Per the Post-Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10170/1066854-63.stm

That'll probably get a good laugh out of John Perrotto. I'm a big supporter of JC and NH, and I have faith that they're at least trying to operate this team in the correct way, but it's hard to not be bothered by the way things are done with the franchise. Stalking employees on Facebook for disparaging comments about the team? Just seems odd, and I don't think one status update is worthy of a firing. I don't know, there's just a very Communist Russia- or New England Patriots-like feel to this organization right now. I'll let you decide which metaphor is more attractive/fitting...

Via Ken Rosenthal at Foxsports.com

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/pittsburgh-pirates-need-to-make-decision-on-manager-john-russell-061710

I'm very happy to hear about the Huntington extension. He came in a from the start, made it clear he was building for the long-haul, and with his draftees just now starting to hit the MLB roster, I think he deserves at least another 1-2 years to see what he can do when it comes to actually piecing together an MLB roster once it has a little bit of talent on it.

First of all, this isn't mean to show up Coxswain or anything. He's free to post what he wants, I just wanted look a bit deeper at the trades NH has made, and figured if I was going to do so, I might as well post what I come up with.

Below is a list of all his trades. In parenthesis is the WAR accumulated by the player since the trade (Players with a "-" in parenthesis have yet to reach the majors). Most of the trades don't warrant any real discussion, but I'll offer some thoughts on the bigger ones.

In total, players Huntington has traded away have accrued 18.7 WAR, while players coming in have produced just 6.8 wins. Of course, the trades are also affecting the farm system, and many of these deals haven't had time to work their course and be properly graded. This is meant primarily to show how the MLB team has been altered as Huntington builds up the farm system.

FWIW, Jason Bay and Adam LaRoche have accumulated 1.0 WAR this season, while Xavier Nady is -.1 WAR this year, which they likely would not have spent with Pittsburgh. I included them in the total WAR data, but if you want, consider it 17.8 wins to 6.8 wins because the threesome would have likely walked after last season. 

1. Salomon Torres (.3) for Marino Salas (-) and Kevin Roberts (-)

2. Todd Redmond (-) for Tyler Yates (0)

3. Cash for Jason Michaels (0)

4. Cash (Rule V) for Evan Meek (.4) -- Meek was -.3 WAR while the Pirates hid him away in the 'pen during the '08 season, but was worth .3 wins last year and has already accumulated .4 wins in 2010. 

5. Kyle Pearson (-) for Denny Bautista (-.2)

6. Cash for Dan Reichert (-) and Ryan Mulhern (-)

7. Craig Wilson (-.1) for, well, nobody (PTBNL deal that I can't find info on)

8. Xavier Nady (-1.8) and Damaso Marte (.2) for Jeff Karstens (.4), Dan McCutchen (-.4), Ross Ohlendorf (1) and Jose Tabata -- A net 1.0 WAR trade for the Buccos so far, and with Nady and Marte appearing on their last legs, should continue to be for the Bucs down the road. Especially if Tabata can become a useful MLB player, this might go down as Huntington's biggest steal.

9. Jason Bay (6.5) for Andy LaRoche (2.4), Bryan Morris, Craig Hansen (-.5) and Brandon Moss (.5) -- A net loss of 4.1 wins, although Bay was only worth 6.1 WAR while with Boston, so assuming the Bucs don't resign him, it's actually a 3.7-win loss. I think LaRoche could be a 3-4 WAR guy for years, and if he does, he probably makes this deal a win for Pittsburgh, but getting some MLB production from Morris is still likely to be critical if we're ever going to look back and consider this one a win.

10. Jose Bautista (2.1) for Robinzon Diaz (.4) -- Moving Bautista made room for LaRoche at third, and LaRoche has been a 2.4 WAR player (see below), so Bautista was expendable. Still, his flexibility and underrated bat make him a useful ball player. Diaz was fine as a backup catcher, but a clear loss for the Buccos.

11. Ronny Paulino (2.1) for Jason Jaramillo (.8) -- A 1.3-win loss for the Buccos. The Paulino deal seems like a milder, less critical version of the Aramis Ramirez move -- Paulino was being a pain, annoying fans with his laziness, and odds are, he wouldn't be worth 2.1 wins if he'd stayed in the 'Burgh. Still, hurts to see him head elsewhere and become a pretty good MLB catcher. At least Jaramillo isn't Bobby Hill...

12. Eric Krebs (-) and cash for Delwyn Young (.2)

13. Andy Philips (-) for Michael Dubee (-)

14. Romulo Sanchez (-) for Eric Hacker (-)

15. Nate McLouth (1.8) for Charlie Morton (.9), Gorkys Hernandez (-) and Jeff Locke (-) -- A .9-win loss so far. McLouth appears to be on the downswing, although it is, of course, still early in 2010. Hernandez is probably never going to amount to much, but I think we'll eventually see Morton straighten himself out and become a rotation-worthy guy, and I like Locke's ability to miss bats and get ground balls. Could be a few years before we can make any sort of call on this one.

16. Eric Hinske (.3) for Casey Erickson (-) and Eric Fryer (-)

17. Sean Burnett (-.1) and Nyjer Morgan (3.2) for Joel Hanrahan (.5) and Lastings Milledge (.3) -- A 2.6-win loss so far. Although I liked adding Hanrahan and Milledge, I hated this move from the get-go. It surprises me that Huntington undervalued Morgan so much. Yes, Milledge could still develop into an above-average left fielder, and Hanrahan is a potential closer, but Morgan is so good defensively, he should be a 3- to 4-win ball player for at least another couple years. 

18. Adam LaRoche (2.4) for Argenis Diaz (-) and Hunter Strickland (-) -- A 1.8-WAR loss through the end of last year. Was never particularly excited by the deal, and the fact that LaRoche is coming off a big April while Clement struggles at first is tough to swallow. Huntington more or less had to move LaRoche for the best package out there, but neither Diaz or Strickland should make much of an impact at the MLB level. Will likely go down as a loss for the Buccos.

19. Ian Snell (.2) and Jack Wilson (-.1) for Nathan Adcock (-), Jeff Clement (-.3), Ronny Cedeno (.4), Brett Lorin (-) -- An even deal so far. Cedeno has been serviceable and better than an injured Jack Wilson since the deal. Clement's upside has been talked about plenty, and Lorin's done a good job missing bats to this point. 

20. Freddy Sanchez (.2) for Tim Alderson (-) -- Probably a win just for the money the Pirates aren't paying Freddy now, although this looks like it will go down as a buy-low bust on Alderson, unless he can find his velocity again.

21. John Grabow (.1) and Tom Gorzelanny (1.3) for Jose Ascanio (.1), Josh Harrison (-), and Kevin Hart (.1) -- Didn't like the decision to move Gorzo then, and still don't. Ascanio and Hart are hurt, and although Harrison's off to a good start at Altoona, he doesn't look like a guy who's ever going to offer much at the MLB level. 

22. Jesse Chavez (.1) or Aki Iwamura (0) -- I mean, we're only a month into the season, so not much evaluation to do here. That said, I think Iwamura is likely to be far more valuable to the Bucs than Chavez will be in Atlanta. Personally, still like the deal a lot.

So, a lot of deals with very little effect on the MLB level. The Bay, Bautista, Paulino, McLouth, Morgan and LaRoche trades have hurt the team most at the MLB level, although the players acquired in most of those deals still have time to make an impact. Among the positive moves have been the Meek and Nady moves.

All in all, not a whole lot of positive done at the MLB level, aside from money saved. Of course, what's happened to this point isn't nearly as important as what happens over the next 3-4 years, as Huntington's minor league and draft acquisitions begin filling up the MLB roster.

So I was killing some time on FanGraphs looking over some UZR numbers when I stumbled upon Dexter Fowler's stat line. According to FanGraphs, his UZR for his career is an abysmal -14.5 (-20.0 UZR/150). That's awful. Like disturbingly, he should be playing a corner OF spot, awful.

Granted, I know zone ratings and other defensive metrics should be taken with a grain of salt. 

I guess I'm just wondering if there are any Rockies' fans out there who can comment on what Fowler looked like in center. I'm from Pittsburgh, and didn't get to see much of Fowler at all this summer. But being from Pittsburgh, I saw a lot of Nate McLouth in center, and when I saw his lousy zone ratings, I wasn't at all surprised because it was very clear that, despite his athleticism, he wasn't getting to a lot of balls that a good center fielder should get to. His jumps/routes were consistently lousy. You didn't need to be an MLB scout to see it.

Scouts more or less raved about Fowler's defense in the minors.

I'm just wondering if there's any chance they were wrong, or if this is just a fluky outlier from an imperfect rating system?