SB Nation User Blog: Thunder

Hinske traded to Yankees

Thunder — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:55:55 -0000

Hinske traded to Yankees

Pirates have traded Eric Hinske to the Yankees for OF/C Eric Fryer and P Casey Erickson. In addition...Garrett Jones has been recalled from Indianapolis.

Lincoln Promoted to Indy

Thunder — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:26:03 -0000

Lincoln Promoted to Indy

Brad Lincoln has been promoted to Indianapolis, according to the Altoona Mirror. He was notified Saturday evening.

Sanchez signs

Thunder — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:30:37 -0000

Sanchez signs

Tony Sanchez has already come to terms with the Pirates...per DK at the PG.

PTNBL in Young trade named

Thunder — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:57:24 -0000

The Pirates have sent Eric Krebs, a pitcher, from the Curve to the Dodgers to complete the Delwyn Young trade.

Trade completed

I've also seen third hand reports that Brad Corley has been sent to the Rockies for future considerations, but haven't seen official word on that yet. He hadn't shown any real progress at Altoona, hitting only .221 before being shuffled off the roster a few days ago. Sounds like a mutually agreeable separation.

Corley leaving

Chris Duffy Gone

Thunder — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:15:51 -0000

It appears that Chris Duffy has decided that his future no longer lies with the Pittsburgh Pirates. But...of course...we already knew that.

Duffy declares free agency

From the article, it is clear that Duffy flat out left his Mexican winter league team and that there was no illness involved. This makes at least the 3rd time that Duffy has left a team for very little reason in the last few years.

The article states that several others declared minor league free agency, including Franquelis Osoria, Melvin Dorta, Luis Ordaz, Luis Cruz, Matt Kata, Miguel Perez and Carlos Maldonado. Cruz is on the 40 man roster, so unless he has been silently removed, that's not right.

Duffy either he will be out of baseball in a year, or some other team will get burned by his lack of commitment.

Nate wins Gold Glove

Thunder — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:35:14 -0000

Nate wins Gold Glove

Gold Glove Awards

Jack Wilson injury

Thunder — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:32:21 -0000

DK is reporting that Jack Wilson will miss much of the remainder of the season with a hairline fracture of the finger.

http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/pbc/archive/2008/09/08/today-pirates-astros-9-8-08.aspx

I'm not sure why he would try to come back for a very few games, if healthy, especially since we end the season on the road. Looks like Cruz and Bixler will get a real chance to show their stuff.

Bye Bye, Ronny

Thunder — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:11:52 -0000

Ryan Doumit has been activated; Ronny Paulino has been optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis.

"What I can I say?" said Paulino, who hit .310 as a rookie in 2006 but whose defense tailed off last season. "It's an opportunity for me to go there and play every day, work on what they want me to work on and try to come back here as soon as possible."

It's nice to see that Pirates management is backing up their statements on accountability.

Pirates roster moves 3/26

Thunder — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:41:46 -0000

Roster moves. Looks like the 25 man roster is about set.

To summarize this morning's moves:

Wright - released
Kim - bought out
Perez - unconditionally released
Josh Wilson - DFA'd
Velandia - sent to minor league camp
Mientkiewicz - added to active roster
Todd Redmond - traded to Atlanta for Tyler Yates, who is added to the active roster.

Consequences (per PG and mothership):
Freddy starts season on active roster.
40 man roster stands at 39.
Active roster at 26 including Duffy.
Active roster includes Dumatrait, Meek and Osoria. It doesn't include Carrasco, Burnett and Kuwata. The last 3 would need to be added to the 40 man roster and the 25 man. There's obviously room for one of them on the 40 man. Dumatrait and Osoria are out of options and could be lost on waivers if we send them down. Meek is Rule 5 and would have to be offered back to TB. Final decision on last 3 bullpen slots on or before Friday.

Injured Pirates

Thunder — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:26:49 -0000

With Freddy out tonight and Maholm shut down, I started thinking about our injuries this year.

I wonder exactly how many guys have been playing or pitching hurt recently?? In addition to the ones we know about. Let's take a quick (??) look at some of them.

Duffy - he'd been hurting since the beginning of LAST season.
Duke - wonder how long that elbow had been hurting before he shut it down in June?? Not convinced he's healthy yet.
Torres - elbow problems at least twice.
Maholm - did his back really ever get better??
Bay - his 'good' knee is the one that is keeping him out. Has it (or both knees) been hurting all season?? Probably. Maybe his shoulder too??
Nady - 3 words - post concussion syndrome.
Snell - how much is his arm really hurting?? and how long has it been bothering him.
Doumit - stayed healthy for what...3 innings?
Wilson - ordering him to come back from paternity leave early...with a pulled hamstring??
Chacon - how long has HIS elbow been hurting??
Sanchez - obviously wasn't ready in April. The eye problem has been a reoccurring issue since April...now his shoulder is hurting, wonder how his knees are??
Grabow - needs elbow surgery.

That's basically half of the 25 man roster...and not including Bautista's spiking, which couldn't have been screwed up by the medical staff and manager. And I may be missing a few. Looks like only position players that have been available all year are Nate, RoPaul and LaRoche (yeah, I know he missed a few games).

So...how many of these players were browbeat by the manager (and possibly GM) into playing when not entirely healthy and at risk of additional significant injury?
I am guessing a lot more than one or two of them.

Has this been the mindset of the Pirates organization? If so, no wonder we have so many high draft pitchers get hurt. They've probably been told that they aren't seriously hurt, and to pitch through it. More and more I wonder how long Kip Wells may have had his problem (a clot, if I remember correctly), before it was correctly diagnosed. We know of several misdiagnoses in the minors.

We've gotten rid of the GM. From the looks of things, to save our investments (players), the manager and at least some of the medical support, need to follow Littlefield out the door. I am fairly sure that our new GM will hear this from at least a few players.