SB Nation - Tike Redman

The Brewers' Rule 5 Draft Eligible Players

TheJay — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:15:08 -0000

As noted in my FanPost of Sunday night, the deadline for filing major league and minor league reserve lists is fast approaching. Eligible players not added to the major league 40-man roster by November 20 can be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

What does it take to be eligible?

If 19 or older on the June 5th before he signed his first contract, a player is eligible for the fourth Rule 5 draft after signing (usually after four years in the minors).
If 18 or younger on the June 5th before he signed his first contract, a player is eligible for the fifth Rule 5 draft after signing (usually after five years in the minors).
Any player who is eligible for one Rule 5 draft is eligible for all subsequent Rule 5 drafts.

(see ESPN Transactions Primer , Baseball America Rule 5 Draft column, MLB Rules summaries)

You may recall some Brewers being added to the 40-man roster last offseason to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Omar Aguilar, Alexandre Periard, Mark Rogers, and Cody Scarpetta were the fantastic four. At the risk of undermining the above statements, Scarpetta actually became eligible for the draft through a little-known technicality: the Brewers voided his original contract because of an injury and later re-signed him, making him immediately eligible (link). That comes up probably once in a February blue moon.

I have attempted to make a comprehensive list of Brewers farmhands who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Obviously not all (or even most) of these players are realistic candidates to be selected. In addition, some of these guys may be minor league free agents. If you think I've made a mistake or missed someone, post a comment. Notable names are above the jump while you must click and scroll for the rest. Ages listed are for the 2010 season and levels listed are where the player spent the bulk of 2009:

Zach Braddock (22, LHP, A+/AA - one of the last draft-and-follow players, he did not sign until the spring of 2006 at the age of 18. This gives him one more year before becoming eligible.)
Lorenzo Cain (24, CF, AA)
Chris Cody (26, LHP, AA/AAA)
Nick Green (25, RHP, AA/AAA)
Taylor Green (23, 3B, AA - another draft-and-follow guy, brewerfan has him signing June 1, 2006. Since he did not turn 19 until November 2005, I think that puts him in the 18 and younger category and means he is not eligible until next offseason. Lorenzo Cain was in a similar situation last year.)
Dave Johnson (27, RHP, AAA)
Mike Jones (27, RHP, A+/AA/AAA - former #1 pick finally reached AAA, did not do well)
Brendan Katin (27, RF, AAA)
Mike Ramlow (24, LHP, Inj/A - yet another draft-and-follow, injured most of this season)
Amaury Rivas (24, RHP, A+)

The Brewers currently have 33 of 40 roster spots filled. I am not 100% sure of Green's exemption from the draft but the Brewers certainly have roster room if I'm wrong. We'll all find out together on Friday. Assuming Green does not need to be protected, I think only Lorenzo Cain and Amaury Rivas really need to be added to the roster. I don't think the other guys are tempting enough for any team to commit a 25-man roster spot in December. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the current talent and/or upside just aren't there.

As promised, the rest of the Rule 5 eligible farmhands.

Erick Almonte (32 in 2010, 1B, spent 2009 in AAA)
Patrick Arlis (29, C, AAA)
Mike Burns (31, RHP, AAA/MLB)
Chuck Caufield (26, LF/RF, AA)
Anderson de la Rosa (25, C, A+)
Ryan Delaughter (23, RHP, R - converted outfielder threw 5 innings in Arizona rookie ball.)
Chris Errecart (25, 1B, A+)
Jim Henderson (27, RHP, A/A+ - Canadian added veteran presence to low-minors bullpens.)
Robert Hinton (25, RHP, AA)
Mark Holliman (26, RHP, AA)
JR Hopf (27, C, AA)
Shane Justis (27, 2B, AA - was selected in minor league portion of last year's Rule 5 draft.)
Brandon Kintzler (25, RHP, AA - not sure how it works for these indy-league guys. Not sure it matters.)
Brock Kjeldgaard (24, 1B, A - converted pitcher known for power, strikeouts.)
Joe Koshansky (28, 1B, AAA)
Rafael Lluberes (25, LHP, A+)
Martin Maldonado (23, C, A+)
Michael McClendon (25, RHP, AA)
Sean McCraw (24, C, A)
Johnny Raburn (31, 2B/SS, AA/AAA)
Tike Redman (33, OF, AAA - former Pirate spent about as much time in Nashville as Jon Knott.)
Jose Romero (24, LHP, R - injury-marred career, presumably.)
Ivan Rusova (23, RHP, R - who? The Giants somehow drafted this Cuban in the in 26th round in 2005.)
Juan Sandoval (29, RHP, AA)
Adam Stern (30, OF, AA - O Canada!)
David Welch (27, LHP, AA - the lone representative from Australia.)

The following players would have been Rule 5 eligible but are already minor league free agents according to Brewerfan. A few names from the above list (i.e., Redman) probably belong down here, too:

Drew Anderson (29, LF, AA - he actually spent September 2006 in the majors.)
Chris Capuano (31, LHP, Inj/R)
Carlos Corporan (26, C, AAA - hitting only 1.000 in major league play.)
Ruben Flores (26, RHP, A - acquired for Bill Hall.)
Lindsay Gulin (33, LHP, AAA)
Ryan Houston (30, RHP, AAA)
Jon Knott (31, RF, AAA - spent about two weeks in a Nashville uniform.)
Wes Littleton (27, RHP, AA/AAA - best known for "saving" a 27-run game with the Rangers.)
Kevin Melillo (28, 1B/3B, AA)
Sam Narron (28, LHP, AAA)
Freddy Parejo (25, RF, AA)
Josh Wahpepah (25, RHP, AA)
Chase Wright (27, RHP, AAA - outrighted off 40-man roster on August 26.)

That's a lot of links about a bunch of guys no one will remember a few weeks from now. :)

2009 In Review: Indianapolis Indians

Charlie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:18:32 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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This will undoubtedly be the most controversial of the minor league reviews I've written, because it involves perhaps the two most controversial Pirates right now, Garrett Jones and Neil Walker.

A note before we begin: I believe minor league stats matter, and I believe minor league stats, and particularly AAA stats, are very valuable tools. See here for a good primer on Minor League Equivalencies, which Bill James showed closely approximate major league statistics. I also believe that what you did over the last month generally matters a lot less than what you did over the past two or three years.

Let's begin by comparing the Indianapolis statistics of two players:

Andrew McCutchen: .303/.361/.493

Garrett Jones: .307/.348/.502

These are very similar numbers, and yet my attitudes toward these three players throughout the season were very different. I loved McCutchen, but was actively hostile to Jones.

Neither of these lines look particularly good in translation. For example, if you adjust Jones' AAA numbers to Pittsburgh, you get .259/.295/.410, which is pathetic. (Remember, that's not a prediction of what he'd do in Pittsburgh, it's a translation of what he actually did.)

Of course, translating minor league numbers to the majors often makes players look pathetic. The reason they're in the minor leagues in the first place, at least in theory, is that they aren't good enough to play in the majors yet, so it's only natural that translating their numbers would make them look bad.

The reasons why I clamored for McCutchen and not for Jones, then, are twofold. First, McCutchen is 22 and Jones is 28. Players generally improve until they are about 27 or so, and then they start to go downhill. So there was good reason to think that McCutchen might actually outplay his equivalency as he improved throughout the year (which is, in fact, what happened); there was no reason to think Jones would do so, at least not judging from his numbers. Also, McCutchen is an outstanding defensive player, whereas Jones has no real defensive value. McCutchen can post a .750 OPS and still be valuable, whereas Jones can't.

Obviously, Jones, who has hit .301/.366/.607 for the Pirates so far, has exceeded any reasonable expectation. But why did it happen? It's not like the equivalency was "wrong"; remember, the equivalency is a translation, not a prediction, and the existence of outliers like Jones doesn't disprove it. He's hit for a higher OPS in the majors than he ever did at any minor league level, which is really strange given how old Jones is. Possible explanations:

1) Genuine improvement. At this point, this explanation deserves some attention, since 19 homers in 239 at bats are very hard to explain away.

2) "He learned it on the plane." I'm copping the title from a message board poster many years ago who was trying to understand why Tike Redman hit so well after being promoted in 2003. There was nothing in Redman's minor league history to suggest that he really was the sparkplug he briefly seemed to be in the majors, so the opinion of this poster was that if Redman had learned anything that caused his great half season in 2003, he must have learned it on the plane from Class AAA Nashville. Of course, Redman hadn't learned anything on the plane, which was exactly the point--his 2003 performance was a huge fluke. A complete fluke isn't as likely for Jones as it was for Redman, whose excellent half-season was driven mostly by batting average. But it's certainly worthy of consideration. For example, Jones' major league equivalency suggests he would have been a .259 hitter if his stint in Indianapolis had actually been in Pittsburgh. If he'd hit .259 in Pittsburgh but generally retained his power, that would make a lot more sense to me given his minor league profile.

At this point, the smart money has to be on a blend of "genuine improvement" and "he learned it on the plane." This isn't so bad for Jones, but I do think the Pirates should probably pencil him into the lineup next year rather than writing that name in ink. Besides, even if his hitting for the Pirates this year has mostly been legitimate, players who develop late often have very short peaks.

We should also be wary of Neil Walker, who has parlayed one great month at AAA in two years there into a big league callup. Walker's profile, going back years and including his terrible .311 OBP at Indianapolis this year, suggests he has no idea how to control the strike zone, and big league pitchers will have little trouble exploiting him. He does have legitimate power, with 47 extra base hits at Indy, but not so much that he's worth the effort. He currently compares unfavorably to players like Tony Batista or Pedro Feliz, who both play good third base defense and have excellent power but frustrate their teams with .250 batting averages and .290 OBPs. Walker currently has less power than either of them, so he should stay in the minors for now. The fact that Andy LaRoche isn't exactly tearing the cover off the ball is neither here nor there; he's very probably a better player than Walker right now, and Walker needs to prove, at the very least, that his terrific August represented real improvement rather than simply one great month.

In the second half of the year, Indianapolis' lineup also featured Jose Tabata (who did what he does, hitting for average and little else) and Jeff Clement, who tailed off badly after a strong start after coming to the Bucs in the Jack Wilson deal.

Indianapolis' best pitcher was... well, actually, it was Tom Gorzelanny, who had already exhausted the Pirates' patience and is gone now. After that, it was Daniel McCutchen. No Relation pitched well enough to overcome some rather glaring issues with flyballs, and earned a spot in the Pirates' rotation, where his flyball issues quickly reared their ugly head--he's allowed three homers in his first two starts, although he's pitched pretty well otherwise. Elsewhere, Brad Lincoln took some time to adjust to AAA after a great start at Altoona, and he finished his season with two great AAA starts. Virgil Vasquez, meanwhile, pitched like the decent AAA pitcher he is. The best pitcher out of the bullpen was Chris Bootcheck, who mowed down International League hitters before running into a wall in the majors.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:32:43 -0000

by Jeff Roberson - AP

Dave Bush is pulled out of the game by Ken Macha as Jason Kendall stands by during the fourth inning Wednesday.

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Some things to read while overextending yourself.

The Brewers managed to get eleven baserunners in six innings off of Chris Carpenter last night, the second most he's allowed all season, but the pitching staff couldn't keep the Brewers in the game long enough to give the team an opportunity to win. There's no shame in being outpitched by the bionic arm of Chris Carpenter. Jeff Passan of Yahoo has a profile of the Cy Young candidate and his dozens of surgical scars.

Dave Bush couldn't beat Carpenter last night, so he plunked him instead. That HBP was the 50th of Bush's Brewer career, making him the new franchise leader. He also picked up his 51st later in the game. After the game, Bush brushed off the suggestion that he could have used more time in the minors to prepare for his return. With the Brewers now below a 1-in-1000 shot of making the playoffs, they've got plenty of time to give Bush a few more starts and see if he straightens himself out.

Mike Cameron might be back next season after all: He told reporters he would be willing to make a sacrifice to remain in Milwaukee for 2010. FanGraphs has Cameron at 3.9 WAR for the season, the third highest total on the team.

Corey Hart is ready for a rehab assignment, and will spend the weekend with Nashville to see if he's ready for a return to big league action. He won't exactly be bumping aside a whole lot of vaunted prospects in the outfield in AAA: Yesterday's Sounds outfield featured both Corey Patterson and recent independent leaguer Tike Redman, with Jon Knott, another recent indy leaguer, pinch hitting. The Sounds lost to Memphis for the second straight day, dropping a game and a half behind in the division.

The Brevard County Manatees are playoff bound, and after months of living in the dark, we finally have a site covering them. Space Coast Baseball will be doing live audio broadcasts from Manatees games over the weekend and in the playoffs. The site is still pretty new, but it's great to have resources like it out there.

J.J. Hardy has gone 1-for-4 each of the last two nights since returning to the major leagues. What do you expect the Brewers to get for him this offseason? The Blue Jay Hunter would like to see him in Toronto, and is willing to offer relievers Jeremy Accardo and Jason Frasor, who would do a lot to help solidify the Brewer bullpen for next season but would still leave a gap in the rotation.

Meanwhile, Chris Capuano pitched well in his first appearance in Helena, throwing two scoreless innings. His velocity is down a bit, but that's to be expected from someone who's undergone Tommy John surgery twice. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Cappy after the season: He probably owes something to the Brewers, who spent all season rehabbing him despite very faint hops he'd pitch in 2009, but he'll also be a free agent.

The Brewers are commissioning focus groups to discuss what fans liked and didn't like about this season's Brewer team and ballpark experience. I'm guessing "more winning," "lower concession prices" and "cheaper parking" will be the suggestions.

The Brewers are up two spots to #18 in MLB FanHouse's Power Rankings.

Around baseball:

A's: Claimed pitcher John Meloan off waivers from the Pirates.
Giants: Designated pitchers Ryan Sadowski and Jesse English for assignment.
Nationals: Acquired minor league reliever Victor Garate as the PTBNL in the Ronnie Belliard trade.

We've hit September, so it's time to start talking about mathematical eliminations. As Jon Heyman noted, the Nationals were eliminated from contention in the NL East last night. The Orioles have already been eliminated from the division race as well. A Nats loss or a Rockies win today would eliminate them from contention for the Wild Card as well.

As a rule, I typically skim over or skip most things written by athletes on the web: They rarely have anything interesting to say, and would get themselves in trouble if they did say something worth noting, for the most part. With that said, I'm glad I didn't skip over this post at Baseball Analysts by A's prospect and Harvard grad Shawn Haviland, discussing the statistics that minor league pitching coaches do and don't care about, and how fluctuation in BABIP can impact them.

Rob Neyer and Wezen-ball offer their insights on old time pitchers, and how hard they actually threw. Neyer's analysis seems about right to me: they threw hard enough to earn a living today, but wouldn't dominate as they did then.

Getaway days in San Diego are going to suck next season: The Padres are moving the start of weekday day games from 12:35 Pacific Time to 3:35, meaning East Coast and Central Time Zone teams probably won't get out of San Diego until 7 or later local time, then face a cross country flight where they'll lose several hours in the air.

Congratulations are due out to former Brewer farmhand Michael Brantley, who picked up his first major league hit last night.

On this day in 1901, the original Milwaukee Brewers (who would later become the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles) lost both ends of a doubleheader, 10-0 and 6-1, to the original Baltimore Orioles (who would later become the New York Yankees). Joe McGinnity pitched complete games in both games for the Orioles.

On this day in 1976, Mike Hegan hit for the cycle as the Brewers beat the Tigers, 11-2. On this day in 1991, Jim Gantner homered (ending a 1762 AB homerless streak) and the Brewers scored three runs in the ninth to beat the A's, 5-3.

Happy birthday today to two former Brewer bullpen arms: Chad Fox, who turns 39, and Eric Plunk, who turns 46.

Oh, and yesterday was probably the only time William Ernest Henley will come up in baseball conversation this season.

Drink up.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:00:55 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Mike Cameron dives into third for a triple during the 12th inning Tuesday.

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Some things to read while not sleeping.

After staying up to catch the end of last night's game, I didn't get much sleep and for some reason all I can think of is breakfast. At least one Brewer blogger isn't having this problem, as Miller Park Drunk left the game early.

Felipe Lopez also left early last night, but the news might not be as bad as you'd think. Initial reports were that Lopez had aggravated a hamstring injury, but Adam McCalvy says he actually injured the arch of his foot rounding third base in the ninth inning last night. Lopez was checked out by a doctor but declined an X-ray and is expected to be reevaluated today.

One would think Lopez would want to do everything he can to get back in the lineup for the next couple of days: The Reds have announced Kip Wells as tonight's starter, and will start former Brewer Justin Lehr tomorrow. Lehr has made five starts for the Reds this season, his first major league appearances since posting an 8.62 ERA for the Brewers in 2006.

With last night's loss, the Brewers dropped to eleven games back of the Cardinals, their largest deficit of the season. Doug Melvin says he's not inclined to trade veterans at this point, but Ken Rosenthal is reporting that six Brewers were placed on trade waivers yesterday, including Felipe Lopez, Braden Looper and Mike Cameron.

What should the Brewers do with Prince Fielder? Dave Cameron of FanGraphs thinks the Brewers should trade him this offseason before he gets too expensive and patch some of the other holes in the roster. Meanwhile, David Pinto of Baseball Musings thinks the Brewers should offer Prince $20 million per season to buy out some of his free agent years. Either way, it's a tough spot for the Brewers: Fielder's incredible season means he could be worth significantly more than they can afford when he's eligible for arbitration again after next season, but it also makes him very difficult to trade, as few teams have and are willing to part with pieces that be worth fair market value for one of the NL's most productive hitters.

Jody Gerut went 0-for-1 last night, but is still hitting .345/.406/.552 since July 26, raising his season OPS by 51 points. Tony Gwynn, for whatever it's worth, is hitting .225/.317/.270 over the same time frame. Casa de Machado is willing to admit that Gerut might not be "complete trash."

Before the season it was almost an afterthought, but re-signing Craig Counsell might be one of the best moves Doug Melvin made this offseason. Sky Andrecheck of Baseball Analysts included Counsell as Best Team a Reasonable Amount of Money Can Buy.

Amidst everything else that's been going on the last few weeks, we haven't talked much about Corey Hart or Seth McClung, who are both getting closer to healthy. Hart hopes to head out on a rehab assignment next week, but the Brewers are taking things a little slower with Seth McClung's elbow. McClung has already had Tommy John surgery once.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this one: Jason Kendall has a six game hitting streak going, is hitting .340/.415/.457 since August 4 and is among the leaders in Plunk Everyone's new BACON and Beans statistic.

In the minors:

Mike Jones had one of the biggest nights of his career last night, rebounding from a rough debut by allowing just one earned run in 7.2 innings in Nashville's 4-1 win over Albuquerque. Jones allowed four hits and three walks while striking out seven, and threw 108 pitches while earning his first AAA victory.
The Brewers have added two outfielders to the roster in AAA, signing Tike Redman and Jon Knott.
Hernan Iribarren will join them in AAA sometime in the next few days. He was optioned to make room for Jeff Suppan.

If you've got nothing else going on this afternoon and want to spend more time discussing Brewer minor leaguers, then you might be interested in The Official Site's chat with Amateur Scouting Director Bruce Seid at 1 pm. I have a date with some yard work, so I'll be unable to attend.

Here's an interesting note from Lookout Landing: Carlos Villanueva and Mark DiFelice are among the unluckiest pitchers in baseball when it comes to getting strikes called on pitches in the zone, and the Brewers are the unluckiest team in baseball in the same category.

Following last night's loss, CoolStandings dropped the Brewers' playoff chances to .6%.

I usually do my best to avoid the restrooms at Miller Park, but if you must use them, Casa de Machado has a guide to etiquette that you should read first.

Around baseball:

Giants: Placed Freddy Sanchez on the DL with a shoulder strain.
Nationals: Signed Livan Hernandez and will start him today.
Rangers: Placed Andruw Jones on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Red Sox: Acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets for two PTBNL, one of which is rumored to be AAA slugger Chris Carter.
Reds: Signed Lew Ford to a minor league deal.
Rockies: Placed Dexter Fowler on the DL with swelling in his knee.

How much of being a good manager is simply perception? Rays manager Joe Maddon said this on Twitter yesterday:

On the road Ive asked guys 2 think about doing better by talking about playing better Has 2 begin w/ mental effort b4 it shows up physically

If Ned Yost had said something like that, we might have mocked it mercilessly. But when Joe Maddon said it, it somehow seems less nonsensical.

The Brewers officially named eight players to the Arizona Fall League yesterday, with Mark Rogers, Omar Aguilar, Zach Braddock, Josh Butler, Rob Wooten, Jonathan Lucroy, Taylor Green and Lorenzo Cain getting the call (FanShot). This year's AFL will have some significant star power as Stephen Strasburg will make his professional debut in the league, and will be joined by Mariners #1 pick Dustin Ackley, Giants pitcher Joe Martinez and catcher Buster Posey, Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata and Reds infielder Yonder Alonso, among others.

It's been at least a few days since the last time I had to mention an umpiring incident, but there's another one to report today: Several Rockies players complained that umpire Bill Miller called catcher Yorvit Torrealba a derogatory name in the late innings of a game Monday.

Ever wonder what it's like inside Bud Selig's office? Hal McCoy spent half an hour there yesterday and details much of the furniture, including a couch made entirely of baseball bats. (h/t Dear Ken Macha)

Do you enjoy Chuck Norris Facts? If so, you might be incredibly disappointed by these Ed Sprague Factoids, but you might enjoy these Rollie Fingers pictures.

On this day in 1987, Paul Molitor's 39-game hit streak came to an end as he was standing on deck when Rick Manning hit a walk-off single to beat the Indians 1-0 in ten innings. On this day in 1998, Phil Garner became the first Brewer manager to record 500 wins as the Brewers beat the Rockies 6-5.

Happy birthday today to Ricky Bottalico, who made 40 appearances as a Brewer in his final major league season in 2005, and turns 40 today. Alex Sanchez, first ballot "Don't Be That Guy" Hall of Famer, also turns 33.

Oh, and if you're a pro wrestling fan looking for a place to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors, SBNation has a blog for you.

Drink up.

Pirates Still Aren't Close

Charlie — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:57:38 -0000

The Post-Gazette editorial page continues its commentary on the Pirates. I'd rather not comment on these sorts of things, but because of the impact a P-G editorial can have on public opinion, I'll add my two cents.

Last week Pirates executives made one of the most controversial trades in years, dealing Gold Glove centerfielder Nate McLouth to Atlanta for three prospects (we were part of the chorus of critics). Yet today the team is only three games under .500 and four games out of first place in the National League Central Division.

In February the Penguins didn't look like contenders either, but the lure of the cup proved all-powerful. Now the Pirates have had a taste. May they, too, take up residency soon in the City of Champions.

I don't know anything about the Penguins, but even I know they came within two games of winning the Stanley Cup last year, have an amazing core of young talent and, moreover, spent several painful years patiently building that core of talent. There probably are lessons the Pirates can learn from the Penguins, but the idea that you should start putting champagne on ice every time you get anywhere near .500 isn't one them.

I'm not sure whether to read the above excerpt as a clueless criticism of the Pirates' current strategy or simple, ho-hum optimism, but just in case it's the former:

At almost this exact point in the year 2005, the Pirates beat the Devil Rays, giving them an actual .500 record, with 30 wins and 30 losses. They still lost 95 games that year, and that shouldn't have surprised anyone, because instead of looking at 60 games and assuming the results represent the team's true level of ability, a smart observer will, y'know, look at who's actually on the team. The 2005 Pirates started the year with Matt Lawton, Daryle Ward, Jose Castillo in Benito Santiago in their starting lineup and Tike Redman as the third hitter in their order. They also had Kip Wells, Josh Fogg, Mark Redman and Dave Williams in their rotation. They were .500 after 60 games, yes, but does that look like a championship-caliber core? Did the Pirates fail to win it all that year simply because "the lure" of a title was something less than "all-powerful"?

Then in 2006, the Pirates played 37-35 baseball after the All-Star break. That didn't stop the 2007 team from losing 95 games yet again, despite the much-ballyhooed offseason addition of Adam LaRoche. Again, talent matters. A bad team can sustain a run of passable baseball for a while. That doesn't mean it's headed for the World Series.

The Pirates are currently three games below .500. They aren't as bad as they've been in past years, but they still don't have enough offense, frontline starting pitching, or relief pitching. And here's a big secret: being three games below .500 this year is not much of an accomplishment. The Pirates are currently last in their division, and it's very hard to leapfrog five other teams, especially when two of them have as much talent as the Cubs and Brewers do. The Bucs are on pace to win 77 games, which frankly is nothing to write home about, even if it's much better than they've been the past several years. And that pace is actually better than it was before they traded McLouth. As someone who watches the games, I'm happy to see the Pirates doing a better job throwing strikes and playing defense. But they're still miles from where a contender should be, and I hope the front office will continue its business of rebuilding the organization from the ground up.