Pirates, Alvarez sign; Alvarez asks Pittsburgh to 'judge me as the professional player that I am now'

Fantastic!!! Now.........................LETS DO IT!

Time to prove you were worth the trouble young man.

POP POP POP Virtual Champagne bottles opening (still on my meds) RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!

Welcome aboard Pedro.

Tom sorry it had to be you to the DL.

Where does he go? When does he play?What kind of toothpaste does he use?Will mom and dad be moving to the burgh or moving with Dro?

Just kidding!No idea about emoticons.I never even learned to type in school in the 60s

Exactly what was the injury to Gorzilla?Since we never heard about it!

@mazfromiowa

Ouchy finger

@maz--DK reports alsmost inmmedistly to FL instructional leage...There goes DK's trip to Hawaii

as for Gorzo, I think it was a ligament in the finger

Gorz had a ligament sprain on his throwing hand...he was already on the 15-day DL.

there once was a young lad named pedro

maz was asking which way did he go

ito begin hitting them out

with a strong Bucco clout

to lead the charge against one and all of the foe

BK

Can still go to Hawaii following instructional league.  Arizona may be cutting it close.  

@Cave--Thanks. I did not know that or thought it was an option...DK have Mrs. DK pack the sunblock.

Love and Happiness, all the way around ... Off to work.

Where shall post tonight--so many threads running--

www.youtube.com/watch

Bay-Have a good night

sorry about posting the first draft, maz, but you get the idea just the same.

whos on third?

jersey I don't know

@jersey joe

 jersey joe walcott(boxer?)

  I guess I forgot about the ouchy.Senior moment

Very excited about this.  One step at a time ladies and gents...this is a nice step

or Jersey Joe's Cheesesteaks and Hoagies in San Carlos California

@JAL--Where to post....PA related here.

Game related on the previous thread.

Since CC's pitching tonight, what's the over/under on hits--disputed or otherwise?

This just in: in response to a question submitted to John McCain.........

 Sarah Palin is ready to manage!Look out JR! The pit bull wants your job

Billy, I am surethe MD.'s did not give you permission to be back at 18 hrs. per day.

the west coasrt lad just wrote to cangradulate us and ask if we have enough kool aid.  

everything he heard from ou t there was that we were going to not get him.

to an earlier comment by DK, I do also see the confusing footwork of andy at times, could it be from the work on chhanging things, just not worked through yet.

sure would be nice to see either one of the third baseman bloossem next year to an above average player.

If Palin's managing, will underperformers be playing their winter ball in Alaska?

It's about time, finally some good news for a team & its fans that have gone through a complete disaster of a season. There is so much of an expectation of this young man, I hope that the organization is equiped to prepare him for what is down the road. The housecleaning of coaches & managers in the minor leagues may have been needed, but there are lotsa shoes to fill that could affect not only Pedro, but also this draft class. LET'S GO BUCS!!!!!!

So NOW do you think Mr. PA is going to drive the jitney one more time around the block for old time sake?

Man, even reading the quotes make me think Boras is pure evil.

I was hoping to hear something entirely different out of his mouth tonight. Oh well, lets hope this young man lives up to the hype.

Everything in the above conference call was fantastic until SB opened his mouth.

""I just want the fans of Pittsburgh to judge me as the professional player that I am now, to judge me on the player that I am. I will work my hardest to be the best player I can be, to be a leader on and off the field in the community. It's a big day for me and my family.

We could not have asked for anymore from this young man.

And then the morons open thier toilets and this spews forth

"Frank Coonelly called the contract Alvarez ended up with "comparable in value" to the original agreement. ... Boras disagreed, calling it "a favorable change for Pedro Alvarez ...

Why the positioning and attempts at grandstanding? Both of them should have said

"We both achieved what we we wanted, and that was for PA to be a member of the PBC. It is a great day for the Alvarez family and a great day for the Fans of the PBC"

END OF STATEMENTS SHUT UP AND WALK AWAY

With thier statements it no longer was about PA and the Fans it was about out which one got over on the other one.

In a two person parade for SB and FC they would not be able to walk side by side, one would have to be a half step in front of the other.

PA you are more grown up and more mature than either your agent or FC.

@ patton:

What did you expect? "I was a complete idiot - what was I thinking? I apologize for stringing this out..." ?

Not a snowball's chance, sir.

@JJ-<permission to be back at 18 hrs. per day.> It is not the work or the 18 hour days. It was the additional self induced Physical Therapy/ excercising that I was doing over and above the 2 hours each AM that caused the infection to spread from my back to my lung and to my heart.  

HUZZAH!! HUZZAH!! Pedro got signed and  finally got an avatar to show up on my profile.

Now if I could only get my fricka-frackin name to change ARGGGGHHHHH

I know this is exciting news but we have to see him play.  What do thne fans expect of him?  Look at two former high choices--Jeff King was selected #1 overall by the Pirates and developed into solid MLB player.  He never hit .300 and hit a high of 30 HR in his last season with the Pirates.  Then we A-Rod who has been one the top power hitters in baseball with a .306 lifetime average.  Obviously we would like PA to perform in the area of A-Rod.  How will he viewed if ends up halfway between A-Rod and King?  

Finally, what players will be around him?  As great a player as A-Rod has never been on a team that even made to the wrold series, let alone won it.

BK:

Watch your blood pressure, amigo...

@BK-Isn't is amazing that doing something that is supposed to be good-exercising-can cause such bad results.  Just glad that you are on the mend my friend--keep going forward to full health

Now that's a relief!

For Coonelly and Boras, the first verse of the song below is very appropriated.

www.youtube.com/watch

tedkin43 -Congrats on the avatar

@cocktailsfor2 -from earlier today-I would never have guessed that someone with screen name cocktails for two would be a lush.  No idea until Bk spilled the info for all to see. :)

Cfor2--I feel better now. Thanks for your continued concern.

I just think all parties involved had a chance to build bridges, or at least act like it, but didn't. I'd like to know what Pedro didn't think was fair about $6m. Look, I'a as happy as anyone that this is behind us. I welcome him to the org and wish much happiness and success.

One word of caution Pedro. You asked that we judge you as the player you are. That's not quite good enough. We will judge you as the player you will BECOME. Like Billy wrote here earlier today- do your job the way it is supposed to be done and be nice to our children, and we will support you like no other fans  or city will.

Welcome Aboard.

@AG--LMAO...That was awesome. Chicken on the Hill with Will is gonna want that jpeg of the farmer/rooster

Scott Vadar! Ever wonder if he took another kid's lunch money? Probably still does1Whatta creep

@Alexandre

LMAO

Much of a relief for this to have ended a lot earlier than it would've. Hopefully he plays like we expect.

Come on give the young man a break, remember all the players that got off to a rocky start with the fans in da' burg & how performance turned the nay sayers to luv ones faster than cold "iron" on a hot summer night. People forget about Mean Joe Greene during the strike year, or Franco's rookie contract, or Mario @ the draft.

JAL: I figgered a smart fellah like yourself had already put 2 & 2 together (mmm - make mine a double!)...

BK: I got your back (and your BP cuff - please put your arm in here...)

Sheesh Pearce! Never saw a pitch faster than 83 mph!

My seats are 6 rows behind the Buccos dugout.  I can not wait to BOOOOOOOO the weasel that is Alvarez, out of Pittsburgh.  This guy does not want to be a Pirate.  If the Pirate apologists out there do not see that then you apparently must be drinking too much Coonley Kool-Aid.  Finally, I think it is time to stop calling him a young kid.  I believe he is older than our very own Sidney Crosby.  He just doesn't have half the class.

Guess that this has turned into the game thread?

I'm leaving myself a wakeup call for 2012.  None of this means diddly-squat until then.

Meanwhile back at the game, same old storyline - walk, walk, walk. Can't win if your pitcher is walking in runs all inning! Throw strikes for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!

@Drabek--< I can not wait to BOOOOOOOO the weasel that is Alvarez, out of Pittsburgh.  This guy does not want to be a Pirate.>

What in DK's column above makes you post this?

Anybody notice tonigh the next Ex-Pirate pitcher to have a succesful career Brian Bullington.  5IP 2h 6Ks.  It is amazing once they leave Pittsburgh they discover how to pitch.

@BillyKidd,

Remember, these two don't really care for one another, and personally, I think SB was a little more outrageous than FC, but that's just me.  And I think, longterm, SB did win because that deadline became just a little harder today.

And to PA, I say only this: Congratulations!  Now get your butt to work!

Drabek:

Don't sugar coat it - that's how one gets an ulcer.

Tell us how you ~really~ feel.

PA did not say anything that a rookie should have said when drafted.  It seems this was by his doing and not all Boras.  Just duckie, what do we have now?  

He wants:

""I just want the fans of Pittsburgh to judge me as the professional player that I am now, to judge me on the player that I am."

The only professional thing so far is to hold us hostage for more money and a Major league contract. Has not played a lick so far.  How's that make him anyting?

And FC:

"Frank Coonelly called the contract Alvarez ended up with "comparable in value" to the original agreement"

Bend over you took it up the wazoo.  You renegoiated the contract, Gave in for more money and gave a major league contract.  That is losing.

I loved the pick and was hoping both sides would get it done and we would have a young promising playerand decent person.  Well just the Pirate fans luck we lost out on both.  Face it, then sweep it under the rug if you like but thems the facts.

I wil not boo him if he makes it to the majors but I will not ever trust him either.

@Lee--Too early--Bullington still has an ERA over 5 and half and got bombed last time he pitched.  Have to see a lot more before we can know if he learned to pitch.  

OK. I'm checking for the blue moon, looking to see if hell froze over and if there are pigs flying.  Pedro Alvarez is signed and officially a Pirate. With our luck, he'll suffer a career-ending injury attempting to score - by sliding into Matt Wieters at home plate.

I'm so sick of this guy.  If this kid represents the kind of attitude that future Pirates should have, I'm out as a fan.

I'm so sick of this guy.  If this kid represents the kind of attitude that future Pirates should have, I'm out as a fan.

My, they come out of the woodworks NOW, don't they?

@BK

Watch out when you LYAO. Can't be good for your back. :)

Oh, boy. Two hits for the Brewers, four runs. There are things that only happen to the Bucs...

The boy in the picture is wearing a France national team jersey. That can't be a good omen: Remember the saying "More losses than the French army"?

Bucs are gonna come back . ..

Pedro ~~~~~ Welcome & Good Luck

Posting this on both threads because of the urgency--Lost--one strike zone--it found please return to any Pirate pitcher

And the great Denny B. comes in and proceeds to walk the first two batters on 8 pitches......can anyone throw strikes.

While using the insanely great At Bat application from MLB to check up on the game on my iPhone, I saw that Ryan Doumit has been absolutely wicked good with runners in scoring position. How about .406 avg with an OPS over 1.0 in those situations!

To those of you so negative on PA, Why? In the conference call and in DK's column above he said all the right things, and only time will tell if he fulfills them. He was arguably the best player in the draft and now he is a Pirate. What did he say today that makes you so negative on him?

Wow, they managed to get out of that with no further damage.  (at least to the scoreboard)  

Let me once again add my voice to the call for pitchers.  Some of these guys better have excellent winters.

Let's see, catching up a little more -- Gorzo on the disabled list to make room for Pedro, we can keep Yoslan and JVB.

Moss to get a second opinion.  Hope the doc yells at him.

Is CC that good, or is our offense that bad.  Let's see we've outhit 'em 4-2, but the nine walks we gave up may have some bearing on the score.

I was at PNC for Season Ticket holder Field Games. I had the oppurtunity to get my picture taken w/ Alvarez and welcome him to Pittsburgh. He was only on the field for several minutes, but from what I saw, he seemed like a nice guy. He obliged to every request to shake a hand, to take a picture, or just talk. He also seemed very appreciative that so many people (mostly season ticket holders) came over to welcome him and wish him well.

BK  

 Maybe if he were slightly apologetic and not act the PBC was putting the screws to him.The guy agreed to the contract.He reneged.Now he says the contract was unfair! 6 million! He hid out and never sent any news .He basically ignored the team he said he'd love to play for.I for one don't care if SB told him to be quiet. He could have sent out a press release instead of wringing out more money from a team that needed him so badly.When I read how bad he wanted to play from his neighbors and friends and even his college coach I think we all felt like were fed a line

Sorry for the late post, but it's actually good to see Pedro has some cojones (sp) and what's wrong with what he said?  Reminds me a little of Eli Manning and our own Mario, and those worked out OK.  BK has it right in my book.  And as far as the FC-SB thing, it is just proof of what we have already been told.  And really, after FC said what he said, could you really expect SB to sit silently?

Bottom line, Pedro's a Pirate and if he wasn't any chance of winning would have been put off at least one year.  And the Pirates surely would have been held hostage by the two top ten picks next year whose maybe non-SB agents would not be representing them properly if they didn't take advantage of the fact that the PBC HAD to sign them at any cost.

I'm really really glad it's over because I feared our boys had messed up.

Whitey -- More good news, thanks.

Oh, and kudos to DK, as always, for putting it out there and asking the questions

"...Now he says the contract was unfair! 6 million! ..."

No, Maz, ~HE~ didn't say that.

He said a fair trial a fair negotiation.The guy agreed to the contract

From the looks of that pic with alveraz and the kids He very well could of signed the contract before Noon. To my knowledge players don't ussually were the jersey until AFTER they actually put ink to paper and actually sign the contract. If you look at how the shade is you can tell the sun is still behind the 3rd base seats and for the games the sun is by the alleghany.

I know i''ll get the bad taste out of my mouth,but you have to admit for a guy that says he did his own thinking he sure could have been more diplomatic.To put it bluntly why pull the operation shutdown on all news.It's sure not the way to win over the fan base if it's all your own thinking.

Gregwek, I was on the field when this photo was taken. In fact, I am barely visible in the background (I am in yellow shirt by third base area). This photo was taken somewhere around 5:30 pm, give or take a few minutes.

@maz--<He said a fair trial a fair negotiation.The guy agreed to the contract>

We really do not know that is fact.

This sounds somewhat apologetic to me

<I asked what it would take to mend fences, not just with the Pirates but also the many people in Pittsburgh who are upset at how long this took.

Hopefully Borass got stuck in tunnel traffic on the way out of town...and got a flat tire...and got caught speeding...and missed his flight.

Dejan, is your email down? I tried a couple times to email you a nice photo of Pedro and his family in the Pirates dugout. My email gets kicked back to me as being undeliverable by the PG server.

He did NOT say the contract was unfair. Please stick to the quoted statements.

I understand your frustration, but really - are you THAT worked up about this? He's signed, he's gonna play, he's under control for 6 years.

Did YOU make all the right decisions when you were 21?

Off to rest now--everyone have a good night

@maz--<He said a fair trial a fair negotiation>

Which indicates to me that maybe the Pirates were unfair just maybe he feels they owe him an apology.

good night JAL

whiteypittsburgh:

Oh, my bad. from the shadows I thought it was the morning, nevermind what I said about it being in the morning then *embaressed*

DK can you get the PG to post the Audio file of the conference call?

BK-I think the quote you inadvertently attributed to Pedro was DK asking the question.  By the way, you take care of yourself (sounds like you are still deciding what MD directions you will follow).  

Following up on your pointing out about the fair trial, fair negotiation, and at the risk of beating a dead horse, let me just  say for the people who still think Pedro is a scumbag based on how this worked out, consider the following (and this is not Rod Serling introducing the Twilight Zone):

You are a 21 year old, who only knows that your potential employer has offered you $5 million on a minor league contract, and you are informed by your advisor(s) that $6 million is the minimum you should take, plus some other things (major league contract) and that other teams said they would pay $12 million if they had the chance.  You hear nothing further for approximately 2 -3 months.  Four minutes before the deadline for accepting the $5 million you get a call and your potential employer calls and says, OK $ 6 million on a minor league contract.  Your Dad drives a cab and already passed up some big bucks so you could go to school.  You say, OK, if you agree to pay for my school so I can honor my dad.  

At that point you don't know what time it is and you fully expect and intend to honor your word.  Your advisor then tells you, hey, that didn't happen till after the deadline and it isn't valid if you don't want it to be and spends an hour telling you how that was not a fair negotiation to wait till the last minute  and the timing is a way out if you want to get a fair deal.

There may be some little details wrong, but I think that is a fair educated guess of what occurred based almost solely on what our PBC tells us happened.

Is that a fair negotiation?  I would hope I would honor my word despite the circumstances and am sure many others feel the same, but I have no problems with Pedro and wish him and the fans the best in his career with the PBC.

Billy,  you know we all but the whiners agree with you.  Notice, not a one of them has answred your request for an example to justify such remarks.

Like someone kinda said earlier, when he hits his first thirty homeruns our friends will wonder aloud, yea but he should have hit another five.

Also like you said last week from your back, when he signs this is over with and you do not care what happened to get him here just glad he is here.  

Those guys who do not understand that will never see joy with this guy.

@Arriba/JJ--thanks for the info.

Is there anyone out there???

Been a busy day BK.  Did I miss anything?  :)

Hey die not really a whole lot

I am moving to the Morning Links c'mon over

============

2 Ants Marching over to the Morning Links