The Future of the Pirates Could Ride on the Signings of Taillon and Allie

Decision time nears for Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington and the rest of the front office staff. First and second round picks, right handers Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie must be signed by tonight’s midnight deadline.

This becomes the toughest decision Huntington has ever had to make as General Manager of the Pirates. It’s even tougher then the Pedro Alvarez negotiations that nearly turned into an embarrassing mess for the Pirates.

The facts are that if the Pirates didn’t come to terms with Alvarez, there would have been some uproar, but in the end, the situation would have been viewed as “Same Old Pirates,” and been forgotten. In the end, the decision becomes easy for the Pirates. Just pay the kids.
This case is different. The Pirates absolutely have to sign both of these kids. What would happen if they don’t?
First of all, the Pirates would alienate the fan base they do have. They would lose trust and would have little chance of gaining new Pirates fans in the future, something they desperately need.
Owner Bob Nutting would be the one and only target of the backlash. We’ve heard time and time again the past year about how the Pirates are no longer in a position where money matters. He’s stated time and time again that the club will pay for talent. Now is the time to quit telling the fans and start showing them that you are serious.
If they don’t sign both, what exactly is the point of the rebuild? It makes little sense to start to rebuild the organization with young talent to just quit and give up on it half way through. If they fail to lock up both, the terms “rebuilding,” and “future of the Pirates,” can never be used again. Fans just won’t be able to take the front office seriously.
The final and most important reason that the Pirates need to sign these guys is the on-field performance of the pitching staff. The Pirates need quality arms in the system. One thing they are lacking is arms that have staff ace potential. These two kids fit the bill. You can teach kids whatever you want about pitching, but one thing you can’t teach them is how to throw 100mph.
After the deadline passes on Taillon and Allie, Huntington must turn his attention to signing highly touted 16-year old pitching prospect Luis Heredia out of Mexico. Heredia recently said he wanted to play for the Pirates. When is the last time you heard anyone say that?
Huntington has a busy couple weeks ahead of him. He can get off to a good start tonight by simply getting a couple signatures on a couple of contracts. The decision is an easy one. Give them whatever they want. Show them the money. Fans have watched this franchise count nickles and dimes for far too long. The decision is simple. Do what it takes to get the kids signed.

What Exactly is the Pirates Plan?

Before I get started, this isn't bashing Neil Huntington or Frank Coonelly, but just an overall analysis of the long term plan of the Pirates.  I don't feel Huntington has done a terrible job and should be given at least another year on the job. Throughout the last 18 seasons, we've heard the word "plan" attached to the numerous Pirates re-builds.  Weather it be numerous five year plans or a three year plan, they have all failed miserably.  What exactly is Huntington's plan with this current group.

Let's take a look at where the Pirates currently sit at 30-58.  They are on pace to lose roughly 105 games this season.  That's fine.  I didn't expect much this year anyways.

However, a majority of the public has been eyeing next season as the year the Pirates get to .500 and start to compete.  That is just not a realistic goal.  Hypothetically, let's say the Pirates improve by 15 games next season off of their projected 57-105 record. A fifteen game improvement is quite a stretch, but that still would only make the Pirates a 72-90 team.  Then let's say in 2012 they improve on that and win 81 games, hitting .500.  Where does that leave us?

It's quite realistic that those numbers could be pushed back by a year.  It's realistic to say that without some real veteran talent; not your Ryan Church's or Bobby Crosby's, but some real talent, that the team could be just as bad next season.  That would lead to an improvement in 2012 and not hitting .500 until 2013, which means competing is 2014 or later.

Depending on which theory you subscribe to, where does that leave the team.  The core of youngsters that include: Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln will be three, maybe four years into their first contracts.  This is assuming they all become legit major league players, and it's not a guarantee that they all do. Will the Pirates front office make the attempt to keep them here long term to see this "plan" out?  That doesn't even include Andrew McCutchen, who surely will be due for big money when his current deal expires.

Remember, the goal here is to win a pennant and compete year in and year out.  It's not to just get to .500 and be happy.  There is talent at Bradenton and Altoona, but they are still a couple years away.  As for this years class that includes Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie?  They still have to be signed.  If they do, they would still be a few years away from PNC park as well.

Assuming Lincoln develops, the Pirates are still thin on pitching at the big league level for the next couple of seasons.  All of the talent they are counting on, including : Bryan Morris, Jared Hughes, Jeff Locke, Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, Nathan Adcock, Tim Alderson, Hunter Strickland and Aaron Pribanic are at a minimum two years away.  Morris could be fast tracked to the big leagues, but the rest won't be around anytime soon.  That's not even considering the fact that once the young pitchers do arrive, they will likely struggle their first go around at the major league level.

Not everything is so great down on the farm though. Alderson has been demoted.  High regarded prospects such as: Starling Marte, Tony Sanchez, Victor Black, Quienten Miller, Brock Holt and Colton Cain have all suffered long term injuries that will push back their development.

So exactly what is the Pirates plan?  Do we wait around until at least 2014 to see if these guys are a good judge of young talent?  More than likely, based on past results, they aren't. Was it worth calling up all of the young guys this season, starting their major league clocks?  Do we have to cross our fingers and hope they team can lock up all of our young players?  We may have to.

I've said it many times before.  Once the Pirates get some of their young core in place, they have to start adding to it from the outside.  They are simply not going to win a pennant operating at the current pace.  Granted, there is more talent in the system now then at any time in the last two decades.  The Pirates overall farm system has improved from dead last to the middle of the pack.  That's quite the improvement in a little under three years.

Most of the talent though is viewed as borderline major league talent.  There are very few game changers currently in the system.  We've been hearing for years that this is the core they wanted to build around, so let's see them do it.  I have no problem this season if they deal every veteran on the current team.  Trade Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, Octavio Dotel, Church and others. They can't quit adding talent to the system.  Also, continue to draft well.  The plan should be to have a continuous pipeline of talent to the majors.

As for the big club, the time is now to start to add to this group of young players.  That needs to start this off season.  You can't run a major league team on nickles and dimes.  Now the pressure is solely on Bob Nutting.  If you don't want to spend money or can't spend money, then this franchise will always be a loser.  You have stated you have no problem spending the necessary money.  The time is upcoming. Show us, quit telling us.

They don't need to go out and spend $200 mil on one superstar.  That doesn't make sense at the moment.  What they need to do if add some quality bats and arms to the current group.  They will be out there next year.  Then we will see exactly what the "plan" really is.

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.

It's Bob Nutting's Turn

Even after last night's great win, the Pirates still need to make changes.  Most notably with manager John Russell.  He has to go.  Period.

Zach Duke has publicly criticized Russell and there have been rumblings that several players have also said they won't go out of the their way to please Russell.

Fact is, he doesn't have the respect of the players, if he ever had it.

Another fact is that John Russell has nothing to worry about.  His job is not at all in jeopardy.  Why, you ask?  Two words- Bob Nutting.

If he would fire Mr. Mumbles, the penny pinching Nutting would have to pay him and a new manager.  No way that would happen.  Nutting refuses to add to payroll until the ballpark packs and the team gets better.  He has no intention of doing so, because those are two things he knows will never happen.

I'm on record still of saying I have no problem with tearing the team apart and starting over.  I also have no problem with having the lowest payroll in the league this season.  This team wasn't going to win anyways.  I have a huge problem with Nutting keep stating that he will add payroll when the team gets good and when the fans show up.  Quit treating Pirates fans like fools Mr. Nutting.  They can only take so much of your BS.  If you want to continue to  ruin this once proud franchise, could you at least do it without being seen or heard.

So, where are we with this team.  Nutting is and always will be the owner.  He has three yes men that work for him in Frank Coonely, Neil Huntington and John Russell.  They, just like Nutting are going to be here for a while.  Enjoy.

I always enjoy when people email me some of their opinions and here is some from Bill Gorby- a very longtime and knowledgeable Pirates fan.  Feel free to email me your thoughts as well.  My email is somewhere on this page,

Bill's thoughts on Bob Nutting:

Bob Nutting has stated that he'll increase payroll only when the Pirates become competitive. He has made no public statement to the media or Pirate fans that he'll increase payroll under any other circumstances. In fact, it remains a wide-open issue as to what criteria he'll use to determine if he will ever spend more than the minimum to field a team.
Given the nature of such an "interpretable" promise we can expect nothing from this man. Here's why.
1. It is entirely up to him to decide when and if he's going to increase payroll --- which leaves Pirate "success" completely in question.
2. If he doesn't spend the money to make the Pirate team competitive in the first place, then he doesn't ever need to increase payroll because (duh) they WILL NEVER BE COMPETITIVE.
3.. This "double-speak" means he never has to break his promise to increase payroll, and at the same time he can continue to suck on the teats of other teams salary cap and revenue sharing money and put those proceeds in his pocket.
Lord knows what he does with the money. He "says" he puts it into scouting and the minor league system, but nobody really knows because his books are sealed. Moreover, it is certainly in his best interest to use the MLB "community money" to pay down the debts that he inherited while at the same time increasing the resale value of the the franchise.
And who really knows, some money could be going into Seven Springs. We really have no checks and balances to view.
The man has MLB and the media completely fooled while at the same time he snickers in his office chair about the idiots who don't understand his true intentions.
P.S. MLB really needs to investigate this man's true intentions and force him to get out of the ownership group. That will never happen because of the incompetent leadership of one Bud Selig and MLB execs.


Bill's thoughts on John Russell's job:

To answer your post about firing JR I don't believe that will ever happen.
He won't be fired until after this pathetic embarrassing season is over. Why would el-cheapo Nuthing fire him and have to replace him while the season is still going on? That means he would still have to pay him and a new manager. He'll wait til September or October when he won't have to pay him anymore and then (possibly) fire him.
As far as Opie, he probably won't go at all. After all, he and Coondog head the best management team in all of professional sports---remember? Those words came right out of Nuthings mouth.

I will include more of Bill's or anyone else's thought in another post.

Five Things That Need to Happen For the Pirates to Compete in 2010

It's the spring training opener and it's the usual time to say "What If," becuase when the calender turns May, we know we will more than likely be saying "Here We Go Again," for the 18th consecutive season.

As I get ready to watch some live spring training baseball on MLB Network, anything can happen.  Even the Pirates could (though not likely) catch lightning in a bottle.  here are five things the Bucs will need to happen in order to compete in 2010.

5. Bullpen-  The bullpen needs to be rock solid.  The signing of Octavio Dotel, for a change a good Bucco signing, needs to work.  Too many late leads blown the last couple of seasons.  A team like the Bucs can't blow 15-20 games that should be in the win column.

They have the arms in the pen to be successfull.  Dotel, Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek are all power right handed arms with tremendous stuff, they just have to do the job.

4. Break Out Season-  One of the holdovers finally has to have a breakout season.  I'm expecting Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones to get better, so who's it going to be? From a group of Andy Laroche, Brandon Moss, Lastings Milledge, Ryan Doumit and I will throw Jeff Clement's name in there for the hell of it- I'm looking at Milledge and/or Doumit.

Milledge has every tool and he's healthy and motivated.  He's running out of time so he's going to be the guy.  I like what he showed in his two month stint in Pittsburgh last season.  As for Doumit, everyone know how strongly I am not a fan of his, but similar to Milledge, he's running out of chances.

Doumit needs to stay healthy and start swinging the bat.  If one, or both have big seasons then suddenly the Bucs have a decent lineup throwing in Cutch and Jones.

3.Youth Be Served-  Pedro Alvarez will likely get the call sometime between June and July and possibly be joine in Pittsburgh by the much anticipated debuts of Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln.  For the Bucs to have any shot at competing, Alvarez needs to come up and hit the cover off the ball from day one and hit with power.

It has been done.  Look at how Evan Longoria and Ryan Braun came up and made an immediate impact for the Rays and Brewers respectively.  Alvarez will be carrying a ton of pressure to be that big middle of the order bat that the Bucs so desperately need.  If Tabata and Lincoln could produce similar results then the Bucs would really have the ball rolling.

2. Starting pitching-  The Bucs have a young rotation and it's usually that third year around that young arms take the next step.  Paul Maholm should be the staff ace.  It's his time to get it done.  Charlie Morton will take big steps to becoming a legitimate big league guy. Ross Ohlendorf just needs to do exactly what he did last season.

Zach Duke flat out needs to be better.  Now I hear you saying that he was an all-star and the Bucs best pitcher last season.  He had an ok season and nothing better. A starters job is to give his team a chance to win everytime out and Duke doesn't do that.  The Bucs won only 11 times that Duke started last season, all 11 times Duke got the W.  He is either really good or really bad.  He needs to start performing like an ace.

Suddenly if the starters put things together then you have four guys, maybe five if Lincoln can come up after the all-star break, that can get deep into a ball game and give the team a chance to win.

If all four of these things happen and that's highly unlikely, but for this instance let's just say that they do.  Then the big thing that would have to happen in order for the Bucs to compete in 2010 is.............

1. Ownership Opens the Checkbook to Improve the Club-  Say the Bucs are hanging around .500 at the all-star break and are chasing a wild card spot.  What will Bob Nutting do?  Will he open the checkbook and go get the big power bat the team needs?  Will he add another big arm to the rotation?

Now Neil Huntington has said often that they have the resources to do exactly that.  I have been a big supporter of NH's in the past but when it comes down to this scenerio, I'm tired of the empty promises.  It's time to Show Me and quit telling me about what is going to happen.

When it comes down to it  as good as the players could possibly perform, we all know that Nutting will drop the ball at the end of the day.  Cross your fingers Pirates fans.                     

Pirates Finances in Question Again

Here was a great piece by Dejan in the PG
http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/pbc/archive/2009/12/06/pirates-made-less-than-11m-in-2008-09.aspx

Leave your comments.  I will have more input on this when i get the time.  Likely tonight or tomorrow.  Also will be posting something fun for everyone to debate  The Bucco's All-Decade Team.  This was more challenging to come up with than I originally thought.

Winter Meetings Notebook Day 1

- Apparently there are four teams aquiring about Ryan Doumit.  The Blue Jays have long been a fan of his. I think Toronto would also be a good fit for Doumit because he seems to be more of a DH anyways and he just can't stay healthy behind the plate. Also the Giants and Marlins are rumored to be intrested.  I don't know the other team.  I know a Doumit deal would make many of you VERY happy.

- Speaking of the Giants, it seems that they are close to acquiring Dan Uggla, which after picking up Freddy Sanchez's $8 mil option, it would relegate Freddy to a bench player.  Good deal for the Pirates so far.

- Also heard some grumblings that some other general managers are very unhappy with the Pirates in particular.  Having to pay the club revenue sharing money and watch Bob Nutting continue to not spend it (atleast on the Pirates, Seven Springs may be all together another issue) has apparantly irked many other organizations.

- I saw that Baseball America had ranked the Bucs farm system 6th overall.  Huge improvement from two seasons ago.

- Intresting fact.  Since 1999, the Pirates have spent only $56.4 million dollars on free agents, by far the lowest total in the majors.  By contrast, the Yankees have spent $1.4 billion.  Almost every other team has spent in the hundreds of millions, leaaving the Bucs, once again way behind the curve.

- Florida is actively shopping closer Matt Lindstrom.  Not many teams need closers, but Texas and Tampa are involved in talks.  Would be smart for NH to try and sneak Matt Capps into the conversation before Lindstrom is dealt.

- People still saying the Bucs are talking to the Dodgers about Juan Pierre.  This won't and shouldn't get done.  Plus, Pierre makes $9 mil.  That would be over 30% of the tiny payroll.

- If we sign anyone early on at the Winter Meetings, I would think it would be Bobby Crosby since Adam Everett resigned with the Tigers.  Crosby fits the kind of player the Bucs are looking for- a bum.  Average glove and hasn't hit or stayed healthy since winning the AL Rookie of the year.  He is also a very poor OPS guy- below .625 the last 4 years.

-Bucs lost Luis Cruz on waivers to Milwaukee.  Damn, there goes the title this season.

-Bucs signed Vinnie Chulk to a minor league deal.  Don't abandon those championship parade plans just yet.

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