SB Nation User Blog: Vlad

Ian Snell: History's greatest monster?

Vlad — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:57:27 -0000

Dejan attempts to address this weighty question in his latest Q&A :

His attitude is not at all what it is portrayed to be by so many people who write to me. You are correct about a lack of taking responsibility -- again last night, he blamed the home plate umpire for his early labors -- but there is no sign that I can see of anybody else being terribly turned off by it, certainly not to the point of distraction.

I often write that intangibles are overrated, usually referring to leadership. But the same applies the other way. All successful teams -- and you can go through Pirates history for plenty of evidence -- have players who are quirky, out of bounds, irritating, even downright infuriating, but they learn to deal with them. Snell is nothing close to any of those extremes. He is a kid, a big kid, but a good, big kid. And he has a very good arm.

What he needs to figure out is how to be more efficient, more aggressive early in the game. If that happens, I strongly suspect no one will mind much what he says afterward.

There are a lot of cool things about being a fan in the modern era. One of the coolest of those things is the instant access to information about virtually any aspect of a player's life, no matter how trivial. How did he pitch last night? Fire up MLB-TV. Does he have tattoos? There's a picture on Flickr. Does he like dogs, or punk bands, or 19th-century firearms? Somewhere out there is a blog interview with an answer. Does he go out drinking and chase skirts? Deadspin to the rescue!

The downside to this flood of information is that it creates a false sense of intimacy between you and the players you follow. You absorb all these facts, but the flow is only in one direction, and it's biased and incomplete in ways you're fundamentally incapable of understanding. It's easy to "know" that Ian Snell is a whiny prima donna without ever actually having any real connection to the man or any dealings with him.

I know this is kind of a crazy idea, but maybe we should leave the psychoanalysis to the professionals, and spend the time we save watching some baseball instead?

[Image by "Bouette ", released under GFDL .]

OK, I officially like Pete Bako

Vlad — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:03:57 -0000

Our 15th-round pick apparently had to work for it a bit:

"As a 13-year-old, Bako was cut from his ‘AAA’ team and then failed to make the Lorne Park Spartans high school squad in Grade 9.

"When I was younger, playing for the Mississauga Twins, I was never the best player on my team," admitted Bako. "I was probably below average at that time, but I worked my tail off. It was never something where I really thought I was going to go to the major leagues, but it was something where maybe I could go to college and get my education paid for." -Daniel Nugent-Brown, The Mississauga News

Please click through to the full article, if only for the photo. Apparently he also coaches a kids' team called the Pirates and, well, just go look...

Oh, yeah, about that Nate shrine...

Vlad — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:49:27 -0000

From the Trib, via Rum Bunter and BTF :

Relievers Sean Burnett and Jesse Chavez are fuming over how they've been portrayed by ESPN and other media for supposedly setting up a candle and "shrine" to Nate McLouth .

"It's ridiculous. Blown way out of proportion," Burnett said. "I'm waiting for an apology."

Chavez said the candle was set up two weeks before McLouth was traded as a running joke about the players' daily card game of Pluck. As long as Chavez and Burnett kept winning, the candle stayed lit at their lockers.

"It had nothing to do with the trade," Chavez said. "It's a friendly thing we had going on, an inside joke."

Neither player was disciplined by the team and the candle and Pluck scoreboard remain at their lockers.

- Rob Biertempfel, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had an unpleasant flashback to the Meares shrine of ages past , so it's good to know that the players are handling the trade better than the media would have you believe. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised - when was the last time ESPN got something right about the Pirates? Sean may not want to hold his breath waiting for that apology. They'll just ignore him until he expires, then report that he committed suicide to protest the deal.

[In case you're curious, Pluck is a four-player card game kind of like Spades or Hearts.]

Image source (courtesy of hoyasmeg )

(Note by Charlie: Actually, I think the Post-Gazette was the first to report this. The ESPN report was a mishmash of stuff from the Post-Gazette and the Associated Press. I think Bucs Dugout and a couple of other blogs were the only publications that used the word "shrine." I think that word was an entirely accurate description of the events as they were presented by the Post-Gazette and by ESPN. The candle-lighting scene was the lede in a Post-Gazette story about "clubhouse backlash" to the trade, and it described a lit candle, along with McLouth's uniform number and picture. To me, that's a shrine. If the "shrine" wasn't related to any "clubhouse backlash," the Post-Gazette got the story totally wrong. Of course, all this assumes the Trib report is accurate. The idea that lighting a candle next to McLouth's uniform number and picture within hours of McLouth being traded continued to be a "joke" sounds strange to me. After thinking about this for a while, I believe the Post-Gazette's original report and not this little bullet point from the Trib. Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazette isn't prone to completely flubbing stories like this.)

Bert Blyleven eats live worms (video).

Vlad — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:42:34 -0000

Bert Blyleven eats live worms (video).

He was raising money for Parkinson's Disease research, so props to him.

RH OF Search Continues: Brent Clevlen

Vlad — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:53:42 -0000

Another day, another rumor connecting the Pirates and a right-handed outfielder:

The Pittsburgh Pirates have shown interest in acquiring Tigers outfielder Brent Clevlen, one industry official told the Free Press today.

Clevlen, 25, is out of minor league options, and he’s not expected to make Detroit’s Opening Day roster. (Jeff Larish is likely to win the final job on the bench.) So the Tigers have incentive to trade Clevlen by the end of this weekend. -Jon Paul Morosi, Detroit Free Press

Clevlen , 25 this year, should be somewhat familiar to Pirate fans, as he was reportedly one of the names offered to the Pirates in the first round of Jack Wilson negotiations with Detroit. A second-round pick in 2002, he's had an up-and-down career, struggling to capitalize on what scouts regard as good raw tools (above-average power, arm, and speed). He is a good corner defender who can at least fake CF, but sometimes gets pull-happy and has significant issues with contact, and as a result will probably struggle to hit for average in the majors.

Our scouting director, Greg Smith, held the same role with Detroit when they drafted Clevlen, possibly explaining some of our interest in him. It's also worth noting that while the Tigers are engaging in their Clevlen dealings with us, they are also talking with the Cardinals about Ryan Raburn , another right-handed outfielder.

If a move is going to happen, it's apparently going to happen fairly soon. Per Dejan:

Neal Huntington said Monroe's situation will be resolved after the game this afternoon. That likely means he is waiting for the outcome of a pending external move, though he added that no external moves are "imminent." -PBC Blog

One way or the other, we'll know soon enough.

Pirates Scouting Mike Trout, Enlist Navy for Help

Vlad — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:37:30 -0000

Mike Trout is a right-handed high school pitcher from Millville, New Jersey. Prior to the season, Baseball America rated him as the 80th-best high school prospect in the country, which would make him approximately a fifth- or sixth-rounder in the draft if nothing changed between then and now. His stock has apparently risen significantly since the list was compiled, though and he is now drawing attention in the third round or higher. Regardless, a team would be expected to scout a player of that pedigree fairly extensively, regardless of their degree of interest, simply as a matter of due diligence. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Pirates are checking him out . File Trout's name away for now, and we'll see what happens in July.

The more interesting part of Watanabe's article about Trout indicates that the Pirates "administered a test given to U.S. Navy SEALs" during the course of their evaluation, but gives no details about the nature of the test. MLB teams use all manner of different tests to evaluate prospects - there's an interesting post about the Orioles' former system under Dave Ritterpusch here , for example. After some half-assed research, I came up with two reasonable candidates for the SEAL test described in the article:

*The PST (Physical Screening Test) : As the name suggests, it's a series of exercises which must be performed within a given time frame, similar to the fitness exams performed by police and firemen. It includes the following steps:

*500-yard swim using breast and/or sidestroke in less than 12 minutes and 30 seconds
*10-minute rest
*Perform a minimum of 42 push-ups in 2 minutes
*2-minute rest
*Perform a minimum of 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes
*2-minute rest
*Perform a minimum of 6 pull-ups (no time limit)
*10-minute rest
*Run 1 ½ miles wearing RUNNING SHOES and SHORTS in under 11 minutes

That seems fairly plausible, with the exception of the swimming, which would obviously require a pool and swimsuit, and in my opinion would be of dubious predictive value for the evaluation of a baseball player (unless he plans to go fishing for balls in the Allegheny).

*The ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) : The ASVAB is a pen-and-paper test given to recruits when they enter the armed services. It's a general aptitude test with ten sections:

General Science (GS)
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)
Word Knowledge (WK)
Paragraph Comprehension (PC)
Mathematics Knowledge (MK)
Electronics Information (EI)
Auto Shop (AS)
Mechanical Comprehension (MC)
Assembling Objects (AO)

As you can tell from the headings, it's got academic sections dealing with science, math, and communication, as well as various vocational-type questions. The scores within each section are used to first determine whether a recruit is smart/capable enough to enlist, and then to help place him within a special role if applicable (a MOS, if you know what that is). There's a practice test here , if you'd like to give it a try.

This test seemed less likely to me than the PST, in that most of the information covered would not be useful within a baseball context. Still, the team might see it as a reasonable proxy for intelligence and focus, like the Wonderlic Test given to NFL prospects at the combine.

Regardless of which test is being used, t'll be interesting to track this in the future, to determine the extent of the team's testing, and to evaluate the performance of the picks made after its application.

Outfield search continues: Marcus Thames?

Vlad — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:15:36 -0000

Ed Price from AOL Fanhouse is reporting that the Pirates have talked with the Detroit Tigers about Marcus Thames:

Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said this is the time of spring when trade talks intensify, as the Detroit Free Press reported today . The Free Press speculated that Marcus Thames might be made available by the Tigers, and a major-league source has confirmed to FanHouse that Detroit is indeed seeing what it might be able to get for Thames.

Michigan has been hurt severely by the economic downturn, but the Tigers aren't (yet) looking just to dump salary. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds have shown some interest, the source said, and Detroit would like back a prospect who would be ready for the majors in the next year or two. - AOL Fanhouse

Thames, a 32-year-old right-handed batter, is a corner outfielder who also has a small amount of experience at first base (stats here ). He has very good power, with a career ISO of .257, but is a fairly weak defender, and his career OBP is a well-below-average .302. He is under contract for $2.275M this year, and will be eligible for arbitration for the third and final time this offseason. If acquired, Thames would probably displace Craig Monroe, one of his teammates in Detroit for several years, from our projected roster. Also, Thames's middle name is "Markley", which is kind of neat because it reminds me of the dog from Sesame Street . I loved that dog.

Combined with yesterday's news report about Jeff Baker, it seems clear that Huntington is not satisfied with the state of our outfield (with good reason, IMO). I would guess that he's probably also kicking the tires on several other righty outfielders whose names haven't turned up in the news yet. Watch the wire - a move is coming before the end of spring training.

The note about Detroit's economic situation is also somewhat interesting. They're set to carry a fairly hefty payroll in 2009, and much of that money (Sheffield, Willis, Bonderman, Guillen, Robertson) would be difficult to unload in the current environment. They may not strictly need to cut payroll this minute, but I bet they wouldn't mind moving a guy like Thames right now if it meant reducing the risk of having to dump someone like Polanco or Cabrera at fire-sale prices in three or four months.

Pirates pursuing Jeff Baker?

Vlad — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:18:10 -0000

From the latest Rosenthal :

The Rockies often are criticized by rival executives for asking too much for their players in trades, but they figure to make a move with with utility man Jeff Baker, who is out of minor-league options and drawing interest from the Phillies, Astros and Pirates.

Baker is a 28-year-old right-handed batter (stats here ). He has experience at 1B, 2B, 3B, and corner outfield, but is a below-average defender pretty much everywhere. He does have legitimate power, and would probably be good for a .750-ish OPS as a regular for us, and thus a significant upgrade on either Nyjer or Monroe in LF (or a decent temp in RF if Moss's thumb injury persists). Baker carries a salary of $415k, comes into the year with just over two seasons of ML service time, and is represented by Scott Boras (and as such may not be in the team's long-term plans). Colorado is probably shopping him in order to create a roster spot for Ian Stewart, who had a nice debut in 2007 and has looked good in spring training.

Rosenthal mentions Kyle Kendrick as a possible return for Baker from the Phillies. Given Kendrick's general scrubbiness, you'd tend to think that we could match that offer, if we wanted. The Astros desperately need a 3B with Aaron Boone out of the picture after heart surgery. They have little of value to trade in return, however, so they may not be particularly serious competition for us. Alternately, they may decide to drastically overpay for Baker (Towles? Bogusevic?), out of perceived need, as Drayton McLane reportedly has unrealistic expectations of contention in 2009.

What do you think? Is Baker someone worth picking up? Or should we look for free help on the waiver wire, or hold our collective nose and stick with what we've got?

Update (3/25) : The Pirates had two scouts at Denver's game yesterday, though Baker did not play (Denver Post ).

Ex-Pirate Tom Sturdivant has Died

Vlad — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:52:29 -0000

A right-handed pitcher from Gordon, Kansas, Tom "Snake" Sturdivant began his professional career as an infielder in the Yankees' farm system. He hit poorly, and after missing a season due to military service in 1951, he was converted to pitching. On the strength of a good curve ball, Sturdivant broke into the majors in 1955 and enjoyed strong seasons in New York in 1956 and 1957. He won sixteen games for the Yankees in both years, leading the AL in winning percentage in the latter, and also ranked among the league leaders in ERA and WHIP. He injured his arm in 1958, however, and never fully recovered, spending the majority of his remaining time in the majors in the bullpen.

Sturdivant won two World Series rings with the Yankees in 1956 and 1958, then rode the shuttle to Kansas City as part of a trade for Ralph Terry, and thereafter became something of a baseball nomad. He played for the A's, Red Sox, and Senators, before the Pirates acquired him for Tom Cheney in June 29, 1961. He appeared in 65 games for the Pirates, pitching effectively as a swingman. He was a valuable contributor during the pennant race of 1962, where the Pirates were only two and a half games back as late as July 19, but faded down the stretch to finish fourth with 93 wins. He got off to a slow start in 1963, however, and was sold to the Detroit Tigers. After another stop with the A's, his baseball career ended in 1964, with the Mets. Sturdivant then settled in Oklahoma City, and worked in the trucking industry as a freight manager. He was 78 years old when he died.

White and Simmons: Gone but not forgotten

Vlad — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:34:06 -0000

The Associated Press just published a new article on service academy graduates in professional athletics, and it included an update on every Pittsburgh ball fan's favorite two soldiers, Cole White and Chris Simmons. In case you've forgotten, the pair of college roommates were late-round draft picks of ours last year, out of West Point. They signed quickly and got into some games at State College, with White acquitting himself particularly well, but were forced to leave the team and report for active duty after the Army changed its policy on drafted graduates.

According to the AP, White is currently stationed at West Point, working in the school's baseball office. After he completes basic officer training, he's eligible to apply for early release in May of 2010. Simmons is already working on that training, along with Drew Clothier, another serviceman drafted last year by the Marlins. It'll be interesting to see whether they try and rejoin the Pirates once they've fulfilled their minimum obligations to the country. I don't think that the Army has done right by them, and I hope they get another shot after they put in their time.