It is obvious that the Pirates still have money that they can spend this offseason and there are plenty of talented options still available. Yet there has not been even the slightest rumor connecting the Pirates to any free agents in some time. Which brings up the question: How come the Pirates have been so quiet in regards to free agents recently? Is it that the Pirates are done signing free agents because they are confident that they have enough skill and depth at each position to field a decent team for the long 182 game season.... I think not.

There are far too many question marks and lack of depth regarding our starting pitchers and relief pitchers. Could it possibly be that internally the FO are debating between signing short term, high reward options vs. a long term option in Edwin Jackson? They are in the drivers seat and can continue to wait, which will lower their asking price. After the jump i will examine some of these options and why they need to spend more money this offseason.

Continue reading this post »

I am a Huge Blair fan due to my strong ties to the City of Pittsburgh and my love of the Pitt Basketball Team/Program. He seems to be a modle citizen and a great teammate, in that he knows when you can mess around with the team, but also is highly devoted to win and will do whatever he can to give his team a better chance at victory. I absolutely loved when i heard the Spurs drafted him, because now he would be given an amazing opportunity to learn under one of the best PF ever in the game...... Tim Duncan ( who i admire not just for his talent on the court but also for his laid back personality).

Here are his NBA stats broken up within years. Currently has played in 13 games of his third season**

Rookie year 7.8 P/Game .5 BLK/Game 0.8 AST/Game 6.4 REB/Game 18.2 MIN/Game

Second year 8.4 P/Game .5 BLK/Game 1.0 AST/Game 7.0 REB/Game 21.4 MIN/Game

Third year ** 11.3 P/Game .3 BLK/Game 1.2 AST/Game 6.4 REB/Game 24.2 MIN/Game

These are his stats from his two college seasons playing for the University of Pittsburgh

Season 1 11.6 P/Game 1.1 BLK/Game 0.9 AST/Game 9.1 REB/Game 26.0 MIN/Game

Season 2 15.7 P/Game 1.0 BLK/Game 1.2 AST/Game 12.3 REB/Game 27.3 MIN/Game

After the jump i will use the data above to complete what his third NBA season should look like when it is over.

Continue reading this post »

Quote of the week

"I've just got to throw myself in the mix, because I know the physical tools and physical skills are there. I need a chance, like last year. I just need somebody to believe I can get it done and be patient, because I'm not a very good April-May guy. Sometimes that kind of hurt me. I just need time to play. There's always going to be somebody breathing down your back, but to the extent where I still have a chance."

Lastings Milledge is not only right on the money here; he also should be applauded for being honest, confident and, frankly, pretty smart, not long after being traded last week from the Nationals organization to the Pirates. Give him time to heal from a broken finger and finish his rehab assignment, then play regularly at Triple-A Indianapolis. I predict he's in the majors this month and showing off his power and speed. Yes, he will matter in fantasy, soon. Get ready. I love this move for the Pirates.

Eric karabell from espn.com wrote this. i was very happy to hear about this trade. Milledge was a huge prospect and i believe can still be a star in the MLB. i would compare him to cutch with more power. he can be a 25/25 for years to come and am very excited to see milledge rocking the black and gold in a couple weeks. with our OF having cutch, milledge and either gorkys or tabata, we will have a great OF with guys who can hit homers and steal bases. every baseball person has applauded the pirates on this trade. hopefully we can have one or two more excellent trades before this deadline and have a shot at 500 this year and have a rays like season  next year. This is the most progress in the pirates organization for almost 20 years...... the light at the end of the tunnel is getting ever so brighter....

Every Spring before the baseball season starts for the past 5 years i have always been optimistic about the pirates. My dad would laugh at me and all my friends would tell me i am stupid. This optimism usually dies about this point of the season, however this year i have a different feeling. The way our acquisitions from the traded last year have been playing have really made me feel good about the trades. Say what you want about Andy, but he has had a very fine season thus far. A very encouraging average and better play in the field, i would like to see more power and RBIS but he is playing 100 times better than he did last year. Moss has also come on recently, his average is now around  260, and is one of the hotter pirates hitters, he also needs to  hit with more power. Also Ohlendorf i think has pitched very well. i Think he has been our 2nd best pitcher so far this season, and am very happy the pirates gave him an opportunity to start (something i pushed for during spring training).  With these three players along with karstens (who has been decent at best) and Tabata, Morris and Hansen, i Think the two trades last year are looking very very good for us. Morris is projected to be a number one starter, Tabata who is 20 i think showed what he can do at such a young age during spring training, and Hansen has been serviceable this year and is only going to get better. Throw in McCutchen, Pedro Alverez, Lincoln who will all be with the show in a couple years, and i truly feel we will have a very competitive team. As for this year i beileve we can hang around the .500 mark and maybe finish with a record above .500. with McClouth, freddy, jack,  Morgan,Adam LaRoche and getting Doumit back i think our offense wil be pretty good, its gunna come down to our starting pitching. Malhom and Ohlendorf  and Duke ( who has been a pleasant surprise) need to keep doing what they are doing and hopefully Snell turns it around and Gorzy replaces Karstens. I am not a fan of Karstens at all and believe that we need to replace him with Gorzy, after all two years ago gorzy was our best pitcher, and i believe he is that pitcher and that last year was a fluke (not the other way around). overall we as fans really need to stick with this team, it will be much more gratifying when they are winning to say " i was with this team at the lowest of lows". Well the lowest of lows is behind us Pirates faithfull, we are on the up swing and will continue to get better and better over the coming years. GO BUCS!!!

Just curious to see how many of you guys/ girls are going to tomorrows game and where you are driving from and if you want what section you are sitting. I personally am making an 8 hour tip to the Burgh tomorrow from New Jersey. I am very excited, went to game five of the flyers series last year and sat in section E (which was horrible seats but still had a blast), but this year got much better seats in section C. Hopefully Gonchar will be ready to go for game one. Lets go pens!!! 8 more to go!!!

its early in sping training, but i wanted to start speculating on the starting 5 for the pirates. obviously malholm is a lock for number one. beyond that i would say duke and snell have a pretty good hold on the next two slots. but from there it is totally up in the air. i would like to see Ohlendorf and gorzy getting the final two spots which would make the starting five: Malholm, Snell, Duke, Ohlendorf and Gorzolony. I might be an idiot for thinking this, but i think that would be a pretty solid starting 5. Gorzy has the stuff and i think this will be a big come back year for him. Snell, i have always loved and fully expect him to put up good numbers. Duke i think has matured as a pitcher and will be serviceable for the season. Ohlendorf would be the wild card, but is a hard throwing righty who i think could be pretty good. I am quietly optimistic about this upcoming season (even though i say that every spring) but the way the players are saying how this spring is their best ever and how confident and positive they are, i really think that the bucs could have a pretty good season as long as their bull pen holds up, which is looking pretty good right now with veal, meek grabow and capps all having superb springs.