PBC Blog

Morning baseball talk, 11-5-09

Dejan Kovacevic — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:40:00 GMT

Afternoon baseball talk, 11-4-09

Dejan Kovacevic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:40:00 GMT

Morning links: Manage expectations

Dejan Kovacevic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:40:00 GMT

By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:40 a.m. Wednesday

Chuck Finder had to take a couple days off, and I agreed to cover for him in the unlikely event that anything happened.

Oh, well.

I do have a few other points I want to make, culled from conversations I had yesterday about the Akinori Iwamura trade, and coming up with a spontaneous set of Morning Links seems as a good an avenue as any:

> Do not assume that the Iwamura trade means more significant additions are in the offing. The Pirates do plan to explore, but they also sound as if they would be fine with looking at internal options to address shortcomings. Relievers will be brought in, and corner outfielders will be examined, but there is a school of thought within the team that the best route would be to look at existing, legitimate talent. For example, Garrett Jones could be that corner outfielder if Jeff Clement can be the first baseman. Or Jose Tabata could step up. Or Neil Walker. Or Pedro Alvarez.

> Be sure that the Pirates will talk to Rick Ankiel when free agency opens, but, again, do not expect them to do so out of a sense of desperation.

> Ronny Cedeno is no lock to be the Pirates' shortstop, even though he very much is the default choice at the moment. The team will look at other options there.

> Jack Wilson will be available, and he would be amenable to returning to Pittsburgh. The Pirates are equally open to discussing such a scenario. But there are many miles to go before it would become substantive.

> More than any aspect of the Iwamura trade, as the main story linked below shows, I was struck by the years-of-control aspect. It flies so thoroughly in the face of what this management team had done previously that, as Neal Huntington would confirm in our interview, it really did signify sort of a turning point in terms of the approach to trading.

> I have seen Iwamura play almost never, for obvious reasons, but an examination of his profile does appear to back the Pirates' stance that he could bat second behind Andrew McCutchen. He is left-handed, patient, productive and good on the basepaths.

> The Pirates are of the mind that he might have a little more power than what he showed in the American League, especially given PNC Park's right field. Iwamura's hit chart points to his being more of a gap-to-gap guy, but who knows if he might alter his approach in a different venue?

> Let it not go unnoticed that the club added a large chunk of payroll, just as it should not go unmentioned that there still is quite a ways to go before it even rivals the opening-day figure from this past season. A very rough estimate would peg the 2010 payroll at about $32 million with Iwamura.

> Let it also not go unappreciated that Jesse Chavez was just turning into a pretty nice reliever. Yes, he is young. And yes, relievers are unreliable. But not all of them. And the Rays did not amass all that talent by being lousy at evaluating young pitchers.

Linkage to the general coverage ...

> Main story: The Iwamura trade.

> Audio: Iwamura, through a translator.

> Opinion: Columnist Gene Collier thinks there is too much trivia during World Series broadcasts. My own quibble: Just imagine how much different Major League Baseball's economics might be if the national media focused as much attention on the Yankees' payroll as they do on faux controversies such as faulty umpiring (When did these guys start making mistakes?) and catchers' visits to the mound (They're allowed to do that?). Nothing like ignoring the elephant in the living room.

And from other realms ...

> The St. Petersburg Times' coverage of the trade.

> The Tampa Tribune has coverage, too.

> Beyond the Box Score examines some numbers.

Iwamura 'interested' in talking long term

Dejan Kovacevic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:25:00 GMT

By Dejan Kovacevic | 10:25 p.m. Tuesday

Akinori Iwamura would be "interested" in exploring a long-term contract with the Pirates, he said in a conference call just now from Japan.

Some highlights of the call, during which agent Yoshi Hasagawa translated ...

> On staying longer than a year: "I'm definitely interested in the long term, but I first have to do what I can do. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, we can go to the playoffs next season."

> On going from a talented team to one in last place: "I'm very excited for the new challenge. I spoke to Neal Huntington, and I feel very appreciated."

> On his knee: "It feels very good, but not 100 percent. I think I already proved I can play at a high level, and I think I can play just liked I did in the World Series. I'll be 100 percent for next year."

> On what he knows about Pittsburgh: "I know, of course, about Roberto Clemente, and that it is a great organization. I was in Pittsburgh as a player, and it is a very nice ballpark. And my wife said Pittsburgh is a sister city of the city in Japan where she is from. That was nice."

Pittsburgh's sister city in Japan is Saitama, a sort-of suburb of Tokyo where the Penguins and Nashville Predators played a couple regular-season games a few years back.

Iwamura's wife's name is Misaki. He has a son, Taiki, and the family dog's name is "Nuts." (Stuff you can find in team media guides.)

Chavez: 'It's going to be weird'

Dejan Kovacevic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:22:00 GMT

By Dejan Kovacevic | 9:22 p.m. Tuesday

Jesse Chavez, suddenly a member of Tampa Bay's bullpen, sounded as if he had mixed emotions about the trade.

"It's going to be weird," he said by phone just now. "We all watch the games of other teams, so I know Tampa has a lot of talent. It's going to be nice to have a chance to go help them, and I'm actually kind of antsy about it already. For a team like that to want me me, it's cool. But I never would have guessed this would happen."

Chavez, 26, was coming off a strong rookie year in which his 96-mph fastball helped him to a 4.01 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 22 walks in 73 appearances. John Russell grew increasingly comfortable using him in late innings, and he would have become a candidate to close next year if Matt Capps faltered.

Official now: Pirates get Iwamura for Chavez

Dejan Kovacevic — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:23:00 GMT

By Dejan Kovacevic | 5:23 p.m. Tuesday

The Pirates are close to acquiring infielder Akinori Iwamura from the Tampa Bay Rays, possibly as soon as tonight.

Word that the Pirates were involved in talks came at 3:04 p.m. today on the Post-Gazette's Twitter account.

Iwamura, 30, has a 2010 club option worth $4.25 million, after which he can become a free agent. It is expected that the Pirates will exercise the option as part of the trade. If that happens, Iwamura will be their highest-paid player.

This is his official page.

UPDATE 5:50 p.m.: Jesse Chavez is going to Tampa Bay in the trade, according to a source close to Chavez. I am hearing, too, that another player is coming the Pirates' way. That surely will be a necessity given that the Pirates were going to control Chavez's rights through 2014 and will have Iwamura for only one year.

7:01 p.m.: The Pirates and Rays make it official: Iwamura for Chavez. No other players or cash in the deal. More to come in a bit.

7:03 p.m.: The Pirates exercised Iwamura's option for 2010.

7:04 p.m.: Neal Huntington statement, on the trade: "Akinori Iwamura brings to the Pittsburgh Pirates solid attributes offensively, defensively, on the basepaths and in the clubhouse. He is a good athlete with above average speed and is a tough out with a solid career on-base percentage. Additionally, he played Gold Glove caliber third base for years in Japan and has made a smooth transition to second base. We are very pleased to add a player of his caliber to our lineup and to our organization."

7:27 p.m.: Some more stuff from Huntington in a conference call just now ...

> Delwyn Young will go back to a bench role. "It returns DY to a role that he's excelled at. Certainly, he'll be much improved at second base because of all the work he put in."

> Iwamura is seen as batting No. 2 in the lineup, behind Andrew McCutchen.

> On giving up Chavez's years of control: "It was tough to give up Jesse, but the bullpen is the most difficult area to predict future performance. In our minds, it was much more difficult to find 600 quality plate appearances than 60 relief appearances."

> The Pirates have not yet spoken to Iwamura, but they hope in keeping him longer than a year. "Hopefully, the fans of Pittsburgh make him feel welcome and wanted and pique his interest in having this be more than one year."

> On the knee: The Pirates' scouts saw Iwamura three times in September, and his running time and range were "as good as pre-injury." He was wearing a large brace, though, and it remains to be determined if he still will need that.

> Asked if the middle infield is set, with Ronny Cedeno and Iwamura: "We'll always look to continue to improve the club. If another scenario comes up, we'll explore it. But right now, we feel good with Cedeno and Iwamura."

7:32 p.m.: Iwamura could participate in a conference call later, too. If so, I will give that a new post.

9:20 p.m.: The Iwamura call, if it happens at all, will come a good bit later.

Afternoon baseball talk, 11-3-09

Dejan Kovacevic — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:40:00 GMT

Morning baseball talk, 11-3-09

Dejan Kovacevic — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:40:00 GMT

Afternoon baseball talk, 11-2-09

Dejan Kovacevic — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:40:00 GMT

Morning baseball talk, 11-2-09

Dejan Kovacevic — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:40:00 GMT