Feb 09 2010
By Chuck Finder | 3:14 p.m.
Sorry, software problems prevented earlier posting, but former 40-man roster member Jeff Sues has been added to the Pirates spring-training camp as a non-roster invitee. What a difference a 2-6, 4.47 ERA season in Class AA Altoona and eight games in Class AAA Indianapolis can do for a reliever who, in 2008, was the Pirates' minor-league pitcher of the year.
Sues, who brings the list to 26 non-roster invitees of the 66 in camp, will wear No. 83. So instead of Looooo Lipps with the same number on the Steelers a generation ago, fans in McKechnie Field this spring can cheer Soooooos. (Yeah, I need therapy.)
Feb 09 2010
By Chuck Finder | 2 p.m. Tuesday
Here is where to submit a Q.
Q: The past two years, the PBC
has had a seven-man bullpen with one of those members being a Rule V pick. This
left a five-man bench. This year, with the Rule V pick being a bench player, is
the team considering going with a six-man bullpen and a six-man
bench?
Rob Jacobson of Philadelphia
FINDER: Very observant, for a guy in Phillies country. You deserve a Stargell star for that question.
Yes, there is no Evan Meek or Donnie Veal hanging around the bullpen, getting work here or there in games more often than not out of control. You approve, in hindsight, of both such moves now, right? Well, plucking John Raynor, right, from the Marlins in the Rule V draft does change the Pirates' roster and bench dynamics a bit.
To keep possession of Raynor, either the Pirates must retain him on their roster all season, or at some point work out a deal with Florida. (Same as Veal, remember, he could be sent to the minors for stretches due to injuries.) Whatever happens in the long run, he must first make the roster in spring training. General manager Neal Huntington, upon landing him at the Indianapolis winter meetings, sounded as if the speedy Raynor could find professional employment as a No. 4 outfielder right away. Raynor last year played left field in the launch pad of the Pacific Coast League, where he struck out once a game on average while hitting a career-minor-low .257, so it would seem if nothing else he could use his speed as a pinch-runner and as a defensive replacement -- perhaps in right field, for Garrett Jones, Ryan Church or whomever. Then again, the right-handed hitter batted .270 against left-handers, so perhaps he could well earn spot starts there. Provided, once again, he shows signs in the Grapefruit League the ability to play immediately at the big-league level.
Raynor's presence on the bench would present manager John Russell and staff a myriad of options a year after having a migraine of options. Just for giggles, let's say they look down their bench one night this spring and see Church, Ramon Vazquez and Jeff Clement who all hit from the left side, and they see switch-hitter Delwyn Young, who hit better last season right-handed off lefties, plus right-handers Ronny Cedeno/Bobby Crosby and Raynor, who also hits lefties better. It isn't the Yankees billion-dollar bench, but it's an upgrade from before, is it not? (Brandon Moss, who in the simplest terms would seem to be in competition with Raynor for the fifth outfield spot, bats lefty, if you recall.)
As for the bullpen: You bring in a few thirtysomething veterans, you figure they can handle the workload physically and mentally. Start in the bullpen with Octavio Dotel (62 games last season with the White Sox) and Brendan Donnelly (30 after coming at midseason to the Marlins), add twentysomethings Joel Hanrahan (67) and Evan Meek (41 despite injuries), and you have a stable of workhorses already. Add a couple of more arms from the list of some 20 other healthy relief candidates entering spring training, and on paper it would appear to be a capable Gang of Six. . . with a little depth leftover for Class AAA Indianapolis.And that might mean lots of spot call-ups over the course of the season, due to injuries and whatnot.
Feb 09 2010
By Chuck Finder | 12:40 a.m. Tuesday
Picture this: Someday in the future, could there be statues around PNC Park, from left to right, of Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Honus Wagner, Bill Mazeroski . . . and Kevin McClatchy?
Or would you prefer Dan Galbreath?
Well, the Milwaukee Brewers have set a precedent. The club announced Monday that it plans to erect a statue of longtime owner Bud Selig at Miller Park. No worries, the Commissioner won't step in and stop it.
True, Selig got the Brewers into prominence, reaching the World Series, starring future Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. He got them into the National League. He got them into a domed home and out of a ballpark used as a stunt double for Cleveland's decrepit Municipal Stadium in the movie "Major League." (two references in one week!) Then he got out of the way so Mark Attanasio could hike the payroll, sign a few core players and return the Brewers to the playoffs, leaving the Pirates to hold the rope as the NL's losingest team, consecutively speaking.
But it is indeed rare for owners to become honored in such a way. Dick Caliguiri, right, was sort of a Pirates owner -- he was the gent who helped bring all sides together for the public-private consortium that purchased the club from Galbreath and kept it in Pittsburgh. He got his statute for more than that, though: He was quite the mayor.
There already is one statue of an owner on the North Shore, of course: Art Rooney Sr., also known as The Chief, outside Three Rivers Stadium and now Heinz Field. It would seem a logical progression that a statue of his son, Dan, might come nearby later. Their neighbors the Pirates? Well, nothing is set in bronze yet.
Linkage to the Post-Gazette's coverage ...
> Bloggin' Bob Smizik took manager John Russell to task over his talent assessment, and the comments to follow proved lively, too.
> Don't forget, DK's Olympics blog can be found here.
From other realms ...
> John Hickey of AOL Fanhouse expects Ronny Cedeno's defense "to make the Pirates pitching staff that much more effective." Funny, but the shortstop before him wasn't too shabby, was he?
> Given the New Orleans Saints' inaugural championship, The Sporting News wondered what major-league teams have a chance at a title to end a long dryspell? The Pirates were included. . . in their Not This Year list.
> Frank Coonelly, supplemental-round pick Victor Black are headliners at SpikesFest Sunday in State College.
> Credit RumBunter (as best as I can determine) for finding it first, but longtime local beat reporter John Perrotto, now the editor at Baseball Prospectus, analyzes the Pirates' talent -- but it'll cost you to read after the first few paragraphs.
> Former Pirates infielder Ty Wigginton might be on the Orioles' trading block.
PHOTO: Annie O'Neil/Post-Gazette...and it's a beautiful shot, with son David Caliguiri showing the statue of Grandfather to his children
Feb 08 2010
By Chuck Finder | 2 p.m. Monday
Here is where to submit a Q.
Q: Do you think that Ryan Doumit is still in the front office's long-term plan? Do you see them grooming Tony Sanchez to take that spot instead? I'm sure that he could bring in a good, if not great return, but I don't see that being helpful to the team in the long run. He does a very good job managing the game from behind the plate. He's a switch hitter, with power, and he seems to have good leadership qualities. In my opinion, it would be hard to "replace" him at this point.
Steven Durham of Nashville, Tenn.
FINDER: No one appears to be in any hurry to either ditch Doumit or prematurely promote Sanchez, who, after all, played only half a season in Class A -- with 10 at-bats at the advanced level, Lynchburg, at that.
Doumit is their catcher and their middle-of-the-order anchor for the foreseeable future. For one thing, it would make little sense to trade him until he remains healthy for nearly one full season, maybe two, and continues to deliver the offense he flashed in previous years. Fact is, the Pirates could allow Doumit to bloom and slowly groom Sanchez as a backup first, then perhaps a starter upon deciding to fully move Doumit to another position where he may better avoid the injuries that have befallen him to date.
Switch-hitters with power aren't found by the bushel. Light-hitting, solid-defensive catchers are. Unless another team drops a two-way catcher in the Pirates' lap in a trade they cannot refuse, it's difficult to envision Doumit being anywhere else but Pittsburgh in 2010 and possibly 2011, at minimum. It's difficult to predict the future, let alone envision it. After all, wasn't Ronny Paulino once considered the Pirates catcher of the future?
PHOTO: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Feb 08 2010
By Chuck Finder | 12:40 a.m. Monday
That's a polite way of saying I'm sorry in Japanese, and our way of expressing a point this morning: Don't expect the Pirates to add any pitchers from the Land of the Rising Sun, despite media reports mentioning their interest in Hisanori Takahashi.
This particular left-hander, shopping his wares to major-league clubs after going 79-66 the past 10 seasons in Japan as a starter, apparently is looking to sign with a West Coast team. The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres are prime among his list of teams with which both sides have mutual interest. Sports Illustrated reported Saturday that four other teams have been eyeing the former Yomiuri Giants star: the Dodgers, Mets and Red Sox -- the usual suspects -- and . . . your Pirates.
First of all, unless the Pirates can convince him that they're located in Pittsburg, Calif., it would seem that his West Coast preference would quickly erase the one team in that group located on neither coast.
Secondly, Takahashi reputedly prefers a starting role, and the Pirates aren't about to let just anyone get in the way of their young starters, even the ones vying for the fifth and final job.
Thirdly, his Yomiuri number? He would never be able to wear that in Pittsburgh: 21.
Finally, a site that would seem to know, JapaneseBaseballPlayers.com, reported Sunday afternoon that Takahashi was down to the Red Sox, Giants, Dodgers and Padres after declining the Orioles and Mets. No mention of the Pirates there. So, it looks like Akinori Iwamura won't have a fellow-countryman player in the Pirates' clubhouse.
BTW: Five out of six Pirates. ... were right about the Super Bowl.
Linkage to the Post-Gazette's coverage ...
> Editorial cartoon: The Post-Gazette's Rob Rogers likens the Pirates to the region's still-unfunded magnetic levitation train ...
> Letters to the editor: Readers write about the Penguins' offer.
> Left over from Sunday: The Hot Stove gets Neil Walker's view of a potential position switch.
> Ants marching ... ? DK's Olympics blog can be found here.
From other realms ...
> Brian Giles gets a minor-league contract and an invite to Dodgers spring training. Man, it seemed like a couple of months ago the Pirates were announcing his new, long-term, linch-pin contract in a PNC Park still 11 months from completion; actually, in May it'll be 10 years. And they won't start paying on that contract's deferred monies until 2011.
> USA Today did focus on the Pirates in their blueprint for rebuilding series, after all. We sit corrected. (Which is more surprising: That they singled out Uniontown's Terry Mulholland as a Derek Bell-esque acquisition -- what, no Matt Morris? -- or that they chose the Washington Nationals as the second "blueprint" to mention?)
Feb 07 2010
By Chuck Finder | 12:40 a.m. Sunday
Today's a national holiday when even baseball players suspend their preparations for spring training, just 10 days away, and counting. (Boy, am I counting.)
Their focus is on elsewhere in Florida: Super Bowl XLIV from the Miami-area stadium named after whoever spent the $35 or so for today's naming rights.
And five out of six Pirates, almost all of them having played in Indianapolis at some point, are pulling for. . . the New Orleans Saints.
"I'm taking the Saints," Neil Walker said. "I like Drew Brees." So much for Walker being welcome back with the Class AAA Indy Indians if he doesn't make the Pirates out of spring training. "That's the plan; I spent enough time in Indianapolis," Walker teased. "The Colts won it a few years ago. I'm rooting for the Saints here."
Brees, Walker noted in the Pirates' Super Bowl predictions contained in today's print Pirates Hot Stove notebook, "When you look at his career and you look at what he's done, it's pretty impressive. He's had a lot of bumps in his road. He's been run out of a few places. At the end of the day, he's the guy who held not only the team together in New Orleans but the city. He's really kind of taken the whole city under his wing and tried to make people believe again. That's something pretty special."
Ross Ohlendorf threw his weight behind New Orleans because Brees, right, attended the same elementary school in Austin, Texas: St. Andrew's Episcopal. "I haven't watched one game. But I'll go with the Saints. Drew Brees. I went to school with them," said Ohlendorf, who was four years behind Brees and one behind Brees' baseball-playing brother, Reid.
Quarterback is also the reason why Joel Hanrahan favors the Saints -- but not Brees. "Can't root for Peyton Manning. A Tennessee thing. Never did like Tennessee," said this fellow raised in Gainesville, Fla., home of the University of All Things Gators.
Garrett Jones favors the Saints in his heart, but his head says Colts: "I want the Saints to win, but I think the Colts will win. Peyton's too tough. I don't think the New Orleans defense can stop him. I'd like to see it, though."
Steve Pearce picked New Orleans because. . . well, just because: "I have no idea. I don't care really about either team."
The lone dissenter? Daniel McCutchen was pulling for Minnesota, a certain southern quarterback and McCutchen's old Oklahoma University buddy, but they all lost to New Orleans in the NFC Championship game.
"I was hoping the Vikings would be there. My man Adrian Peterson. Brett Favre," McCutchen said. "But I got to go with Indy -- Peyton Manning."
Linkage to the Post-Gazette's coverage ...
> Opinion: Blogger Bob Smizik gets letters, and 33 percent of them pertain to the Pirates.
> The aforementioned Hot Stove notebook contains quotes from John Russell and Walker talking about possibly making the Pine-Richland fella a utility player.
From other realms ...
> Interesting, short tale about Colorado Rockies reliever Matt Daley, who skipped a chance at a $200,000 signing bonus or so and stayed in school to pick up his degree at Bucknell. Now there's a student-athlete, in that order.
> Here's a long story about a township meeting near Clearfield, but the main point of interest here: a $3,500 grant from the Pittsburgh Pirates apparently will help to put up lights for youth baseball fields.
> The prestigious Sundance Fim Festival played that Dock Ellis video as a lead-in to a Reggie Miller made-for-TV film, and one Oregon newspaper critic loved it -- even if the intrepid reporter misspelled his name as Doc.
PHOTO: Young Drew Brees/St. Andrew's Episcopal School website
Feb 06 2010
By Chuck Finder | 12:40 a.m. Saturday
The President uttered an intriguing sentence earlier this week.
No, not President Obama.
Frank Coonelly.
At PirateFest, he was portraying his boss, Bob Nutting, as anything but parsimonious and a purse-string clutcher. When general manager Neal Huntington, director of player development Kyle Stark and scouting director Greg Smith ask for funds to improve the club's baseball operations, Coonelly said, they get it from the owner. Every time.
"There hasn't been one single request for money. . . that Bob hasn't delivered on," Coonelly said.
Huntington likewise at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center continually talked about how he plans to be asking for lots more cash in the next few years: "As this core group comes together, it's going to become more expensive. That's when the payroll rises."
True, words are cheap. Star contracts are expensive. And that, wacky as it seems, would probably be a more tell-tale day for long-suffering Pirates fans: Not the moment when the club noses above .500, but when the owner locks up core players to long-term, marquee deals. . . and keeps them around on that growing payroll.
Linkage to the Post-Gazette's coverage ...
> Q&A: The Coonelly conundrum.
From other realms ...
> Andrew McCutchen is honored by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum as its National League rookie of the year (look toward bottom).
> Weather cancels Cannonball Crew tryouts Friday: keep practicing until Feb. 26, kids.
> No big deal, because it's a minor-league free-agent signing, but the St. Paul Saints are proud to announce that the Pirates claimed outfielder Anthony Norman, 25. (The final few signings drip out slowly, as DK blogged last Friday from the Hot Stove Luncheon about the latest non-roster invitees.) Bucs Dugout is all over these kinds of things, posting Norman and a couple of others Feb. 2.
> Here's a Pirates/NHL twist: One Atlanta publication responded this way after the local hockey team traded away star Ilya Kovalchuk: "Congratulations Thrashers fans, you now officially know what it's like to root for the NHL's equivalent of the Pittsburgh Pirates."
Feb 05 2010
By Chuck Finder | 5:29 p.m.
Haven't received confirmation yet from Pirates officials -- and, really, we're talking about minor-league depth at best here if it's true -- but the St. Paul (Minn.) Saints club is reporting on its site that the contract of outfielder Anthony Norman, 25, has been purchased by the Pirates.
Norman was a free-agent signee three years ago by the Angels, and exited their system in 2009, whereupon he joined the Saints.
Here's the story, plus his Saints stats.
And here is his page.
Update 12:30 a.m.: It's confirmed. It's a minor-league free-agent deal, no biggie.
Feb 05 2010
By Chuck Finder | 2 p.m. Friday
Here is where to submit a Q.
Q: Everyone quotes Bud Selig saying he believes the Pirates are trying to win and are spending their revenue-sharing funds correctly; that neither he nor the MLB need to intervene. Could it be that he already has? In fact, couldn't it be that the commish intervened two years ago with the hiring of Frank Coonelly?
Why would Coonellly give up his job in New York with MLB to be president of the PBC?
With all due respect, to be chosen over Tony LaCava and [new Texas Rangers owner] Chuck Greenberg never seemed realistic to me. Could it be things were so bad that the commish quietly intervened to force the Pirates to build a program?
Brett Wineinger of Indianapolis
FINDER: Gotta love conspiracy theories and front-office intrigue. Yet Brett's question centers on small notions that have followed Coonelly since his arrival in Pittsburgh: Was he sent here to properly steer the franchise, sort of a court-appointed lawyer? Was he sent here as a stepping stone back to the commish's office, the heir apparent to Selig in 2012? Or both?
A few fans at PirateFest posed those queries in the public Q&As, and Coonelly essentially answered negatory to both. Though he did joke once about noticing when a newspaper printed his old boss' salary, which, according to tax filings, has surpassed $17 million annually in recent years. That would would represent a slight raise from what Bob Nutting pays him, right?
While the Aramis Ramirez trade in July 2003 was triggered by the then-administration's debt ratio getting out of whack, there never were overt signs that Selig and MLB's brass considered the Pirates to be wholly mismanaged. There never were overt signs that Selig and MLB's brass considered the Nuttings to be unable to oversee a franchise successful in the books, at the turnstiles and on the field (in baseball, 1 for 3 or 2 for 3 constitute all-star material, remember). If the commissioner's office was all about propping up stable leaders in troubled outposts, Coonelly would be the president of the Marlins and the whole embarrassment about that club -- successful on the field, mind you -- and its revenue-sharing finances never would've reared.
On that subject, did anybody else notice the damage control the day after that MLB/union intervention? The Marlins sent out a press release about how next they were going to visit troops in Iraq.
Anyway, Coonelly's Pirates hiring may have been nothing more than Selig highly recommending his chief labor counsel for a team that needed a strong, steady hand, and it didn't hurt that Coonelly needed to leave the MLB offices to get that team experience if he did indeed aspire to Bud's throne. I know what you're thinking: Boy, what an experience.
"I really have no interest in the commissioner of baseball position," Coonelly answered at one PirateFest Q&A. "It's a terrific position. But my interest is in Pittsburgh and helping turn this franchise around."
There's a thought: Coonelly may not merit a promotion anywhere else until the Pirates win, or at least reach .500. His success could well be pinned to theirs. Wouldn't it be ironic if Pedro Alvarez, after all that 2008 wrangling between the team president and agent Scott Boras, turned out to be the player who put the Pirates over the top and put Coonelly in, say, the commissioner's chair?
Feb 05 2010
By Chuck Finder | 12:40 a.m. Friday
Robert Edward Crosby knows precisely what he's getting into. And where.
He knows that he could never do any better than become the second-favorite Crosby in Pittsburgh, behind the Penguins' Sidney.
He knows that he could never do any more than earn approval as the second-favorite Pirates No. 2 over the past decade, behind Jack Wilson.
Hey, it just worked out this way.
He wasn't trying to be the next Jumpin' Jack Flash when he asked for that number, but rather attempting to once again wear the digit he donned at Long Beach State and La Quinta High in Westminster, Calif.
"I was No. 7 in Oakland," said the Californian Crosby, right, "but I was No. 2 all through college and all through high school. Two's always been my second choice," No word-play intended.
Fans at PirateFest needled him about both Pittsburgh peculiarities.
"So, yeah, I know I'll be the second Crosby, and I took Jack's number. But those two things I definitely understand."
Two.
One last piece of business: As you see below, we Q&Aed about shortstops this afternoon, and dipping deep into our mailbag we later unearthed a similarly themed question from Jeff Hadley of Eaton Rapids, Mich.:
Q: Do you think the Pirates have seriously considered Andy LaRoche as a potential answer at shortstop, should Ronny Cedeno and Crosby both fail to take hold of the position? How would you assess LaRoche's skills as they relate to shortstop? He seems like he could make the transition.
FINDER: LaRoche, a college catcher until a knee injury, is a strong enough athlete to translate into a good third baseman and probably a decent second baseman, where lateral movement and range play an even larger role. But shortstop? I'm not sure, especially given his history with some back troubles. The other aspect that might raise concern: An uncomfortable infielder takes any glove troubles with him into the batter's box, and you certainly wouldn't want that with a transitioning LaRoche, either.
Consider it a bonus Q&A from the kindly backup. No extra charge.
Linkage to the Post-Gazette's coverage ...
> Q&A: Ronny Cedeno or Bobby Crosby at shortstop?
> Editorial: For those who still haven't read it.
From other realms ...
> USA Today's Sports Weekly focuses on baseball rebuilding jobs, calling the Pirates "the most extreme example." Interestingly, the story focuses instead of five retooling American League teams, and not another word is spent on the Pirates. (Although around Thanksgiving, a fine, longtime baseball writer authored this look at the Pirates' process.)
> Last February, Dave Davidson was on the Canada World Classic team and in Pirates camp. This February, he is recovering from surgery and looking for work.
> Way down in this story, you'll find how Pirates non-roster invitee Brian Burres committed a random act of kindess at his old juco.
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