Results tagged ‘ Neil Huntington ’

Pirates expected to fire Russell

Pirates beat writer Dejan Kovacevic has reported that sources have said that John Russell will NOT be expected back for 2011. HERE is Dejan’s post from the PBC Blog with the details.

This really comes as no big surprise to me. He has emassed over 300 losses in his three years with the team. While that may not be all his fault, the team has shown signs of turning on him and other staff members at times throughout the season. What confuses me however is the fact that JR was extended through 2011 before this season started. Obviously a lot of things must have fallen apart since then (and they certainly have). If this is the case the 2011 offseason should be very interesting.

Dejan is also reporting that GM Neil Huntington is expecting to be retained for next year.

Three (Potential) Aces are Better than None

When good teams finally get rolling and winning on a consistent basis, there is often one draft or set of moves when a good nucleus of players is acquired and develop into a great team. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, we may look back 5 years from now at the week of August 16 2010 and see that as the moment things all turned around. 

Though the offense has been flat out awful this year, the one thing the Pirates farm system sorely lacks is power pitching. All five starters at the major league roster lack speed and movement as they all throw in the 88-92 range. To develop truly dominating pitching staffs you need to blow the socks off of your opposition. Neil Huntington realized this and boldly took two very hard throwing, very high upside pitchers in the first two rounds of the draft, then signed arguably the best pitching prospect in Latin America.
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Jameson Taillon 

The Pirates began their pitching blitz of 9 pitchers in the first 10 rounds of the 2010 draft by drafting Taillon with the 2nd overall pick. He is built like a power pitcher as he stands at 6”7”. His fastball averages from the mid to high 90s and can top out at 99. He also features a bevy of off-speed offerings that are considered by scouts to be advanced for a kid coming out of high school. He also has a good family background and is at a low risk for troublemaking which is important for a high pick. Some scouts have compared him to Josh Johnson which wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. With a lucrative scholarship from Rice in the way, signing him to a contract seemed like a tall task. With fans holding their breath, a deal was struck around 8 PM on Monday August 16th, four hours before the signing deadline for draft picks. His deal included a $6.5 million signing bonus which is the second highest in baseball history.
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Stetson Allie
The Pirates weren’t done yet shooting for the stars. At the beginning of the second round they took fireballer Stetson Allie. Projected anywhere from the mid first round to later on in the draft many teams passed believing him to be a tough sign, the Pirates were certainly taking a chance. His fastball routinely touches 98 to 100 MPH. He had a phenomenal senior season as he struck out nearly 60% of the batters he faced. However if he wants to be a top of the rotation guy he will need to develop his other pitches. His future isn’t as predictable as Taillon’s is shaping to be so it will be interesting to see how he develops over time. It is also worth noting that he has been rumored with PED usage (start typing in “Stetson Allie” on google and see it come up under suggestions) however he has never tested positive. Like Taillon it came down to the wire to sign him before the deadline, but fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing another high upside arm was added to the system.
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Luis Heredia

The Pirates weren’t done yet securing big time pitching prospects. Just days after locking up Taillon and Stetson the Buccos added arguably the best pitching prospect in Latin America signing Luis Heredia to a club record $2.6 million contract. The 16 year old is literally a freak of nature standing at 6’6” and throwing as hard as 93 MPH on average. He was immediately sent to the Bradenton Marauders, the high-A farm club, which was a first for any international signee of the Pirates. Though he isn’t on track to be in the majors in the near future, a fan can’t help but get excited to have such a great prospect. The fact the Pirates were able to get this kid over teams such as the Yankees and Twins show that they are ready to compete with the big boys for Latin American talent. The only problem is that it took them 17 years to realize that a winning team needs to look internationally for answers.
The signings of these three players brought closure to arguably the greatest draft for the Pirates in the past 20 years. Baseball America praised the Pirates, claiming that they were able to get the two best pitchers in the draft. Its also worth noting that the Pirates spent $11.9 million in the draft in 2010, a club record and $27,000 less than the Nationals who were #1. However, no team in the entire league has spent more than the Buccos have in the past three years with the total signings adding up to $30.6 million or roughly $6 million less than the team’s 2010 opening day payroll.
With the potential stars signed, now comes the hard part…the wait. It will be a fun ride to see these players develop, and hopefully lead the charge toward competitive baseball in Pittsburgh.
 

Game 22: vs Mets 8-20-10

This homestand wasn’t turning out the way I wanted. I was missing games for a variety of reasons. I was finally able to make a BP on friday. Problem was a ton of “Mets” fans came from “New York” to see this game. I say this because for whatever reason the Mets have a big following of so called Pittsburgh baseball fans that don’t like the Pirates losing ways. 

When me and my friend got down to the stadium shortly before 5 the line already snaked past the Roberto Clemente statue and down Federal Street. Just a great start to the day. When we reached the only ticket scanner at 5:05 another bad thing happened. The couple in front of this with tickets they printed off at home were to faded for the scanner to read it. I saw precious time  run off the clock while the ticket scanner put in the numbers manually. Never had that problem when we just ripped the stubs off. 
I made my way to the bleachers finally at 5:08. It was much more crowded than usual with a lot of fans in Mets gear roaming the stands. This really ticked me off since the first half hour is for PIRATES season ticket holders only. 
It was officially one of those days where absolutely everything was going wrong. I couldn’t get a toss-up from any of the Pirates pitchers as they were tossing up 20 times as many balls as usual. Then the curse of Jose Tabata struck for the 1000th time this season. He hit a homer that was seemingly right at me. It was carrying a little over me but it was nothing a jump couldn’t fix. I leaped up but another person pulled a Jeffery Maier  and standing on the row of bleachers behind me robbed me of my first ball of the day. 
The Mets came out soon after and I headed to right center. Despite a ton of homers and toss ups I came up empty with many near misses. Toward the end of batting practice bored and tired from being up at 5 am this morning I was in a sort of trance watching some feature from Inside Pirates Baseball on the scoreboard when Luis Castillo came up with the last ups of bp. Next thing I know I hear a thud. I turned my head and saw a ball hit the warning track. I got my glove up and snagged it. 
As for the game, Jeff Karstens had a very similar day to mine. Though he gave up 5 hits and 3 runs in the top of the first, though not a single hit was more than a so-called “Texas Leaguer”.
The hits would get harder however in the next few innings and he wound up giving up 7 runs. 
The only positive was that Ryan Doumit hit his 9th home run of the year. Hopefully we can trade him this off season so the Pirates won’t be on the hook for his 5.1 million dollar contract and uselessness. 
This 7-2 loss was the 82nd of the season for the Pirates, clinching their record 18th consecutive losing season. It may also be a coincidence that I am also 18 years old and have not been coherent to see a Pirates team win 82 or more games let alone be in the playoffs. I was at the 82nd loss last year, which was Labor Day a full three weeks later than in 2010. The Pirates are currently on pace to lose 109 games which would be the most in nearly 60 years.
After the game I headed to the Hall of Fame club to see Rocco DeMaro do his Extra Innings post game show live. Having a talk show after every game for a 100+ loss team isn’t easy but he does an incredible job of making it entertaining. He did an interview with GM Neil Huntington as he shared his thoughts on the recent signings of potential aces Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and 16 year old Luis Heredia.
I headed home with the sad feeling that there is only one game that I will be able to see this year before heading to school.
 
Stats: 
Record: 9-13
29 balls/21 games/1.38 average

After the Dust Settles: Trade Deadline 2010

Earlier this season, Pirates GM Neil Huntington was quoted saying the Pirates wouldn’t be as active at the deadline as in past years. I along with many other fans knew that this just wouldn’t be true. The Bucs had some nice pieces that could be moved. Huntington knew this, and was able to pull off three stellar deals.

 

Trade 1: D.J. Carrasco, Bobby Crosby, and Ryan Church to the Diamondbacks for Catcher Chris Snyder and cash.

At first glance, I couldn’t believe this trade was really happening when I first saw it. Crosby (.224, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and Church (.182 3 HR, 18 RBI) flopped big time this year, and I thought that we would be stuck with them for sure. However the Diamondbacks for whatever reason felt the need to take them off our hands. In return we got catcher Chris Snyder.
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 At first glance, Snyder doesn’t look like much. He is just a career .233 hitter, and is hitting just .231 this season. But he has tremendous patience at the plate as his career on base percentage is .353. A high walk hitter is something the Pirates sorely lack. He also has 10 home runs this year which will put him near the team lead. In addition, many compliment him on the way he works with pitchers, something the Pirates really could use.

He is also a much much much better defensive catcher than Ryan “No-Mit” Doumit. It appears that Doumit’s days behind the plate are over once he is activated off the DL. Problem is that there is really nowhere to put him. He failed miserably at some starts at 1B back in June, and while he had seen time at RF during the early part of his career, Lastings Milledge has seem to gotten a hold on that position. What happens to Doumit should be an interesting story to follow in the future.

There is only one drawback I can think of to this trade is that the awesome stirrups of D.J. Carrasco will be no more. DJ was a fun guy to watch and was a pleasent surprise in the bullpen this season. But he was expendable, and if this is the best guy we gave up, then I’m all on board. 

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Trade 2: Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers for Pitcher James McDonald and Outfielder Andrew Lambo.

This was one that most fans could see comming. At 39, Octavio doesn’t really seem to fit into the Pirates’ future, and Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan could easily assume the closer’s role. So Neil flipped Dotel to the Dodgers for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo.

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McDonald, a once hearalded prospect with the Dodgers, was immediately activated on the Pirates roster. He saw action in 45 games in LA in 2009 going 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA. He also made 4 starts which makes me figure him to be the long man out of the bullpen for the rest of this season. His stuff isn’t overpowering, as he throws in the 91-93 MPH range. He relies on a big curveball to get swings and misses. 

 

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Andrew Lambo, who was drafted in the 4th round of the 2007 draft, is a power hitting outfield prospect. Though he has tailed off a bit, he did hit over 20 HRs between A and AA in 2008. He is still stuck in AA Chatanooga where he has hit .271 with 4 HR and 25 RBI. His progress has been derailed by a 50 game suspension for a failed drug test this season. Hopefully he can put his problems behind him and get back on track in Altoona

Trade 3: Javier Lopez to the Giants for Pitcher Joe Martinez and Outfielder John Bowker.

 The Pirates weren’t done yet. Shortly before 4 PM, they sent lefty-specialist Javier Lopez to San Francisco for prospects Joe Martinez and Outfielder John Bowker.

 

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The 27 year old Martinez has seen little time in the majors. In four games this season (1 start) he has gone 0-1 with an ERA of 4.91. He doesn’t figure to be more than a 5th starter or a deep bullpen man but he still is much welcomed depth to what is still a somewhat depleted minor league pitching staff. He has a hard sinking fastball that hits 90 MPH on average, but his lack of off-speed pitches keep him from being a reliable arm.

 

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Bowker is also 27. He made the Giants opening day roster this season but was sent down after a 17 for 82 start. John has shown tremendous hitting ability in the minors(.342/.451/.596 in AAA in 2009, .310/.388/.594 in 2010) but has never been able to translate that at the major league level. He should be up in Pittsburgh sooner rather than later.

So all in all it was a very productive day for the Pirates at the deadline. They didn’t give up much in the way of key pieces, and were able to make improvements. Many baseball experts have applauded the Pirates deadline deals and feel they got good value for what they gave up. Neil Huntington knew he had chips in the bullpen, and he cashed in on them. 

What will be interesting to see is how the bullpen performs after this turnover. With three reliable arms gone, the rest of the season is essencially a tryout for Wil Ledezma, Justin Thomas, Steven Jackson, and a host of others to see if they can figure to be a part of the Pirates plans in 2011. 

Photo credits: Yahoo! Sports, exsposay.com, bayareasportsguy.com  

Piratefest Preview 2010

Next weekend (January 29-31 to be exact), the David L. Lawrence Convention Center will be transformed into heaven for Pirate fans, as Piratefest 2010 will take place. There is plenty going down, and here is a list of things to watch for.

 

1. Maz

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In 2010 the Pirates will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1960 World Series championship. And what better way to kick it off is to have Hall-Of-Famer and Series hero Bill Mazeroski on hand to sign autographs. He will be there on Friday and Saturday to sign. Unfortunately (though not for me) on Friday he will be only available for 30 minutes to the general public as his 4-5:30 signing time is during the Season Ticket Holder early admission time. He will also be signing from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday.

Many current players and other alumni will be on hand throughout the weekend as well. Here is the complete schedule.

PirateFest 2010 Autograph Schedules*

Friday, January 29
Time Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Bill Mazeroski Steven Pearce  Joel Hanrahan
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Andrew McCutchen John Candelaria   Bob Friend
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Paul Maholm Bobby Crosby Dick Groat

 

Saturday, January 30
Time Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Lastings Milledge Andy LaRoche Daniel McCutchen  
11:30 am – 1:00 p.m. Bill Mazeroski Zach Duke Neil Walker  
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Garrett Jones Evan Meek Kent Tekulve  
2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Bob Friend ElRoy Face Steve Blass  
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Paul Maholm Steven Pearce John Candelaria Andrew McCutchen
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Ryan Doumit Ross Ohlendorf Joel Hanrahan  

 

Sunday, January 31
Time Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Andy LaRoche    
11:00 am – 12:00 Noon Lastings Milledge    
12:00 Noon – 1:30 p.m. Ryan Doumit Charlie Morton    ElRoy Face
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Ross Ohlendorf Evan Meek    Daniel McCutchen
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Zach Duke Neil Walker    Garrett Jones

 

2. Single Game Tickets Go On Sale

This is your best chance to get good seats for Opening Day as well as Skyblast dates.

 

3. Q and A with Front Office

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Neil Huntington and Frank Coonelly will be on hand for Q and A sessions with fans throughout the weekend. They have been heated the past few years and this year should be no different.

4. Promotion Previews

The list has already been released, but demos of all of the promos will be on display. Im most curious to see what the Cutch bobblehead, Garrett Jones Action Figure, and Pirate “Fleecie” will look like.

5. Collector’s Place

Last year I counted over 30 different collector tables chock full of cards and other memorbilia. One could spend the whole day exploring all of the treasures up for sale.

6. Pirates’ Charities Hidden Treasures

Area where you can buy game-used jerseys (Who wouldn’t want a game-worn Matt Morris red vest?) A lot of other obscure things can be found here which makes this place worth a visit.

So there you have it, and I hope to see you there Friday and Sunday

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