By Dejan Kovacevic | 8 a.m. Thursday
Click here to submit a question.
We have Qs, and in an atypically feisty mood for this time of year ...
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Q: Dejan, love your stuff and hope your back is better!
Not surprised by the Gorzo demotion, and I don't think it is that big a deal ... yet. Consider:
1. With April/Early May weather, the No. 5 starter is often skipped.
2. If the goal is to get him consistent work, they could put him at the top of the rotation at Indy, and he will get better work on what he needs to improve on.
Does my logic pass the sniff test?
Tim Bode of Louisville, Ky.
KOVACEVIC: In a normal year, it might, Tim, but the Pirates have only two days off in the first six weeks of the season, the first one not coming until April 14, the day after the home opener. The No. 5 starter, whoever it is, will get his work.
Bottom line with Gorzelanny, in addition to all that was spoken yesterday, is that the Pirates were plenty upset with his mechanics. There were hints thrown to this effect after most of his outings, and those hints sounded far different than some of the assessments (excuses?) made when, say, Ross Ohlendorf or someone else was hit hard, when they would talk about how he worked on a specific pitch or such-and-such.
Clearly, Gorzelanny was in good shape.
Just as clearly, that was not enough.
As for the rotation, is there really any suspense left now? I know the Pirates have taken this sudden interest in Virgil Vasquez, but that might be more a competition-creator than anything else.
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Q: In following the Pirates via your Q&As, the blog and articles in the PG, I notice very little (if anything) written about Jack Wilson and his status. Do you get the sense that Jack is disappointed in being back in a Pirates uniform?
At the end of last season, it seems he felt that he was destined to be somewhere else this spring.
Bill Chapman of Greensburg
KOVACEVIC: Honestly, Bill, I wrote so much about Wilson in the offseason after his headline-grabbing pronouncement that the Pirates' management needed to get "more players" back in December that it might have been overkill to keep pounding it.
Yes, he is happy. He says so almost daily, and that customary smile and enthusiasm is very much in place.
Oh, and one other thing: Yes, Wilson did think he would be playing elsewhere. So did many people, including, I might add, the Pirates' front office that now seems to making suggestions that the whole Wilson-is-going-to-be-traded thing was either a) a media concoction or b) something that other teams pursued but not the Pirates. I have ample information from outside the Pirates organization that neither is the case. The Pirates shopped Wilson, and they did so very aggressively. They obviously were not going to give him away, or that deal with the Dodgers surely could have been completed. But the notion that the Pirates were passive bystanders during this process, by many accounts, is incorrect.
Just thought I would share.
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Q: With the Pirates-Yankees game on FSN on Monday night, why did the Bucs decide to cut Pedro Alvarez that afternoon? Why not let the home fans get a chance to see the "franchise savior" in action for ourselves, give us something to look forward to?
Same old Pirates.
John Lyons of Elizabeth
KOVACEVIC: Really, John? Some might say that the same old Pirates would have been more concerned about public perception than whatever they deemed the best baseball decision, but I suppose that argument always can go either way. At any rate, much angry mail about this.
Was it conspicuous?
Sure. I had anticipated Alvarez and the other top prospects, such as Jose Tabata, would all go down together. But it is worth noting that Tabata, Shelby Ford and all those others have played actual professional baseball, while Alvarez's next paid at-bat in a real game will be his first.
Also -- and I recklessly throw this out just for the conspiracy theorists among you -- remember that the Pirates last year pointedly and purposefully did not have a news conference for Alvarez upon his signing. Nor did they assign him to one of the two elite-prospect winter leagues, in each case doing so to send a message about his waiting so long to put pen to paper. Not sure if keeping the kid off a Monday night local spring telecast would rival either of those, but patterns are patterns.
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Q: Dejan, I fully realize the baseball people make their decisions independently of the marketing people. In almost every case, that is how it should be. However, I think the PBC erred in sending Pedro Alvarez to minor league camp hours before their first locally-televised spring training game. No draft pick has generated such buzz in years, and I think a lot of casual fans may have tuned in to see the guy. If he hits another 440 foot clout, maybe they sell another couple hundred tickets. And I'm sure that one more day in the major league camp would not have had any negative impact on Pedro's development.
Mike Anitori of White Oak
KOVACEVIC: I get it, Mike, and I do not intend to make light of the sentiment. Maybe one other thing I can add here is that, when one is in Bradenton - never mind being as immersed in things as the baseball people are - Pittsburgh can seem a long way away.
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Q: Where do you think that Craig Monroe fits into the Pirates' plans?
Carla McConnell, Toledo, OH
KOVACEVIC: Truly, Carla, I could see him starting the year in right field. And Eric Hinske in left.
Probably not the answer you were expecting, but Brandon Moss has an injury to a very key area in the right thumb, and his chance of returning seems no better than 50-50. Moreover, Nyjer Morgan is doing very, very little of what the Pirates want to see from him to this point in the spring and, being that there is a widespread view that he is mostly a place-holder for Andrew McCutchen under the best of circumstances, there probably would be no hesitation in replacing him with a veteran like Hinske.
As I wrote a couple weeks ago -- and it seemed to get misinterpreted by some -- Morgan has to earn his way onto the team by being legitimate.
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Q: Adam LaRoche is famous for his poor performance early in the season, and he's given no indication that is about to change this year. So, why isn't he playing every spring training game and hitting third to maximize his plate appearances?
I understand, he probably takes extra cuts in the cage, but there is nothing like facing live pitching. Is management worried about him getting hurt? That could happen anyhow. Even if he plays DH for 75 percent of the games, I would think you would want to get him as comfortable at the plate as possible, before the games start to count.
Andrew Pock of Havertown, Pa.
KOVACEVIC: Some numbers for you, Andrew ...
Last year, LaRoche took 55 at-bats, sixth-most on the team, plus a few extra hacks at Pirate City against minor leaguers. He batted .327, and many saw this as the sign that he finally would get off to a good April. It did not happen.
This spring, LaRoche's 38 at-bats are fourth most on the team, and he is batting .237 with a strikeout every third at-bat. There have been some good indications of a better approach, but they have been sparse.
What to make of that?
Get back to me in the third week of May.
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Q: Dejan, I seem to remember last spring you accurately identified Paul Maholm as looking sharp and poised to take a step forward in 2008. As it turned out he was the only stable starter last year. Now that we are around a month in to spring, have any of the starter candidates caught your attention much like Maholm did last year?
Jason Unger of Hopewell
KOVACEVIC: You remember correctly that our paper made a very big splash of Maholm's work in spring training, Jason, but there is no one like that just yet this time.
Yes, Zach Duke has done very well, in particular with the zip on his fastball and the movement of the other stuff. And yes, he was mostly good down the stretch last year. But we have seen this in previous spans, and I do not hear anyone talking about him the way they did about Maholm last year.
Ross Ohlendorf has really good numbers, too, but, the few times I have seen him this spring have been alternately terrific and puzzling. He looks dominant one batter, and the next lines the first pitch into center. The explanation from him and John Russell, each time, has been that he was working on a specific pitch and it was that specific pitch that got hit hard. There is more to see.
No one else has approached these two, other than Maholm, obviously.
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Q: Hi, Dejan. As a Pirates fan who doesn't live in Pittsburgh anymore, I just wanted to say thanks for all the good coverage of spring training. Most of what I know comes from your efforts.
Do the Pirates still owe any money to Matt Morris?
Jason Schloetzer of Washington, D.C.
KOVACEVIC: Technically, yes, Jason, the $1 million buyout of Morris' 2009 club option goes onto this year's payroll, as per Major League Baseball's accounting methods. I am using that figure, plus other odds and ends, when I compute -- on my own - the team's actual payroll.
As I have written previously, too many people simply add up the full-year salaries of the 25 guys who play on opening day and refer to that all year as the payroll. Much more to it than that.
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Q: What impact, if any, has the hiring of former Baseball Prospectus writer Dan Fox had on the team's front-office dealings and roster management?
Justin Miller of Ellwood City
KOVACEVIC: Very rarely do I hear about a player move - or potential player move - without hearing Fox's name in the mix, Justin. He and his statistical analysis are used by everyone from Neal Huntington to Greg Smith to Kyle Stark to ... well, everyone, and in all kinds of applications.
A bit more on that in a couple weeks.
Posted
Mar 19 2009, 08:00 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic