Game 106: Rockies at Pirates

Your 2007 NL Champions, who have won 9 of 10 and just swept the Reds, will scrounge up a starter to face Ian Snell tonight. The Rockies are ten games under .500; the Pirates are nine games under .500.

Beer

DFH 60 min for me. This is a beer that you really must pour out into a pint glass to drink. I tried to drink one straight from the bottle and did not like it. There seems to be a syrupy thing straight from the bottle that I don't taste from a frosty pint glass. Am I nuts or what.

I've had enough of these Pirates for the weekend. What are you drinking?

Game 105: Padres at Pirates

Jake Peavy and Paul Maholm at 1:30.

As you wait for the game, read Wilbur. He's persuasive.

Game 104: Padres at Pirates

Banks and JVB.

Nady and Marte for Tabata, Ohlendorf, Karstens, and D. McCutchen

I read some of the trade comments left by people on the other blogs. First off, people pay way too much attention to the pissy comments made by television broadcasters and rival GMs. You will grow gray and die before these people talk about Pittsburgh in a way that's fair and not infuriating. The Pirates should be run to win games and not to please the media or impress the scouts and GMs who work for other teams.

So throw out all the complaints that reference a rival's or a media personality's snap opinion. Evaluate the trade for yourself.

Here's what I say. I'm not a fan of trading excellent everyday players for long-shot prospects. In theory I think it's not sound. In practice it can work. It depends on the players, and it depends on the prospects.

Xavier Nady is a 120-game-per-year player. He's already played 90 games this year. He might go on to set a career high in games played; maybe he'll play 150 this year and set a new career high in at-bats (468 is his current career high). Guys like this tend to be underrated, but I don't think Pirate fans are reacting to the trade like this is the case. He's not the equivalent of Jason Bay or Jack Wilson in the playing time department. For the sake of argument, let's not regard Bay and Wilson as every-game players any more. Still, the difference between a 125-game player and a 140-game player is large: it's two weeks starting a replacement player.

Nady also has a career OPS under 800. He's 29 and he's having a career year. To put his career in perspective, his most comparable batters are Pedro Munoz, Shane Spencer, Herb Perry, Don Lenhardt, Dick Kokos, Harry Anderson, and Jim Greengrass.

He's been a great player this year and, by all reports, an even better clubhouse personality. I don't see him as someone who has a career that suggests he would also be a great player for us in 2009 and 2010. He's the kind of player you trade high.

Damaso Marte? He's a relief pitcher.

I like the prospects the Pirates got for these guys. I think they got a good haul. I also think the team has an unusual and urgent need for starting pitchers. I don't think the trade makes the 2009 Pirates significantly worse, and I think that even the 2008 Pirates might not be so worse off as people are talking.

Sure, Nady was one of our best hitters, but the shape and nature of his relatively long career suggest that he was likely to cool off or get hit by a pitch and miss a month.

Marte was our best relief pitcher, but where's there is opportunity, some kind of breakout usually follows. There's a good chance that someone will pitch as well in the vacancy created by Marte. And relief pitchers are not the most dependable variety of ballplayers.

... update ... the change of players does not alter my perception of the trade. Three minor-league starters with some promise plus Tabata for Nady and Marte is a good return. I'm not persuaded by overconfident prospect forecasting, so comments like "middle-relief fodder" or "#4 starter" don't carry a lot of weight with me. Such comments might depress my expectations, as they should, but there are no guarantees. Given the chance, some players will grow and outperform expectations. Others will wilt and fail.

And duh, the Pirates could use middle relievers and #4 starters, so the minor-league pitchers fill an obvious need.

So, for sure, the trade is not killing the Pirates this year or next.

And as always, more comments in the comments ...

Game 103: Padres at Pirates

Baek and Duke, starting about now.

... sounds like Marte and Nady to New York-A for half a AA team.

... Bones & Rowdy give the trade two thumbs up.

High draft picks are for Losers

The off-day Dejan Kovacevic describe the Alvarez situation in this report of his phone call with Scott Boras, a burly dude who wears black turtlenecks and expensive watches.

Boras argues that Alvarez is a can't-miss player, an elite prospect. He compares him to the best players he has represented out of the draft. (I wouldn't make comparison to J.D. Drew, if I were Boras, given the way he bungled the Philadelphia negotiations, but whatever.) Boras argues that the Pirates need to pay Alvarez a lot of money because it's a good investment for the Pirates. The Pirates, obviously, are balking at the high asking price. And they are of a mind to offer less each week that goes by without seeing Alvarez in the minor leagues getting ready for next year.

The Pirates got themselves into this situation by Losing. Littlefield avoided players like Alvarez in the draft, a plan with predictable bad results. One, the Pirates have not produced so many good players with their high draft picks, and a winning team team needs good players. So, two, the Pirates have been perpetual Losers. And three, the fans of the Pirates caught on to this cheap philosophy and have wisely demanded better from the new leadership.

Boras must know the pressure that the Pirates are under to pay what he wants for Alvarez. Here the new leadership pays a price for the incompetence of the old leadership. They are over a barrel. They have to sign this guy. They could not sign him, but this would surely perpetuate losing much more than the opportunity cost associated with overpaying for Alvarez.

The way to get out of this situation is not get into it. The truth of the matter is this. The Pirates do not want high draft picks. High draft picks are for Losers. Literally -- you have to lose a lot of games to get a draft pick capable of claiming a player like Pedro Alvarez. You lose that many games, get that high a draft pick, and then you pay the Loser's Fine to the Bad Man in the Black Turtleneck.

The Pirates need good players to stop Losing. So, obviously the way to solve the problem begins with getting the good player. Once they get the player, the next step is equally obvious: stop being such Losers. That's the only way to avoid getting into this situation again.

Game 102: Padres at Pirates

Friars come to town to match Clay Hensley up against Yoslan Herrera. Game on at 7.

Alumni autographs day. Former Bucs Grant Jackson, Barry Jones and John Smiley will sign autographs on the Riverwalk from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Bones and I met John Smiley in his rookie season. He was amused.

Game 101: Pirates at Astros

One more game on fantasy island before the Pirates come home to face the Randy Wolf-less Padres. It's a day game. Snell and Moehler will start.

Game 100: Pirates at Astros

Maholm and Cassel at 8.

I happily slept through last night's adventure. Today I was going to pack up & send in the win meter for repairs, but it looks like it buzzed to life while I was sleeping. FWIW it's humming pleasantly, perhaps because Maholm is the scheduled starter.

Game 99: Pirates at Astros

It will be JVB and Runelvys at eight.

Game 98: Pirates at Rockies

This again. Duke and Cook at 3.

Game 97: Pirates at Rockies

In what's likely to be a low-scoring game, Yoslan Herrera starts tonight against Jorge de la Rosa.

Game 96: Pirates at Rockies

Snell and Rusch at 9.

Game 95: Pirates at Rockies

Pirates have been much more entertaining than in previous years, and they come out of the All-Star break six games under at 44-50.

There may or may not be a whole lot of talk about trading players soon. The place to get prospects, I think, is the draft. I have not done any scientific studies of the question, but I doubt any of those fabled winning small-market franchises were built on trading very good players for lottery tickets. More likely they drafted well year after year.

As far as I know, too, the Pirates are under no great need to trim salary.

And it also does not look to me like the Pirates have a lot of top minor-league talent that's blocked. Is it so urgent that Pearce graduate? If so, he's about the only one.

The team surely needs more reliable starters. So does most every other team in the league. The Pirates will have to grow their own. It's hard to see how trading Xavier Nady would solve the problems with the rotation.

Tonight it's Maholm and Jimenez in mountain time at like 9 o'clock.

Off day

Nate did pretty good last night. All hail Nate!

Week-long road trip starts tomorrow in Colorado.

All-Star Game

Tonight at 8. Nate McLouth to win it at the end.

At the break

Pirates are 44-50.

Home Run Derby tonight.

Your lying eyes might say otherwise, but the guy on the mound will not be Tom Gorzelanny.

Game 94: Cardinals at Pirates

Pineiro and Snell. This afternoon.

Happy Slovak day.

Game 93: Cardinals at Pirates

Yoslan Herrera makes his major league debut vs. Todd Wellemeyer at seven.

Game 92: Cardinals at Pirates

Zambelli Fireworks!

But, you have to sit through a baseball game.

Kyle Lohse and Zach Duke at seven.

Game 91: Yankees at Pirates

The teams will try to make up that postponed game from last month.

Paul Maholm and Ed Asner at seven.

Game 90: Astros at Pirates

Scuffy Moehler and John Van Benschoten at 7.

Game 89: Astros at Pirates

Backe and Snell at 7. Snell, like Dumatrait yesterday, comes off some extra rest.

Game 88: Astros at Pirates

Runelvys Hernandez and Phil "Kama Sutrait" Dumatrait at 7. Dumatrait returns from the rest that he needed to recover from the strain of so many difficult positions.

And, the Brewers kick off the silly season by making a big trade.

Game 87: Pirates at Brewers

Duke and Suppan at 2.

Game 86: Pirates at Brewers

Maholm and Bush at 7.

Game 85: Pirates at Brewers

Tom Gorzelanny and Ben Sheets this afternoon.

Pirates are 40-44 but only 15-25 on the road this year.

Also curious in the standings right now: The Rockies are 35-51. We had a pretty interesting debate the other night about whether this Pirates team is underachieving or overachieving. Opinions were split down the middle.

I've always thought that it should be "not hard" to finish at .500, and that a .500 season should not be regarded -- all by itself -- as evidence that a .550 season was the inevitable next step. A .500 breakout could be followed by a .450 slump. It also seems to me that I can look around the league every year and see a bunch of .500 teams that are pretty sorry. Are they lucky or are they overachieving? Or, are the 67-win teams underachieving?

The recent history of the Rockies tells a story. I'm not sure what is that story, but it seems somewhat relevant. Colorado win totals from 2001-2008: 73, 74, 74, 68, 67, 76, 90. Hmmmmmmmm.

Off day

No game today. An orthopedic surgeon and a physical therapist offer their comments on internal rotation deficit. Meanwhile, Dejan discusses Capps, bunting, and stadium etiquette in today's Q+A.

Game 84: Pirates at Reds

John Van Benschoten and Daryl Thompson soon enough.

Matt Capps out for July and August and I guess, September as well. I'm not a medical professional, and I don't understand his injury, but as a fan I know that when they say "eight weeks" it usually means "rest of the season and maybe some of next season too."

Insert expletives here.

Game 83: Pirates at Reds

Zach Duke takes on Edinson Volquez tonight at seven. Six games under and back in the basement, the integrity of the travesty appears safe. For now.

Game 82: Pirates at Reds

Paul Maholm vs. the Harangutan starting soon. Paul Meyer notes that for the first time in 52 years, the Bucs' pitcher is not batting ninth.

Game 81: Rays at Pirates

Gorzelanny vs. Sonnanstine starting now. Bucs are on pace for 77 wins.

Game 80: Rays at Pirates

Edwin Jackson and Ty Taubenheim tonight.

Mid-season editorial

As they approach the mid-point in the season, the big story is the ineffectiveness of most of the pitching staff.

The Pirates are rolling with a few flat tires in the starting rotation, and the failures of the starters have taken a toll on the bullpen. Opponents are averaging about 8 runs per game over the last week or so.

Edwin Jackson will start against Ty Taubenheim, who has been called up to make a start for the Pirates tonight. Denny Bautista, who was acquired in a low-risk trade to provide some relief for the overworked mop-up crew, has gone on the DL. T.J. "Steely Mc" Beam and John Van Benschoten have been recalled to eat innings, if they can. Dejan Kovacevic reports for the Post-Gazette that the indestructible-looking "Franky Six Fingers" Osoria could also be headed to the DL. Kovacevic also reports that Cuban defector Yoslan Herrara could be called up to start next week. Rotoworld reports the Bucs just picked up Ryan Drese. I guess we'll see him on the big club pretty soon.

The Bucs are 37-42 and seven games back in the race for the wild card. Another loss tonight and they'll fall to that depressing depth, six games under. One measure published by Baseball Prospectus suggests the Pirates have a 1 in 200 chance of making the postseason.

Pirate fans may be asking themselves if they think the team should gun for a .500 season, thus breaking that depressing run of non-winning seasons, or if they should make roster moves and trades that sacrifice the present somewhat for the future. I see the distinction as a false one. On one hand, .500 is not satisfying. If they finish the year at .500, I expect most Pirate fans will feel silly for thinking it was going to feel like a big accomplishment. It won't land the Pirates in the playoffs. On the other hand, I'm deeply skeptical of plans that see much beyond next year. In most cases, I think the best decision for next year is also the best decision for the rest of this season. And plans for two years down are fool's gold. Of course the team should stockpile all the best young talent they can; what I object to, and scoff at, to some extent, are the kind of plans that spell out who is our CF, who is our ace pitcher, who is our clean-up hitter, etc., in years as far away as 2010 and 2011. If the team stockpiles all the depth and promise it can in the minor leagues, it's wise to believe that players will appear as needed. What's not wise is pretending you know exactly which prospects will pan out, or which veterans will pull up gimpy and ineffective.

So it's six of one, half dozen of the other. The Pirates need to make roster moves and trades that will make them a better team right now and for next year. .500 can't be a goal, and liquidating the roster talent in the belief that there will be, at some later date, stunningly effective ways to spend that saved salary, can't be the plan.

Game 80: Rays at Pirates

Jimmy Barthmaier vs. Scott Kazmir at seven. Rays are a half game out of first. Barthmaier, who broke out in Indy, makes his major league debut.

Game 79: Yankees at Pirates

Maholm, Mussina, and maybe 38,000 fans at seven.

Game 78: Yankees at Pirates

Zach Duke and Joba Chamberlain at seven. The Bucs are 7.5 games back in the wild card race.

Game 77: Yankees at Pirates

Beauty vs. the Beast at seven.

The starting pitchers will be Darrell Rasner and Tom Gorzelanny.

Snell's elbow

Ian Snell will have an arthrogram tomorrow due to right elbow irritation that flared up today, reports the P-G. Snell also had this to say:

"I never give up. I don't care if people boo me, tell me I [stink], whatever. You're not going to take my manhood from me or my competitiveness from me. Nobody will ever do that! Ever! Until the day I die, then you take it from me."

Game 76: Blue Jays at Pirates

Ian Snell vs. Dustin McGowan at 1:35 PM EDT.

Rotation anchor Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with a left shoulder injury. T.J. "Steely Mc" Beam has been recalled from Indy, where he was dominant. Dejan has the scoop and also suggests that Marte might not be traded. Meanwhile, Paul Meyer reminisces over the 1960 World Series.

Game 75: Blue Jays at Pirates

Paul Maholm vs. former Rays' batboy Jesse Litsch starting soon. Nady's not on the DL, as Salas was sent down. Dirty Doug gets the start in RF.

Game 74: Blue Jays at Pirates

Duke vs. Halladay at seven. The Post-Gazette reports that Nyjer Morgan (.559 OPS at Indy) has been called up, presumably because Nady (.886 OPS) is going on the DL. Win meter: broken.

Game 73: Pirates at White Sox

Dumatrait vs. Floyd at two. Breakout vs. Even Bigger Breakout. Fourth place vs. first place. 7 runs vs. 24 runs. Pistol-whippee vs. pistol-whipper. Beer vs. beer. Jolly Roger: proudly unfurled vs. shamefully concealed.

Game 72: Pirates at White Sox

Gorzelanny vs. Buehrle at eight. Despite yesterday's pistol-whipping, Bay's stomach virus, and Gorzo's 35K:46BB ratio, victory is imminent as Iowa Pirate braves floods and a beating to fly the Jolly Roger.

Game 71: Pirates at White Sox

Ian Snell vs. Javier Vazquez at eight as interleague play continues. Although Nady is out with the acromioclavicular joint* sprain and Vazquez has eaten more innings than the entire Bucs rotation, Snell is coming off two decent starts and ALR is hypnotically descending from the treestand, so victory is imminent (if J-Mike wills it to be so).

* the acromioclavicular joint, or AC joint, is the connection between the clavicle and scapula.

Off day

Nady vs. MRI at eight.

Game 70: Pirates at Orioles

Maholm and Cabrera in half an hour.

Game 69: Pirates at Orioles

Zach Duke vs. Radhames Liz at seven. According to BA, Liz has freakishly long arms - standing up straight his fingers stretch to below his knees. Also freaky is that his scapula makes an audible clicking noise every time he throws a pitch.

Game 68: Pirates at Orioles

Dumatrait and Burres at seven. Only one team will emerge at .500. Regardless of .500 being just mediocre and nothing to be content with, tonight's game is a big freakin' deal.

First, as Dejan points out, a win "would mark the latest in a season the Pirates have been .500 since Sept. 1, 1999." Is it Freakshow II? Are you not entertained?

Second, Dumatrait's first pitch will be the first Bucco pitch in Baltimore since Teke's on Oct. 17, 1979.

Game 67: Nationals at Pirates

Gorzelanny and Bergmann in half an hour. ALR gets the day off. Dirty Doug at first and Gomez at third.

Game 66: Nationals at Pirates

Snell and Lannan starts at seven.

Game 65: Nationals at Pirates

Maholm and Redding at seven. Bucs are two games under .500 but only a half game out of the basement.

Game 64: D-Backs at Pirates

Zuke vs. the Unit. Game on.

Wilbur on draft

Wilbur Miller's profiles of the 2008 draft class are up. All hail WTM for surviving this torturous exercise during the DL/Creech era, and maintaining his invaluable site.

In other post-draft linkage, scout.com gives the Bucs the second highest draft grade in MLB: "Beyond just the elite talent at the front of the class, the depth that Pittsburgh added really is remarkable".

Game 63: D-Backs at Pirates

Staff ace Phil "Kamasutrait" Dumatrait and Doug Davis, just started.

Game 62: D-Backs at Pirates

Whatever is inhabiting the recesses of Tom Gorzelanny's mind takes on Dan Haren tonight at seven. Gorzo can't keep up his 1.87 WHIP and 28 K to 40 BB act for much longer.

Game 61: D-Backs at Pirates

Snell and Webb at seven. Ronny calls the game remotely from Indy.

Day two of the draft continues. None of JR's kids taken yet.

Game 60: Astros at Pirates

Maholm vs. Backe starts now. An angry Wiggy stands between the Bucs and a trip out of the basement.

Draft thread

C'mon, lucky seven. Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

Game 59: Astros at Pirates

Duke and Oswalt at seven.

Red Wings at Penguins at eight.

Game 58: Astros at Pirates

Wandy Rodriguez and Phil Dumatrait tonight at seven.

If I had to pick one game to go see the Pirates, I'd look for a game where they are facing Wandy Rodriguez. I don't much of anything about Wandy, but the way the Pirates bat him around, when his name is drawn as the match-up, I'm always surprised to see he's still in the league.

The weather could be better for this one.

In other news, Bo Diddley died. The ipod shuffled through "Dearest Darling" about two hours before I heard the news. That would be freaky except that I listen to Bo Diddley all the freakin' time. The man was pretty good.

And, oh yeah, last night there was a hockey game. It was pretty good.

Game 57: Pirates at Cardinals

Tom Gorzelanny and Adam Wainwright at eight.

Game 56: Pirates at Cardinals

Ian Snell and Braden Looper at two.

It's June. Now is when bad starts become bad first halves.

Game 55: Pirates at Cardinals

Maholm, Parisi, seven eastern time.

Game 54: Pirates at Cardinals

Duke and Wellemeyer at eight.

Game 53: Pirates at Reds

Dumatrait and Harang starting pretty soon.

Game 52: Pirates at Reds

Tom Gorzelanny and Bronson Arroyo at seven.

Game 51: Pirates at Reds

Snell and Cueto at seven tonight.

Pirates are 24-26, five and a half back of first.

The YTD stats are somewhat comical. Not in a good way. Bay is back with a 950 OPS. McLouth, a guy we called "Frodo" when he came up with Duffy ("Sam"), wants to be an All-Star with a 1025 OPS. He is proving something this season, but I'm pretty skeptical he'll keep that Vlad Guerrero-like pace all year long. Nady (900 OPS) and Doumit (950 OPS) have been solid. Cue the Benny Hill music for the rest of the numbers: Paulino (500), LaRoche (700), Sanchez (600), Bixler (440).

The only starting pitcher who has been league-average has been Dumatrait.

The bullpen has been great.

More than half that offense will be better, but that does not mean they will be good. Of the four sluggers, only Bay I think is likely to maintain that pace in something like everyday play. Doumit and Nady could too. Whatever happens, I don't expect the offense to dramatically improve.

The bullpen could stay the same. The starters should improve. The substitution of Dumatrait for Morris, alone, might be enough to pace the team to 26 wins in the next 50 games. Heck, if they can manage 24 of 50 with these numbers, I guess I expect -- assuming no major subtraction of players through trade or injury (big assumption) -- that this team will still be around .500 at the 100-game mark.

And this is falling in line with expectations I've had for a long time. When the Pirates finally finish a season at .500, we will be underwhelmed, on the whole, with both the record and the general range of individual performances. .500 is mediocre.

That said, we will enjoy all the victories. It is cool to watch, listen, or attend a game and see it end with a victory. I don't get tired of that.

Off day

The Pirates are not playing this Memorial Day, for some reason. Tomorrow they will start a stretch of twenty games in twenty days.

Game 50: Cubs at Pirates

Lilly and Maholm this afternoon.

Game 49: Cubs at Pirates

Marquis and Dumatrait this evening.

Game 48: Cubs at Pirates

Zambrano and Duke. Pirates have to do better than 1-8 against the division's frontrunner.

Game 47: Brewers at Pirates

Dave Bush and Tom Gorzelanny in half an hour.

Bucs in a bit of tailspin here. How low will they go before they get within a series of .500 again?

Game 46: Brewers at Pirates

Ben Sheets and Ian Snell in about an hour.

What are your expectations for Snell going forward? I see him settling down and clubbing the crap out of the league through the end of the summer. I'm not sure when he'll start all this though. Maybe tonight?

Game 45: Brewers at Pirates

At seven, Manny Parra and Paul Maholm at PNC Park.

Off day

Sober up.

Game 44: Pirates at Cubs

Phil Dumatrait and Jason Marquis at two.

Flyers at Penguins at three.

Game 43: Pirates at Cubs

Zach Duke and Carlos Zambrano this afternoon.

Game 42: Pirates at Cubs

The Pirates draw Chicago for six of the next nine games. The Bucs are 0-for-6 against the Cubs this year, so now would be a good time to figure them out.

Today they will play the second of four consecutive day games. The starting pitchers will be Tom Gorzelanny and Sean Gallagher.

Game 41: Pirates at Cardinals

Ian Snell and Joel Pineiro at one.

Game 40: Pirates at Cardinals

Pirates are 19-20. Tonight it's Paul Maholm and RHP Todd Wellemeyer.

The Pirates will call on Ronny Ballgame to step up and do some of the things Ryan Doumit was doing.

Game 39: Pirates at Cardinals

The Pirates move to the central time zone for some games. Tonight at eight, Phil Dumatrait and Kyle Lohse.

Games 37 and 38: Braves at Pirates

These guys will play two today, weather permitting. The scheduled starters are Jair Jurrjens and Zach Duke at 12:30, then Tim Hudson and JVB.

Game 37: Braves at Pirates

Jair Jurrjens and Zach Duke at one-thirty. Jurrjens made the Pirates look bad in the first week of the season.

The Bucs have run their record to 17-19. Five in a row is sweet, but 17-19 is worse than mediocre. One day a winning streak will end with the Pirates above .500.

Game 36: Braves at Pirates

Four in a row improves the current high moment to .457, or 16-19. This is a 74-win pace.

Tom Gorzelanny and Chuck James tonight at seven.

Game 35: Braves at Pirates

Ian Snell and Tom Glavine tonight at seven.

The sweep of the Giants was sweet, especially since they come away with their ace to open the next series. That's how you want it done. On the other hand, you'd like to be better than four games under .500. Any season will have its ups and downs, and winning three straight to attain .441 is not much of an up. Here's hoping Snell can keep the Pirates on a roll tonight.

In other news, Nyjer Morgan has been demoted. And the Pirates made a pretty good low-risk pick-up in acquiring Jason Michaels from the Indians.

Game 34: Giants at Pirates

Matt Cain and Paul Maholm just after noon.

The weather could be better for this one.

Game 33: Giants at Pirates

Zito and Dumatrait at seven.

I thought they moved Zito to the bullpen, but the Pirates' website has him listed as tonight's starter.

Game 32: Giants at Pirates

Jonathan Sanchez and Zach Duke at seven.

The big, powerful-looking big man returns and everyone will surely make little mental comparing notes between him and Bautista.

Off day

The Pirates are flying to San Francisco.

... (later) Now they are flying back to Pittsburgh. Funny idea, that, flying all day for no reason.

Game 31: Pirates at Nats

Ian Snell and Tim Redding at one-thirty.

These two pitchers are defying expectations. Snell should be getting better results with his stuff. Redding has been winning more games than his peripherals suggest he should.

In other news, Sean Burnett got the call, and the Pirates designated Evan Meek, the Post-Gazette reports.

The Pirates are six games under at 12-18.

Game 30: Pirates at Nats

Paul Maholm and Matt Chico starting soon. The Post Gazette reports the Pirates will wear the Grays uniforms this afternoon.

Game 29: Pirates at Nats

Phil Dumatrait and John Lannan.

Time to get beer. Must ... steer clear ... of Baltika 9.

Game 28: Pirates at Nats

Zach Duke and Odalis Perez at seven.

Pirates are 11-16, sharing last place with the Reds at six games out of first. And they continue to lead the NL in runs allowed by a wide margin (Pirates 160 in 27 games, Reds 139 in 29 games).

Game 27: Pirates 13, Mets 1

Cool box score on this one.

Game 26: Pirates at Mets

Rather than start a new thread, I'll just change the date on this old one.

Snell and Santana tonight at seven.

Pirates are 10-15 and own last place. They've allowed 154 runs, far more than any other NL team.

Steelers got a bunch of good players in the draft, and now they scour the remainder for defensive ends, as Ed Bouchette describes day two.

Game 25: Phillies at Pirates

Brett Myers and Paul Maholm at one-thirty.

More NFL draft thread

Steelers are picking more guys. I like the Bruce Davis pick a lot.

Pirates release Matt Morris

Paul Meyer has the word at the Post-Gazette.

It's sad that Morris can't pitch effectively. He can't. We've seen conclusive demonstrations of this.

The money owed him is staggering, but it's better to pay him not to pitch. This way he only hurts the team once. And the money is a sunk cost. It may still be flowing out the safe, but it's already gone. It's spent. There's no getting it back. Learn from the mistake and move on.

I still like the idea of acquiring top-quality veteran players for a year or two at the end of their big contracts. There are values to be had there. This only makes sense, however, if you are getting what you paid for: a top-quality player.

Here, as elsewhere, the success of the team depends on its ability to evaluate talent at every level of play and in every organization. The more you know, the better value you will get for your payroll dollars. The Matt Morris acquisition was an enormous mistake in the talent evaluation department.