit and stick him in right knowing he’d be a minus defender out there but also expecting him to be better than the ‘-3.5 win’ guy he was behind the dish.
We can’t lose because if we get 150 games from Doumit playing right, we’ll go past his run production over 75 games that we are used to seeing from him thereby reducing his poor defensive contribution. Sure, it would be ugly but I have to believe somebody on our field staff can kick his butt into gear so he hustles in right. Or maybe it would be better to work him in an effective platoon with Jones at first and in right based on who is on the mound to minimize his exposure on defense?
By Jake, on November 21, 2009, at 11:30 pm | 21 comments
Neal Huntington is said to be fielding quite a few calls on either Duke or Maholm but he obviously hasn’t been hit over the head with an offer than knocked him out yet. That’s almost certain to change after Lackey, Lowe, and a few others are off the market one source around the game told me today. But which one will fly off the shelf? I’m told Maholm is more likely to get moved.
Why?
One obvious reason is that it clears more than $10 million off the books but perhaps more importantly, Maholm and his agent Bo McKinnis refused to give the Bucs one second of his free agent time which Huntington fought hard for. Toss in:
– three consecutive years of improving stats despite three different pitching coaches
– combined with a measly $0.75 million buyout versus almost $10 million in salary in 2012
Clubs know that and see Maholm’s $6.7 million per-over-three price tag during his ’premium’ years (28-30) and start drooling as they look for a solid back-of-the-order innings eater. That’s not the case with Duke and his prior left elbow concerns, one person said. Still, Maholm is exactly the kind of player this club should be keeping around but I’m not so sure that’s going to happen.
Adding fuel to that is the bizarre waiver pickup of thirty-year-old Chris ‘I have options left’ Jakubauskas who was told that he’s entering camp with a chance to start after we released the much heralded twenty-six-year-old Jeff Karstens who happened to hit that magical super-two-and-you’re-out-the-door-in-Nuttingland status. You know the recent front office rhetoric, we just ‘picked up several years of control’ baby, but to hell with improving the talent. Karstens was eaten alive by off-speed hitting teams (ie: see the Astros) but held his own against other lineups. I have to believe there is an attitude issue floating around Kerrigan didn’t care for and why he’s being tossed out the door, but that’s a guess.
So with Jakubauskas around and Dumatriat, Hart, McCutchen, and Veal all able to throw the ball over the plate (remember now we’re not worrying about talent, just innings while reducing payroll and increasing years of control), it only makes Nutting-sense that Maholm and Duke are pushed out the door ..
.. along with Doumit, and Capps, and (is anyone else making more than minimum wage ?? ) ..
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Robinzon Diaz was also pushed off the roster like Karstens was. That also makes sense since he had the best batting average and lowest CERA (not a stat I’m found of, btw) of all our catchers. I suppose it was a toss-up between Diaz and Doumit for the worst catcher on our roster so it really didn’t shock me that he was released. I’ll be very surprised if anyone picks him up but I don’t expect Karstens to be around long. I’m guessing Huntington already has a deal in place.
One shocker to me was the refusal to add Shelby Ford to the roster over Sues or Cruz. I never did find out if he was 100% last year but I’m guessing not. I assume Huntington thinks this young man won’t get plucked in Rule 5 but I’m not so sure, if he’s indeed 100% healthy. Toss out his injury periods and his MLE’s suggest he’ll hit for average or better in the league so I wouldn’t discount a club scooping him up and using him as utility for 2010 (remember now, a Rule 5 guy can be on the DL too) since he has three options and solid upside.
Added to the roster was Morris, Lincoln, Aguero, and Hernandez — all as expected.
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Jeff Clement catching? I’m hearing the internal debate ended with a resounding no. Clement will be at first probably a month or two after camp breaks which should finally end the Steven Pearce lifeline.
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It was nice to see Huntington give Moss one final year. There are some scouts I talked to last year that think he’s close to figuring things out. Whether he ever does in Pittsburgh, I don’t know.
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The ultimate Neal Huntington f**k? LaCava and the Jays trading Halladay to an NLCD club. Funny thing though, the Reds and Astros look to be heading toward rebuilding this year, the Cardinals have some major roster problems that need to be resolved, and that leaves the Brewers and Cubs to load up and make a run for it all.
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Chase d’Arnaud missed out winning the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award in the AFL.
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Still no word about a Neal Huntington extension. Those things typically happen in January or February though.
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Over the last two years I’ve taken a lot of heat in communications from many of you regarding the financial position of the Pirates. I stood firm using $75 million as our revenue-before-ticket-sales benchmark and now that it’s all coming to light in the press, we’re learning I was dead-on. Maybe even too low.
Fans in future generations are going to look back at our era and wonder why in the world we didn’t stand up to these clowns, I wonder all the time why business in the area doesn’t stand up and shout, and how can the taxpayers in the area be happy losing all the services they are knowing these owners failed to repay millions and millions to the city? But as the 1.6 million fans who paid to see a 99-loss product last year seem to indicate, nobody seems to care what the Nuttings do.
I. Don’t. Get. It.
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So I’m adding a news feed to the site today (see the ‘NEWS’ link in the nav bar above – it’s evolving but be careful with the video links as there are lots of viruses in videos these days) and decided to throw in Tweets from Twitter when I noticed many of the writers all trying to beat each other posting the same contents of a team press release.
How bizarre.
It’s no wonder newspapers are dying because the last place I’d want my paid reporters spending time is sending out a 140 word tweet that quenches the thirst of the general public. So why are media outlets/writers even using Twitter? And, will newspapers be stupid enough to spend money while tweeting? Better yet, will users be stupid enough to pay to use Twitter?
I. Don’t. Get. It.
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I’ll be taking some time off during this week so posting will be lite over the holiday period. I’ll be back to full strength next Sunday night. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed their support .. funerals are a drag.
By Jake, on July 22, 2009, at 8:01 pm | 27 comments
Man, what a fab-u-lous series. Good pitching, good defense, and streaky hitting – but nothing was finer than Moss’ blast in the 9th Wednesday. Andy LaRoche – numerous defensive plays that made you think mini-Brooks Robinson; Freddy Sanchez – numerous offensive and defensive no-shows; 4.1 stellar innings of scoreless relief which is becoming the norm lately; and scoring more than 10% of the entire month’s runs in one game.
Oh, and knocking the Brewers out of third place in the division. That alone was worth the price of season tickets right there.
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But the talk of the day was the trade of Adam LaRoche for a couple of minor leaguers. First, about LaRoche – Dave Cameron summed him up at Fangraphs by saying:
By Jake, on July 7, 2009, at 10:54 pm | One comment
(Note: the network Bucco Blog is on has been under attack for at least a day so things might be slow. Evidently there are some significant cyber attacks under way. It should clear up soon.)
Nice to see us hustling on the field again.. Wilson continued to marvel the scouts following him with some dazzling plays, Andy LaRoche had a couple of good plays, McCutchen showed good range going back on some balls, and even Garrett Jones didn’t embarrass himself too bad in the short left field, although he wasn’t very quick picking up a ball one time.
But what’s up with Paul Maholm? His mechanics are really loud, he can’t find a consistent arm slot, and he doesn’t have as much run on his stuff anymore. In the first inning after he issued a four pitch walk to Matsui, and then threw two more balls to Kepplinger, he looked into the dugout for some help and Kerrigan came running out. If I didn’t know better I would guess his back was biting him but when he got into the batters box later, he swung pretty hard at some pitches. So I don’t know.. maybe he got a shot in between those two events? Maybe it was something in passing? Or maybe the lingering groin issue? I’m not sure, but he looks far from healthy.
Still, he was effective enough to pick up his sixth win of the year despite the fact we managed just six hits, thanks in part to Jack Wilson day (two run homer, good defense, and another rbi single later in the game) and a ton of walks combined with a bonehead play by Berkman throwing to the plate for the force that was dropped by Rodriguez on a double play ball with one out that would have ended the 7th.. instead we ended up plating three runs.
Man, I love it when the other team plays worse defense than us.
