Pirates Extend Huntington and Russell- Pirates drop the ball twice in one week

The Pirates announced yesterday that they have agreed to contract extensions with both General Manager Neil Huntington and Manager John Russell.  The deals were actually agreed upon before the season began and only now announced, due to speculation on the job status of both men.

The Pirates dropped the ball on this the same way they dropped it on the Pedro Alvarez promotion. As I've noted here before, the Pirates should have taken advantage of Alvarez's arrival to fill the ballpark the last two days, but no, not the Pirates.  They prefer to play to a half empty ballpark and then afterwards complain about the attendance.  They should have taken note from the way the Nationals handled Stephen Strasburg's arrival and should have been able to generate extra revenue from it.

Now, onto today's issue.  First, Huntington.  I don't have a problem with this one bit.  In my opinion, he's done an above average job of bringing in talent to the organization.  he should be able to see this through for the next couple of seasons.  It's not his fault that Dave Littlefield left the cupboard bare for him.  Look at the entire organization now and before Huntington arrived.  The Pirates as a whole are in much better shape now.  Having said that, within the next calender year, the results are going to have to start coming.

As for Russell, here is where the Pirates dropped the ball.  They should have announced his extension when it happened.  Why hide it?  Are they that much concerned with the public backlash by extending Russell?  All of the deception actually makes me wonder if indeed he did receive an extension, but for now I will take it at face value.

Again, a case of the Pirates front office dropping the ball.  They come out of this once again looking like an incompetent organization.  Why extend him in the first place though?  I buy into the thought of not wanting a lame duck manager, but that's why you announce it before the season.

Only the Pirates front office would extend Russell in the midst of an 11-game losing streak.  The timing is even more peculiar than actually giving him the extension.  Now that the rumors have heated up concerning Russell's job status, giving him an extension in the middle of the season definitely means he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

You don't want these young players playing for him.  I still say make the move now and really go after a Phil garner or Willie Randolph.  I'd even settle for Eric Wedge or Jose Oquendo who were rumored.  Either way, the team will not improve and become competitive under Russell and the Pirates once again dropped the ball, looking foolish in the process.

Pedro-Palooza begins

Let the fun begin.  The best and most hyped Pirates prospect since none other than Barry Lamar Bonds finally got the call the the show last night. He advanced through the Pirates system in a little over a year.  It's center stage for Pedro Alvarez as he should be in the lineup tonight, likely batting fourth or fifth, playing third base.

While I'm very excited to see Pedro up here, the Pirates dropped the ball on him big time.  So a little over a week ago, Pedro was deemed not ready when Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln were promoted.  Neil Huntington said "We will bring Pedro up when we feel he is ready."

So what happened in a week?  Two days ago, NH reiterated that Alvarez "wasn't ready" and suddenly he gets the call he should have gotten a while ago. He didn't just magically become "ready" in the span of a week.
I personally agreed with Huntington though.  What's the rush?  The Pirates aren't competing this season, so to promote the guy, they had to be sure.  He has improved hitting lefties and will strike out a lot at the major league level, but I could care less about that.  Power hitters are supposed to strike out.  I want to see runs being driven in.  He's obviously ready, so why all of the smoke screens?

If the Pirates were smart, they would have announced days in advance that Alvarez was coming up tonight.  Look at how the Nationals handled Stephen Strasburg.  They generated a buzz and filled the ballpark.  All we hear about from the Nutting's is them whining about attendance.  Well, they had the perfect opportunity to start to do something about it and quite frankly dropped the ball.

That's the difference between well run organizations and the way the Pirates are being run.

Alvarez will sell tickets, but the Pirates could do a better job as well.  What should we expect?  i would expect the Pirates to start scoring around the league average, which is about 4.5 runs per game for the rest of the season.  they are currently well below that mark.

Haven't seen Alvarez swing the bat yet?  Well this is what you should expect.



I think it's fantastic that we finally have a guy get to the big leagues so quickly.  Trust me, many more are on the way.  While Pedro will do fine on his own, if the Pirates got behind him right, maybe some people wouldn't lose interest as soon as Steelers training camp starts.

One final note, to make room for Alvarez on the roster, the Pirates DFA'd Aki Iwamura.  that should make many of you happy.

Tabata and Lincoln to Debut

The Pirates have made strides to showing off the future of the franchise.  It looks to be a third consecutive good draft, assuming the clubs signs top picks Jameson Taillon and Stetson Aliie.

Tonight is another step towards the future as the team unveils top prospects Brad Lincoln and Jose Tabata to make their debuts tonight against the Nationals.

They won't be met with the national media flare that Stephen Strasburg did last night, but they are just as important to the teams future as Strasburg is to the Nats.

Lincoln will get the start and Tabata will likely play left and bat either first or second.  It's been so many years since the team has had "REAL" prospects.  So this is a time to get excited and see what these young guys, as well as the talented youngsters to follow can do.