Jake

Here's how bad it really is. We're in third place!

Suddenly, Dave Littlefield doesn't seem so stupid... Nah. Just kidding.

From a piece in the Post Gazette today about the Pirate's upcoming homestand: Not one team in the division has a winning record since last April? Wow! http://www.postgazette.com/pirates/statsgeek.asp

Wilson, I think. Duke isn't Arbitration eligible yet, so he's getting < $500k. Wilson I think is getting $4million (maybe $4.5 Mil?), Bay $3.something.

Too easy, I guess?

Who's the highest paid player on the Pirates Payroll this year?

Picture perfect? Online yes - but weak as hell. The throw to 3rd is what cost the game, as someone else pointed out. THe difference in fundamentals last night was large. hardly the only fault. How many times did we have men on base an not get them in? Other than our starting pitching, we sucked all three games.

That was early spring training. So, Eldred took the attitude of, If I want playing time, I'll play some place else. He approached management and asked to try the outfield. They liked his attitude and gave him a shot, and he played it well enough. He'll probably get a start every other week between first and right. pirates are bad about having good players with no position. They wasted Craig Wilson because of that I wonder about Craig Wilson. The Yankees left him off of the playoff roster, and made no attempt to resign him They chose unheralded rookies and Meinktw-however-he-spells-it over him. No one made him an offer in an offseason of over the top spending. Not many in the league seem high on him.

That was early spring training. So, Eldred took the attitude of, If I want playing time, I'll play some place else. He approached management and asked to try the outfield. They liked his attitude and gave him a shot, and he played it well enough. He'll probably get a start every other week between first and right.

Freddie LaRoche Bay Gives them a 3-4-5 of Righty, Lefty, Righty. Most of us want to see that as a 2-3-4 instead of 3-4-5.

He's supposedly not bad out there - I haven't had a chance to actually watch him out there at all. He played Righ a bit in College, but never after he was drafted. He played out there a lot in the spring. But, with LaRoche at first, he had to do something to make the team. That his first start was at the Great American Small Park isn't a co-incidence.

Ill be surprised if he's still there in five weeks. depends on how Duffy does in CF. Doesn't seem like a great move to jump him to Indianapolis at this point. He seems like the kind of player who should go from AA to the majors. I don't think Duffy, or anyone, is a factor. This kid is going to be a very good ball player. Some think he's ready now. If Duffy is hitting, look for McCutchen to move to Right.

Finally, we can say that. What's great is that Bay & LaRoche are not carrying the team by themselves, that others are helping out, specifically Nady & Paulino. If those two hit all year (Paulino did last year, and Nady did as a Bucco), we could be dangerous.

Ill be surprised if he's still there in five weeks.

.. And the Pirates are only 100 losses away from a 100 loss season! And, only three games out of last place!

\:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

Hey! Some props to Nady for hitting it, please. Oh, we're over .500. Can't remember the last time we were there!

Don't say that, even in jest. We're actually in some good shape right now for the future. Maybe not this year - we still have some weaknesses - 3B & RF to be sure, and CF, too, probably. And it'd be nice if our SS could hit. Two of those needs will be here from the minors next year - McCutcheon for RF and Neil Walker at third. With the pitching a year older.....

Very true. The not wasting foolish money actually caught me off guard. We still have $7 million in the budget. I hope we can trade for a power hitting right fielder! (Dunn, anyone?? Maybe we can dump an excess relief pitcher on the reds.)

We have the best damn fans in MLB. Proof? We still go to games!

Deja Vu all over again. I swear I read the exact same thread when Bobby Hill was released!

Giles was released byt he Braves after they signed him. So...

I'm going to vote for the Pirates anyway! :-) Just kidding, I voted for the Cubs. It's the only time I'll ever root for the Cubs! :-)

(You knew it was coming, but hoped I'd just shut up!) Five players to be Excited about (In no particular order): Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez, Ian Snell, Ronnie Paulino, Adam LaRoche. Two to be optimistic about: Solly Torres, Matt Caps. Oh, let's make it three: John Grabow. I like our bullpen, especially the back end. (This is why we were able to trade Gonzo. No one wanted to trade Gonzo, but there was the realization that we had to give up something to get LaRoche.) We should win most games when we have the lead after the 7th. The problem, of course, is getting that lead. Let's throw in Damaso Marte here too, as our left handed specialist. I'm not ready to jump on the Dan Kolb bandwagon yet, but it's pretty much a lock he'll make the team. So many question marks after that. Which Chris Duffy will show up? Zach Duke has the potential to be a top of the rotation guy. Can he realize that this year? How will Jose Bautista do as a full time starter for the first time? Jack Wilson is enigma. He's had one all star year. The glove sucked last year. What will he bring to the team this year? How will Mahalom, Gorzelany & Armas do? What about Burnett & Youman, startes 6 & 7? The whole world has been waiting for Nady to step up. When we traded Giles, we wanted Nady, not Bay. Funny how that turned out. This team really has a lot of potential. If all of the potential comes through, we could win the whole thing. Now, I know this never happens, and could be said for most teams, but we couldn't say that for the past couple of years of our team. Last year, in September, the Mets came to town needing one win to clinch the division. Many fans from New York drove into see the games. I Was at the Saturday night game. The Mets left without the title. We've added Adam LaRoche to that team in place of Jose Castillo, essentially. (Bautista was playing right, Nady was at first.) I Like that improvement. No, we won't win it all. But, we'll do a hell of a lot better than the prognosticators say we will. No team in the pennant race wanted to come to Pittsburgh at the end of last year. The same will happen this year.

I'm sure he is a fan favorite like Scott Podsednik is a "fan favorite." Most reasonable fans probably loathe him. Believe it or not, many fans like him. No one likes him hitting second, but we like his game. Pittsburgh is very much still a Steel mill town, even though most of the mills are gone. We like players who give their all. Wilson leaves it all on the field every game. The fans really like that. Kind of like a Steel mill, hard nosed attitude.