Zach Duke

This is from yesterday, but with Todd Ritchie's retirement, you might want to read again John Perrotto's report on Zach Duke.

Rick White

John Perrotto reports on Rick White.

Harts and Duffy

Joe Rutter reports that Jeremy Harts has a great arm. And Chris Duffy is making good with his chance to play more while Tike Redman nurses a bum wing.

Tike is another guy who won't finish the year with as much playing time as he saw in 2004. Or so I'm guessing and anticipating.

Ticket sales up

Karen Price reports for the Tribune-Review. Seriously though, they remain disappointing. More winning, more sellouts, more money for Jason Bay and Oliver Perez.

Dave Williams

It was a tale of two cities for Joe Rutter, who reported on Dave this way on Monday and this way on Tuesday.

Todd Ritchie's retirement leaves the Pirates with three available candidates for the fifth starter job. But Albie Lopez has been hobbled by a right calf injury and is not expected to take his turn on the mound Wednesday.

That would seem to leave Ryan Vogelsong and Zach Duke as Williams' competition. Even with a strong start Wednesday, it may be too late for Vogelsong to get back in the hunt. That leaves Duke, who may no longer be a wild-card in the process. Although Duke has made only nine starts at the Double-A option, he has continued to open some eyes in camp.

Ritchie's retirement clarifies the situation somewhat. I'll stick to my prophecy that we find time for all those guys provided they prove they can pitch well enough to keep the Bucs in the game.

Haunted

Brian O'Neill on Jose Mesa and wobbly field goals.

Bobby Hill

Paul Meyer reports on our pinch-hitter.

As much as I love Bobby Hill for those pinch hits, my crystal ball says he sees less playing time in 2005 than he saw in 2004. The bench will be better and deeper this year.

Justin Reid

Paul Meyer profiles him for the PG.

Primarily a starter throughout the first four years of his minor-league career, Reid made quiet, steady progress through the system, reaching Nashville by the 2003 season.

He had a 3.02 ERA with Class A Hickory in 2000. He had a 2.25 ERA with Class A Lynchburg and a 2.54 ERA with Altoona in 2001. And he was 11-8 for Altoona in 2002.

His control was impeccable -- 14 walks in 110 innings with Altoona in 2001, for example.

And yet he was barely mentioned as a prospect because he was tagged as a soft thrower.

Which was interesting to Reid.

He came out of California-Davis in 1999 as the school's all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings (11.09). And he struck out 176 in 170 innings with Hickory in 2000.

"It's like saying a guy's not a home run hitter and he hits 30 home runs every year," Reid said.

Reid, 6 feet 5 and 225 pounds, perhaps finally broke through as a prospect last season with Nashville.

In 32 appearances, split equally between starting and relieving, he was 5-3 with two saves and a 3.96 ERA. In 122 2/3 innings, he allowed 112 hits, which includes 18 home runs, and 35 walks and struck out 121. He ranked second in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in strikeouts per nine innings (8.9).

If Reid can hit 30 home runs for us, that would be sweet.

Ritchie retires

Story here at MLB.com. So long.

Blogger

Several posts "disappeared" today. Blogger is a great service and one I highly recommend. But in the middle of the day, especially on Monday, it seems, when many people return to the internets after a few days off, it jams up. Used to be that anything I "posted" would find its way to my blog eventually - often it would appear in my list of posts but not on the site. That is, Blogger would receive the post but not republish the blog. Lately as posts have timed out - I click "publish post" and nothing happens for sixty seconds - I'm losing them altogether.

The solution is to be more patient and to post more in the off-peak hours. The service remains a great value. I mention all this not to complain about blogger but to explain about there being none of the posts here that I thought I blogged.

To make up for lost time, here's a shorter version of the lost posts:

No surprises with the recent cuts.

Duke should be trade bait for a guy like Kearns. But but we need starters so the timing is real bad for dealing him. I will enjoy keeping him around and seeing how his thread of our story turns out.

Big Country

For the Tribune-Review, Joe Rutter reports on Brad Eldred, who, like Ryan Howard of Philadelphia, shows impressive power when he can make contact.

When you have that much power, I wonder why you try to flaunt it at the plate. I'm not a hitting coach but training Eldred to double off the wall strikes me as the right idea. The man is going to hit home runs without trying. So why try? What he needs to do is make more contact. I'd guess that he'd gather a lot more singles than he expects. With that kind of power, the ball will get through the infield in a hurry.

Not hard, not straight

John Perrotto describes Mark Redman's changeup as well as his makeup for the Beaver County Times.

In fact, his changeup is his best pitch and his sinking fastball rarely reaches 90 mph. Redman learned his changeup at The Master's from coach Geoff Zahn, who pitched in the major leagues for 13 seasons from 1973-85.

"The changeup is what really makes the difference for Redman," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "Hitters know it's coming and they still can't hit it, that's how good it is. He'll drive you to drink at times because he'll throw a lot of changeups off the plate for balls because he's trying to get hitters to chase.

"He'll run a lot of 3-2 counts but he'll also find a way to get guys out."

That is because Redman rarely leaves a pitch over the middle of the plate and has walked only 2.8 batters per nine innings during his career that has seen him go 48-51 with a 4.37 ERA in 139 games, 127 starts.

"I don't throw hard but I also don't throw many pitches straight," Redman said.

Redman strikes me as one of Littlefield's better acquisitions, but the only that can be shown or proven is on the field. My biggest concern with him actually concerns our defense. We don't want our guys going to sleep out there as Redman nibbles. They appear to be plenty challenged, defensively - with notable exceptions.

Albie Lopez

According to Ed Eagle, he is competing for a rotation spot. Albie reminds me of Wilson Alvarez. I'm not sure it's a fair comparison but whatever.

Bubble news

Paul Meyer summarizes how the 25-man roster would look if Spring Training ended today.

If the Bucs won't make room for Vogelsong as a mop-up swingman, then they will have to trade or release him. He's out of options. I doubt he could clear waivers. And many teams are so hurt for starting pitching, I think they'd be happy to take a flyer on a guy who throws as hard as RV.

Ty Wigginton

Paul Meyer has this report for the PG.

McClatchy vs. Congress

It's not in the nature of most Pirate fans to respect or admire the owner, but I pretty much agree heartily with McClatchy's take on Congress's dog-and-pony-on-steroids show.

You don't have to be for or against the war to see that politicians today will do just about anything to keep our mind off the war in Iraq. And does anyone believe that the Republicans, one of the savviest political organizations in American history, honestly thought they could end Social Security as we know it? They don't call it the third rail of American politics without good reason.

This shouldn't be a controversial observation. If you are for the war, you should be thankful for whatever news displaces news of the grim reality of war. Everyone knows that American resolve for such things never lasts long. If you are against the war, you are probably bitter that people are so easily distracted from unpleasant but necessary chores such as following the news of our war in a faraway place. Congress, in their support for the war, and doing their best to look busy with other Important Issues.

Anyway, one cheer for McClatchy for openly questioning our nation's need to worry about something as trivial - in the grand scheme of things - as the place of steroids in American baseball.

Pirates score twenty-eight runs today

How often can you say that?

Perez and Vogelsong

For the PG, Paul Meyer reports on the difference between two bad performances. Ollie was not so effective last spring. He can screw around all he wants this month. Don't downgrade him or worry unless he talks about feeling somewhat injured. Vogelsong had his velocity but no command. I sure hope we don't have to use him before he's ready--if that time ever comes.

Pirates at Tribe

Leeeny, if you get up to Winter Haven, stand near the radio booth and holler some distinctive comments into the lulls. I'll be listening for you. Something like, "Joe Randa where are you?"

the Spin

Enjoyed Ed Eagle's focus on Spin Williams this morning.

True or false: the Bucs should have more coaches. On the one hand, all the players are young and need instruction. Some of the praise lavished on Jose Mesa amounted to thanking him for reminding them to tie their shoelaces. It made me wonder (as did some of the recent reports on Santiago) if it really made sense to pay so much money for player-coaches if a large part of the rationale for their hiring comes from the fact that they coach. Why not hire more coaches?

On the other hand, too many cooks spoil the broth. And perhaps the last thing some of the players want is more coaching. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

Command, velocity, tempo

Paul Meyer has the news on Kip. Hopefully there's no undue soreness or pain today and/or tomorrow.

I still wonder if he's throwing all his pitches. Spin says all Kip's stuff was plus but what exactly is all his stuff right now? Fastball - slider - change? We hear detailed information about a pitcher's arsenal, for example, when he's using some "new pitch" in an attempt to revive a sagging career. Sometimes we learn that so-and-so's fastball is 86-88 when it used to be 91-92 five years ago.

But fastballs and velocity are not the whole of the story. I'd like to know more about how our different starters are progressing this spring with each pitch in their repetoire. Who is throwing the best curveball? Who is throwing with sick command? I would appreciate more detail like that.

Pirates 1, Braves 0

I love beating the Braves. The best part of the MLB.com report, though, was this:

Kip Wells appeared healthy while holding the Braves hitless over three scoreless innings.

Is he throwing all his pitches now? Everything full speed?

Mostly Sunny

Should be no problem with today's game, not from the weather at least. Paul Meyer has some news about it.

McLouth and Grieve

For the TR Joe Rutter reports that McLouth could get an extra look with Bay out:

Nate McLouth, who is ticketed for Class AAA Indianapolis, could get a longer look in camp. Ben Grieve, who hasn't exactly displayed Gold Glove defense this spring, but is 5 for 9 with two doubles at the plate, also could see more action in left.

"I'd be hard-pressed to say I'm impressed with what (Grieve) has been doing in the outfield," McClendon said. "He's got to play better there, obviously. We're going to take a look at him. He's gotten some big hits so far."

Defense was my first concern with this guy. With Lawton having a weaker arm, Craig Wilson still learning the position, and the possibility of Jason Bay getting on-the-job training in center, defense should make a difference. With Bay out and time opening up for McLouth, now I wonder if losing Bay for some period of time wouldn't also hurt Daryle Ward's chances. He's no great fielder and he only pushes Wilson into full-time outfield duty. Maybe the team has to carry at least one corner outfielder who is above-average in the field--especially for left-field in PNC.

Happy 140

The AP recaps the running for the fifth starter spot. No Zach Duke? No Albie Lopez? According to that report, it's Williams, Vogelsong, or Ritchie.

Craig Wilson gave a "Happy 140th Birthday" cake to Benito Santiago. Details at the end of that report and here in a report for MLB.com by Ed Eagle.

Spring training stats

They don't mean much of anything, but they are fun to look at.

Bitter old man

Dejan Kovacevic devotes more than half the Q & A to going over the contract hullabaloo and coaching us on how to respond to it. I'm more and more of the opinion that this was none of our business. Players and owners poison the well when they go to the fans with their problems. Don't ask us to help you accomplish your business goals. This isn't politics, and neither the players nor the owners serve themselves by going to the fans like we have some responsibility to write to our Congressman and get so-and-so a raise or so-and-so a new CBA.

Baseball is an escape for the fans. We go to the park or tune into the game to get away, mometarily, from the duties and responsibilities and circumstances of our lives. We may be perfectly happy people with full lives; everyone needs that downtime in the stadium. Ask the fans to shoulder some responsibility for the labor problems or the payroll disparity and you accomplish nothing. It's like asking families to pick up garbage at the State Park before they enjoy their own picnic. It won't happen and it drives the fans away.

This has to be fun or it doesn't work.

The final paragraph of Kovacevic's column shows the letters are wearing on him. Send the man some jokes. His patience has worn thin. If he didn't have such high expectations of us, perhaps he wouldn't be so disappointed.

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to revise their rants so they are not so hyperbolic or bitter. And besides, if you watch much television or listen to much talk radio - even sports talk radio - then you can understand why most people would think that hyperbolic and bitter sounds smart and impressive.

My guess is that the problem he's experiencing with the fans is not one that has much of anything to do with the Pirates. Rather he's seeing how the average person writes about a subject he cherishes but never has enough time to enjoy properly. I bet if DK talked to other beat writers doing regular Q & A assignments, he'd find that fans everywhere are pretty much the same.

I'm not buying his line of argument, which he often repeats, that Pirate fans are especially bitter or angry, in part because he seems to mention that like it's a shot across the bow of management. It's true they are on thin ice. It's true that all the enthusiasm the team appeared to be building a month or two ago could disappear overnight. But I don't think there's anything unusual in the fact that most letters from fans adopt an exaggerated sarcasm or striking bitterness. That's the level of public discourse these days, on almost all matters.

Fillin DeBlank

From yesterday, Brian O'Neill's Stats Geek. Who is this DeBlank?

There's always a chance one of the C-grade pitching prospects will emerge as an ace. Remember what John Sickels wrote about Ollie about a week ago. It's nothing to take to the bank, but the Bucs are loaded with C-grade pitching prospects.

No season in 2007

Paul Meyer raises that possibility in his PG notebook.

Bay hurt and House

AP report here. Sounds like no big deal. People are going to get hurt. It's part of the game.

One thought about the release of J.R. House. Set aside the question of whether or not the big-leaguers "earn" their dough. I think they do, but that's not the question. The big-league minimum is still a lot of dough. For what they were going to pay House, the Bucs could hire eight secretaries to sit on their ass and do nothing but throw pencils at the ceiling. Or they could hire two pediatricians. Or they could hire three lawyers. Or they could hire a University president and two professors of statistics. Or they could skip the president and hire like twenty-five graduate students in statistics and have them model projection systems. Or they could make a movie starring the GM of a team that hasn't had a winning season in a decade, and put it on HBO. It's a lot of dough. Just because some teams spend $100M on their payrolls, that doesn't make 300K funny money. 300K goes a long way if spent wisely.

Given that Littlefield was, shall we say, pretty skeptical that House could make the team before the surgery, it's no surprise the team cut House after the surgery showed more damage than they expected to find.

Health all around

Paul Meyer reports that Kip, Ollie, and Jack are better today than they were yesterday. Joe Rutter focusses on Kip.

Meyer also notes that Sanchez appears scheduled for Abe Nunez's job and not for AAA. He's 27.

Five pesos a week making wallets

This is a Phillies item, but a good one. Donald Bostrom of the Morning Call asked the Phillies about the jobs they've had before baseball. I was under the impression that more of the American players were like Mike Lieberthal and never had another job. A bunch of them worked as umpires in Little League. The South American players, on the other hand, have some real stories.

I'd be interested to see a similar feature on the Pirates. Pittsburgh fans get pretty surly when the players behave like prima donnas. I guess the players have dug some share of ditches in their past, too.

Feels young

Lawton talks to some Minnesota people.

Ken Rosenthal rumor

Clay sends this link to Ken Rosenthal's rumor rag:

The A's and Pirates scouted each other last week, preparing for a trade that could send OF Eric Byrnes to Pittsburgh, possibly for RHP Ian Snell. The A's, however, still would prefer to trade Byrnes to the Mets in a three-way deal that would land them Astros 2B Chris Burke, with the Astros acquiring the Mets' Mike Cameron to play center field. The A's already have Mark Ellis, Keith Ginter and Marco Scutaro at second, but GM Billy Beane has been fixated on Burke ever since the infielder was at the University of Tennessee.

Burke is 25, older than our own Jose Castillo, but widely regarded as a good prospect still. My guess is that John Perrotto's inside dope is more fresh. See the link a little down the page.

Reds-Pirates 1:05pm

Box score gonna be here. If I can get Joe Pass off the stereo, I'm going to tune in.

Mark Redman

Perrotto's Mark Redman report.

Lawton

John Perrotto reports on Matt Lawton. The Beaver County Times has one hell of a beat reporter.

House and trade rumors

John Perrotto's notebook catches up with J.R. House.

Perrotto also has some trade dope:

Rumors and rumblings

The Pirates' chances of trading for Oakland outfielder Eric Brynes appear all but dead since the Athletics are holding out for left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez. Oakland is said to have more interest in dealing for New York Mets outfielder Mike Cameron, a player the Pirates have also inquired about.

Word from Arizona is that the Chicago Cubs have at least some interest in possibly trading rookie outfielder Jason Dubois for Pirates closer Jose Mesa. However, that deal doesn't seem likely to happen.

We can't trade Coach Mesa! Torres and Gonzalez won't do their long-toss every day.

Kip's elbow

John Perrotto reports the stiffness is in Kip's elbow, not his forearm. Either way, odds are the two problems - the earlier elbow trouble and whatever aims him now - are related.

Getting better

John Perrotto talks to Jose Castillo.

the Replacements

Joe Rutter looks back at the Spring of replacement-players.

Neil Walker

Joe Rutter reports on him for the Tribune-Review.

Spring training thoughts

Guy Junker has some for the Tribune-Review.

Jack Wilson got off to a hot start in 2004, but remember how he was slowed by a sore shoulder in March? The strength loss sounds like a more serious problem, sure, but there's time still for him to do some more recovery.

Beer brat

The Bucs are looking at Nick Bierbrodt, Joe Rutter reports. I always liked his name because I'm, well, a fan of beer brats.

If minor-league contract guys are a one-in-ten chance, as J.P. Ricciardi says, then I'll take twenty.

Minor-league camp opens

Joe Rutters talks with Brian Graham about it.

A lovely thing

Dejan Kovacevic profiles Benito Santiago.

Ain't the beer cold

"Art Ditmar [sic] throws," he said. "There's a swing and a high fly ball going deep to left. This may do it! Back to the wall goes [Yogi] Berra! It is . . . over the fence, home run, the Pirates win! Ladies and gentlemen, Mazeroski has hit a one-nothing pitch over the left field fence at Forbes Field to win the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates!"

Duffy

Paul Meyer reports Duffy has been impressive. Is he the Lenny Dykstra type, or is that McLouth?

Ritchie

Paul Meyer tells the story of the spring from Todd Ritchie's point of view.

Cota

Ed Eagle profiles Humberto Cota, the guy we got for Jose Guillen years and years ago. There's still time to win that trade.

Castillo hitting seventh

Ed Eagle reports McClendon may hit Castillo seventh this year. Lineups don't matter a whole lot when it comes to run-scoring. As long as your better hitters are in the top six spots, I don't think it makes a huge difference who bats where. Obviously leadoff and number-two hitters have to have special skills or confidence hitting in those spots, so you go with who does it well. The eight spot, however, is a place where hitters generally rot. Having the pitcher on deck does not give the eight hitter much chance to drive a ball in the early innings. Since a lot depends on Castillo improving this year, I like the idea of moving him up a spot. It's time to see if he can hit as we hope and somewhat expect.

Fifth starter battle

Ed Eagle has the battle raging here.

This is one of the old, tried-and-true Spring Training stories: who will be the fifth starter?

Both Williams and Vogelsong will probably start for us in 2005. I recommend not focussing on who is winning the horse race but on how many of these fifth-starter candidates are pitching well. In the end it doesn't matter if one pitches better than the other so much as it matters if both can pitch well enough to keep the Pirates in a ballgame.

Ben Grieve

Here's a version of the Ben-got-booed for lacking "competitive fire" story from Ed Eagle. Ben Grieve is an interesting character. Former rookie of the year, never really learned to hit left-handers, wouldn't take steroids, won't argue called third strikes, checks his fly before every at-bat.

Doubleheader today

The Bucs will play two games, one in Bradenton and one in Sarasota, against the Reds today.

I'll be catching up and probably posting a lot. Lotsa news out there.

Kip

A little stiff, Paul Meyer reports.

That's not good news, of course.

Sometimes the dread "forearm stiffness" anticipates a season-ending injury. Reds "closer-in-waiting" Ryan Wagner was shut down last year with stiffness in his forearm which turned out to be tendinitis. Kevin Appier was shut down last year after having trouble with his forearm. Bobby Howry's 2004 season ended after a DL stint with the stiffness de forearm.

Sometimes it characterizes the ever-injured, such as Wilson Alvarez, who has had his shutdowns with tight forearms.

But sometimes it's just nothing or goes away. Andy Pettitte struggled last May. He had a pretty good year. Kevin Appier had some stiffness in his forearm in 2002 and came back strong.

So which is it ... maimed, brittle, or no big deal? Tune in next week. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel ...

Get well, Kip. We need you big guy.

Jack Wilson essay

One thing that bothered me the most about the Jack Wilson/Josh Fogg media event was the fact that it was a media event. The PG ran a photo of Jack standing at a podium with mikes and so forth. They weren't off-the-cuff remarks. It was an attempt by these players - two captains of the team, formally or informally - to do a little stump-speaking. I'm not sure what they expecting to accomplish. Or who they addressing. Fogg is the team's union rep so it's more or less his job to be like that on demand, but even still it's hard to see what he hoped to accomplish.

Who were they talking to? The fans? Should a 23-year-old player with one good year on his resume make as much as ... I don't even want to get into how much teachers, firefighters, and heart surgeons make. As should be clear, that was not a good debate to seed among your fans, Jack. Win a championship - heck, win 81 games - and maybe we can try that one again with better luck. Or maybe not.

Were they talking to the reporters? If it's important for the beat writers to know that the players think management is stingy, why go on the record?

Were they talking to their fellow players, around the league, or to the players in the Pirates' minor-league system? Again you wonder why they would go to the media to communicate this information.

Maybe they weren't thinking. That appears to be Jack Wilson's defense in this essay for the Tribune-Review.

We all win some and lose some. Jack lost that one, I think. It's no big deal--unless he loses the next one. It's behind us as soon as there's some better story to dwell on. How about Jack Wilson posts .375 OBP in April?

If they players want to get rich, more power to them. But let them not forget that winning is surest path to a big payday. If Ollie wants to hire Brink's Cash in Transit services to toodle around with the mega-bones, he better pitch well in some playoff games. You need that to get the mad money.

Goose Goslin

On brains, looks, and physical skills.

Jose Bautista

Dejan Kovacevic reports on the life of Jose.

Losing on your feet better than winning on your knees

(a rare counter-Rowdy HW opinion)

"It's kind of sad and it makes you wonder what (the Pirates) are doing if this is how they treat their best pitcher and offensive player on the team last year," Fogg said.

Ouch.

I think we're in for a long, depressing year not because gutsy Wilson and Fogg publicly questioned the embarassing lowballings but because the Bucs are controlled by misers that are fielding the cheapest team in the NL. Sure, technically Ollie and Bay weren't owed anything more, but since nearly every other team rewards 0-3 performance, why shouldn't the Bucs? I don't buy that we need to beat down these greedy upstart ROYs lest small-market teams face future demise. This isn't "just business", it's miserly business that other teams don't practice. We're not talking Tike Redman here (who's getting 335 K to Bay's 355 and Ollie's 381), we're talking the teams' two best players. I don't think a symbolic slap-in-the-face proves any point other than the owners are distancing themselves from the MLB status quo, and thus reducing the odds of future success. We could've afforded a less offensive offer, right? 200K is 5% of the 4M offer to Burnitz. Wonder what they'll do with all that money now. I liked the idea of saving it to spend on Ollie, but the odds of that seem even lower now post-face-slap.

And of course money isn't everything (see Parasite, Intestinal). I agree with Rowdy that having a lower payroll doesn't preclude winning championships. But why defend and glorify stinginess? If Rowdy thinks Wilson and Fogg are "losers" for their comments, I'd rather see the Bucs lose on their feet than win on their knees. Whose side are we on, anyway?

All hail Jack Wilson and Josh Fogg!

Winners

Sweet.

Obviously the Yankees, who play on another planet, couldn't adjust to the gravity at McKechnie Field.

Losers

Not much else to say about this. If that's the leadership we can expect from Wilson and Fogg for 2005, we're in for a long, depressing year.

Everything for money

For the New York Times, Murray Chass gloats about the Yankee payroll. He writes:

This exhibition opener between the Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates was not a rematch of the 1960 World Series. Nor will the regular-season games these teams play in June be a rematch. Despite the habit of some people to label them that way, games played between the same teams subsequent to a World Series or any playoff series are never a rematch because the teams and the circumstances are different.

In this instance, oh, are the circumstances different. Forty-five years after Bill Mazeroski beat the Yankees with a ninth-inning home run at Forbes Field in Game 7, the Yankees and the Pirates play on different planets.

Pardon my French, but what a fucking moron is Murray Chass. On different planets? Hello?

Also note that the 1960 Pirates were heavy underdogs against the 1960 Yankees. I'd say the "rematch," when it comes this June, will be a little more like the original than Chass melodramatically suggests for the self-gratification of Yankee fans.

As recorded by the encyclopedic Finoli and Ranier:

A doormat in the early 1950s, the Pirates had finally earned the respect of the National League with a second-place finish in 1958. After falling back a bit in '59, the Bucs won the pennant by seven games in 1960, but were still considered by some observers as upstarts when it came to being on center stage. With 95 wins, the Bucs had won only two less games than the Yankees during the regular season, but they lacked experience. . . . The Yankees, on the other hand, had been in eight World Series in the 1950s and had won six of them.

During the 1960 series, the Bucs won their first three in close games; the Yankees won their first three games by a combined score of 38-3.

As for this part:

Not even a stash of steroids could level the playing field for these teams. The Yankees will open this season with a payroll a shade under $200 million, $198.5 million to be precise. The Pirates' payroll will be no more than $40 million, one-fifth of the Yankees' total.

This is doubly embarassing. First, the moronic joke about steroids. And second, the crass suggestion that payroll means everything.

As Poor Richard says, "He that is of the opinion money will do everything, may well be suspected of doing everything for money."

Pirates to crush Yankees

You'll find the box score on this page. I'm going to miss it for reality-based work reasons.

Williams and Vogelsong

Perrotto writes about their friendship. They must know that it's very likely we'll see a stretch this year when they are both in the rotation. There's little chance that the one through four starters will each make every turn throughout the season. That just doesn't often happen. And if it does - as it did, or nearly did, for the Cardinals last year - then we can expect the Pirates to win the NL Central.

All the starters should play nice with one another and help one another improve as much as they can. If recent history is a trustworthy guide, we'll probably use eight to ten different guys in the rotation. If I'm Williams, Vogelsong, Ritchie, or even slim Albie, I'd just bank on the expectation that I'd get a turn and an opportunity to make that turn regular. At some point, due to injury or ineffectiveness, someone will probably need a break. Opportunities will come. And if they don't, it's good news, because the team is pretty likely to be headed for the playoffs. Teams with four effective, durable, and consistent starters go to the playoffs.

Joe Roa

John Perrotto writes him up. The beat writers are getting to just about everyone on the roster. Who hasn't been profiled in the last few weeks? John Grabow?

Perez, Bay signed

Story here. Littlefield, clearly, did the right thing. The idea that a player would do the team a favor down the road for an extra hamburger today is absurd. Perez's agent dumped some poison in the well, but it's hard to blame Ollie. Or Bay. I wouldn't have done it. The hope that it will help in arbitration years from now would not be enough for me to do something like that.

Pirates crush Manatee CC

Box score. I wish I could have seen Jose Mesa square off against those guys.

Nothing like some community college teams to get us ready for the Yankees!

Honest Wagner NL-only

I'll put this up again since I ranted it down the page.

Go here and enter the following information.

League ID#: 133800

Password: honus

A dozen spots left. It's free.

Big Country

Ed Eagle on Brad Eldred and the impression he's making in camp.

Ollie "dissatisfied"

DK reports Scott Boras Mike Fischlin will decline Ollie's final offer. But of course Perez has to accept it.

Fischlin compounds the error by stating that Perez will now hold a grudge against the team. A grudge that he'll hold and nurse and wrap his warping personality about. A grudge that will mean something when he Becomes a Free Agent.

Perez, the Pirates' left-handed ace, has no plan to hold out, pout or let the matter affect his performance, agent Mike Fischlin said yesterday. Rather, his client simply wants to make known his dissatisfaction.

"Oliver's a professional, and this isn't going to affect him one bit. He's not going to cry over it," Fischlin said. "But he's also been educated. He understands that the way the Pirates see the market is not the way other teams see it. They choose to work within their own scale."

Perez's memory of the matter could be long, Fischlin added.

"Players remember things like this when it comes time to be a free agent.

That is total bullshit. If I was a ballplayer and my agent said that to a reporter, I'd fire his ass as soon as I could get him on the speed dial.

Every big-league player is basically signed for three years and $1M when the come up. Anything a team decides to pay them above that is gravy. Players have no leverage whatsoever.

We all know that Oliver Perez, when he becomes a free agent, will do exactly what all other Boras clients do (Fischlin works for Boras). He'll go to the highest bidder. And the highest bidder will probably embarrass themselves. They'll learn that the rumored competition for the player's services in that price range was just an illusion.

If Oliver wants to be an egotist and claim that he has some kind of leverage that he does not have, let him. We can beat him like a rented mule if he's going to say, right now, that there's no chance he'll re-sign with the Pirates in what--four years? Premature would be a good word to describe such threats. Why fires shots across the bow after one good season? Especially when scouts generally regard Perez as fragile-looking? What does that accomplish?

What are his options? Will he malinger, as I always suspected Jason Schmidt did, and refuse to pitch so he can save his health for free agency? At the first sign of that, I'd trade him for players, prospects, and cash to the highest bidder. He can go malinger for some other club. A championship team is more than a collection of supremely-talented individuals. Anyone who is going to so conspicuously put himself before the team shouldn't be highly regarded or trusted as a teammate.

It's one thing to ask for a raise. You may prevail on the generosity of management. Of course management wants to reward good behavior. But it's a different thing to do that and then make some kind of totally unprofessional, money-grubbing, cowardly gesture such as refusing to accept a contract that you are bound to accept by the terms of the player agreement. Get some perspective, ball players and agents. How many years will your average plumber work before he earns $381K?

...all that said, the right course of action, I think, would be for the team to laugh off these bullshit threats. Give him the raise you offered and chalk all this nonsense up as one thoughtless comment by a junior agent. And now you know you may have a reason to not trust that Oliver Perez will have the team's back when they need him.

Zach Duke missed his spots

From John Perrotto's report on yesterday's action:

"It felt got to get out there and there were definitely a few nerves," [Zach] Duke said. "You know (manager) Lloyd McClendon is watching from the dugout and (General Manager) Dave Littlefield is watching from upstairs, so you definitely want to make a good impression.

"It wasn't the perfect outing. I missed my spots a few times but it was good to face hitters in a game situation. All in all, it was a good first outing."

Duke threw ten pitches and struck out the side.

FWIW, DK counted twelve pitches. 92 mph from a soft-tossing lefty sounds good to me.

Pirates vs. Manatee Community College

Game just started. Box score here.

Honest Wagner roto

Commissioner Clay has put together a free Yahoo 16-team NL-only league for us. The league is very deep. Every player should wind up on a roster. This will encourage trading and reduce the necessity of daily roster moves - a huge plus I think in free leagues.

Go here and enter the following information.

League ID#: 133800

Password: honus

I will field the Keystone Zouaves (pronounced with two syllables). Civil War fans will understand. Others can look here, here and here if they are curious. The French military has become something of a joke among many Americans, but during the Civil War, many Union soldiers thought they were the best--and emulated them--as you can see in the prevalence of Zouave regiments in this list.

These guys are keeping it real.

Great-great grandpop Rowdy was a Keystone Zouave. He lied about his age to get into the military--he was too young--and was decorated for valor after operations against Fort Sumter.

Q & A

Methinks it's time to gather round DK.

Canadian baseball

Story about Jason Bay from Shi Davidi of the Canadian Press. And one from another Canadian paper, this time in London, Ontario.

Perrotto has it measured

Nice work from John Perrotto on the state of the team. I generally agree with him right down the line. Because I think it is possible that Wells and Perez both win fifteen games, I also think it's possible they win half their games.

AP gets Wiggy

Story here.

Pirates destroy Valpo

Box score here.

Not contenders

From Tom Balog's story for Florida's Herald Tribune:

"I don't see us as a contending club at this point," said Dave Littlefield, the Pirates' general manager. "It's certainly something we're working towards. But when you talk about a playoff caliber team, we need to have a lot of people get better. My sense is we're not in that position right now."

Well, there you have it.

Stats Geek: Replacing Kendall

Brian O'Neill figures the 2005 Pirates stand to score about as many runs as the 2004 Pirates because they've rid themselves of the "traumatic trio" of Abraham Nunez, Chris Stynes and Randall Simon. Link.

We got catchers

Dejan Kovacevic reports on all the catching prospects in the Bucs' system. "The Pirates will have a genuine catching prospect on nearly every team in its system," he writes. They are Humberto Cota, Ronny Paulino, Ryan Doumit, and Neil Walker. With House out, I anticipate seeing Doumit, 26, or Paulino, 23, catching some for the big club.

Wilson getting better

Ed Eagle's notebook is one of a few stories with the same encouraging news about Jack Wilson.

12-man staff likely

Bob Smizik doubts the Bucs will come north with eleven pitchers.

Pirates to kick ass

Joe Rutter reports the team is taking scrimmages against Valpo and Manatee CC seriously.

Vogelsong's new pitch

Joe Rutter reports. When he came back from winter ball, I vaguely recollect reports that our manager down there wasn't overwhelmed with the effectiveness of this new Ryan. That said, as long as he stays healthy, I expect Vogelsong will find his way to some innings.

So true or false: Vogelsong is the next Jimmy Anderson.

Bay taking ROY award to the bank

He's still not signed for 2005, Joe Rutter reports.

Hamilton, Sharpless, and Holliday

Here is the article Wilbur recommended in the comments last Sunday. It's not about the seventies band responsible for that notorious in-store shopping anthem, "Don't Pull Your Love Out on Me Baby."

So happy and good

The AP reports on Ollie and his Craftmatic adjustable bed.

Coach Santiago

Jim Brockman reports on Benito Santiago for the Bradenton Herald.

Freddy Sanchez

The AP has this story.

John Sickels on Oliver Perez

"Perez's experience, as well as that of Carlos Zambrano, show how Grade C+ pitching prospects can develop unexpectedly, leaving more-heralded guys in the dust." -- John Sickels.

Four steps ahead of you

Primer sends me to this interview with the GM of the Blue Jays over at the Batter's Box, a Blue Jays blog that's been around for quite some time. I once played roto with one of the guys there; for the life of me I forget which one, but he was real gracious.

JP's response strikes me as just about what I'd expect from a GM talking back to his blog.

#81 Neil Walker

Baseball America finds a place for Walker in their top 100 prospects list.

Scrimmages

Valpo, Bradenten Community College. No Braden River HS?

Sean Burnett

Joe Rutter reports that his rehab has gone well. July sounds like a targeted return date. Will he come back Matt-Morris style, and pitch out of the pen, or will they bring him along as a starter?

Enough fastball

Dejan Kovacevic on Bryan Bullington.

Albie Lopez

Dejan Kovacevic reports on his curve. Also more detail on the Ollie session.

Ed Eagle mailbag

Includes "How to be a GM" by David Littlefield.

I can't believe, in this day and age, that David didn't suggest that starting a blog was a good first step. (That's a joke, people.)

Ollie OK

The AP reports on his Sunday session.

More news, AQL

I'm burning up my eyeballs trying to choose and shop for a flat-panel monitor online. My current system (a Pismo) is about 125 years old in computer years and it's time to update before OS X destroys the system's memory-strapped hard drive. I've somewhat narrowed the field to the Samsung Syncmaster 910T, the Dell 1905FP, 2001FP, or 2005FPW, or the Viewsonic VP201B. I'm looking for something that will last as long as the system I'm preparing to buy (a dual 2.0 G5 w/ upgraded (retail) graphics card). LCD flat panels are evolving at a dizzy pace. Prices dropping, specs improving, it's pretty damn hard to choose, esp. since I can't make up my mind about how much TV/DVD/video I'll watch on it. Could I use MLB.tv to watch archived games? Like maybe the West Coast ones that end at 2am? Don't talk to me about Tivo--I don't have cable TV and have no interest in it. Cable modem is plenty for me.

Since I've been on the computer way more than I'd like, reading crap I don't normally read, I'll do the Sunday Bucco news roundup AQL (all quick-like).

Ed Eagle reports on Ollie, Duke, Bullington, Winters, House, Grabow, Mackowiak (as a defensive-replacement first-baseman). I think No. 3 will get another 550 PAs this year.

Dejan Kovacevic on closer-in-waiting Mike Gonzalez. No, Billy, you can't have him.

Oh wait. John Perrotto touts Koonce. And regarding Byrnes: "The Athleticss are holding out for a top pitching prospect such as left-handers Zach Duke or Tom Gorzelanny or right-hander Ian Snell." MG, ZD, TG, IS. Whatever. I say wait a month to see what develops.

Joe Rutter on Ollie and Ian Snell.

Kovacevic reports on Bobby Hill and Kip Wells. Hill's core strength thing is mandatory for a guy with his history of back problems.

Kovacevic updates on centerfield job, fifth starter job, bullpen jobs, Matt Peterson, Mark Redman, and Braden River HS, where some believe a Barracuda outfit would look cuter on a cheerleader than a Pirate outfit.

Joe Rutter on McClatchy. Many quotes there.

Rob Biertempfel offers a dissertation on pitch counts. Why run this now, Rob? We could have used this a month ago. Or maybe in two months when some youngster needs to nurse his wing. It's hard to give this the attention it deserves at the start of camp.