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.

Around the Diamond- Part 7 -Center Field

First, if you missed another disappointing loss, take a listen to my post-game recap by clicking HERE.

We are on to center field in my look around the diamond and truthfully, there isn't really much to discuss here.  Andrew McCutchen is and will be the center fielder for the Pirates for years to come.  I don't want to hear any of your uneducated "until he gets traded to the Yankees," comments.  The Pirates will make a statement in the next year or so by locking up Cutch to a lengthy extension.

Cutch has now been in the big leagues for a full calender year with good numbers that will just go up.  In his first go around in the bigs, Cutch has a .292avg, 19Hr/36Sb, with a majority of that run production coming from the lead off spot.  Now that he is batting third, he should get even more opportunities to drive in runs.  I want to see Cutch use all of his tools as much as possible.  Use that speed as an advantage.

Offensively, the guy is a doubles and triples machine and the average should be around .310-.320.  I don't need many homers out of him, but need that stolen base number to consistently exceed 50 and drive in around 80 runs if he's batting third all season.  As Jose Tabata and Neil Walker continue to get on base, the RBI numbers should go up, providing Cutch has a bat protecting him in the clean up spot.

Defensively the guy can cover ground and make plays.  He has a above average arm, but likes to show it off a bit too much for me. The throw doesn't have to come home every time.  Other than that i have absolutely nothing to criticize this kid about.

Cutch is the face of the franchise and it's deserving, considering he is the most talented player this team has seen since Barry Bonds.  He is a flat out stud.

Around the Diamond- Center Field

Gonna keep this portion kind of short and sweet.  Center field is the only non-debateable position on this team.  Andrew McCutchen is a flat out stud and is only going to get better.  Despite not joining the team until June, Cutch managed to hit .286/12/54, steal 22 bags, play an outstanding center field and win the team MVP as a rookie.

The numbers should only go up this season and pretty much every season after that.  This is already his team and I'd like to see him take on the leadership role that comes with that.

His is the most gifted Bucco since a young Barry Bonds roamed left field at Three Rivers Stadium.  The only debate is weather Cutch should bat first or third in the order.  I feel for the time being he should still be the leadoff guy, but if the team ever gets a guy capable of leading off, then batting third could suit him just fine.

This season should be a big one for young McCutchen.  I'd like to see him run a lot more, but it will be a treat to watch him for an entire season.

Position Grade Compared to the Rest of the League- A - Thats right, finally a good grade.  The guy is a stud.

The Curse of Francisco Cabrera

Every time I see that picture, I want to throw up. That was the moment, where what I call, "The Curse of Francisco Cabrera," began. At that very moment, every thought of winning baseball in Pittsburgh went away. Who would have thought that after that very moment, we would be here talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates being the losingest franchise in sports history. Seventeen seasons in a row. It's sad, that a seventeen year old kid can drive to a game and buy a ticket to see a team play that has never had a winning season in his/her lifetime. NEVER

That damn, Francisco Cabrera. I've watched that game replayed on ESPN Classic about 20 times. Each time I watch, I keep thinking we're going to win this time. Guess what, we never do. Each time I say to myself, "This time Bonds is going to throw Sid Bream out." He never does.

About the streak, what's to say? It's been bad, but it doesn't effect me. I'm not even upset anymore. I will trade another year or two of losing, if it gets the ship righted. What's another couple years, we have suffered through 17 already. I will trade 18 or 19 years to be consistently a competitive team. We shouldn't have to, but that is where we are with this team..

Back to that damn Francisco Cabrera. If we win that game, would we still be here talking about 17 losing seasons in a row? I believe we would. We may have won the World Series in 92, but things probably would have played out the same. Bonds still would have signed with the Giants. We still would have bad ownership and we more than likely would have sent out bum after bum to play for us.

So who's to blame for the last 17 seasons. I'm not going into huge detail, because if I did, I would be authoring a book and I don't feel like writing all day. It's too easy to point the finger at the ownership groups, but I will, because they deserve it. From Kevin McClatchey to Bob Nutting, they deserve a big part of the blame. As positive as I am about the future, a big part of me still says we will never succeed under the current ownership group. What is sucess? It's not finishing .500 next season. It's not making a run at the Wild Card in two seasons. It's competing for the playoffs every season. I just don't know if the Nutting family will allow that to happen. He is the modern day Rachel Phelps from Major League. I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but I'm sure I'm just kidding myself.

Next, the bad General Managers. Not having good baseball people, making key baseball decisions has hurt this team. Anyone else want to point the finger at Dave Littlefield? It will take the team the better part of a decade to make up for some of Littlefield's awful mistakes.

Next let's look at the awful job the scouting department has done, along with the bad drafts. Not one positive draft in 17 seasons. The lack of young talent and bad draft after bad draft after bad draft has crippled this organization. Only recently has the organization taken the right approach to the draft. Why did it take 17 years to simply just draft talented baseball players. Why did it take 17 seasons to not draft with your pocket book in mind? Daniel Moskos instead of Matt Wieters anyone?

Finally, the bad contracts. The Pirates made a habit of giving aged out veterans one last big contact. Derek Bell, Pat Mears, Raul Mondesi, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, etc. (I'd list more, but I'd be here for a week). The few players they did have, they gave bad deals to as well. Giving Jason Kendall, a singles hitter, a deal worth 60 plus mil, just wasn't smart.

So, what have the Pirates given us in the last 17 seasons? Yeah, we got PNC Park, but try this one, 362 different players. Check out this list. It's great reading some of the bums of this list. It's a must read. http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/buc_roster_Streak.pdf

Ah the names. let me know which are some of your favorites. By that I mean, which of these bums just make you laugh reading their names. Which of these guys had no business being in the big leagues? believe me there are a lot of them. Let me know what you think. I'm kinda partial to "Steamin" Trey Beamon, J.J. Davis, Will Pennyfeather and Andy Tomberlin. I could really go on all day here, so I will stop.

I also want to know some of your low points during the losing streak. One that sticks out in my mind was the Aramis Rameriz salary dump. Not so much the horrible trade, but Darren Lewis, who was acquired in the deal elected to retire rather than play for the Bucs. Another one was Mondesi, who the Bucs just let quit on them, yet to go sign with a contender 2 months later. Finally, there is good old Operation Shutdown. Enough said.

What else have we seen in 17 seasons? Three ownership groups, six managers and millions and millions of disgruntled Pirates fans. It's got to stop and I think it will eventually. I just want to see Huntington stay the course. Keep acquiring young talent, keep investing in the draft, and when the time is right, start to add to the good young core the Pirates have. At no time in 17 seasons have I had hope for this franchise, but I really do now. At no time in 17 season's, have i had any faith in Pirates managements decisions, I do now. At no point in 17 season's, have I been confident in what some of the players can do on the field, I am now. At no point in 17 seasons have I felt the ownership was interested in winning. I still don't.

Don't blame this group of young Pirates. They aren't the reason we hit 17 seasons in a row of futility. Look at this group as the bunch that will break The Curse of Francisco Cabrera. I can only hope.

For more good reading on the Bucs streak of futility, check out these tow links sent to me by Bill Gorby. Very good articles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/sports/baseball/06pirates.html?_r=2&8dpc
and
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-pirates-losingtheirway&prov=ap&type=lgns

McCutchen Makes a Statement

Andrew McCutchen made a statement last night with his 4-5, 3Hr,6 RBI & 4 runs game last night in an 11-6 victory over the Nats. The statement pretty much says that even at the young age of 22, that after the latest round of trades, this is now his team. In just 51 games at the MLB level, Cutch is batting .293 with 6 HR and 31 RBI's out of the leadoff spot, and could be well on his way to a Rookie of the Year Award.

The reason I say it's his team now is simple.......He's a stud. Over the last decade, the Bucs have had several good players and a couple very good players (Bay, Ramerez,etc.), but they haven't had a stud. That's part of the reason we don't win. Cutch is capable of doing anything on the baseball diamond. He is blessed with enormous speed which makes him a great center fielder. Most of the times, opponents will have to hit it out of the park to get it over his head. He has an above average arm as well, but that is one part of his game that needs some work.

The thing I like the most about the young stud is his approach at the plate. He is a gap to gap guy, but as he showed last night, he can hit the ball out of the ballpark. I love the approach though. He is poised and seems like he can handle any situation. The one thing I don't want to see is Cutch start trying to hit the ball over the fence. Keep the approach the same. He is also a fantastic base runner. his speed showed last night when he scored on a double to left from first base. The only thing I would like to see more out of Andrew is for him to run more. He is currently 9 for 9 stealing bases, but I would like to see him be more aggressive.

McCutchen is the difference between the past Pirates and the present/future Pirates. He is the player, the rebuild is centered around, and he is the player to start leading to Pirates to success in the future. So, why wait ? Make this Cutch's team right now. Am I jumping the gun after just 51 games? I don't believe so. You can tell when a guy is a legit major leaguer and this guy flat out is.

Face it, we haven't had many blue chip athletes around here the last 16 years. It's time for the young McCutchen to take control of this team and show what he is and what he will become. That is simply the best Bucco since a guy named Bonds.

Curt Schilling calls it a career............ Thank God

Last weekend, a monumental occasion happened for me. Curt Schilling decided to call it a career. With his announcement, there was only one natural response from me. Thank God.

Now before I go on a rant, I will give Schilling his due. He was a fantastic power pitcher in his prime and had a great career. He was one of the best big game pitchers I've seen in recent times. He retired with a career record of 216-146 not great numbers by any means. His ERA of 3.16 is very good, but what separated Schilling was his career 11-2 post-season mark. That is second best in MLB history behind Christy Matthewson. Schilling who was a member of five different team won four World Series titles in his career.

He was gutsy and turned in heroic performances, but is he a Hall of Famer? I have to say no. If you judge by the post season and his stints in Arizona and Boston, then the answer is yes. However, he struggled with Houston, Baltimore and Philadelphia. The 216 wins just isn't that big of a number to me. However in the steroid era, it doesn't hurt to give a gutsy warrior such as Schilling a pass.

I just can't stand the guy though. People that know me know hat there aren't many athletes I have despised, but Schilling tops the list. Where do I begin. Could it be the two performances against my yanks in the post-season that just crippled us. Well that has something to do with it. Could it be the ketchup filled sock performance. Yeah, we are getting a little warmer.

First that game. It wasn't that he beat the Yanks. The way he pitched, he would have beaten every team. It was the response from him and the media following. In his mind, you would have thought he was the only person in the history of the game that played hurt. Yes it was a gutsy performance, but other athletes have gutted it out before.

Next, it was Schilling's constant need for attention. I worked in Arizona when he and the Big Unit were together. If you weren't writing or talking about Schilling, he had to give you a reason to. It wasn't a story if it wasn't about Schilling.

That continues today. Every time there is a topic, Curt Schilling has to lend his opinion. It doesn't matter if it were steroids, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens or Manny Ramirez, Schilling had to let you know his opinion. NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. Just pitch. That's it.

Hopefully, he will just go away like McGwire and we won't have to hear from him again. That, as we know will never happen.

I have been wanting to get that off my chest for a while now. Basically, everyone has that one athlete that just killed your team no matter what. Michael Jordan did it to my Knicks year after year. It's the same hate I have for Schilling. He just lived for the big moments. Everyone loves people like that. I hated when the Yankees had to face him. Now that he is retired I can give him the credit and respect he deserved. He was a bulldog, a leader and a winner. I just hated him. The ultimate compliment I can give Curt Schilling is that if he were a member of my team, I would have loved him.

The best part about Curt Schilling is that he was very knowledgeable about the game. That is very rare in today's game. Schilling knew and cared about the history of the game. He respected the guys who paved the way for him to play the game he loved. Ninety percent of today's players only respect the name on the back of the jersey, not the name on the front. The only real problem with Schilling to me was that he just wore the wrong colored uniform.

Looking back at the last quarter century, how many guys would you truly give the ball to in a game seven and know you were going to get an outstanding performance. Not many. Jack Morris, Dave Stewert and Orel Hershisher were all big game pitchers. Add Curt Schilling to that list.