Pirates tell Kolb he is free to go, reports Dejan Kovacevic. It seems John Wasdin now has a roster spot.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Any gnus?
Just logged on to see if we have some roster decisions made. Not much else going on. Time to dig in and wait for Opening Day, which can't come too soon.
exhibition: Phillies at Pirates
Phils up 2-1 in the third. Back-to-back doubles from #3 hitter Paulino and #4 hitter Bay scored the early run for the Pirates. Shawn Chacon is pitching.
The ceiling of these guys
Dejan Kovacevic distinguishes between the ceiling for our young talent and that of, say, the Marlins.
I think this has little to do with whether or not the Pirates can win half their games this year.
It is true that the perennial All-Stars tend to share a profile. They are very good when very young. The Marlins have more players that fit that profile.
Still, not many youngsters who are very good when they are very young go on to become perennial All-Stars.
And most major-league players have short careers. Most major-leaguers peak at an above-average level for only a few years.
The Pirates do not need a team of perennial All-Stars to eclipse the .500 mark.
They need a few players to peak at an above-average level for not even a few years, but just one year.
Are the Pirates close to becoming a New York Yankees-style dynasty? That is one question.
Are the Pirates capable of winning 82 or 90 games in 2007? That is a very different question.
Any of the players on the roster could hit at Albert Pujols level for four weeks. We all know that. And if and when they do, we'll all be pinching ourselves and reminding ourselves that this does not mean they are a perennial All-Star.
And sometimes that four weeks is all it takes for a mediocre player to turn in the above-average season. I'd prefer steady improvement to a sudden freaky streaky outburst of high performance, but the Pirates, like any team, will take what they can get.
So I disagree with the idea that the perceived low ceiling of our young players has much to do with whether or not they can achieve the mediocre goal of a mediocre .500 season playing in a relatively weak division.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tomlin passes test
Ed Bouchette has this report on Tomlin getting his luggage back from US Airways.
In it, I see he passes an early test for me:
He also began revealing his plans for the Steelers in 2007 and what he thinks of some of his players. Yesterday, for instance, he publicly committed for the first time to staying with a 3-4 as his base defense next season."I know what it does to offenses, I really do," Tomlin said. "It's all about the personnel you have. We have the best 3-4 people in the world, I think. That's what we're going to do."
The more Tomlin looked at the way the Steelers played the 3-4, the more it convinced him to stick with it under coordinator Dick LeBeau rather than try to convert to a 4-3 Tampa 2, the type he coached with the Buccaneers and the Minnesota Vikings.
"To me, I was excited because I came into this league, a mecca, if you will, for the 4-3 defense in the Tampa 2, working with Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin," Tomlin said. "Now, I'm working every day with what I believe to be the mecca for a 3-4. If you look at my growth development as a coach, man, it doesn't get any better than that. To be around Monte Kiffin and Dick LeBeau, I think you guys will agree with that. It doesn't get any better than that."
Any coach who inherits a team with Casey Hampton and Troy Polamalu and switches to a 4-3 is, to be blunt, an idiot. There are fewer than ten nose tackles in the world capable of making the 3-4 work, and the Steelers have one of the best, if not the best. While Hampton does the work of two men, Polamalu does what he does.
That's how I understand it. Maybe I'm the idiot. No wait--listen to Coach Tomlin. Maybe I'm right about that.
Hot-weather Jose
I learned a lot about life and baseball playing fantasy baseball fairly intensively in the late 90s and early 00s. One thing I learned, and one thing I now remember, is that Jose Hernandez does not hit well in cold weather. I even recall him saying something to that effect in a published report somewhere.
Is this true? Are his hot-weather/cold-weather splits dramatic? Does he still talk like he's not The Man for 40-degree baseball?
... ok, so lots of players don't like playing in cold weather. Back in I think 2001 and 2002 there was some bitter cold weather in the midwest into May, and Hernandez was not starting those seasons strong. Still, if he made that comment back when he was with the Cubs or the Brewers, it may not have been all that signficant.
A work in progress
Stats Geek on the infield.
I have an idea. Move Brad Eldred to second, and keep Freddy Sanchez at third.
Final cuts
Dejan Kovacevic summarizes the state of the roster. I guess Matos and Hernandez make the bench.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sense has rarely ruled
John Perrotto summarizes the spring.
Is Freddy's footwork that bad at second? I have always brushed off the suggestion that he's unqualified to play second base, and the talk of taking unnecessary risks has struck me as silly hand-wringing. Now Perrotto's article has me wobbling on the issue.
But heck, let's see if Freddy can play tomorrow.
Uni Watch
Paul Lukas writes down everything you need to know, and some things you did not need to know, about the uniform changes around the league.
Be sure to click through for the picture on the "embarrassing new batting practice hats." It's worth it.
No more wool caps? Only polyester ones? Did I read that right? That's a stunner.
I'm sure the polyester hats will be much cheaper to make. And I'm sure the price will stay the same or go up. When they say that "wool is not a performance fabric," that's like saying, "oak is not a performance lumber." These people think you are stupid.
No more wool hats. Is nothing sacred?
Sanchez to "heck, let's go out and play"
Freddy will try some minor-league action tomorrow, Dejan Kovacevic reports.
He is 23 for his past 38
Dejan Kovacevic with the game summary.
Also noted:
Brad Eldred went 0 for 2 with two walks. For the spring, he has nine walks against 19 strikeouts in 66 plate appearances.
I sure am interested to see what comes of Big Country this season.
Sharpless, Ryan, Diaz cut
Danny Kolb will make the team.
Dejan Kovacevic reports on the cuts.
The best-case scenario for Danny Kolb is something like Rick White 2005. I will not forget opening day 2005. Oliver Perez in trouble, Pirates down by only a few runs, and McClendon brought in Rick White. Play to win these games, I thought at the time. April offers the most valuable opportunity in all the season for a team with so many consecutive years of losing. White, true to spring from, stank it up and the Pirates lost 9-2. Then he went on to be one of the better relievers that season.
Monday, March 26, 2007
exhibition: Blue Jays at Pirates
Paul Maholm will pitch for the Pirates at one.
There may be some roster moves announced before today's game. I doubt they will let many decisions go down to the wire.
Sanchez to DL
Dejan Kovacevic reports it's likely that Freddy will begin the year on the DL. It sounds like they are targeting the home opener for his return.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Rotation set
Welcome back, Dejan Kovacevic. DK writes:
This is how they will set up, in order, for the Pirates' first two series: Duke, Snell and Gorzelanny will pitch in Houston. Maholm, Duke and Armas will pitch in Cincinnati. And Snell will have the home opener April 9 against St. Louis.Tracy said Gorzelanny was moved ahead of Maholm because he matches up better with Houston. Gorzelanny is 0-3 with a 5.19 ERA against the Astros, Maholm 1-2 with a 6.53 ERA."
The first sixteen games of the season will go a long way toward setting the tone for the 2007 season. If the Pirates start out 10-6, they can play .450 ball for a month and folks will still be moderately satisfied. If they start out 0-6 or, God help us, 5-11, then we're going to be pissed if Gorzelanny lost two or three of those games pitching like the non-beer-drinking self we've seen this month.
Bob Walk went on and on at the end of the broadcast how there's never an open competition for anything going into Spring Training, how year after year teams say this, how year after year they more or less bring the team they decided they would bring in mid-February. We'll see what happens.
Once a year the Pirates have a chance to establish themselves as a competitive ball club. The only sign that a team is competitive is the standings. Once a team falls six or ten games below .500, they are deluding themselves if they think they are regarded as a competitive team. The Pirates screwed up 2006 with the 0-6 and 30-60 (!!) start. They have been kidding themselves, or simply selling tickets, when they talk like the .501 second half did anything to improve their reputation nationally.
So here's to hoping they bring their very best for the first half of April. It's important if this team wants to establish some credibility as a competitive ballclub.
exhibition: Wiggy at Pirates
Tom Gorzelanny will face Wiggy and the D'Rays at one.
... word from the broadcast booth is that Freddy Sanchez could open the season on the DL. Jose Castillo would start at second in that case.
... and Littlefield said (the booth reports) that the team has not decided to carry two or three catchers. Doumit has an option left, he said.
... and Littlefield also said (the booth reports) that Castillo will make the team either way. If he is not starting for the injured Freddy Sanchez, then he makes the team as a utility infielder.
... Pirates have played awful today. At the plate, they have made Jay Seo look like Greg Maddux. In the field, they have played like clowns.
... Pirates still have 35 players in camp after DeCaster, Brower, and McCutchen were cut today.
... Eldred 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
Burnett furious
Another Paul Meyer notebook. Good for Burnett. He should be mad. Life isn't fair; there's lots to get mad about.
He'll be back soon.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Eldred walks
Walks are one of the main differences between Adam Dunn and Brad Eldred. They both strike out a lot. Dunn strikes out about 25% of the time and Eldred fans a bit more than that. The strikeouts, by themselves, are not that bad. The walks are the difference. Dunn will draw one walk for every two strikeouts, while Eldred is more of a one for every three strikeouts guy.
Walks, by themselves, are not that great. They are like infield singles achieved at the end of a long at-bat that may have been tiring for the pitcher.
Eldred's strikeout-to-walk ratio does not inspire confidence, but if he can learn to see a few more pitches and draw a few more walks, that could improve quickly. A man with his power would draw more intentional walks and face more nervous pitchers if he was a bit less of a sucker for the punch-out. For every additional walk he earns, the pitchers will give him a second for free. That's my theory. For this reason, it would be a lot easier for Eldred to improve his OBP that it would, say, for Jack Wilson to do the same. It's not such a wide gap, I think, between the man with this kind of power who really helps a team and the man with this kind of power who is not much of an asset.
So I have my eye on his walk numbers and, when I'm watching the game, I have my eye on his eye. This spring he has struck out a lot, even for him, which somewhat washes away the slight uptick in walks. The hopeful view thinks the strikeouts will come down and the walks will stick, but it's hard to be hopeful on this kind of sample size and this quality of sample consistency. Exhibition games are not the real thing or even close.
That said, he walked today and did not strike out. And, oh yeah, he hit a big home run.
Way to go, big guy.
Three pitchers sent to minors
Burnett, Youman, and Gryboski rode to Pirate City today, Paul Meyer reports. I'd guess this means Juan Perez is in as the second LH reliever, until Grabow returns. Meyer thinks Armas has clinched the fourth rotation spot, leaving Gorzelanny the fifth spot.
What's your take on MLB.com multimedia?
The good things about MLB.com multimedia are pretty self-evident. But, in my long experience with it, there's never been a year when the service has gone swimmingly and been delicious.
For example, right now I am trying to stream the archived audio of today's game. I want to listen. I bought the service for this purpose. I am seventeen minutes into the feed, and all that has been captured is WPGB, which is Fox talk radio. So I'm listening to what's obviously Republican party political propanganda right when I want to listen to baseball. When I attempt to forward the feed, it breaks, and I have to start over at the very beginning. What to do? I could bang my head against the wall and have more fun. I very much want to listen to the game feed, and I very much do not want to waste my time listening to something else. Did I pay for this? On the chance that this is a half-hour of WPGB that's been accidentally captured before the game begins, I am letting it run.
And Rowdietta, to make matters worse, is whining and jeering: "Why are you listening to this boring stuff?" When I tell the five-year-old that it is baseball, she says, "No it's not."
My long experience with MLB.com suggests that there's no way in hell they are going to respond like they care if I write to complain about this. Years ago I had much worse problems and was only contacted about 45 days after writing to them. And they more or less said, yes you are right, we can't get it to work on your computer type either.
So what to do? Rant at the moon? Blog about it? I dunno. But man I hate MLB.com today.
What's your take on this season's MLB.com offerings? I know Bones likes the tin-can-on-a-rope audio quality of the webcasts.
...indeed, the game starts 30 minutes into the feed. Some moron somewhere owes me a half-hour of my life.
Plate discipline
Paul Meyer reports today that Jim Tracy has been lecturing Jose Castillo about "plate discipline."
"But coach," Jose said, "I already lost the extra weight."
Friday, March 23, 2007
Jose Castillo will be demoted to AAA ?
Bones, enduring the tin-can-on-a-string audio quality of the Yankees-Pirates MLB.com webcast, reports in the comments that the Post-Gazette's Paul Meyer just told the broadcast booth that Jose Castillo looks destined for AAA.
Paul Meyer on now and just dropped the bomb that he's convinced based upon Tracy's pregame comments that Castillo will be sent down to Indy. "As of today, we're done with Jose Castillo" agrees Wehner.
If Jose Castillo is demoted to work on his Manny-like defensive work, this would open a roster spot for Jose Hernandez or darkhorse utility candidate Don Kelly.
Don Kelly is from Mt. Lebanon. There has been talk in the broadcasts earlier in the week about the Pirates' current interest in acquiring and playing local boys. I have been thinking about this, and it makes a ton of sense. Who else cares enough to put forth the effort required to turn this team around? Regional pride might give some of these players the motivational edge. Why else would anyone work so hard to achieve what looks like such a long-shot goal?
Clearly not all the players are equally eager to win ballgames. Anyone who has watched this team for the last five years can see that.
The desire to make more money might be proposed as sufficient motivation for players to excel as a Pirate, but I don't believe that all the players feel this. Even at the major-league minimum, they are making a lot of money. And this is especially the case if they take it out of the country to spend it. (And if fans do not understand why so many players do not appear to share their impatience with ownership and management, they need only consider that most of these players are being paid very well. Bob Nutting would be one of my favorite people on the planet if he signed my enormous paycheck. I mean no disrespect to the players with this comment; I'm sure they would agree that opening the pay envelope never gets old for them.)
Don Kelly, if he makes the team, would be a #8 hitter for sure.
exhibition: Yankees at Pirates
Webcast today at one o'clock, so send email to the radio people as they will need things to talk about. How you do that, I am not sure, but I do know they often talk about getting email.
Shawn Chacon will pitch. With Kuwata pitching like Maddux, Moyer, and Glavine, Chacon might want to get some good results today.
Don Kelly
With Sanchez and Castillo ahead of him at second, this Don Kelly should get some playing time. Paul Meyer writes some words about him in his notebook.
It feels much better
Jason Bay to Baseball Digest Daily:
BDD: How is the knee holding up?JB: It’s great. It’s not an issue anymore. It feels much better. I don’t have any pain like I did last year. If I would had known it would feel this good, I would have (had surgery) much sooner.
I am looking forward to see him bust out some extra-base hits on people.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Some thoughts about the lineup
Hey, this offseason there has been some talk about the ideal lineup and the likely Tracy lineup. (See also this PG page and this PG page).
Some have been concerned that Tracy looks poised to hit Jack Wilson second and Jason Bay fifth. I have stood to the side of these debates because I doubt lineups matter all the much. To me, it makes sense to give Jack Wilson one more chance to hit as he did once; if he does not do it in the first few weeks, then I think dropping him to eighth makes sense. But in the eight-spot, he's pretty certain to not be productive offensively. I say that on nothing but intuition, so "certain" is probably not a good word, but I'll use it.
Now I wonder if this lineup decision does not have something to do with Jason Bay. The Pirates look poised to bury him somewhat. He had that knee thing and he has not looked strong at the plate this spring. Could it be that the coaches anticipate a slow start to Bay's season? If he bats in the third spot, that would magnify the effect of any diminished production.
One other thing: Ronny Paulino looks more and more like a middle-of-the-lineup hitter to me. He's a big man and he's been hitting the ball with authority.
What are your thoughts? Do you also anticipate a weak first month or half from Bay? I know I am lowering expectations, but perhaps that's overreacting.
exhibition: Pirates at Blue Jays
Tony Armas Jr. will pitch.
I am curious to see if Jose Castillo returns at second. Watching the Red Sox yesterday, it was hard not to compare Castillo to Manny Ramirez. He plays second the way Manny plays the outfield.
Too bad he does not hit like Manny.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
BP Reality Check--Gerut edition
Here's another disappointment in the Baseball Prospectus. In the note on Jody Gerut, the BP Team of Talent expounds:
Gerut endured a lost season . . . . It didn't help that the Players Association had to file a grievance just to get the Pirates to agree that Gerut had a knee injury. The Pirates don't know much about baseball, but, when it comes to medicine, well, they know even less.
This looks like a zinger but, when it comes to reality, well, it only zangs.
I do not know the whole story of the Jody Gerut sideshow. I only know what was reported by the Post-Gazette and the AP and so forth. The story, however, was not about Pittsburgh medical prowess but about Jody Gerut behaving badly.
Gerut looked healthy and reported no physical problems throughout March 2006. To the surprise of some, he did not make the team. He was cut on the last day of camp. Only then did he call Dave Littlefield to say that his knee hurt, that he had been to another doctor without the team's knowledge, and that he was going to follow that doctor's advice and have surgery. Gerut had told reporters right after receiving the news of demotion that he was healthy and cleared to play and ready to do so. So something happened between that moment and the call to Dave Littlefield.
If he had the surgery while on the major-league disabled list, which (I think) was the goal with the call to the GM hours after being cut, then he would continue to accrue service time and receive his big-league salary. I am not real sure about this part, but I got the impression that the Pirates could not demote him if he was injured. So by announcing his injury, he was attempting to force them to keep him on the big-league roster.
Either way, and some details may be wrong, whatever the situation was, it caused the Pirates to call bullshit on Jody Gerut. Earlier that day he was fit and trim. After his agent learned that he was demoted, however, he now had a doctor who said he needed surgery? The Pirates put him on the minor-league restricted list, meaning Gerut did not accrue service time and did not get paid his 875K.
This is when the players' union filed the grievance. Over the next three weeks, the Pirates and Gerut reached a compromise. The Pirates acknowledged that he had patella tendinitis. Gerut agreed to treat it without surgery. To me it appeared that the truth was down the middle: his knee was hurt, but it was not hurt all that bad. Though I would like to play one on TV, I am not a doctor, and I pretend to know that patella tendinitis is a condition with many shades of gray between playing health and required surgery.
Even if the Pirates' medical staff did a Benny Hill routine in lieu of competent knee tests that March, Jody Gerut and his Grievance is not a story that makes the Pirates' doctors look bad. The incident, above all, put Jody Gerut in a bad light.
None of this is evidence that the Pirates have a competent medical staff. This is evidence, however, of the smarmy ignorance the BP Team of Talent display while they crack themselves up throughout the Pirates' player comments. They might as well blame the Pirates for Brandon Lyon's nerve transposition surgery--Boston said Lyon was healthy, so it must have been the Pirates' medical staff that injured Lyon's arm as they prepared it for the MRIs.
exhibition: Red Sox at Pirates
Read all about that Matsuzaka guy here in this Tom Verducci article for SI.
I want some of that doryoku. Pass it over here.
Game at one o'clock.
... game is on the TV. Matsuzaka hits Duffy with a wimpy breaking ball to lead off the bottom of the first. Good job, Chris, taking one for the team.
... hey, Castillo just made a good play at second base. And I just saw him backing up a 5-3 groundout.
... top of the seventh, Pirates down 4-2, Castillo looks bad and lazy fielding a ball and failing to make a play at the plate. ESPN is replaying it and talking about how that more or less exemplifies Jack Wilson's offseason remarks about him.
Sluggo's place in Pirate history
Another thing I may have learned from the new BP annual: the Pirates have not had many good catchers. Then I remembered this Stats Geek article from August 2004.
Catcher, unlike shortstop or right field, is not a position where Pirates have reached baseball immortality. The best catcher to wear a Pittsburgh uniform was undoubtedly Josh Gibson, "the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues," who played 13 seasons for the Homestead Grays and three for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Gibson led the league in home runs nine times and in batting four times. None of the other 13 catchers in the Hall of Fame played for a Pittsburgh team.But the Pirates had some very good ones. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract rates players' career performances through the 1999 season. [Forrest "Smoky"] Burgess, who played six seasons for the Pirates, was ranked the 28th-best catcher in history. Of the baker's dozen players who caught at least 400 games for the Pirates, seven more made James' list. Following [Smoky] Burgess were [Tony] Pena (34th), Al Lopez (41st), [Manny] Sanguillen (42nd), Don Slaught (67th), Doggie Miller (76th), Mike LaValliere (91st) and George Gibson (95th).
BP writes (page 401): "Don Slaught would probably make a list of the team's top-five all-time offensive catchers. For a franchise with a history going back to the nineteenth century, that's amazing."
Why is that amazing? Thirteen of the top 95--this is amazing? The Pirates' history of catchers strikes me as unremarkable.
So I don't get the joke. In the context, though, they appear to be smearing the great Sluggo. They can direct all the snark they have at ownership, general management, and the coaching staff, as far as I am concerned; they are the most on the hook for the current run of failure. The scattershot swipes at Pittsburghers, the team's history, the Monongahela's water quality, etc., don't strike me as fair. They are sophomoric.
I don't have a copy of the 1999 Abstract. Assuming Brian O'Neill quoted it fairly, James judged Slaught the 67th best catcher of all time, and the fifth-best catcher in Pirates history. Add Kendall and he's the sixth-best. His offensive record is not that impressive, but offense is only half the job of the catcher. Was Slaught's defense that good? Finoli and Ranier, who do not rank Slaught as one of the top 100 Pirates, write that his defense was not Gold Glove caliber but "more than adequate."
In the end, I think this is not something worth learning about the Pirates. But rather another example of how the BP "team of experts" get careless as they indulge their enthusiasm for ripping the Bucs. Someone vaguely remembered that Stats Geek article and tried to make a joke of it to fluff up the nothing they have to say about Humberto Cota.
Is Freddy ready?
John Perrotto isn't so sure:
Freddy Sanchez has not played in three weeks because of a sprained right knee. Though the Pirates are painting an optimistic picture of the reigning NL batting champion being ready for the April 2 opener, he isn't so optimistic.If Freddy's not ready, at least Jason Bay could hit third."It's just the same old same old," Sanchez said. "I'm getting frustrated not being out there."
McCutchen to Indy?
While Walker and Bixler have received their minor league assignments (Altoona and Indy, respectively), McCutchen is still in camp. Paul Meyer reports that DL is thinking about sending McCutchen to Indy:
"There's a consideration of that because of his continued progress and how well he's performed," Littlefield said. "We'll kick that around some."DL needs to kick that consideration right to the curb. McCutchen has 78 total ABs above A ball and belongs in Altoona for opening day.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
exhibition: Tigers and Pirates
This one appears to be no on the radio, yes on the internets as a "webcast" for gameday audio subscribers.
At the bookstore this morning, I purchased a copy of the new Baseball Prospectus annual. Wow--I have learned a lot of things about the Pirates that I did not know from this book.
Some of these things I did not want to know.
For example: Chris Duffy's speed "has not translated into great center field defense as of yet." I suppose that's what I get for trusting my lying eyes.
I would gouge them out with a bare bodkin, but I need them to keep reading.
Only one guy can bat eighth
The Stats Geek Brian O'Neill defines his "less than total faith in the abject failure of the Bucs" with his to-do list for a winning '07.
Monday, March 19, 2007
When will it end?
This spring training thing is killing me. C'mon April.
I have waited eleven and a half months to see the team have another crack at winning more games than they lose. I'm not sure I can wait twelve.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Alay bumaye
This is two days old, but the NY Daily News reported that Cuban pitcher Alay Soler, recently cut from the Mets, is expected to sign with the Pirates. Soler was cut, according to Mets' pitching coach Rick Peterson, because "the inconsistencies were consistent."
Still, Soler might only be 27 and has upside, so this could be a nice pick-up for DL. With all the media buzz created over Yoslan and Alay, young Cuban players would be reminded that Pittsburgh still actually has a MLB team. (link via Rotoworld).
Grabow hurt
Grabow has been officially sidelined for the elbow inflammation that Paul Meyer described yesterday.
Lenny's R.I.P.A.
As for what to drink other than Rolling Rock, consider HeBrew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A.. At 10% alcohol, this tribute to Lenny Bruce is technically not beer, definitely not for regular consumption on hot summer days, but highly recommended for the delicious condensed obscenity.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Honestly Fresh
Once I attained the age of twenty-one years and had my first drop of adult beverages, I was immediately plunged into endless debates about the low quality of Budweiser and other St. Louis beers. If you are going to drink light lagers, I argued, drink local ones or drink cheap ones. Well, I am not here to rehearse the debate, but news that a St. Louis company now presents itself as honoring the great tradition of Rolling Rock strikes my ear a little wrong. It's like the Hatfields promising to take care of the McCoys, or a Houston family promising to rebuild New Orleans.
So the Rolling Rock is dead to me. With that recipe, there's no room for error. And Jersey water plus the loss of ye olde glass-lined Old Latrobe, that's plenty of error. Like a lot of you, I wash my hands of it.
The successor to my summertime lager-loving habits looks worthy: St. Marys, PA's Straub beer advertises itself as "Honestly Fresh." That's a slogan I can applaud. They also claim, legitimately and honestly, it appears, to make the beer "with Pennsylvania Mountain Spring Water." A look at the map suggests they speak true.
So I will be drinking the stuff until the hated St. Louis Cardinals buy Straub Beer and generously, out of the goodness of their heart, honor their great tradition by moving production to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Long live Straub!
Slick Willie
Jack Wilson stood out defensively, yesterday, Paul Meyer reports.
the one player who stood out above all at McKechnie Field was Pirate shortstop Jack Wilson.Wilson had eight assists, most of them of the highlight reel variety, in the six innings he played in the Pirates' 13-1 win against Cincinnati in the first half of a day/night doubleheader against the Reds, who won the second game, 3-2, in Sarasota.
. . .
"He was awesome," center fielder Chris Duffy said of Wilson. "Last year, he wasn't moving like that, but he was real fluid [yesterday]. And his arm strength was outstanding. You can't play shortstop any better than he did [yesterday]."
"He was great," Maholm said. "That's what I like to see. One of my goals is to get ground balls hit to Jack."
Way to go, Wilson.
Exhibition today with Tampa Bay. Pretty much we've only heard good news this spring. Hopefully the team continues to play well this afternoon.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Snell or Duke
Paul Meyer reports that Tracy is close to naming his opening-day starter.
... Duke it is.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Rolling Rock not impressive
Well that was quick--we have a winner in the least impressive contest: Rolling Rock. As Hoagieman points out, we now have New Jersey water in what was once Latrobe's great summer beer.
I grew up associating "Jersey Fresh" with Joe Piscopo's Saturday Night Live sketches as the Jersey guy. New Jersey gets a lot of abuse from people in the neighboring states. It's a fine place with great people and maybe the water is good for some things.
But it's not good for Rolling Rock. I could tell something was wrong right away. It tastes different. The difference is subtle but real. And knowing more about how this is probably not just a bad batch, I won't buy it again.
Not impressing
Every spring, there are a ton of stories about players who are "impressing the brass."
The brass may never tell us if someone is not impressing. So--who is not impressing this Spring? We'd have to figure this out for ourselves. If we made a list of Not Impressive, who would be on it?
We'd have to limit the list to players still with the big club. Some of the early cuts are too obvious candidates.
the Rock
Rolling Rock has a special place in my heart fridge. In ye olde days, I served a lot of this stuff. It's a favorite hot-day adult beverage.
I picked up a twelve-pack tonight, and I'm pouring one down my throat. But I am not feeling it. I have not had an "extra pale" beer since probably last August. It's not so tasty right now.
Perhaps, in my eagerness for all things summer, I am pushing it.
Castillo vs. Bautista
Perrotto writes about this horse race.
I have Castillo to win and Bautista to place.
How are you forecasting this one?
exhibition: Pirates at Red Sox
Game on around one o'clock. It was kinda sad yesterday when there was no game.
Medium man
Mike Henry talks to Candy Maldonado who talks to Jose Castillo. ""I didn't feel heavy last year," Castillo said through an interpreter and fellow Venezuelan, minor-league catcher Carlos Maldonado. "But when I started losing weight, I started feeling a lot better." Story here in the Bradenton Herald.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Penguins
The Penguins have signed a 30-year arena lease and will stay in Pittsburgh, Mark Belko reports for the PG. All hail hockey!
The Gambler
Brian O'Neill has that wild look in his eye.
I will believe they can win the division if they finish April above .500.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Most important series of the 2007 season
Looking ahead, I'd say the April 2 through 4 series in April must be the most important series, right now, in the upcoming 2007 season.
They have to win in early April for late April to mean anything. And they have to win in late April if May is going to matter.
I guess he's lost some weight
Dave Concepcion talks to Paul Meyer about the big, powerful-looking medium man.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
exhibition: Pirates at Reds
Game on at "1:05pm." As an early riser and early-to-work person, I do not like daylight savings time.
And speaking of daylight, abundant sun + 50 degrees feels like 70 to me these days. I will be out of doors as much as possible this afternoon.
In this morning's Post Gazette, Dejan Kovacevic has a long biography of Torres as closer. Bones and I are stupefied by the team's decision not to buy this guy's academy. Maybe his price was too high. Elsewhere, John Perrotto has this summary of Yoslan Herrera's prospects as a Cuban defector.
And there is plenty of encouraging news and amusing Tracy quotes in Kovacevic's notebook. I am with Tracy in his evaluation of the risks and rewards of starting Freddy at second base.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
exhibition: Yankees at Pirates
Maholm was not sharp in his first inning of the spring. 3-0 Yankees, now top of the second.
Good news in camp
Surfing the Post-Gazette coverage this morning, I see good news.
Shane Youman makes good red beans and rice. This is a staple around here. And it's also great that Youman has been pitching well. The team cannot have too many starting pitchers.
In the notebook we see that Wilson is working on his OBP, Eldred is working out in the outfield, Duke has command, Paulino showed some power, and Kuwata throws a bit faster than advertised.
There's also a long piece by Dejan Kovacevic on Eldred's rising stock. If he makes the team, there will be plenty of at-bats for him. It's not likely that LaRoche could play every inning of every game. This is no disrespect to LaRoche. Very few players manage 650 PA in a season. Until a player does that, I do not expect that. If he gets 500-600 PA, that still leaves 150-250 PA of first-base time for another player to take.
Eldred's competition, obviously, is LaRoche. Less obviously, I think his competition is Ryan Doumit. And Jose Hernandez.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Now playing RF, Brad Eldred
Eldred shags flies, reports Dejan Kovacevic.
What's the over/under for the duration of the Eldred Outfield Experiment?
Now batting second, Jack Wilson
In his last Q+A for two weeks, Dejan thinks Tracy will bat Jack Wilson second, no matter what.
PPR #21
New Pirates Roundtable has five answers to each of two questions. The first on which would be better: Cuban/DL or Nutting/Melvin, and the second on which Pirate has opened eyes or disappointed in the first week of Spring Training.
Tracy's plan works (if you do it right)
Mike Bauman of mlb.com interviewed Tracy four days ago, generating some instantly classic Tracy quotes. On how Jim cured the Pirates in July of the losing culture mindset:
"It was going to take more time than I wanted it to take. To get everybody on board, to get everybody to join in, at first they're looking at it and they're not sure: 'What direction is this guy going?' Then, slowly, but surely, you found more people coming on board, accepting the fact that, hey, this is pretty good, this works if you do it right."(link via Bucs Dugout)
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Gerut cut, Eldred to try OF
... the Post-Gazette reports. Still unable to run, Gerut gets 1/6th of his $850K to slowly limp away. If I did the math right, that means the Bucs paid Gerut $1,016,670 for 18 ABs, or about $56,000 per AB. In those 18 ABs, Gerut hit 3 singles and one 2B, so that'd be ~$203,000 per base. In hindsight, obviously not one of DL's better moves. Anyway, we wish Jody and his knee the best of luck. Watching Eldred lumber around the OF should be interesting.
...(12:30 AM): Dejan gets the math right:
Counting the $1.12 million the Pirates picked up of Lawton's salary in the trade, they spent a total of $2,255,493 on Gerut.So $125K an AB, $564K a base.
exhibition: D'Rays at Pirates
1pm. Will we face Wiggy?
... speaking of the D-Rays, looks like they have signed Manny Stiles.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Eldred in the outfield?
He says he can do it in today's notebook from you guessed it, Dejan Kovacevic.
Home runs are very good things. If he continues to have good at-bats all spring, he has to make the team.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Now pinch-hitting, Brad Eldred?
Interesting Q+A from Dejan today.
In response to Wilbur's question about whether the team really needs a bench utility infielder in addition to Bautista/Castillo, Dejan unveils his bench: Bautista, McLouth, Matos, Doumit, and ... Eldred. Dejan says Eldred "surely" will be traded and a bench spot would showcase his moon shot skills, which he's already established at AAA. Would Eldred be more likely to increase his already low trade value by playing everyday at AAA to try to develop better plate discipline and/or learn how to hit off speed stuff better, or by playing off the bench in the bigs, hitting moon shots into the river every now and then?
Nady, Castillo OK
Dejan Kovacevic reports the great news for Nady's GI tract (viral infection not chronic disorder) and Castillo's ankle/foot (feels fine, apparently won't require expensive X-ray technology).
Also from Dejan, Kuwata dazzles, Tracy says Kuwata "exemplified everything we've been talking about," Chacon's arthritic knee feels good, not great, and Burnett rebounded in the B-game.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Reid Nichols turns around the Brewers farm system
I don't have the patience to read this long interview with the guy who turned around the Brewers' farm system, but I'd say the Pirates could probably learn a thing or two from it.
Exhibition: Reds at Pirates
Just dialed up the Lanny. Game is in the second. Someone got touched for two runs in the top of the first.
... Lanny says that David Littlefield said Castillo's ankle looks much better today.
... Jose Hernandez just had a nice at-bat against Homer Bailey, who could not locate his breaking stuff and wound up grooving fastballs. End result: double, two RBIs.
... Yoslan Herrera cannot get an out in the fifth. Next Alan Simpson cannot find the plate.
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