The longtime voice of the Astros, Hamilton was the Pirates' play-by-play man for four seasons, starting with 1976. Calling the 1979 championship season ensures that his work here will never fall entirely out of the public consciousness, but in Pittsburgh, Hamilton will always be remembered first and foremost as the man who replaced Bob Prince.

I've never been a big fan of Hamilton's vocal style, but I'm not sure there's a man alive who would've been able to fill The Gunner's shoes. It's probably for the best that he ended up in Houston.

De La Cruz, who will be 23 next year, is a promising lefty who in my view might be worth a waiver claim. He's tall and lean (listed at 6'5", 190 lbs.) and has a low-90s fastball and a big curve. He's got a smooth-looking delivery, and I think there might be some physical projection remaining as well.

De La Cruz started encountering elbow problems in 2009, and his command and control have been iffy ever since, but I don't think it's impossible that he'd show some improvement in locating his pitches, and if he does, look out. De La Cruz's history of arm problems probably means that he'd project best as a reliever going forward, even though he's been brought up as a starter for developmental reasons. He spent 2011 at AA, and has one option remaining.

What do you think?

The link goes to a video of Kenny counting down his top six moves of the offseason, and his list includes the Pirates' signing of Clint Barmes.

The Pirates selected Clyburn, a right-handed outfielder, with the 47th overall pick in the 1992 draft, a pick the team had received as compensation from the Mets in exchange for the loss of Bobby Bonilla as a free agent. They traded him to the Reds on October 13, 1994, in exchange for Jacob Brumfield. The cousin of major league pitcher Pep Harris, Clyburn was an International League All-Star in 1997, and he spent parts of three seasons in the major leagues with the Orioles and Devil Rays. He played his last professional season in 2004, as a member of the Atlantic League's Newark Bears. At the time of Clyburn's death, he was only 37 years old.

Using Marcel projections, with current rosters. The Pirates' average finish was 72-90 and fourth place, in front of the Cubs and Astros. The Bucs won the division 1.6% of the time, took the first wild card 0.2% of the time, and took the second wild card 1.0% of the time, for total playoff odds of 2.8%.

I actually find these results somewhat encouraging. We've certainly gone into a few seasons with worse odds than those.

Every year, Baseball America prints a few scouting reports on players who are decent prospects, but not quite good enough to make it into their team's Top 30 list for BA's printed prospect guide.

The piece at the link includes reports on two such players from the Pirates' system: shortstop Gustavo Nunez and outfielder Harold Ramirez.

As noted by BadAndy in the FanShots, the ex-Nat will compete for a job as a lefty specialist in the bullpen this spring.

Slaten throws a 90-ish fastball, a slider, and a changeup. He's mostly been used in a situational role during his ML career, with good reason: Over his career, he's held lefties to a solid .241/.304/.361 batting line, but righties have smacked him around at a .297/.391/.473 clip, with more BB than K. If Slaten does end up making the 25-man roster (and Daniel Moskos isn't exactly an insurmountable obstacle in his path), Clint Hurdle will need to handle him carefully in order to maximize his value to the club.

It's also worth noting that Slaten missed a significant amount of 2011 with ulnar neuritis in the elbow of his throwing arm, and that after returning in September he put up an 11.25 ERA in eight games. Did his injury play a role in his late-season struggles, and if so will he be back at full strength this spring?

The game actually took place on Wednesday, but due to holiday craziness, I didn't get a chance to post it until now. It's staged in an Australia vs. The World format, and the World team won this year by a score of 9 to 5 - the link above goes to the box score.

First baseman Stefan Welch, a minor league free agent signed out of the Mets' system this offseason, started and batted cleanup for Team Australia, going 1-for-4 with a run scored. Rinku Singh pitched the sixth inning for the World and allowed three hits and three runs (only two earned - the last one scored on a two-out passed ball). Welch's hit and run came against Singh. Ryan Beckman pitched the eighth inning for the World and allowed one run on one hit, a home run to left by former Indians minor leaguer Joshua Roberts.

In addition to the three players, Pirates scout (and Adelaide manager) Tony Harris was one of the coaches for Team Australia.

Our former #1 pick is due to be honored in February with induction into Ball State University's Hall of Fame.

Per Roch Kubatko of MASN. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it...

Well, that didn't take long. The former member of the Pirates' front office, who was let go during this offseason's restructuring, will be joining the Angels' front office as one of new GM Jerry Dipoto's first hires. Good for him.

No complaints from me about this move. Wood didn't experience any notable success in the majors last year, but he has some good natural abilities that just need more refinement. 94 MPH fastballs don't grow on trees, after all. He'll be a solid depth player to have in camp as a NRI during spring training, and if he puts it all together during the season, we might really have something.

Team USA defeated Cuba yesterday in the semifinals, 12-10, and will play Canada for the championship at 8:00 P.M. this evening. Mercer was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI, and two sacrifice bunts. The full box score is here.

The games are being televised on ESPN3, if you have a much fancier cable package than I do (i.e. none). There's also an online stream for some cable subscribers at this link.

Too bad. I would've probably claimed him, if given the opportunity. Particularly if I was planning to non-tender one or more of the team's veteran relief arms from 2011...

Slama's primarily a fastball/slider reliever (also throws a change and cutter), 27 years old, and over the last three seasons at AAA he's put up a 2.59 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 10.3 K/9. He experienced some elbow pain last year, but surgery ultimately wasn't needed, and he's got one option remaining.

What do you guys think?

Hanging out with talk show host Larry King and astronaut Walter Cunningham, on a quest to find the most beautiful pair of children's eyes in the country.

No, I'm not drunk. Why do you ask?

Calvin Anderson, Ryan Beckman, and Rinku Singh are joining the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League. The Bite are managed by Pirates scout Tony Harris, and Quincy Latimore is already with the team, as well as former Pirates minor leaguers Adrian Burnside and Paul Mildren.

These are minor league numbers translated into a MLB context by Dan Szymborski, the same guy who creates the ZiPS projections.

Remember, these are the approximate ML equivalents of 2011 performances, not 2012 projections. Most prospects will have improved over the offseason, and can expect to do at least a little bit better in 2012.

In this week's "Ask BA," Jim Callis compares Starling Marte and Robbie Grossman, elaborating somewhat on his criticism of Grossman last week.

Always interesting to see Sickels's take on players.

One hundred years ago today, pitcher Denton True "Cy" Young earned the 511th and final win of his storied career, pitching a complete game shutout against Babe Adams in a 1-0 Boston victory. Given the current trends in pitcher usage, it seems unlikely that his career wins record will ever be broken.

The link goes to the NYT's recap and box score for the game.

The Pirates shortstop prospect will represent America at both the Baseball World Cup and the Pan American Games this fall. Here's the schedule for both tournaments. Mercer is the only true shortstop on the roster, so it seems likely that he'll be starting.

Four other players with Pittsburgh connections also made the team. Reliever Scott Patterson was born in Oakdale and graduated from West Allegheny High School. Starting pitcher Todd Redmond is a former Pirates prospect who was traded to the Braves for Tyler Yates. First baseman Matt Clark was the Pirates' 28th-round draft pick in 2007, though he elected not to sign. And catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud is of course the younger brother of Chase d'Arnaud.

Congratulations to all the players who were chosen, and best of luck in October.