Does anyone know of anywhere I can find a clearly listed depth chart with contracts for all of the players?

I am in the midst of creating an Excel document but I have not found any reliable charts or contract listings. Instead of searching Google and risking finding an unreliable site, I decided to ask the BD crew. What site(s) should I use? (I have been using WTM's player profiles and Cot's Contracts.-by the way, WTM great profiles)

 

 

 

 

P.S. - I posted a Fanpost with questions about Nate Adcock over at Royals Review. That fanpost can be found here

Barring any major changes, I was just speculating what the list of players who would be unprotected would look like.

My list of players to be considered, and my choices:

Starting Pitchers: Paul Maholm, James McDonald, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, Zach Duke, Bryan Morris, Brian Burres, Donnie Veal, Kevin Hart, Brad Lincoln, Daniel McCutchen, Joe Martinez, Michael Crotta, Michael Dubee, Nathan Adcock, Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, Rudy Owens, Chris Jakubauskas, Dana Eveland, Jared Hughes

Make the cut (14): Maholm, McDonald, Ohlendorf, Karstens, Duke, Morris, Locke, Owens, Lincoln, McCutchen, Martinez, Morton, Adcock, Burres

60 day DL: Veal

Relief Pitchers:

Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan, Ramon Aguero, Brian Bass, Jose Ascanio, Sean Gallagher, Wilfredo Ledezma, Steven Jackson, Chan Ho Park, Chris Resop, Justin Thomas, Craig Hansen, Danny Moskos, Diego Moreno, Tony Watson, Jeff Sues, Tyler Yates

Make the cut (5): Hanrahan, Meek, Resop, Moreno, Ascanio

Catchers: Chris Snyder, Ryan Doumit, Jason Jaramillo, Erik Kratz, Hector Giminez

Make the cut (3): Snyder, Doumit, Jaramillo

1B: Garrett Jones, Jeff Clement, Steve Pearce, Brian Myrow

Make the cut (3): Jones, Clement, Pearce

2B: Neil Walker, Shelby Ford, Jim Negrych

Make the cut (1): Walker

3B: Pedro Alvarez, Andy LaRoche, Jesus Brito

Make the cut (2): Alvarez, LaRoche

SS: Ronny Cedeno, Argenis Diaz, Pedro Ciriaco, Brian Friday, Jose De Los Santos

Make the cut (3): Cedeno, Diaz, Ciriaco

OF: Andrew McCutchen, Lastings Milledge, Jose Tabata, Delwyn Young, John Bowker, Brandon Moss, Alex Presley, Starling Marte, Gorkys Hernandez, Miles Durham, Austin McClune

Make the cut (9): McCutchen, Tabata, Bowker, Marte, Hernandez, Milledge, Moss, Young, Presley

By request I decided I would compile all of the two GMs transactions in one fanpost tp make it easier to judge the two, and grade the two. We'll start with Littlefield

Dave Littlefield (July 13. 2001-September 7, 2007)

July 28: Released IF John Wehner

July 30:  OF John Vander Wal and SP Jason Schmidt traded to San Francisco Giants for OF Armando Rios and P Ryan Vogelsong 

Schmidt only went on to become a great starting pitcher for the Giants, Rios and Vogelsong are now both out of baseball.

July 31: Released P Jose Parra

July 31: Traded P Terry Mulholland to the Los Angeles Dodgers for P Mike Fetters and P Adrian Burnside

Fetters and Burnside fetched big returns in later trades

July 31: Traded P Mike Williams to the Houston Astros for P Tony McKnight

We re-signed Williams, so this trade didn't matter too much

August 6: Signed IF John Wehner

August 10: Claimed OF Gary Matthews Jr. off waivers from Chicago Cubs

August 13: Claimed IF Mendy Lopez off waivers from Houston Astros

August 15: Claimed IF Luis Figueroa off waivers from New York Mets

November 18: Signed P Kevin Tolar

December 13: Traded P Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans to Chicago White Sox for P Sean Lowe, P Kip Wells, and P Josh Fogg

Wells and Fogg were main-stays in the Pirates rotation for the better half of the decade. Fogg was arguably our most reliable pitcher all decade

December 13: Drafted IF Luis Ugueto in Rule 5 draft from Florida Marlins

December 20: Traded P Jose Silva to Cincinnati Reds for P Ben Shaffar

December 28: Sold OF Gary Matthews Jr. to the Mets

Matthews had an All-Star season for Texas, but since then he has been awful.

December 30: Signed P Salomon Torres

Great pitcher, great guy. One of the bright spots of the early 2000s teams

2002

January 2: Signed P Mike Williams

How many times did we trade and re-sign him?

Other players signed in January/February/March: P Brian Boehringer, P Scott Service, P Alberto Reyes, P Wayne Gomes, 2B Pokey Reese, P Ron Villone, C Mandy Romero, P Josias Mananillo, OF Curtis Pride, P Joe Roa, P Brian Meadows

Boehringer was a decent reliever, Pokey never lived up to the hype he received, Villone was ok at times, awful at others, Manzanillo and Meadows pitched in the bullpen

March 13: Released IF Warren Morris

March 27: Traded P Damaso Marte and UT Edwin Yan to White Sox for P Matt Guerrier

March 28: Sent P Joe Roa to Philadelphia Phillies to complete a trade

April 15: Claimed IF Tomas de la Rosa off waivers from Montreal Expos

June 4: Notable draft picks: Bryan Bullington (1st, 1st overall), 1B Brad Eldred (6th), P Matt Capps (7th), P Dave Davidson (10th), P Chris Demaria (17th), OF Nyjer Morgan (33rd)

July 6: Traded P Mike Fetters to Arizona Diamondbacks for P Duaner Sanchez

I felt Sanchez was going to turn out to be a great close, he was a huge project, but it was still a good trade for us

July 23: Signed P Ariel Prieto

July 31: Traded OF Chad Hermansen to Chicago Cubs for OF Darren Lewis

I know Hermansen was bad, but is he bad enough to trade him for a 39 year old outfielder? This is where Littlefield was wrong. If you are going to get an untalented player then get a young one.

August 15: Released P Josias Manzanillo

September 8: Released P Sean Lowe

October 10: Released OF Adrian Brown; Claimed P Jim Mann off waivers from Houston; Released IF Mendy Lopez

November/December signings: Signed IF Aaron Holbert, IF David Doster, IF Kevin Nicholson, P John Wasdin, C Chris Heintz, P Brian Boehringer, OF Matt Stairs, 3B Mike Gulan, P Ariel Prieto, P Mark Corey, P Nelson Figueroa, OF John Barnes

November 25: Traded P Adrian Burnside and P Roberto Novoa to Detroit Tigers for 1B Randall Simon

Novoa pitched a little bit for Detroit, Simon turned out to be a below-average first baseman

December 16: Royals select P D.J. Carrasco in Rule 5 Draft; Braves select P Chris Spurling in Rule 5 Draft; Padres select 3B/OF Rico Washington in Rule 5 Draft; Royals select C Ronny Paulino in Rule 5 Draft; Drafted P Matt Roney off the Rockies and sold  him to Tigers

December 20: Traded P Chris Young and P Jon Searles to Expos for P Matt Herges

Herges was cut before spring training ended, Young is a solid starter for the Padres

2003

January/February/March signings: OF Tike Redman, P Jeff D'Amico, P Julian Tavarez, P Courtney Duncan, P Pat Mahomes, P Mike Holtz, P Jeff Suppan, OF Reggie Sanders, P Dennys Reyes, OF Kenny Lofton

You can argue that the Pirates made an effort to win in 2003. They signed Sanders, Lofton, Suppan, Tavarez and D'Amico. It didn't turn out too well. D'Amico led the league in losses, Sanders had 31 homers, Lofton was given to the Cubs, Suppan was involved in the Freddy Sanchez trade

February 14: P Bronson Arroyo claimed off waivers by Boston Red Sox

Why we let Arroyo go, we may never know

March 13: Royals return C Ronny Paulino

March 28: Released P Matt Herges

April 18: Signed IF Jeff Reboulet

March 19: Granted P Dennys Reyes free agency

June 3: Notable draft picks: P Paul Maholm (1st, 8 overall), P Tom Gorzelanny (2nd), 2B Craig Stansberry (5th), P Josh Sharpless (24th)

June 29: Released 1B Kevin Young

That 1999 extension didn't work out did it?

July 8: Traded P John Wasdin to Toronto for OF Rich Thompson

July 21: Traded P Mike Williams to Phillies for P Frank Brooks

Williams, traded again...

July 22: Traded P Mike Gonzalez and P Scott Sauerbeck to Boston for P Brandon Lyon and P Anastacio Martinez

We gave away Sauerbeck?

July 23: Traded OF Kenny Lofton and 3B Aramis Ramirez to Chicago Cubs for P Matt Bruback, 3B Jose Hernandez, IF Bobby Hill

Worst trade of the entire Littlefield era, Bruback was on the team for a few days, Hill was a below average bench player, Hernandez was an old overpaid pathetic player

July 31: Traded P Brandon Lyon, P Anastacio Martinez and P Jeff Suppan to Boston for P Mike Gonzalez, IF Freddy Sanchez and cash

Traded Suppan and all the players we acquired 9 days prior, to get Gonzalez back and Freddy Sanchez.. Overall one of the Pirates best trades in the decade in my opinion

August 17: Traded 1B Randall Simon to Cubs for OF Ray Sadler

Sadler played a few games with the Bucs, no results. Simons wasn't particularly good for the Cubs though...

August 26: Traded OF Brian Giles to Padres for OF Jason Bay, P Oliver Perez and P Corey Stewart

Giles started to get worse slowly after the trade, Bay was the Pirates best player for a few seasons and he won the Rookie of the Year award. Perez had electric stuff but he couldn't put it together (a la Charlie Morton). Stewart got in trouble for DUI and I haven't heard from him since

October 1: Claimed P Jason Boyd off waivers from Indians

November 20: P Matt Guerrier claimed by Twins off waivers; P Duaner Sanchez claimed by Dodgers off waivers; 1B/OF Walter Young claimed off waivers by Orioles

I really thought that Walter Young and Duaner Sanchez had the potential to be stars. I guess I was wrong. Last I heard Young was playing for a team in his home town of Hattiesburg, Mississippi

December 15: Rule 5 Draft- 3B/OF Jose Bautista (Orioles); P Jeff Bennett (Brewers); P Frank Brooks (Mets); 1B/C Chris Shelton (Tigers); OF Rich Thompson (Padres)

2004

December/January/February/March/April signings: P Chris Fussell, P Juan Acevedo, C Keith McDonald, 1B/RF Andy Abad, 3B Chris Truby, OF Chris Singleton, Chris Stynes, 1B/OF Daryle Ward, P Blake Stein, OF Luke Allen, P Hector Almonte, C Sandy Martinez, P Willis Roberts, SS Donaldo Mendez, P Jose Mesa, OF Ruben Mateo, OF Raul Mondesi, 1B Randall Simon, P Mark Guthrie, 1B/OF Orlando Merced, IF Kevin Nicholson, P Andrew Lorraine, 2B/LF Terry Shumpert, IF Mike Moriarty, P Romulo Sanchez (May 7)

Ward was a solid player for the Bucs, Mesa was about an average closer, Simon was below average again, Mondesi decided to give up after a month

March 31: Boston returns P Frank Brooks

May 21: Released OF Raul Mondesi

Mondesi suspiciously signed with the Angels only 10 days later.

June 7: Notable Draft Picks: C Neil Walker (1st, 11th overall), SS Brian Bixler (2nd), P Todd Redmond (39th)

July 1: Sold OF Ruben Mateo to Royals

July 30: P Kris Benson, IF Jeff Keppinger traded to Mets for 3B Ty Wigginton, 3B/OF Jose Bautista and P Matt Peterson

Wigginton was supposed to be our long-term solution at the hot corner, Peterson was supposedly a solid pitcher like Josh Fogg. Neither performed at all. Keppinger is now a solid player fighting for a starting spot, which I am sure some teams would accomodate

August 4: Released 3B Chris Stynes

Another failed free agency signing

November/December signings: OF/1B/3B Howie Clark, OF Jon Nunnally, IF Jorge Velandia, C Carlos Maldonado, P Brian Reith, P Joe Roa, P Justin Kaye, P Kevin Olsen, P Mark Corey, 1B Damon Minor, 1B/3B Jose Leon, P Brian Mallette, IF/OF Cesar Crespo, P Kirk Bullinger

November 24: Traded OF JJ Davis to Washington Nationals for OF Antonio Sucre

The guy we picked over Lance Berkman was traded away for a 21 year old outfielder who gave up baseball after 2006

November 27: Traded C Jason Kendall to Oakland Athletics for P Mark Redman, P Arthur Rhodes and cash

Kendall was arguably the best liked player on the Pirates team from 1993-onwards, but he couldn't live up to his ludicrous contract. (who could?) Kendall will always be one of my favorites. Redman was awful, Rhodes didn't even pitch for us

December 1: Released OF Tony Alvarez, 1B Carlos Rivera and IF Abraham Nunez

The releases of Alvarez and Rivera paired with the trade of JJ Davis forced the Pirates to admit that that wave of prospects had been busts

December 11: Traded P Arthur Rhodes to Cleveland Indians for OF Matt Lawton

Lawton was supposed to be a great leader, but he never performed for the Pirates and was dealt in July

December 13: Rule 5 Draft-P Chris Demaria (Royals); P Henry Owens (Mets)

December 16: Traded P Leo Nunez to Royals for C Benito Santiago

Nunez is now the Marlins' closer, Santiago didn't survive two months with the Pirates. Enough said

2005

January/February/March signings: P Graham Koonce, P Hansel Izquierdo, P Todd Ritchie, OF Ben Grieve, P Albie Lopez, P Rick White, C David Ross

Rick White was a pleasant surprise for the 2005 bullpen

April 20: Claimed UT Alfredo Amezaga off waivers from Colorado (released May 5)

May 8: Released C Benito Santiago

June 7: Notable draft picks: OF Andrew McCutchen (1st, 11th overall), SS Brent Lillibridge (4th), 1B/RF Steven Pearce (8th)

McCutchen and Pearce look to be part of the Pirates future, if only we held on to Lillibridge...

July 28: Traded C David Ross to San Diego for IF JJ Furmaniak

July 31: Traded OF Matt Lawton to Chicago Cubs for OF Jody Gerut and cash

Traded an old below average outfielder, for a young underachieving outfielder. I love this trade, even though we didn't get anything out of it

November/December signings: 3B Travis Chapman, SS Jason Alfaro, P Jason Roach, P Britt Reames, P Scott Strickland, P Roberto Hernandez, P Nerio Rodriguez, P Giovanni Carrara, 3B/LF Mike Edwards

November 21: Traded IF Bobby Hill to San Diego for P Clayton Hamilton

Thus we admitted defeat in the Aramis Ramirez/Kenny Lofton armed robbery

November 28: Sold OF Tike Redman to Mets

I actually liked Tike Redman, too bad he was never that good

December 7: Traded P Mark Redman to Royals for P Jonah Bayliss and P Chad Blackwell

Redman was somehow an All-Star for the Royals (representation rule), Bayliss was a pathetic reliever, Blackwell was never heard from again

December 8: Released 3B Ty Wigginton; Selected P Victor Santos from Royals in Rule 5 Draft; Traded P Dave Williams to Reds for 1B Sean Casey and cash

I guess our future star at the hot corner (Wigginton) wasn't going to be a star after all. Santos was a below average starter, Sean Casey was a good local guy, good story to bring him back, only to dish him off in July

December 13: Traded OF/3B/2B Rob Mackowiak to White Sox for P Damaso Marte

Mackowiak was a good utility player, Marte was a good lefty specialist. Both teams did well in this trade

2006

January/February/March signings: 3B Joe Randa, P Marty McLeary, P Brandon Duckworth, P CJ Nitkowski, OF Jeromy Burnitz, P Terry Adams, P Brandon Knight, P Jorge Vasquez, IF Jose Hernandez, 1B Chris Richard

Arguably the worst free agency signing period for the Pirates in the entire decade. Duckworth was a surprise, but Burnitz was the biggest waste of $6 millon Pittsburgh's ever seen, Randa robbed the Pirates of $4 million, and Terry Adams who was supposed to lead our bullpen, didn't make the team

June 6: Notable Draft Picks: P Brad Lincoln (1st, 4th overall), IF Shelby Ford (3rd), IF Jim Negrych (6th), OF Alex Presley (8th), Michael Crotta (17th), P Rudy Owens (28th)

This draft could end up providing us with 5 or 6 solid major leaguers, or none.

July 31: Traded 1B Sean Casey to Detroit for P Brian Rogers; Traded P Roberto Hernandez and P Oliver Perez to Mets for Xavier Nady; Traded 1B/C/RF Craig Wilson to Yankees for P Shawn Chacon; Traded P Kip Wells to Rangers for P Jesse Chavez

I think we could have gotten more for Casey, Craig Wilson was a fan favorite and all he fetched was an overpaid, below average veteran pitcher, Wells fetched a good return, Chavez a solid relief pitcher for the Pirates in 2009, the Nady trade is the most important though. At the time I thought Perez's potential was too high and we shouldn't just trade him away, I'm now glad we traded him because Nady was a solid player for us and then helped us acquire Tabata, Ross, DCutch and Karstens. Ricardo Rincon-the gift that keeps on giving.

August 22: Sold Jose Hernandez to Phillies; Selected P Juan Perez off waivers from Mets

November/December signings: P Ronald Belisario, P John Wasdin, OF Chris Aguila, IF Eddy Garabito, UT Don Kelly, P Jim Brower, P Masumi Kuwata, C Einar Diaz, SS Nick Green, OF Luis Matos

Kuwata was the only one of the bunch who made a difference. It wasn't a very positive one

December 7: Selected P Sean White in Rule 5 Draft from Braves and sold him to Mariners

December 12: Claimed P Franquelis Osoria off waivers from Los Angeles Dodgers

I actually thought Osoria was one of our best relievers on pure stuff alone. He just was too inconsistent

December 20: IF Craig Stansberry claimed off waivers by San Diego Padres

Stansberry got to see some big league playing time elsewhere, never really developed into anything major league caliber though

2007

January/February/March signings: P Tony Armas, P Michael Tejera, P Brandon Puffer, 3B Chris Truby, P Mark Corey, P Danny Kolb, P Yoslan Herrera, 1B Randy Ruiz, IF Luis Ordaz, P Alay Soler

Armas' contract knocks on the door for top 10 worst Pirates contracts since 2000, Herrera was one of the highest profile Latin American signings that the Pirates ever had.

January 19: Traded P Mike Gonzalez and SS Brent Lillibridge to Atlanta for 1B Adam LaRoche and OF/3B/1B Jamie Romak 

I don't like this trade. Not because of LaRoche and/or Gonzalez, because of Lillibridge and Romak, Lillibridge became a young decent shortstop, Romak stopped progressing at High A;.LaRoche was one of the Pirates' better hitters

March 8th: Released OF Jody Gerut

April 25: Released P Jonathan Albaldejo

Albaldejo actually has turned into a middle reliever for the Yankees

June draft: Notable picks- P Daniel Moskos (1st, 4th overall)

Signability...

June 22: Claimed 1B Josh Phelps off waivers from Yankees

July 19: Traded cash to Chicago Cubs for SS Cesar Izturis

July 31: Traded OF Rajai Davis and P Stephen MacFarland to Giants for P Matt Morris

First we traded two decent prospects, Davis has become one of the league's best base stealers. Morris remained on the Pirates for only a little longer before we realized it was a bad deal. Oh and we also paid for all of Morris' contract

End of Littlefield Era (September 7, 2007), beggining of Neal Huntington Era (September 25, 2007)

HALELUJAH

October 15: Claimed OF Kevin Thompson off waivers from Oakland Athletics

October 26: Claimed P Phil Dumatrait off waivers from Reds

November 20: Claimed P Jimmy Barthmaier off waivers from Houston Astros

November 28: P Shane Youman claimed off waivers by Phillies

I had the honor of seeing Youman pitch the last game of the 2006 season. He was impressive, I am somewhat surprised he never really turned into any major league material

 December 3: Claimed P Ty Taubenheim off waivers from Toronto Blue Jays; Claimed SS Josh Wilson off waivers from Tampa Bay Rays

December 6: Released 2B Jose Castillo; Drafted P Evan Meek in the Rule 5 Draft from the Rays

Castillo underperformed and never lived up to his potential, Meek has become the Pirates best reliever this season

December 7: Traded P Salomon Torres to Milwaukee Brewers for P Marino Salas and P Kevin Roberts

This was a shame. Torres publicly was dissapointed and he retired only a year later. Salas and Roberts both stunk, Torres loved Pittsburgh but obviously management didn't love him back

December signings: C Raul Chavez, SS Luis Cruz, IF Luis Rivas, SS Chris Gomez, P Mike Thompson, P Adam Bernero, IF Jorge Valendia, P T.J. Beam, C Miguel Perez, 3B/OF Jose Macias, P Elmer Dessens

Gomez was a waste of money and a roster spot, Chavez, Cruz, Rivas and Beam all played at some point for the big league team in 2008

2008

January/February/March signings: P Mike Burns, P Jaret Wright, P Casey Fossum, SS Melvin Dorta, P Hector Carrasco, 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, P Byung-Hyung Kim, P Jason Davis, 1B/RF/C Craig Wilson

Mientkiewicz was a leader in the clubhouse, and always gave 110% on the field. Davis pitched from the bullpen for a while, Wilson's return to the system wasn't what we all hoped for

February 1: Claimed IF Ray Olmedo off waivers from Blue Jays (Phillies claim Olmedo 24 days later)

March 26: Traded P Todd Redmond to Atlanta Braves for P Tyler Yates

I didn't and I still don't like this trade, Redmond is a younger version of Yates, a below average reliever

March 28: Received IF Matt Kata from Colorado Rockies

 April 27: Released P Matt Morris

Neal Huntington just cleaning up Dave Littlefield's little mess

May 8: Received OF Jason Michaels from Cleveland Indians

Michaels was a solid outfielder off the bench for 2008

May 15: Returned P Evan Meek to Tampa Bay Rays; Purchased Meek from Rays

One of the greatest moves yet by NH, he somehow was able to get the Rays to part with Meek

June 5: Notable Draft Picks: 3B Pedro Alvarez (1st, 2nd overall), P Tanner Scheppers (2nd, did not sign), SS Chase D'Arnaud (4th), P Justin Wilson (5th), P Quinton Miller (20th)

Imagine if we has signed Scheppers...Taillon, Scheppers, Allie, Heredia

June 19: Traded P Jonah Bayliss to Toronto Blue Jays

Bayliss was nothing but awful for us

June 25: Traded P Kyle Pearson to Detroit Tigers for P Denny Bautista

Bautista was a solid reliever for the Bucs

July 10: Bryan Bullington claimed off waivers by Cleveland Indians; Traded 1B/RF/C Craig Wilson to Seattle Mariners; Acquired P Dan Reichert from Cleveland Indians

Bullington pitched a gem for Kansas City the other day against the Yankees, is he finally going to perform?

July 26: Traded 1B/RF Xavier Nady and P Damaso Marte to New York Yankees for OF Jose Tabata, P Jeff Karstens, P Daniel McCutchen and P Ross Ohlendorf

The consensus best trade yet by NH, He acquired 4 young players who can help turn the Pirates around for a lefty specialist and a solid corner outfielder

July 31: Traded OF Jason Bay to Boston Red Sox for P Craig Hansen, OF Brandon Moss, 3B Andy LaRoche and P Bryan Morris

Was this the best trade on the table? Some say Jeff Niemann and two prospects were offerred for Bay. We may never know, we do know though that if Morris doesn't become a good #2 or #3 starter that this trade can be filed in the failures

August 2: Traded SS Josh Wilson to Boston Red Sox

August 21: Traded 3B/OF Jose Bautista to Toronto Blue Jays for C Robinzon Diaz

Did anybody actually think Bautista was going to become a 40 home run hitter?

December signings: P Brian Slocum, IF Ramon Vazquez, 1B/OF Garrett Jones, P Juan Mateo, OF Jeff Salazar, 1B/3B Andy Phillips, P Chris Bootcheck

For every Garrett Jones' there's 5000 Jeff Salazars. Salazar was awful, Jones went from AAA depth to core player in the big leagues in the span of one year. Bootcheck pitched sparingly out of the Pittsburgh bullpen. Vazquez was the latest waste of money

December 10: Traded C Ronny Paulino to Phillies for C Jason Jaramillo

JJ is a defense-first catcher, Paulino recently got suspended 50 games. Paulino was a better hitter but JJ is a better defensive catcher

December 11: Selected P Donnie Veal from Chicago Cubs in Rule 5 Draft

2009

January signings:  P Jeremy Powell, IF Pedro Lopez, SS Anderson Machado, OF Craig Monroe, C Erik Kratz, C Hector Giminez, 1B/OF Eric Hinske, IF Ruben Gotay, P Harvey Garcia

Kratz was a pleasant surprise and made his major league debut this year, Monroe played poorly for the big league club, Hinske was a jerk and requested a trade, which he indeed got

January 27: Claimed P Virgil Vasquez off waivers from San Diego Padres

Nooooooooooo

February 5: P T.J. Beam claimed off waivers by Toronto Blue Jays

April 15: Traded P Eric Krebs and P Harvey Garcia to Los Angeles Dodgers for 2B/OF Delwyn Young

Delwyn Young has been the best Pirates bench player over the last two seasons. Lets just keep him as the DH/never playing defense

April 17: Traded 1B/3B Andy Phillips to White Sox for P Michael Dubee

Dubee is actually pitching pretty well at AAA

April 24: P Dave Davidson claimed off waivers by Florida Marlins

May 16: Traded P Romulo Sanchez to New York Yankees for P Eric Hacker

May 18: Claimed P Steven Jackson off waivers from Yankees

Jackson has been solid and has done everything the Pirates have asked of him

June 3: Traded OF Nate McLouth to Atlanta Braves for P Charlie Morton, OF Gorkys Hernandez and P Jeff Locke

McLouth was sold at just the right time, he not only struggled in Atlanta, he's struggling at AAA Gwinnett, Morton is the most inconsistent starter since Perez (maybe more inconsistent), Hernandez has good glove and speed but an Argenis Diaz-like bat, Locke is showing promise at AA Altoona. This trade is a win more for what potential we have then what McLouth isn't doing

June Draft: Notable picks- C Tony Sanchez (1st, 4th overall), Victor Black (Comp. 1st), Brooks Pounders (2nd), OF Evan Chambers (3rd), Zackary Dodson (4th), P Zack Von Rosenberg (6th), P Trent Stevenson (7th), P Colton Cain (8th),

June 30: Traded P Sean Burnett and OF Nyjer Morgan to Washington Nationals for P Joel Hanrahan and OF Lastings Milledge; Traded 1B/OF Eric Hinske and cash to Yankees for P Casey Erickson and C Eric Fryer

Hinske was detrimental to the team, Morgan was one of the funnest players to watch, it was hard to see him go. Milledge is a beast with RISP but otherwise he's below average. Hanrahan is a good reliever who could turn into an average closer or an above average set up man

July 1: Released OF Craig Monroe

July 22: Traded 1B Adam LaRoche to Boston Red Sox for SS Argenis Diaz and P Hunter Strickland

LaRoche had little-to-no-value, Diaz has actually surprised me and is seeing some playing time in the big leagues, Strickland is at one of the A league teams

July 29: Traded SS Jack Wilson and P Ian Snell to Seattle Mariners for SS Ronny Cedeno, 1B/C Jeff Clement, P Brett Lorin, P Nate Adcock, P Aaron Pribanic; Traded 2B Freddy Sanchez to San Francisco Giants for P Tim Alderson

Wilson was a fan favorite, Snell was inconsistent and Seattle has since given up on him. Cedeno is a great fielder, bad hitter, Clement has a ton of power potential but can he actually get contact? Lorin, Adcock and Pribanic all are solid pitchers who have a shot at making a difference

July 30: Traded P John Grabow and P Tom Gorzelanny to Chicago Cubs for IF Josh Harrison, P Kevin Hart and P Jose Ascanio

Grabow was going to leave anyways, Gorzo is pitching well for the Cubbies. Harrison is hitting for a great average at Altoona, Hart is out for the year, Ascanio has been out all year, no idea when he's going to be back. Bad trade if this keeps up

August 5: Traded P Mike Koplove to Seattle Mariners for SS Deybis Benitez

September 24: Claimed P Anthony Claggett off waivers from Yankees

October 29: Claimed P Justin Thomas off waivers from Seattle Mariners

November 3: Traded P Jesse Chavez to Tampa Bay Rays for IF Aki Iwamura

Aki wasn't that good leadoff hitter NH thought he'd be. Aki was slow as molasses in the field. Chavez has pitched poorly for Atlanta this season. Tampa Bay turned Chavez into an All Star closer (Rafael Soriano). Maybe we could've gotten more than Aki. Bad trade

November/December signings: P Wil Ledezma, IF Bobby Crosby, P Vinnie Chulk, P Brian Burres, P Javier Lopez, 1B Brian Myrow, P Jack Taschner, P Tyler Yates, P Neal Cotts

Lopez, Ledezma and Taschner have all pitched out of the bullpen this year, Crosby was a backup infielder before being shipped off to Phoenix, Burres pitched well as a starter. 

November 20: Claimed P Chris Jakubauskas off waivers from Mariners

December 7: SS Luis Cruz claimed off waivers by Milwaukee Brewers

December 10: Selected OF John Raynor from Florida Marlins in Rule 5 Draft

2010

January/February/March signings: C Luke Carlin, OF Ryan Church, P Brian Bass, P Brendan Donnelly, P D.J. Carrasco, P Octavio Dotel, 2B Doug Bernier, OF Kevin Melillo

Church was dreadful. Donnelly was bad, Carrasco and Dotel were good. Carlin, Church, Dotel, Carrasco, and Donnelly are all out of the organization already

January 18: Traded UT Brian Bixler to Cleveland Indians for IF Jesus Brito

YES!!!!!

January 19: Claimed OF Brandon Jones off waivers from Atlanta Braves

March 29: Claimed P Hayden Penn off waivers from Florida Marlins

Penn was well......umm....a headcase?

April 2: Traded P Virgil Vasquez to Tampa Bay Rays for PTBNL

April 8: Released IF Ramon Vazquez

NH sucked up his pride and admitted he made a mistake with Vazquez

April 24: Traded OF Jonathan Van Every to Boston Red Sox for PTBNL

May 4: Returned OF John Raynor to Florida Marlins

May 31: Traded C Josue Peley to Boston Red Sox for OF Jonathan Van Every

June 1: Traded P Ronald Uviedo to Toronto Blue Jays for P Dana Eveland

???? This trade doesn't make any sense

June Draft: Notable picks: P Jameson Taillon (1st, 2nd overall), P Stetson Allie (2nd), OF Mel Rojas Jr. (3rd), P Nick Kingham (4th)

July 7: Acquired P Sean Gallagher from San Diego Padres for cash

Gallagher has actually impressed me, he is pitching average, which is better than some of our pitchers

July 12: Acquired UT Brian Bixler from Cleveland Indians for PTBNL

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

July 22: Sold P Vinnie Chulk and P Hayden Penn to Japan

July 29: Released P Brendan Donnelly

Donnelly was a cool guy, and a leader but his on-field performance just didn't cut it

July 30: Acquired RF Mitch Jones from Atlanta Braves for cash

Could he turn into the next Garrett Jones? The Jones Brothers-they're on a mission from Neal

July 31: Traded P DJ Carrasco, OF Ryan Church and IF Bobby Crosby to Arizona Diamondbacks for C Chris Snyder, SS Pedro Ciriaco and cash; Traded P Javier Lopez to San Francisco Giants for OF John Bowker and P Joe Martinez; Traded P Octavio Dotel to Los Angeles for OF Andrew Lambo and P James McDonald

NH performed some great robbery on the deadline this year. He acquired a starting catcher (Snyder), an Argenis Diaz clone (Pedro Ciriaco), a couple of fringe players with oodles of team control (Bowker and Martinez), a top prospect who fell out of favor (Lambo), and a major league starter who has displayed filthy breaking balls (McDonald) all for the price of 5 free agency signings, Dotel, Church, Carrasco, Crosby, and Lopez (about $7.5 million combined)

August 2: Traded OF Brandon Jones to Detroit Tigers for PTBNL

August 4: Claimed P Chris Resop off waivers from Atlanta Braves; Claimed P Chan Ho Park off waivers from New York Yankees

August 7: Traded UT Brian Bixler to Washington Nationals for cash

Wait, didn;t we trade him already?...

August 10: Traded C Luke Carlin to Cleveland Indians for PTBNL

Overall grades:

Littlefield signings: F (Burnitz, Randa, Mondesi, Stynes overshadow Sanders)

Littlefield trades: D (2 good trades- Freddy Sanchez trade and Brian Giles trade)

Littlefield draft: C+ (Bullington and Moskos makes me want to put an F here but Littlefield picked Neil Walker, Cutch, Lincoln, Paul Maholm, Gorzo, Capps, Nyjer Morgan and Steve Pearce and a few others)

Huntington signings: B- (Garrett Jones, the 2010 bullpen and many good veterans who have contributed, but he also signed his share of bums, Vazquez, Church, and Chris Gomez to name a few)

Huntington trades: B (Nady and McLouth were big wins, Bay is still to be determined, but NH acquired young prospects so he has given himself the chance to win most of his trades. He's also done well on a few minor ones like Delwyn Young)

Huntington draft: B+(Sanchez was an overdraft in 2009, but he picked a bunch of high potential high school pitchers, Taillon and Allie are phenomenal, and Alvarez is already making his dent in the big leagues)

Thanks for reading my take, I'd like you to share yours

In honor of the Pirates clinching their 18th consecutive losing season I decided that I'd make a list of the 18 worst things that either happened to the Pirates or the Pirates did. List of 18 Good things to come

18. Drafting John Van Benschoten and changing his position

After selecting JVB 8th overall in 2001, the Pirates decided to convert the NCAA's home run leader into a starting pitcher. Epic Fail

17. Willie Stargell dies of a stroke at age 61 on April 9, 2001

R.I.P. Pops

16. Manager Lloyd McClendon steals first base

Actually, this was extremely enjoyable. I still find it hilarious to this day, but it exposed just how bad things were in Pittsburgh to the rest of the baseball world

15. 1994 All Star Game

In Pittsburgh, showcasing the game's best stars, and the best we have to show is Carlos Garcia?

14. Selecting P Daniel Moskos 4th overall in the 2007 draft

Signability-the lack of masculinity or the fear of Scott Boras. Moskos, the 9th rated pitcher in the draft ahead of C Matt Wieters, who will be an All Star in the next couple of seasons and Jayson Heyward, a rookie All Star starter.

13. Selecting P Bryan Bullington 1st overall in the 2002 Draft

Bullington- a projectable three or four starter ahead of BJ Upton, Zack Grienke, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher and Cole Hamels?

12. Trading stolen base king OF Rajai Davis to San Francisco with another prospect for P Matt Morris

The worst part of this trade-we paid for Morris' entire contract!

11. Being clobbered 20-0 by the Milwaukee Brewers

Pretty self-explanatory

10. Manatee Community College defeats Pirates 6-4

Pathetic this actually included "a collection of the Pirates top prospects" including OF Jose Tabata, OF Andrew McCutchen, 3B Neil Walker  I know Virgil Vasquez was indeed the pitcher but no excuse to lose to a Community College

9. Signing OF Jeromy Burnitz and 3B Joe Randa

Burnitz had this to say after the season to Littlefield: "I can't thank you enough Dave", and Randa did only good thing while he was here in his second stint-get injured so we could discover Freddy Sanchez (Randa's HR off of Chris Young with 2 outs in the 9th to break up his no-hit bid was bad because it kept the Pirates off of Sportscenter for the millionth straight day) 

8. Jeff Tabaka vs. Marc Wilkins fight over a card game

Seriously? A Card Game?

7. 1B Randall Simon attacks a sausage in Milwaukee

Atleast it got us onto Sportscenter...

6. Signing C Jason Kendall to the ludicrous extension

No, sorry Jason Kendall isn't worth 6 years, $60 million, sorry to surprise you

5. Signing OF Raul Mondesi

What kind of player plays for two months, dissapears and then cries about being on a losing team? It was your choice to sign with the Buccos in the first place...

4. Signing OF Derek Bell

Bell, coming off a season where he hit below .200, felt he was too good to have to fight for a job. Operation Shutdown did not work...

3. Pirates give away 3B Aramis Ramirez and OF Kenny Lofton to the rival Cubs

This is one of the most lopsided trades I can remember in all of sports, the Pirates get a pitcher they lose a couple of days after the trade, a 40 year old strikeout machine and a backup infielder. I thought MLB could override trades that heavily favored one team...

2. Kevin McClatchy leads an investment group that purchases the Pirates in 1996 for $95 million

Thus began the era of "Spend none unless on some old veteran who has no other offers." Thank God the Nuttings came around to save us and spend a couple extra dollars on more promotions...

1. Barry Bonds leaving in free agency

It was inevitable yet still disheartening. It seems that Ted Simmons could have given Bonds an extension during the 1992 season but Bonds' party claimed that they were never even approached. The thought that the Pirates management could have kept Barry Bonds but didn't even try is one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced.

Also check this article out over at 93.7 The Fan's website. The 31 Most embarrasing moments in the "Post-Barry Bonds era"

Watching Leo Nunez, a former prospect of the Pirates, mow down the Bucco batters today brought me back to the Dave Littlefield era. That botched trade (Nunez to Kansas City for an ancient Benito Santiago) was just one of the overseen moves, one of many moves that Littlefield made that set our team back. Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill, Kip Wells, the list goes on and on thinking about this makes me appreciate NH. He's acquired young players opposed to older, more major league ready players. Littlefield was trying to win right then and there (I think he was...) but NH realizes that the major leagues had no talent whatsoever so we needed to scrap it and start over, NH has given me confidence in the future and the fact that we are actually getting recognized somewhat by the big critics in a positive light is something we haven't experienced since maybe the Barry Bonds era. I would give NH a vote of confidence and extend his contract through 2014. If the Pirates reach anything around .500 or above, then extend him longer, otherwise then you can say that NH's plan did not quite work out

According to Rob Biertempfel over at the Trib, via Ben Nicholson-Smith at MLBTradeRumors.com, the St. Louis Cardinals are interested in Pirates IF Andy LaRoche. Their interest is the result of starting 3B David Freese's season-ending injury. The Cardinals do have two mediocre internal replacements already (Felipe Lopez and Allen Craig), so the acquistion of LaRoche seems to me like it would make little sense for the Red Birds.LaRoche is hitting a meager .223/.290/.299 this season. I think it is also worth mentioning that the Pirates have control over LaRoche through 2013, his first year of arbitration is this year. Unless the Cardinals offer a good prospect or two, I wouldn't expect anything to happen. LaRoche is more valuable to the Pirates as a Utility Man than any poor prospect at A or Rookie League. Despite being pushed to the bench by Pedro Alvarez's call-up and being held out of the lineup by Neil Walker's consistent play, LaRoche hasn't showed signs of frustration and he seems to be a good clubhouse prescence so IMO we should keep LaRoche unless they offer a B- or possibly C+ prospect.

...what the titles of some of the Pirates' batting music were. There were a few that really stumped me: Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, Ronny Cedeno, and Paul Maholm. If somebody knows the list I'd really appreciate it, I really like Tabata's and Pedro's music so I want to know what they are so I can dowload them. Thanks in advance

BTW-good game tonight, lots of Reds fans though, congratulations to Evan Meek for his 1st hit that I can recall.

Via Ben Nicholson-Smith at MLBTradeRumors.com

Arizona Diamondbacks backup Catcher Chris Snyder is reportedly on his way to Pittsburgh pending the league's approval on the amount of money that Arizona is sending to the Pirates to help pay for Snyder's undeserving contract ($4.75 million this year, $5.75 million in 2011, $6.75 million club option for 2012 with a $750,000 buyout). Snyder is hitting .230 with 10 HR's. Nothing special about Snyder, the real hot topic is who are we sending out to the desert?

Apparently Charlie Morton was almost traded straight-up for Snyder earlier this season

I think it could be a washed-up AA or AAA guy like Brian Bixler, Brandon Jones, Brandon Moss, or Jean Machi.

It seems that Arizona is desperate to get rid of Snyder, and Pittsburgh seems desperate to no longer have Ryan Doumit as the catcher, maybe Doumit is being shipped to Arizona for Snyder and some prospects...(I highly doubt this scenario)

The most likely scenario is that the Pirates give Arizona a prospect or two from A ball that we'll never hear from again, Pittsburgh will get about $2 million from the D'Backs to help pay Snyder's contract and Doumit will be moved this off-season..

Bottom line though is that I hope we don't give anything that actually potentially could have value (Jeff Clement, Morton, Ronny Cedeno, Moss, Lastings Milledge, and any other players who fans have asked for their heads at times)

Watching Ryan Church strike out at-bat after at-bat is more and more panful. He does not deserve a spot on a major league roster. It's doubtful he even deserves a spot as a starter on a AAA club. Brandon Moss, Brandon Jones, Jonathan Van Every, Brian Myrow. Give me even Brian Bixler! I'll take anyone but Church. I apologize for the rant but I couldn't handle watching him come to the plate and seeing that he is hitting dreadfully, Bixler-esque numbers. Worse than Akinori Iwamura. Church's numbers: (via MLB.com player page)

Average .189

Hits/At-Bats 31/164

HR 3

RBI 18

StrikeOuts(SO)/BB 42/11

SO/At-Bats 42/164=25.6% of the time. When have you had someone hit this poorly, strike out this often, be this old (31) thus having little-to-no future and still maintain a roster spot?

How much longer will we have to endure this?

The Pirates need to call up Jeff Clement by August 1st. In the short time he had in Pittsburgh he displayed solid power. He needs to "get his feet wet in the majors" just like Pedro, Tabata and Lincoln. This season is already done so we might as well prepare as best we can for next season. NH mentioned that Clement could occasionally catch next year. Why not try this year? Clement could start 4 days a week (1 at catcher, 3 at first base) and Garrett Jones can move to RF because JR obviously doesn't want to play Milledge and it is becoming very frustrating seeing the name Ryan Church grace a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey every gameday. Clement has legit major league power. He could be a great asset, even just as a bench player (backup C/backup 1B) and he could provide some homers off the bench. Also, we need to trade 2 of our relievers. Not more though because if we inserted our AAA bullpen then I think they'd get rocked. I'd like to see Octavio Dotel and Javier Lopez go because I think they could fetch us the best returns. I am a huge fan of Brendan Donnelly so I would like to see him return, and I think D.J. Carrasco is too valuable to us, plus he has 1 more year of team control. What are your thoughts?

Most of you will probably find this pretty irrelevant but I just saw on SportsCenter today that Brad Eldred is alive and well. He is playing for the Colorado Rockies. Last night he actually went 2-for-4 with a 2-run-home-run and five total bases. After further research I discovered that it was his first homer as a Rockie this year, he was recently recalled to replace the injured Todd Helton. He has now played in 3 games this season, and he is hitting .555. This is Big Country's first return to the big leagues since he struggled in 19 games for the Pirates in 2007. Congratulations to Brad and his family, he's a good guy and its nice to see that he gets to returm to the big leagues a couple of days before his birthday (7/12/1980)

Pedro Alvarez just mashed an RBI ground rule double over the left field fence. Hopefully now that he has gotten his 1st hit he can now release some of the immense pressure off his young shoulders and he can get into a groove.

Word Count- Milledge is an absolute beast today.When Steve Pearce comes back the axe has to fall on to Mr. Ryan Church and his infamous ability to forget that he is playing baseball, and not golf

With the addition of Pedro Alvarez, this team looks a lot more formidable and they might actually hit a homerun every once in a while. With this said I was wondering what my chances of obtaining a ticket at around 6:00 would be. I would love to go but I'm beginning to think that its going to be a sell-out much like Washington's Stephen Strasburg debut. So how many seats will be filled Wednesday night vs the Chicago White Sox?

Poll

How many tickets will be sold for tonight's game vs the Chicago White Sox?

1%

0 - 10,000

2 votes

13%

10,000 - 20,000

16 votes

63%

20,000 - 30,000

76 votes

17%

30,000 - 37,000

21 votes

3%

Sellout

4 votes

119 votes | Poll has closed

Wouldn't it be logical for Pedro to come up Tuesday June 15th? I think this would make sense because it would be a home-stand and it seems as though he is ready. I would like to go to his first game and so I'm trying to schedule everything around Tuesday yet it seems that it would be a little late for an announcement. So my question for yinz is tis: When can we expect Pedro Alvarez up in the majors? When will NH announce this? and additionally Who will be forced out of a job in Pittsburgh?

I will voice my opinion

1) We should expect Alvarez on Wednesday, I think NH would've announced already.

2) I think it will leak tonight and NH wil announce it tommorow.

3) Akinori Iwamura. Not much of a question but I added it just because we're going to need to get rid of someone

The Pirates just picked Jameson Taillon. Is this the right move?I personally felt Manny Machado would have been better but I'm not sure. He sounds good but I'm not sure. He sounds too good to be true. Woodland Hills High School product, Texas native, 99mph. Nasty stuff for a High Schooler. The real question is can we sign him?

Machado wouldve been easier, how much money will her be getting? this should be interesting. 

I'm a fan of Jonathan Van Every, and so I was please to hear that the Red Sox were willing to give him back to us for a 22 year old Low-A Cathcer who can't hit. Josue Peley will most likely wash out and dissappear in a few years, so I like this trade. On to Van Every. I have speculation that we did this deal for depth, not at the minor league level but at the major league level. I think this trade signals the end to Ryan Church's career as a Pittsburgh Pirates. Van Every, like Church can play all 3 OF positions, and is also younger (30<31). Church is just hitting worse and worse and worse that soon I am going to mistake him for Aki. Anyways, my point is that Van Every brings everything and anything that Church brings and so I see no reason to keep the more expensive, older, slower Church who we know is just using Pittsburgh as a catapult to get a better job next year (which likely won't happen if he keeps this up)
Do any of you think that this trade has any signifcance or is it just minor league depth?