So the palehose sign Putz. The deal is for a one-year, $3-million contract, with up to $3 million in incentives for games finished I don't think we would have paid him that to be a setup man for us. Heck, we would not pay that for a closer!

Someday, the Bucs will be good enough that we will need small parts of the puzzle and be willing to drop some $s to plug some holes. Hopefully by maybe 2013?

When the Bucs brought up McCutchen, they also traded Nate. While it might have looked like they were doing so to give Andrew the job in center, what they actually did was trade Nate so that Garrett Jones would get a corner OF position instead of Nate. They could have put Nate in LF but instead they traded him and gave Garrett an opportunity.

Looking at their numbers for 2009:

                              Age Games  HR   SB/CS   Avg/OBP/SLG/OPS

Nate McLouth         28     84       11    12/6    .257/.354/.419/.773
Garrett Jones          28     82       21    10/2    .293/.372/.567/.938

Sure looks to me that the Bucs made the right decision!

Looking forward to 2010, is anyone not convinced that Bucs have the better person in LF? While Nate maybe a better fielder, Garrett’s offense could be as good or better. And they both are the same age! Plus Garrett is cheaper!

What if NH had not made any of the rades he did in 2008/2009? If we had kept Bay, Nady, Marte, etc thru the end of this season and then lost them via FA. My assumptions:

• All players who were eligible do leave via FA (Bay, Nady, Marte, Grabow, LaRoche)
• We don't pickup the options on Freddy or Jack
• No trades of any of the players at all. Not even McLouth, Gorzelanny, Snell, or Morgan
• No signing of any major league FA
• We still pick up Meek and Veal as Rule 5
• We pick up Jones via Minor League FA
• We still draft Alverez and Sanchez
• We still get Delwyn Young and others guys that were minor league pickups
If we assume the above, what would our lineup and SP look like?

C-Doumit with Paulino as backup
1B-Pearce/Jones
2B-Shelby Ford or Young
SS-Bixler or Cruz
3B-Walker
LF-Morgan
CF-McCutchen
RF-McLouth

SP: Duke, Maholm, Snell, Gorzelanny, Dumatrait

BullPen: Capps, Burnett, Meeks, Yates, Bautista, Bootcheck, Jackson, Chavez

Would we want to move Alverez up to the majors in 2010 because our other 3B options are weak? Do we move up Lincoln as well?

Would we really win any more/less games in 2010? I doubt if we would have won many more games in 2008/2009 than we did. We certainly would not have played .500 or made the playoffs.

What do you think?

Here is a site with some interesting stats.

• The Bucs had 28 comback wins but had 39 blown leads.
• 6 Walk-off wins but 7 Walk-off losses
• When ahead by the 7th inning, they were 51-11
• When behind by the 7th inning, they were 5-78
• They were shutout 17 times
• If they scored 4 runs or more (74 games), they were 47-27
• If they allowed 4 runs or less (85 games), they were 49-36
• They scored 2 runs or less in 60 games. They were 4-56 in those games

Compare to the Cardinals:

• 32 comeback wins, 31 blown leads
• 6 Walk-off wins but 7 Walk-off losses
• When ahead by the 7th inning, they were 68-16
• When behind by the 7th inning, they were 14-57
• They were shutout 10 times
• If they scored 4 runs or more (85 games), they were 66-19
• If they allowed 4 runs or less (101 games), they were 80-21
• They scored 2 runs or less in 44 games. They were 9-35 in those games

The Cardinals won 91 games. In 80 of those they gave up 4 runs or less. In their 91 wins, they scored 4 runs or more 66 times.

What do I see in these numbers? 

• The Bucs have to score more runs and give up less runs. Duh!
• Thye need to score more than 2 runs alot more often.
• Thye need to allowed less than 4 runs more often.
• They have to get the lead by the 7th inning.
• They have to be able to come from behind in the 7th inning on.

Yes, the Bucs had another losing year. But I don't think they had the most disappointing season. By disappointing, I mean a team that expected to do well and didn't. Or a team that expected to improve and didn't.

How would you like to be a Cubs fan right now? Didn't make the playoffs-again! Team aging.

Or maybe a Tampa Bay fan? Last year you were in the World Series, this year you are barely over .500!

How about them Mets-no post season for them (again!) and their team is getting much older! Plus you paid big bucks for Ollie!

The Brew Crew look they are going nowhere.

So while the Bucs did not do well this year, I still prefer them over quite a few other team.

Who did you think had the most disappointing season? My pick is Tampa Bay. Quite a fall from the World Series.

IMHO, Jim Tracy was an awful manager for the Bucs. That being said, his record with the Dodgers was .527 and now with the Rockies it’s .667! With the Pirates it was .417. So either he gets dumb when he manages east of the Mississippi or something else is going on.

The results with the Bucs managers before/after Tracy were not much different then with him. McClendon was .430 and Russell is .402. So given the same poor talent in Pittsburgh, Tracy was unable to make any difference.

I can’t see what is different that makes Tracy so successful in Colorado. Clint Hurdle managed there for over six seasons. His record was .461. He only had one year when the team was above .500. When he got fired after 46 games, the team was 18-28. Tracy takes over the same team and they go 64-32! What gives?

I have always felt that the manager has more effect on a team’s won-loss record than most stats indicate. I felt that it is more than the game management; it’s the player selection (who plays and when), the atmosphere (can he push the right buttons for each of the players), and can he handle the PR aspects. But the effect Tracy has had on the Rockies befuddles me. Any ideas?

We start a weekend series with the Reds, if we sweep them, we will climb out of the cellar for the first since, well, a long time. While our goal for the rest of the year is to grow/evaluate players, let's also strive to finish above all of the "poorer" team in NL Central. We can finish above the Reds, Astors, and Brewers! They are not that far ahead of us. I don't think any of them are some more talented than we are that we can move past them.

So GO BUCS!

The Pirates have just won the World Series over the Yankees in 4 games. McCutchen is the MVP hitting .375, 3HRs, and 10 runs scored. Plus 8 SBs.

The buzz around baseball is not which Pirates will be become Free Agents 'cause all key players are signed for the next 2 years. For those players not signed, the Bucs have AAA players or reserves who are both young and talented who can step right in.

The team is making money hand over fist with sellout crowds. Home attendance records have been smashed!

NH gets an offer to go to another club; the Nationals as GM and President. What does Nutting do? Does he pay whatever he has to keep Neil or does he let him go?

You see to me, the real question when the Bucs become good again, will not what players we keep but if we can keep the man who made it happen. Will we pay to keep HIM?

Ok, I know this topic shouldn't be dragged out again but I promise not to harp on the past (too much).

Anyway, Matt Wieters is hitting only .244 with 3 Hrs in over 120 ABs. IMHO this is not too great. I think we expected much more. He is only 23.

I watched him last night during the Yankees game. They stole 3 bases on 4 tries. The announcers kept saying "The Yankees will see if Wieters can throw anyone out." Finally he threw A-Rod out with a nice throw. Wieters also seemed to do a nice job behind the plate. However, McCarver wasn't the announcer so I didn't get his "expert" opinion.

He faced Mario Rivera for the first time. He looked totally overwhelmed and confused.

Why mention the above? Well, just because. Let's see how he does over the next few seasons. Will he turn out to be the stud they predict or a dud? We shall see!

Can an old rookie, left hand hitting corner outfielder with both power and speed join a last place team during the season and lead them to a championship? Sounds like life could be imitating art here in Buccoland!

Russell affirmed that sizzling Garrett Jones will retain a regular role. "I like what I've seen," Russell said. "Very much." Sounds like a quote from Pop Fisher to me.

We can dream can't we?

PS: I refuse to link to or provide more about The Natural. IMHO, it is the best baseball movie. If you have not seen it (and should own it), you are not a baseball fan!

PSS: BYW, I am refering to the movie not the book (the book was awful!).