LaWhiff

Ah, it truly is baseball season, almost.  After reading Dejan Kovacevic's piece on Steve Pearce in the Post-Gazette today, I casually started looking at spring stats for our 6-1 Pittsburgh Pirates.

I damn near choked at this stat line.

Avg - .167, OBP - .167, SLG - .167, Ab -12, SO -8, R- 0, RBI -0

Yes, it looks like Adam LaRoche is in Mid-May form.  Really, that is correct, EIGHT strike outs in 12 at bats.  He has two, count them, two hits.  Both were singles.  He has not drawn a base on balls.  The only time he has touched the plate is during his walk back to the dugout after striking out.  The bright spot, of the four balls he has put in play, fifty percent have been for base hits.

Now, rounding back to the Pearce article, HOW can the Pirates not find playing time for Pearce in Pittsburgh?  Especially early in the season during LaRoche's down time.

With so many unknown quantities coming into the year such as Morgan, Moss, Andy LaRoche, Ohlendorf, Karstens and half the bullpen.  In addition, at some point in the season we will likely see McCutchen and Tabata.  What would it hurt to add one more unknown to the list in Pearce?

If the Pirates can find a taker, and get anything of value in return, trading LaRoche early in the season or during spring may be the best move they could make.  This is a year of discovery for so many players.  Why not take the chance and see if Pearce is also ready for his shot?  

 

Five Questions:

In case you missed the Five Questions installment yesterday, I recommend you take the time to read it.  It is a very good read and well worth the time.  I must say, it is easier to ask questions and have someone else write the post for you.  Thanks Jen, that was a great series of answers. 

For Dejan

For Dejan:

 

Rumors on LaRoche, Free Agent Signing, Cuthbert, Boras Fingered and More

A couple rumors from XM MLB Radio (XM 175)

LaRoche:

According to MLB Radio: A rumored trade persists from the West Coast pertaining to an Adam LaRoche to the Giants deal.  Apparently San Francisco is willing to trade Jonathan Sanchez and first baseman Travis Ishikawa for the much scrutinized Pittsburgh Pirate first baseman.

BTW Take:

Sanchez is quite intriguing, but for my money Ishikawa is much more tantalizing to the baseball palette.  If this is an accurate rumor, being a rumor lends to the likelihood being minimal at best, this is a deal Huntington would likely jump at.  Considering the front office denied emphatically any deal was in the works with San Francisco, I highly doubt the is much meat behind the story.  Huntington does not like to divulge anything on deals he is working on, so the denial could still be a cover-up of actual talks.  That is the only reason I have spent any time on this. 

 

Free Agent:

According to MLB Radio: The Pirates are in discussions with free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez.

BTW Take:

Mientkiewicz is a better fit for the team.  I do not see where a 41 year old outfielder should garner more than a minor league contract.  Gonzalez is outside the "rebuilding" project free agents the Pirates have signed recently like Monroe.  I am not sure I buy this rumor either, but Dejan's comments about a free agent signing coming soon and a name we all know makes me a little nervous this is more than a rumor. 

 

Cuthbert:

Apparently the Pirates are favored to sign a Nicaraguan Prospect League player by the name of Cheslor Cuthbert.  According to the blog post, he will be available to sign come July and is drawing attention from many teams.

http://cardinalsbestnews.blogspot.com/2009/01/updates-out-of-nicaragua.html

Another link from Cardinals Best News has some information on him:

http://cardinalsbestnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/aritcles-on-jem-argenal-cheslor.html

Here is a link to a Google translation of an article about his tryout:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://impreso.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2008/10/19/deportes/87649&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DCheslor%2BCuthbert%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3D77I

BTW Take:

I know nothing about this player but found it interesting nonetheless.  It looks like the legacy of Roberto Clemente is still paying dividends for the Pirates.  According to the articles, the kid can flat rake.  Big power, especially at a young age.

 

Mayor Retires:

Sean Casey has retired to take on a studio job.

BTW Take:

There are a ton of free agents retiring after seeing what the market has in store for them.  Good luck in the new gig Sean.

 

Boras Fingered:

Scott Boras and his agency have been fingered by Kirk Radomski as being part of the Kevin Brown portion of the Mitchell Report.

From ESPN.com:

Radomski's account says he sent HGH to Brown in the winter of 2003, and several days later discovered a wet overnight shipping package containing $8,000 in cash in the bushes by his house. Radomski says the FedEx account number and return address on the package were from the sports agency of Brown's California-based representative, Scott Boras.

Boras, reached by ESPN.com, says his agency had no connection to the alleged payment.

"The Federal Express package or anything like that, Kevin Brown was asked about it and denied it," Boras says. "The fact of the matter is we obviously give out our Federal Express numbers to a wide number of sources -- team officials, people, clients, that kind of thing -- because we obviously are sending out and mailing back and forth."

Radomski says government agents found FedEx labels from Brown in the raid of his Long Island home, but he was uncertain whether they were in possession of this particular label.

There is much more in the story.

BTW Take:

How sweet would it be to have Boras lose his license over this deal?

 

Delay:

One more days delay on wrapping up the free agency posts.  Once again work has got in the way of blogging.

 

Donate:

I will be walking in the MDA Stride and Ride locally.  Please sponsor me in my Stride and Ride Walk for MDA at https://www.joinmda.org/srcoralvilleia09/dharr18, every dollar is appreciated.

Prospects On The Rise, Other Stuff

First, I would like to pay on my sympathy to the Pirates organization, former teammates and family of Dock Ellis who passed away Friday.  I remember watching him pitch as a young child.  The baseball world lost a valuable member of its family.

Prospects On The Rise:

According to Dejan the Pirates are hoping to start Pedro Alvarez at High A Lynchburg.  Tabata could start in AAA, creating a log jam of center fielders in Indianapolis.  Lincoln and Moskos could be starting in Altoona to start the season as well.

BTW Take:

I hope Coonley and Huntington aren't rushing Pedro too fast to make up for missed time.  Actually it looks like they are moving quite a few prospects up quickly.  This type of expectation reeks of an organization trying to force its hand and show they are improving well before it is time. 

This is a nice change from the Littlefield era where no one seemed to move at all unless they seemingly had been ready to move up for at least half a season.

If Tabata and McCutchen are both in Indy to start the season, look for both to get significant time playing in left as well as center.  With the large size of left in PNC, this season in Indy should tell the team who will be the left fielder of the future for the Pirates.  I would not be surprised to see an outfield of Tabata, McCutchen and McLouth to close out the year in Pittsburgh.

 

Other Stuff:

Another Bucs Outlet:

Another location to follow the Pirates this season, Evan Foley will be covering the Pirates at Study Of Sports.

 

Doug Is A Good Guy:

An interesting quote from Dejan's Hot Stove Report:

"Busiest guy on the phone this winter might be Doug Mientkiewicz, who has made a habit of calling teammates to ensure they are staying in shape. And this is especially noteworthy, considering Mientkiewicz not only is a free agent but also has yet to receive an offer from the Pirates."

BTW Take:

It seems like Doug might return after all, either that or he is just that good of a person.  Doug will be a great manager someday.

 

Free Agent Updates:

No major updates on the Turnbow, Bootcheck, Hairston nor Cabrera fronts.  The Pirates are still believed to be in the running for each player.  There are at least a dozen teams interested in Cabrera.  At least a handful of teams are interested in Hairston and Turnbow.  There are a couple teams interested in Bootcheck, with the Pirates being the closest to signing him at this time.

 

Contract Negotiations:

A contract is expected to be announce with Ryan Doumit early next week, likely before the Christmas to New Years break.  One thing to consider, the Pirates may actually be busy over the holiday break in hopes of landing an extension or minor free agent signing.

 

Minor League Managers Named:

Several coaches and managers were named.  Here is a link to the PG recap of the moves.

Something Fishy, By the Bay, Getting Deep

Something Fishy:

The Sun-Sentinel is "reporting" Ryan Doumit is one of four catchers targeted by the Marlins before the deadline.

BTW Take:

The article mentions the Pirates have Paulino in the minors who was their starting catcher, inferring there is depth in the system.  They also say John Grabow would have to be part of the deal.  Two problems, Paulino (last I checked) was on the DL and working his way back.  Second, Paulino has fallen out of favor with management and coaches. 

Of all the players on the Pirates, the one that is least likely to be moved is Doumit.  He is still controlled for 3 more years, so the Marlins would have to absolutely sell the farm to get him.  I don't see that happening and I do not see Huntington trading away useful parts for the future just for a few more bodies in the minors considering the lack of depth at catcher in the minors.

Doumit does not get moved, at least until he has less that 2 years guaranteed with the team left.  There is no way he is moved before 2010 trade deadline.

Bay By The Bay?:

Dejan reports at the PG that Tampa and other parties are in deep trade talks over Jason Bay.

BTW Take:

Bay to the Rays makes sense for both teams, considering Bay is signed through next season, he is not a rental to Tampa.  Tampa has a DEEP farm.  Perfect match.  Let's see what happens.

It's Getting Deep:

Joe Starkey at the Trib has a good column up on what should happen before the deadline with an excellent quote from Doug Mientkiewicz:

"The franchise has to get deeper," said Mientkiewicz, who has experienced big-league baseball's high-revenue (Boston, New York) and low-revenue (Minnesota, Kansas City) districts. "They have to get a lot more talent in the minor-league system to be competitive. I think we're all seeing now that this franchise is very limited in talent at the higher levels.

"The only way you're going to get better as a big-league team is to get deep in the minor leagues. You have to be 28 to 35 (players) strong in order to be competitive."

"This isn't a one-year project," Mientkiewicz said. "You have to give them time, because the people who were here before were ... "

With that, Mientkiewicz just shook his head...

Quote from a reader:

Understand the concept that the team has to get more prospects. TBay probably is only team right now able to pry Bay. My point is Bay is ONE veteran they should keep, at least until next August because without him, Nate and Doumit become weighted down with expectations. Pirates will not get ANYONE in trade or FA with Bay value and character in next 4-5 years. Tabata may be high ceiling but also very high risk. Pirate fans are so used to seeing players dumped, their mindset has become "let's trade away all our vets and start over". ...that being said, I honestly believe Huntington has had no intention of keeping Bay from day one and he will be dealt today or Wed....this team got an o.K. return for Nady/Marte, but they really could have got more( I live in Trenton area and have seen all 4 play). THey will take less for Bay and 3 years from now, Nate and Doumit will be Bay today. Why? Because look at who Huntington signed and wanted to sign over the winter to long deals...Snell, Sanchez and LaRoche. He is better than Littlefield( who wouldn't be), but his prime evaluations are curious.

Update 5:32:  The above quote is from W.G.

BTW Take:

I won't publish their name, until I get an OK from them...

The Doug M. quote says it all, the system needs to get deeper to get better and stay better.  It is easy for we fans to look at Bay and want to keep him, but that does not make it the right thing for the organization in general.  Huntington needs to plan for the future and turn over every bargaining chip he can to bring water to the desert that is the Pirates minor league system.

Until there is actual talent in all levels of the franchise, there will be no long term sustained success at the major league level.  While I hate comparing to Oakland or Minnesota, they have built their franchises the right way with plenty of depth.  There are few teams the Pirates can be compared to thanks to the ineptitude of the previous front office.  Tampa has taken the right approach by drafting the best available player in the drafts, they are reaping the rewards this season.

If Huntington were to build only through the draft and keep any players of worth to stay mildly competitive, it would take 4-6 more years of losing to rebuild this franchise.  A large part of that would be luck and health as much as it would be talent and homework just to improve in 6 years.  By the time the franchise was rebuilt, Huntington would likely be out of a job.

Live Blog:

I am going to start up a live blog to run through the deadline starting today through after the deadline.  Leave some comments, questions or links in the live blog and I will have them posted as I see them.  As always, I will have the first 10 posters have unmodified posts so they can post any links or comments for trades that may come down the wire before I see them.