When is it going to be time for the Pirates' FO to abandon the maddening "fastballs till your blue in the face" philosophy with their minor league pitchers? I think Tim W., Vlad, WTM, Charlie, etc. would be able to put a better analysis on this than me, but I'm curious to see what other posters think, as I sometimes read comments where a player is given the obligatory crutch "Player Z's stats can't be taken seriously because he was only focusing on his fastball command".

It's been 4 years of this philosophy and what is there to show for it? To my knowledge, there has not been one pitching prospect that has seen a tangible benefit & stepped forward as a good prospect going forward, though it'd be tough to quantify. Sure the Bucs have a lot of pitchers in their top prospects list, but how many are based on potential, rather than performance.

A couple related thoughts:

- If anything, I think this philosopy has damaged the confidence and development of many pitchers, especially the ones that have came in from other organizations, namely Alderson & Morris (just my opinion).

- Allowing pitchers to get their brains beat in also adversly effects the trade values to other teams.

- How many of the pitchers in the majors succeed on soley their fastball command these days? I can't think of many, while it's definitely part of the equation, the offspeed mix and command thereof seems to be the seperator between the league average and the exceptional.

- Focusing on one pitch, and avoiding secondary pitches seems like we're filtering the pitchers to the bullpen long term

blah blah blah what ever, we're all just wasting our time anyways (grumpy bc of this offseason snoozefest & too much wine)

Ya think NH is grinding his teeth watching this guy dominate? Our buccos could have had Lee and Shopach, but FC thought it wasn't a good enough return for Bay and vetoed the deal.  Of course hindsight is 20/20.  It is a credit to NH's evaluation skills as he saw value in Lee.  Would have been nice to have an ace on our staff, even if it would have been for 2 years worth of bad teams. 

Mark Madden today said on his radio show that the Pirates fired John Perotto from his job, he ran a blog called Piratesreport.com, a year after they enticed/promised him big things. Perotto left his previous job, beat writer for Beaver County, for what he thought would be an upgrade, only to get fired after one year.  Though the site wasn't the greatest, as it'd be the 3rd or 4th site I'd go to for Pirates news, it was still a different opinion from a guy that's been around the game for a while.  Perotto's covered the Pirates since before the streak started.  I, like most on this site, agree with most that this front office has done, but this sucks at a human level.  I haven't been this upset with the Pirates since the Aramis trade.   I realize you can't keep everyone happy, and there's probably more to the story than what Madden said on his show, due to his bias against the Bucs, but it all seems like a shady move by the Bucs.  Just wondering if anyone had heard anything else on the matter.

With recent articles citing the Bucs low projected payroll for 2010, what does everyone think NH should do with the excess cash that should be available through the budget? Ted Williams over at B.U.C.C.O.Fans.com has an estimated 2010 payroll of $30 million(http://www.buccofans.com/2009/08/after-deadline-look-at-payroll.html) If we're just going off a projected budget of $55 million, which was the budget for this season, that leaves the Bucs with about  $25 million to spend.  Couple ideas I had:

 -My knee jerk reaction is wow, we could afford to sign what ever free agent we would want this offseason, lets sign the best starting pitcher and a good lefty for the bullpen.  Unfortunately most pitchers that are available to get big deals, have already had their best years and are due to regress.

-I also thought maybe we could use some of that money on this years draft, for the tough signings, but the $7 million we saved this year on the trades should be going towards that(and hopefully not Nutting's pockets).   

-Maybe we should use some of that money for the future and lock some core players up.  Do what the Brewers did with Braun after his good rookie season, and give Cutch a big contract locking up post arbitration years.  But why pay a guy a premium price when you really don't have to for another 2 years?

-Attempt to sign Aroldis Chapman.  I know Bucco nation is excited that the Bucs are in the running to sign Sano(whose bonus is estimated anywhere from $3 to $5 mill), but why not try making a run at Aroldis too(whose bonus has been rumored to run all the way up to $50 mill)? While the Pirates do have some decent pitching prospects in their system, none are thought to have ace like potential.  This guy is ace material and I'm sure every MLB team is interested in a left handed starter that can throw100 MPH, so the demand would drive the price very high, which usually eliminates the Pirates from bidding.  However, I have to think the Buccs are in a better financial position than about half the teams in the league(hard to believe I know). Revenues are declining, and teams previously signed long term contracts increase annual payments (not sure if that makes sense, just trying to say revenues down, expenses up) .  Just my opinion, but I think if the Bucs wanted to, they could be one of the 10 teams that could make a serious push for Chapman.  The risk is putting so much money into a single player, which tends not to be a wise move by a small market team, and that player being a pitcher.  Charlie went over risk into putting so much faith in a young pitcher with the Alderson post. 

If I had to choose one of the ideas, I'd want the bucs to spend the money on Chapman, or at least try to.  We all know that it will be 2 or 3 years before our team projects to be competitive, which would be the same period that Chapman should be ready for the Bigs. I know every team wants this guy, so I'm trying not to be a homer, but I haven't really read anything about the Bucs being a canidate to sign him.  My guess is that everyone thinks that it's the Pirates, they'd just get outbid by the Yankees or Red Sox. Thoughts?

gets the win today, our entire Starting Pitching Staff will have winning records. Granted this is due to Snell being out of the rotation and 2 guys with a 1-0 record, but still that is really cool.  I think most visitors of this site would have been very surprised if you'd tell them before the beginning of the season we'd had 2 SP with winning records at this point.  Tip of the hat to the team/JK/JR/NH.

Lets Go Bucs!!!!!

Hey guys, I have a class for my MBA program called Cases In Collective Bargaining, in which it deals with Labor Unions, Arbitrataion, Strikes, etc. I need to write a 8-10 page research paper for any relative topic of my choosing.  The only thing that I could think of that would be remotely interesting to research would be something dealing with the MLB players union.  Some ideas off the top of my head is something surounding the 94' strike, the affect of the unionization on players salaries, and should pitchers who suffer career ending injuries deserve Workmans Comp? I'm asking you because you guys obviously enjoy reading the research Charlie, WTM, and some of the other posters do, so I'm open to any ideas.  Thanks!!!

I don't think this has never been brought up before in any post, but was wondering what everyone thought about the possibility of trying Neil Walker out at SS?  From what Huntington has said that Walker is the best 3rd baseman defensively, why not see if he has the range to handle SS?  Right now would be the ideal time, with Bixler called up.  This would make his bat, which is struggling, less of an importance being at an defensive first position.

Well don't look now, but the Pirates have the 2nd best pitching staff in the majors.  Only the Royals? have allowed less runs, Buccs - 33 RA, Royals - 32 RA. Small sample size, but it's still good to see.  You just would like to see a better record for as good as they've been.  Besides Snell's first start, they've been in every game. But I guess beggers can't be choosers

The discussion in the IPF fanpost got me thinking ahead to next years OF.  Given JR's obsesion with Tabata, Cutch's pedigree, and McLouth's contract + recent success, where does this leave Moss.  Does he have to break out this year, his first full season starting, to keep from being 4th OF?  Obviously if he has the kind of numbers like he did last year, he's not going to get a real chance next year, but I'm talking he has an OK year.  Say a .250-.260 BA 20-25HRs 50-65 Rbis, and both Tabata and Cutch have good years. What do you think the club will do?  I'm thinking he then goes to 1st to compete/platoon with Pearce.  Even tougher is if Moss has a good year, Tabata kills the ball, and Cutch has injuries/ and doesn't do so well, or vice versa.  Alot of speculation here, but this is the stuff good organizations have to wonder about all the time with there prospects, and it sure is fun wondering how the Bucs are going to fit all the talent they got on the field.

this new announcer sound like?  His voice sounds like someone that is familiar.

Couple thoughts from the game:

-Maholm's stuff was dirtier than a diaper.

-Nyjer has the worst at bats on the team, even when he gets on base.

-The green hats are cool, the green bags...to much, garuntee a woman came up with that idea.

-My comment about Tabata's swing looking like Carlos Lee, was way off, but I will say his stance reminds me of Jose Castillo. 

-There was 3 relief pitchers the Pirates ran out there that should not be with the team.

-I think Garret Jones and Monroe look to be good depth guys.

-Veal has a nasty slurve, he throws his fastball hard, but it doesn't seem to move much.

-Salazar's leg kick is aqward.

-R. Diaz looked good,

-Wish more Spring Training games were televised.

DK just had an interview with Tabata, but a week or two before that the PG had a video of him taking batting practice.  I can't seem to find the video I'm talking about on PG's website unfortunately.  I also went on youtube, but don't see the same swing from Tabata.  In his interview he talks about Clemente being his hero. From my memory of the video of him taking batting practice, his swing reminds me alot of Carlos Lee.  now I'm not saying he's going to put up Lee numbers.  I'm just big into swing analysis, and I'm just wondering if anyone else saw that video or any videos of his swing and agree with me.

Also, I wrote to DK in his Q & A about the Hansen article he ran a week ago.  In the article, Hansen talks about blowing off winter ball to work out with his college coach.  If my memory serves me right, Josh Sharpless did the same thing the year before, and it was one of the main reasons the Pirates gave that they cut him.  I'm not saying it's right or wrong to work out with your college coach after a rough year, I'm just saying it doesn't seem fair that Hansen was allowed and Sharpless was punished.  My guess is that they just didn't like Shapless chances, but they like Hansen's potential.

I'm imagining Dr. Evil.  DK mentions in his write up that Neal will have 4 to 6 mil to work with according to the Buccos budget.  Does that mean that is all he will have available to spend on the draft/international signings?  Or is that just for the major league level?  I know that's more of a question to DK, but just wondering if you guys knew the answer.  I know the Bucs don't have the number 2 pick this year (the 4th I think), but even 6 mill doesn't seem like enough to have a deep draft.  If that is the case, I would expect a large salaried player traded away at the deadline to give a little more cushion for the pushin.

Just posting an out of the box idea I've had, wondering what you guys thought.  I sent it to DK, but got no response so he obviously didn't think it was any good:

Even the most optomistic bucco fan will realize that they're not going to make a turnaround like the Rays last year, or even have a chance at .500 this upcoming year.  Along with people/companies spending less on entertainment, hence less people going to the games, I thought of one way the bucs could get a larger crowd for a series.  They allow one local ballplayer a chance at 1 at-bat/1 batter faced.  The Pirates hold some sort of selection, via the MVP of an adult summer league, such as the Butler Eagle County wooden bat league that has many ex minor leaguers, or even a guy like Chris Sidick off the Wild Things, just to make sure it's a genuine ball player that wouldn't make a complete fool of themselves.  They do this when the rosters are expanded, just for a 4 game series like the one against the Padres Sept. 18th to the 21st, and Russel has to use them once in the series.  Just a pinch hit/pitch in relief to one batter.  I got this idea from the Vince Papale story.  I would think it would create a buzz around the series, that otherwise just us diehards would be getting excited to see the call ups while everybody else would resume to talking about the Steelers.  I mean just think if the lucky individual would get a hit, or get a batter out.  Just an idea, I know the intial reaction would be "no way" and I totally understand that, but also understand it's all about getting fans in the stands and entertaining the masses.

My disclaimer: I love this site, it's a great forum that gives the opportunity to the small market of diehard Buccos fans to share info and give insight, and I greatly appreciate the time the writers put into keeping it updated.  I check it every day in routine that inclues DKs blog and WHYGAVS, as I'm sure many other readers do. 

 My one problem with some of the recent posts is the insistance that our defense last year was a large part of the problem last year, mostly hinting due to Bay and Nady being regarded as below average defenders, and placing some of the pitchers bad results on them.  My problem is not really with the writers, it's more with the statistical analysis of defense efficiency they use to state their case.  I'm not a stats geek, and I'm too lazy to try to find them at this hour, so I don't have any of the numbers used, but I am a baseball player, and I understand the game inside and out.  I also watched about 95% of the games last year, and out of my judgement those two guys had nothing to do with the pitchers struggles.  According to those same statistical analysis, McClouth was not that great of a CF, because he didn't have great range.  I can tell you an OutFielder's positioning,throwing to the right person, and route to the ball are all way more important than their speed is, and I can only recall a very few amount of times Nady, McClouth and Bay took bad routes to the ball, they rarely missed cutoff men, so that leaves positioning to the coaches and the scouting reports. If you want to argue their speed, I don't buy that either.  What's the difference between the fastest player in the league and Bay/Nady in a 20 yard sprint, maybe .3 of a second, which is about 1 to 1.5 step lengths. The motto of every defensive player is to make Every routine play, and to make Some great plays. The infielders did not do a good job of making the routine plays, as they are somewhat to blame.The problem with the defense last year were too many long innings, pitchers missing their spots(which is vital to the defensive positioning) and too many baserunners, the pitchers are the ones to blame, they put too much pressure on the defense hoping to get bailed out.

Of all the unpleasent sights us diehards have had to watch at our beloved home park this past year, another losing season, favorite players traded away for spare parts of other organizations, and the reminder that our young club is miles away from a turnaround season like that of the rays, there has been one constant at our home that has stood out amongst it's peers, the grass.  Call me crazy, and maybe worse names for taking time to write about something that had little to do with the respectable 39-42 record at home, but I really enjoyed that grass.  I can recount many lopsided loses at that park the past couple years, thinking about how nice it would be to take a solid nap somewhere in the perfectly cut outfield, dreaming about better days for these buccos.   So here's to you old Tuckahoe Bluegrass, while I count down the days to the winter meetings sifting through crazy trade rumors of mcclouth to the yankees, and become hopeful of possible free agent signings that pan out better than mears,bell, and burnitz. The sad truth is that management has decided to hold you accountable for not producing more W's this year, hope you're not the only one.....

Ok, so I know it's been a while since the Mitchell report, but I've been holding this in for a while.  I really get pissed about this whole steriods issue and how fans react to it.  First off the same people who want to give Bonds or Clemens an asterik by their career numbers shrug their shoulders when talks of Shawne Merriman or however many of our hallowed Super Steeler teams in the 70s come up.  But still there are some who say "they're all probably cheaters, so screw the whole sport, I won't watch it any more"  Let's look at the entertainment industry as a whole: how many of our greatest music artist have taken or been on some form of illegal drug when they wrote or performed? Are we going to say Hendrix really wasn't that good of a performer because he was high or stop listening to the Beatles because they were tripping on acid when they wrote their songs?  I'm sure there are musicians that perform drunk, just like there are athletes that take over the counter supplements, both might affect their performance but are legal.  But fans of baseball really go to the games to see home runs, strike outs, and records broken, bottom line that is what sells to a majority of people who go to the game.  I'm not saying I'm one of them, but thats the reality.  Plus anyone who thinks taking steriods will make you hit home runs doesn't understand what it takes to perfectly hit a baseball.  And if theres players that took the juice to stay in the game longer, that's the choice they made out of the love for the game, even though it might shorten their lives considerably.  As for the record books, the only ones who really care about the records is the fans, and fans love to see them broken.  I strongly believe it isn't the fans who should be upset at any player who chose to take steriods, if anyone should, it should be the fellow major leaguers who didn't take them, they're the only ones who have a ligitimate reason for being mad.

Well it's been a boring offseason so there isn't much to talk about, and I'm sure I'm not the only one waiting till midnight to check the PG for any new rumors or happenings.  So just for fun I was wondering what some of you guys thought of my crazy video game fantasy:  Let's say MLB decided to have some league wide fantasy draft where every current player was taken from their respective team and sent into a player pool and then drafted by the teams.  We'll say the draft order is the same as what the upcoming June amatuer draft is, which the Bucs have a top 5 draft choice.  Who do you think the Bucs would take with their first pick and who do you think/how high would the first current Bucco player be taken?