Results tagged ‘ octavio dotel ’
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Games 13: Pirates vs Phillies (7-1-10)
As soon as the 2010 schedule was released, there was one series that stuck out the most to me, the one taking place from July 1-July 4 against the Phillies. I couldn’t think of any better way to spend my 4th of July weekend. It seems that the past few years, the only time that PNC Park features a playoff-type atmosphere is when the Phils and their throngs of fans come. I went down on Thursday and I arrived to easily the biggest crowd I had ever seen at 4:45 at PNC Park. I upgraded my tickets this game to a box seat, and had to pick them up at will call. This line greeted me.
So there would be no Pirates BP. I would get in around 5:30 and get one ball from Danys Baez so batting practice was not a complete loss.
I then made my way to section 8, right by the Phillies dugout. It gave me a good view of their pre-game warm-ups.
Ryan Howard signing autographs
Ever since his amazing performance in the 2006 Home Run Derby in Pittsburgh, I have been a huge fan of his. Too bad he plays for such horrible fans.
Here he is batting.
The game on paper appeared to be a whitewash. Phillies ace Cole Hamels was matched up against Bucco Daniel McCutchen, who brought an 0-3 record and an 11.00 ERA into the game. However “D-Cutch” would be strong, giving up just 2 runs, and the Pirates got just enough offense, primarily from Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez, who came just short of his first home run when he hit a towering RBI double.
There were tense moments late in the game. Evan Meek struck out Ryan Howard to end the 8th inning, with Shane Victorino on 2nd. He has been dominant out of the pen, and his ERA dropped below 1 after a solid 2 IP outing. I figure him to be the closer sooner than later.
Octavio Dotel put the tying run on in the 9th, but was able to get the game ending strike out to preserve the 3-2 victory.
Some other pics
Cole Hamels
Howard manning 1st
Garrett Jones (Note the Philsbook on the scoreboard!)
Team celebrating
STATS
Record: 6-7
17 balls/13 games/ 1.31 average
Game 4: Pirates vs Cards (5/8/10)
I hadn’t been to the ballpark in a while, 18 days to be exact, and I was just looking forward so much to be back at home at PNC Park. There were just a couple of problems facing us before we headed down.
First, the 40 MPH winds and threat of rain cancelled batting practice. Luckily I had a heads up from a friend that works with the team, so I wasn’t standing around in the cold for two hours with nothing to do.
Secondly, the Pirates were facing the top of the Cardinals rotation, and early season surprise Jamie Garcia was taking the mound against proverbial AAAA starter Jeff Karstens. The Pirates had played one of their worst games fundamentally of the season the night before and blew many chances to steal a game from the Cards and Cy Young candidate Chris Carpenter. Tonight they would have to right the ship.
The Buccos would certainly do so, getting good performances from unlikely players in addition to a little help from the umps.
The view from section 316 as Karstens deals to Puljos in the 1st.
Jeff Karstens threw one of his best games of his career going 6 innings while holding the stacked Cards lineup to just 3 hits. The Pirates would get their first run of the game in the 2nd when Ronny Cedeno singled home Steve Pearce. Jamie Garcia would also settle in, as neither starter wanted to give in.
In the top of the sixth, with two on, and two out the Cardinals were looking like they were about to get on the board. Colby Rasmus singled to left and Ryan Ludwick was rounding third and heading for home. Lastings Milledge had unleashed a throw that appeared to be off-line. However, back-up catcher Jason Jaramillo was able to get the ball and make a swipe-tag on Ludwick. The replay showed that he was clearly safe, but a good sell-job by JJ bought the Pirates a very important out and preserved the 1-0 lead.
Another tense moment for the Bucs came in the top of the 8th. With men on first and second Albert Puljos came up to the plate. Joel Hanrahan, who has put his awful ’09 behind him, was able to strike him out and keep the 1-0 lead still intact.
Jason Jaramillo added insurance as he had an RBI single to make it 2-0 and ended up 3-4 on the day. Octavio Dotel pitched a clean 9th, and the Pirates celebrated a nice 2-0 victory.
It is worth noting that there were some idiots who thought it was appropriate to chant “Lets Go Pens” after they clinched a 2-1 win over the Canadians tonight during the top of the 9th. I like hockey a lot, its prob my second favorite sport behind baseball, but it was very inapropriate to do this when there is one out in the top of the 9th and the closer is holding on to a slim lead. Save it for a blowout.
There were also fireworks after the game which capped off a great night.
The only thing missing were a couple of baseballs.
STATS
6 baseballs/4 games= 1.5 avg.
Hot dogs eaten 2 = 4 total on the season
Record at games attended: 3-1
Prize Wheel Results:
Adam- Aluminum Water Bottle
Johnny- Aluminum Water Bottle
Me- $6 off infield grandstand (streak of consecutive games winning free tickets snapped at 2)
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