I do not know much about the signing other than its a minor league deal and that it will be his first major league campaign since 2009 when he was with the Brewers.

Julio is a very hard throwing right handed reliever. Last year he showed that even though he is not real young anymore he still has a lot of power,last year he played for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Independent American League. In that campaign he would strike out 57 batters in 55 innings, also pulling in a 1.15 ERA. He also played for the Tiburones de La Guaira this past winter and posted 22 strikeouts in 27 innings and had 1.95 ERA.

I personally think this signing is a waste of money, money that can be used to sign a reliever to a major league deal. I know we were looking for a reliever, but i think Jorge Julio may be a little to old and washed up to be that guy and we were also looking for a lefty and Julio is a righty.

Thoughts?

I have just read from MLBTR that the Pirates are interested in reliever Kevin Gregg. Last year Gregg was the closer for for the  Blue Jays, and he put up 37 saves along with 3.51 ERA. I really like that we are looking into Gregg because the Pirates only really have 2 solid guys in the bullpen, Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan, and we will most likely trade one of them if not both. Even if we dont trade Meek or Hanrahan, it would be nice to have somebody like Gregg who is an experienced closing pitcher. A closing pitcher is also something the Pirates don't really have.

I have also read that the Pirates are also interested in guys like Kenshin Kawakami, Jeremy Accardo, Hiroyuki Kobayshi, Jusitin Duchscherer,  Chan Ho-Park, JJ Hardy, and Brenden Ryan from MLBTR (all of the players listed are players the Pirates have shown interest in within this last week.)

I have just found out from MLBTR that RP/SP Zach Miner has been DFA'd by the Detroit Tigers, and since De La Rosa is in a near agreement with Colorado and Vincente Padilla is one of the only big names that are still left for the Pirates to acquire I thought I'd throw it out there that Zach Miner has been DFA'd and he actually would be a pretty good acquisition for the Pirates. Last Year though Miner had Tommy John surgery done so he wasn't able to play all of last season, but in the 2009 season he appeared in 51 games and had 5 starts with a record of 7-5 and an ERA of 4.29. To me he looks like he could potentially be a pretty good back of the end rotation guy or a reliever which is always good.

Comment what you guys think!

I personally think that we will either be going for catching, infielder(s), or starting pitching. Mainly i think we will be going for a CONSISTENT catcher considering we sent Jaramillo to the minors and Ryan Doumit has been garbage behind the plate. Then maybe a utility infielder or first baseman. I also wouldn't be surprised if we picked up a SS or 2B at the deadline either. Lastly, i think we might go for pitching nothing to get to excited about, but maybe a AAA starter or a young starter/reliever with a high speed fastball and a ERA under 6.00 

Continue reading this post »

Earlier today the Pirates acquired RP/SP Sean Gallagher from the Padres. I was really happy that the Pirates actually went out and bought a needed player.

Continue reading this post »

For the Pirates there are not to many players that have enough talent bring back a big name player in trade. In the pirates minor league systems they have plenty to offer, but in the majors there isn't a lot at all. The only talent that is tradeable for the Bucs are probably relief pitchers DJ Carrasco, Brendan Donnely, catcher Ryan Doumit, and maybe a slim chance of either trading Ronny Cedeno or Andy LaRoche.

Continue reading this post »

I just found out that Ryan Doumit is returning to the line-up tonight but as a 1st baseman. I've noticed JR making a lot of mix-ups in the field, but this one i could have never guessed. The only thing that sticks out however is Doumit at 1st. I know Doumit has started in the outifield for us a couple years ago, but at first i have never seen him. Lets hop he does good!

Continue reading this post »

How long do you people think it will be until we see Pedro Alvarez. I would say about a week since Andy is slumping and Neil Walker is solid at second. Last night was what some poeple said would be the game deciding how long Andy is gonna be with us. Right now i am thinking that Andy may get traded considering that we have depth at the third. I mean were soon going to be having Alvarez, we already have Neil Walker who is capable of playing third, and we also have Bobby Crosby.

Continue reading this post »

The Pirates lost to the Nats 7-5. Making there major league debuts were Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln.

Continue reading this post »

Ok so lets say that the Pirates miss the playoffs this year, and Brad Lincoln, Jose Tabata, and Pedro Alvarez finish the year doing very good.If what most fans are expecting in those players happen then the Pirates may be a contender in the 2011 season. If what i am saying is wrong and Lincoln, Tabata, and Alvrez are blowouts, then in 2012 or 2013 we could see prospects like Tim Alderson, Tony Sanchez, Chase D' Arnaud, and Starling Marte, so if all goes right the Pirates are going to have build up a team that may be very good contenders in about 2 or 3 years. For the Pirates if Alvarez, Lincoln, and Tabata are complete blowouts then it looks as if the rest of the prospects in the organization could back it up and help the Bucs get a winning season. For right now lets hope that the Lincoln, Tabata, and Alvarez do great and we dont have to wait till '12 or '13 and the winning season can come in '11. This is just saying if we miss the playoffs and have a under .500 team

Continue reading this post »