Jake

DLee hitting .287 for a whole year is certainly an optimistic sign for the Pirates! :D

Theoretically, you are correct. But in practice, that's just not true. You can hold a guy down for only so long before he will turn on your franchise. If I ran a low budget team, I'd try and accumulate as much young talent as possible. I would keep my best guys in the minors as long as possible, but that's really only about a few months to one season after it's become obvious he should come up. They've probably already crossed that threshold, and risk losing any sort of good will between them and the player. If you call a guy up early enough he might be willing to cut you some slack when trying to extend him through his arbitration years or possibly even free agency. When you go too long, he's not going to play ball as willingly. Your post would hold water, if it weren't for one fallacious assumption you're making... The DRays are a competently run organization with a long term vision. They aren't, so... They could be. There's new ownership. New GM. New manager. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm not saying they're good or bad. Just that there's no track record. They might, in the end, turn out OK. Certainly, it's better this year than last for them. It certainly can't be worse.

A guy on the radio here said he heard a rumor. He's fairly new to the beat, so I have no clue as to his reliability. If the guy he replaced said it, I'd say it was being talked about. Anyone heard any whispers?

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Cool. FWIW, I'm pretty sure this article originated in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

It's fun to read that. It really is. First of all, there's more talen on this team this year than Lloyd ever got to manage. His frist year was just, well, he was lucky to escape with only 100 losses. The fun thing about this team is that there are odds they can win it this year. They may be 1,000,000 to 1 that they'll win it, but at least it's there. If Duke can pitch a full season like he did in his partial of last year. If Maholm can too. If Ollie returns to his form of 2004. I could go on. Each if realistic. But, they never all come through, do they. More practically, this team has a legitimate shot to win 85 games, I think. But, a lot has to go right. They won't be in the hunt in September. But, if I'm in the hunt in September, I wouldn't want to play them.

A good read onthe Jack Wilson signing... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06066/666266.stm

He was diagnosed with a blood clot last week, and operated on yesterday. Before the operation, they were talking about him possibly missing the season. After the surgery, they're saying two months.

Not unheard of. I burried a cousin at 36 after she had a stroke. It may not even have to do with letting himself go. It could be the same thing that cause the glacumoa(sp?).

No one in Chicago is, I see. :P We actually have a bunch of guys who should be ready to do just that. Brad Eldred hit 40 HRs on three levels last year. Jose Bautista is about ready to come up. We have Duffy in center, a legit lead off man. And, Rajai Davis right behind him if he fails. We have three legtimate major league ready catchers. Hopefully, with all of the crap we're throwing against the wall, some of it will stick and next year we should have a competitive team. Eldred has holes in his swing IMO. I don't see him being a mainstay. I see him as an Adam Dunn type hitter with less power (not a knock, everyone has less power than Dunn) and without the ability to take a walk very well (that's a knock). Bautista and the catchers are very interesting too. I think Doumit can be a star offensive catcher. Duffy and Davis won't set the world on fire, but between the two they should find a solid leadoff option. I like Sanchez and Castillo too, though Sanchez should be playing more. I'm not a Jack Wilson fan. Eldred may in fact have Dunn power. But, he doesn't just have holes in his swing. He has Tunnels. Which is why Sean Casey is here. Everytime Eldred was moved up a level, he struggeled at first. But, then he hit the hell out of the ball once he got settled. Obviously, getting settled in the majors is not the same as getting settled at any level in the minors. I'm a huge Sanchez fan. I didn't see the need to bring in Randa because of Sanchez. With Castillo's inablility to stay healthy, and giving Jack & Randa an occasional day off, I'm guessing Sanchez will get at least 60 starts this season. Plus, if the pitcher is leading off the 7th, 8th or 9th, he'll be taking that at bat more than he not. Bautista - Good Glove, Good Stick, what's not to like. I think we'll see him in late June in the majors for good.

With all those really high draft picks over the past decade or so, you should have some talent somewhere. :wink: Look at a potential rotation of Mahalom, Bullington, Burnett, Van B, and Gorselany. All first round draft picks except for Gorz, who was a second after Mahalom. Yeah, it's not a high probability, but if injuries fall the wrong way (Duke & Ollie out at the same time. You guys should be familiar with this possibility!), it is realistic that we could see this in August (depending on Bullington & Van B healing enough by then, too.) or next year.

There is obviously no love for Jack wilson in Chicago.

3, and Jack Wilson ain't one of them. Last year, he was 19th among qualified SS with a 299 OBP. Neifi was 20th at 298. Fine. You take Neffi, we'll take Jack.

He's only hit above .260 once in his career. I don't know how you can expect him to hit .280-.290 this year. Take away april and may of last year, and he basically hit 280 over the past two years. He was essentially hurt at the start of last season. He's improved every year he's been in the majors. It's not that far of a reach.

Actually, that does. I'd have guessed 16 for three years.

He may be better than the metric I cited has him, but even if he's a top flight SS, he still can't hit for anything. He's basically the white Neifi. It's not difficult to find someone who can net you the same production. Regarding his .300 AVG season: 2001: .265 BABIP 2002: .287 2003: .282 2004(.300 season): .333 2005: .274 That season pretty much exemplifies "luck". First, I have no illusion he's going to be a 300 hitter, and I've said as much. Normally, based on the number, I'd agree with you. After his surgery, he couldn't swing a bat for months, and this extended into the season. After May, his average slowly rose through out the season. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I think he hit .283 over the last four months of the season. Being healthy all year, and looking at his numbers, he's going to hit .280- .290. And play stellar defense. How many shortstops are hitting 300 in the majors?

He's slightly better than Neifi. You're slightly on drugs.

First, defensivly, I think he's one of the best short stops in the Majors. He's led the league in Double plays. He gets to every ball he should, and a few that surprise you. And, he has a high fielding percentage. He was an All-star two years ago, and not just as a token Pirate. Second, He hit 300 two years ago. And, down the stretch last year, he hit in the 280/290 range. Take into account his apendectomy from the december before last season, it's reasonable to expect him to hit in the 280-290 range. Shortstops that do much better than him earn 18 million dollar contracts from George Steinbrenner. Or 13 million from the Dodgers.

I don't think he would really be of value in that regard. It's not an expensive gamble, although it doesn't really have any upside regardless. Yeah, plus if he continues to get shelled in AAA, I can't see why any of our young pitchers would put any stock in anything he has to say regarding pitching, nor would I want them too. If this was like Mussina in a few years or something like that, I would agree with you, but not this guy. Becuase, for better or worse, he's had success at the majors. He was there, he did what he had to do to get there. It's not all about talent. You have to do the work also. A 36 year old guy who's getting himself ready to pitch daily, who knows what it takes to get there, is a good example, regardless of how he pitches.

Holy Cynicism, Batman! No one is expecting Boehringer to do anything drastic in the majors. A guy like this is signed first of all to take a roster spot at AAA, so that anyone who bumps him there will have earned it, as opposed to getting a promotion becuase there's a spot. Second of all, if there are enough injuries during the season, he can take a major league spot and pitch mop up. In his three years in the Burgh, his first was stellar, which led to a two year contract. He was basically useless over those two years, spending most of the time on the DL. Read Craig's post above. The signing makes a lot of sense.

Why so down on Jack?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06059/662521.stm I'm curious to hear how much he got!

We actually have a bunch of guys who should be ready to do just that. Brad Eldred hit 40 HRs on three levels last year. Jose Bautista is about ready to come up. We have Duffy in center, a legit lead off man. And, Rajai Davis right behind him if he fails. We have three legtimate major league ready catchers. Hopefully, with all of the [expletive] we're throwing against the wall, some of it will stick and next year we should have a competitive team.

Our clown theatrics are not in the stands, but on the field. :-)

I just came in to see if anyone posted this yet. Fortunately, we have depth? :? We had three guys battling for the #5 spot. Now. they're battling for 4 & 5. Not a good sign. And Sean Burnett seems to be inserting himself into the battle. So, he wins the 4th spot, and Tom Gorrezelany (sp?) comes out of nowhere and wins the fifth spot!! And all left Starting rotation! :-: That would make Jacque Jones completely useless vs. the Pirates. I'd go Perez, Duke, Maholm, Burnett, Snell. But Santos will win one of the spots. Probably looking at a rotation of Perez, Duke, Maholm, Santos, and Snell. I'm guessing Burnett and Gorrezelany start in AAA, mainly because they have plenty of options. I think Burnett will start at AAA cause the team wants to make sure he's healthy. And, I think Gorz has a total of 20 innings above AA. He needs a bit more expiereince against better hitters first. He got rocked in the majors last September. But, both will be here by the end of the July, I think. We actually have some pretty damn good young pitching.