Happy New Year's

Just wishing everyone a happy start to 2007. I'll be back sometime tomorrow night or Tuesday morning.

More links

The holiday version of the Pittsburgh Pirates Rountable is up and running with two new questions.

Frequent commenter Will discusses the performance of the Bucs that took part in the Arizona Fall League at Future Considerations.

Randy Johnson may be headed back to Arizona sooner rather than later (via Rotoworld).

That's all. Nothing's happening this week.

2007 ZiPS and Huff

Via Honest Wagner, Dan Szymborski's 2007 ZiPS projections for the Pirates are up at BBTF. Without much time for analysis (we can look at them closer at a later date) I would say this: damn, our offense is going to be awful next year. Basically what the projection sees is much of the same from everyone except for Ronny Paulino and Freddy Sanchez, who will suffer expected drop-offs. That's not good.

Also, Aubrey Huff is close to signing with the Orioles (via Rotoworld). If history is to repeat itself, it's time for DL to swoop in and snatch him out of Baltimore's grasp.

Nothing happening

When the biggest Pirate-related news of the day is that the Pirates are staying in Bradenton, well, that's not very big news at all. I'm behind on the last part of the year in review because it takes forever to sift through those archives to look for interesting posts. Turns out I'm a bit verbose. Who knew? I'll have that finished tomorrow with a little more stuff to think about before the holiday.

The WHYGAVS 2006 Review: July-September

July
The full report on Van Slyke, Leyland, and co. and their return to Pittsburgh.

I made my first foray into podcasting by making a guest appearance on Red Hot Mama's show.

Nothing special about this recap, but the first sentence there is just more evidence you shouldn't ever listen to me.

I also finally finished Clemente.

Kip Wells and the Mets combine for a rather bizarre game.

I went to the All-Star FanFest and wasn't terribly impressed.

I tried to crash the Home Run Derby party with a YWML sign, but failed and went to the bar instead.

There was this game in Pittsburgh where all of the stars got together and played. The ovation for Freddy Sanchez gave me goosebumps.

July brought a painful anniversary.

In one of my personal favorite posts of the year, I compared Craig Wilson to a paperclip. I would rather have a paperclip than Chacon.

Ryan Shealy rumors started taking off. Ryan Shealy was Adam LaRoche before being Adam LaRoche was cool.

Watching Dave Littlefield perform at the deadline apparently made me think more about prision than anything.

Tom Gorzellany started to impress.

The trade deadline came and I sat in front of ESPN all day to see Sean Casey, Oliver Perez, Kip Wells, and Craig Wilson traded for Shawn Chacon, Xavier Nady, and some relievers. I wasn't too impressed that night and I'm still not.

August
Still talking about the deadline...

Snell doesn't do that debuts.

The Pirates lost a game by doing something impressively bad.

I went on vacation for a week and the inmates took over the asylum; Gavin, Rory, Steve, apk, Mark, and Jeremy more than ably took over most the recapping duties for the week. The Pirates did very little winning, but I don't blame you guys.

The Pirates pulled off a very rare feat at PNC Park against the future world champs.

Still talking about the deadline.

I did my best to defend Jason Bay against the charge of "not being clutch."

Young pitcher, stiff elbow. Shocking.

Gavin reported on Andrew McCutchen and co. at Altoona.

JR House resurfaced in the Major Leagues.

I decided that signing a Korean slugger would be a way for DL to impress me. Still waiting.

Ding dong, Jose K got traded!

Mike Gonzalez got kind of dominant for a while. Wonder why people are so interested in him.

In the most decisive move in years, the Pirates fired Me First and the Gimme Gimmes after one much maligned Skyblast performance.

Oliver Perez resurfaced in New York. Little did we know he'd be starting Game 7 of the NLCS in like a month and a half.

Shortly after his dominance, Gonzo went on the DL.

Dog night at PNC prompts some scoreboard shenanigans. And not the fun and cheeky kind.

People (meaning me) started to notice how well the Pirates were playing since the break.

September
I missed the recaps back in August, but man, remember that bizarro Pirates/Cubs series?

Albert Pujols owned Ian Snell for an afternoon.

The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates pulled out of last place for the first time all season.

Sadly, September call-ups are something you look forward too when you root for a team like the Pirates.

Jeff Manto, raving lunatic.

Ahh, Deadspin Pittsburgh Night.

We swept the Mets? Shortly after this the talk about the Bucs' great second half started to get out of control.

Some other Pirates writers and I tried to find perspective on that hot second half.

The only good Pirate GM of my lifetime died. Yeah, I'm that young. But the again, damn.

Joe Randa ruined a no-hitter by a former Pirate prospect. Pirate fans were pissed.

Trevor Hoffman broke a record against us and I didn't even mention it. Always vigilant.

A long discussion about the ownership. Except that it can't really be a discussion since I was the only person talking.

I went to a very long baseball game, watched Aubrey Huff get heckled, made friends with Astros fans, lost my voice, and of course, watched the Pirates lose.

Zito signs

The Giants have broken out the checkbooks and finally convinced someone to come their way this off season. Barry Zito has signed a 7 year/$126 million contract to go join the Giants retirement home about 7 years too early. Seriously, look at the age of the Giants current starting line-up. I know it's a ton of money, but Zito's going to be sorry about taking that contract.

Housekeeping

I've updated and overhauled the link list in the sidebar. Among the new additions are DA Humber's Baseball Central (a great general baseball site), The Big Lead (a general sports blog you may remember from their Jason Whitlock interview), American Legends (another general sports blog), Bucs Trade Winds and What's Wrong With Portland, Maine? (both Pirate blogs). I also added a new category for Pittsburgh blogs that aren't just Pirate blogs. I moved Mondesi's House over there because that's where it fits best. I also added The Pensblog, Carbolic Smoke Ball, and The Burgh Blog into that category because they're Pittsburgh blogs that I read pretty much daily and recommend checking out if you haven't already.

The WHYGAVS 2006 Review: April-June

And you thought it wasn't coming. The year in review gets fun now that we get into the games. Or something like fun.

April
I was excited for Opening Day, until McClatchy extended DL and the Pirates lost a winnable game. Oliver Perez was encouraging though.

It took a week, but we finally won a game.

The home opener was just about what was expected.

Beetlejuice made fun of the Pirates' owners. Hilarity ensued.

Jody Gerut fought the front office. He won. We didn't see or hear from him again all year. He's a Pirate, remember?

Craig Wilson's true identity is revealed.

On April 15th a Pirate starter made it into the seventh inning for the first time.

Craig Wilson became the first of several Pirates to win Player of the Week this year. If only that award meant something. Of course, he was only playing because Sean Casey had broken his back at that point.

Jim Tracy's early season craziness drove me to the brink of insanity.

Derek Bell. Crack pipe. Arrest. Karma... she is a bitch.

Albert Pujols tells Oliver Perez where to stick it. Shortly after that, his Pirate-crushing antics push me over the edge.

With the Pirates limping in at 5-18, I assigned theme music to all of the important figures in the organization. This prompted an unexpected Frank Zappa appreciation session in the comments.

I go to the Bucs/Phillies game, sit in awesome seats, and conclude that Ryan Howard is big. I am a genius.

April ends, the Pirates are playing poorly and I'm generally angry about it, though I do say "Jason Bay will heat up in May." That might've been the smartest thing I've ever said.

May
Zach Duke pitches a shutout against the Cubs. Despite my hopes that it is a sign he's regaining his 2005 form, we'll have to wait until August for that.

Lots of losing happened and rather than linking to a bunch of individual recaps, this is what drove me nuts.

Jim Tracy undeservedly defends Jeromy Burnitz, which leads to me digging through Fan Graphs to discover that through May 11th, Burnitz was literally the least valuable player in either league.

The Pirates waste a first inning grand slam from Jason Bay and lose to the Reds in awful fashion. I believe this is where Bay starts heating up.

The Chris Duffy saga begins.

I dedicate a ton of words to trying to prove Doumit is more useful at catcher than Paulino. Doumit's hamstring's tendency to seperate from the bone makes this a moot point now.

I go to Cleveland, see the Bucs and Indians play, and see Buck O'Neil throw out the first pitch on Negro League Appreciation Night.

The Freddy Sanchez thing started to become a real issue.

The Pirates and Astros play two games in one night. And not in double-header fashion. I'm talking about the 18-inning game. Jason Bay hits his ninth homer in nine games. That's crazy.

On the very next day the Pirates take a 4-0 lead into the ninth inning and lose 5-4 in 10. They fall to an unspeakably bad 16-34. And yet the worst is to come.

Right as Jason Bay starts to cool off, Jose Castillo catches fire. He hits the furthest ball I've ever seen in person at PNC Park.

June
I sing the praises of Jeff Manto and Jim Tracy for finally turning Jose Castillo around. Oops. My bad, guys.

The Irate Fans shirts debut at PNC Park.

Dave Littlefield says "If Freddy's going to hit .350, I think he should be playing third base." Little does he know that Freddy will actually hit .350 and become un-benchable.

Snell strikes out 10 Rockies. I dunno, just kind of seems like a big deal.

We draft Brad Lincoln and some other guys. The immediate general consensus after the draft was that every single player we drafted besides Lincoln was a reach. Beyond Mike Felix and Shelby Ford, this still may be true.

Acting off of a cue from Dejan's Q&As, I notice a striking resemblence that will shortly become something larger than life.

In the midst of the furor over one Benjamin Roethlisberger's failure to wear a motorcycle helmet, Chris Duffy finally reports to AAA.

I write a long post about how the Cardinals weren't all that great. Oops, again.

My penchant for wasting waaay too much space writing about Kip Wells continues.

We start losing...
One
Two
Three
Four
The wheels start to fall off...
Five (this was the worst loss of the year, bar none)
Six, where Kip Wells returns, I liveblog the awful results, and become a minor internet celebrity when Deadspin links to me. Thus, this is one of my most memorable posts ever.
Seven, which results in me ranting like never before.
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven

Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.
(courtesy IMBD)

But wait, this one actually goes to twelve.
Er, thirteen.
Freddy finally ends it with one fell swoop. No wonder everyone loves that guy.

Between losses 11 and 12 I took a break from the losing to do the Pirates/Office Space comparison.

DL finally wins something, the Dodger Math Worst GM Award!

Oliver Perez finally gets demoted. Also, a man after my own heart makes fun of the Pirates new mascot.

The namesake comes back to Pittsburgh along with the Pirates last three managers. I am exicted to be attending the game.

I realize that I am writing 90% of this post in the present tense, though all of it has already happened. Oh, well. July-September tomorrow.

Technically Shea Hillenbrand is now an Angel

In a punny turn of events, Shea Hillenbrand, the player famous for being such an asshole that his manager challenged him to a fist-fight, is now an Angel. Charlie points out that Hillenbrand is a typical Bill Stoneman type of Angel, he hits for a good average but not a good OBP with decent slugging. Of course the only reason this is interesting to Pirate fans is because Hillenbrand is now another player blocking Casey Kotchman from the majors. Kotchman is left handed and can thump the ball pretty good (despite a lack of home run power in the minors) when healthy (though "when healthy" hasn't been often lately). If the whole LaRoche thing doesn't work out, Kotchman is probably a good alternative and seemingly a lot more viable now that Hillenbrand is in LA.

The WHYGAVS 2006 Review: January- March

Not much ever happens between Christmas and New Years', so I'm going to spend this week looking back on 2006, specifically things that happened to the Pirates and what I said about them. I figured I'll find some places where I look stupid, some places where I look smart, and lots of places where I was a smart ass. There's going to be a ton of links and I'm certainly not asking you to click all of them; just check out the ones that interest you. Perhaps you'll find this exercise boring, self-centered, and worthless. In that case I'll ask you not to read it and defend myself by saying, "What else am I supposed to write about this week." Besides, I think this could be fun (or hideously painful).

January
We kicked off the year worrying about the Pirates signing an aging right fielder.

We then quickly signed Jeromy Burnitz, a different aging right fielder and one we had thought (hoped?) signed with someone else. Contrary to Bob Smizik's recent opinion, I wasn't very pleased with this move and neither were you guys.

I wrote a tongue in cheek ode to Dave Littlefield's time as Pirates GM. Looking back on it now, some of the stuff I wrote makes me look pretty smart now (this one and this one) while some of it makes me look pretty dumb (specifically this one).

The first indications that the Pirates were going to screw Ryan Doumit "Craig Wilson-style" began to emerge.

I started my 2006 predictions. I was way too optimistic with most of them, especially in the category of "slugging percentage."

I went to Piratefest. Optimism abounded from giddy Steeler fans who failed to recognize Zach Duke walking in their midst. Kevin McClatchy was very professional and actually kind of impressive in person, though listening to Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy put a damper on things. Also: Dave Littlefield treats me like a six year old kid.

February
The Steelers won the Super Bowl. I was enthused.

I rightly speculated that the Astros and Cardinals would be a notch down and the NL Central wouldn't be as good in the past (we're talking regular season only here). I wrongly speculated Roger Clemens would not return to the Astros.

Pitchers and catchers reported. I tried to be hopeful.

I made two predictions one about Barry Bonds and one about the World Baseball Classic. I was one for two.

All of the talk about Jim Tracy and the new way he was running the team made me hopeful.

My habit of devoting many more lines in this blog than innings Kip Wells pitched for us in 2006 began with the revelation of the blood clot in his arm. I went on to preview the 2006 rotation minus Kip and I think I did a pretty good job.

In a bit of accidental foreshadowing, I predicted the Pirates awful start with some help from Dante Alighieri.

The Pirates gave Jack Wilson and unnecessary extenstion. I was confused then, and I still am.

March
Spring Training started.

We will... do what, exactly? A Pittsburgh institution is born. Or something like that.

I managed to correctly predict (read: guess) Japan as the first winner of the WBC would be. Though I did again re-iterate my stupid claim that it would be a massive failure and never happen again.

The Pirates quietly mentioned that Neil Walker's wrist injury was worse than previously reported. Shocking, I know.

We got early signs from the WBC that things would not be different for Oliver Perez this year.

Early in March it was evident that "Snell doesn't do the bullpen" as his early spring starts wrapped up a rotation spot for him. Yes, I only included this to make a "Snell doesn't do that" joke.

I previewed the starting rotation and bullpen. I wisely stayed away from using numbers this time around. For the most part, I think they were pretty accurate (you can judge for yourself).

I placed a blog-wide ban on mentioning Bob Smizik columns, a ban which I frequently ignore (see above).

I admitted I was wrong about the WBC.

John Van Benschoten got hurt. Shocking.

Paul Maholm and Craig Wilson have hot wives.

Oliver Perez began to give people hope that he might be turning things around.

I made some MLB predictions. Save the AL Central, I didn't do too badly. Unless you read the part about the playoffs. Oops.

I previewed the season with as much optimism as I could muster.

Tomorrow: April through June.

Something is missing

The top story at Pirates.com is their 2006 review titled Bucs' Season Begins and Ends with Optimism. Unfortunately that middle part, the part where they actually played baseball games that counted, didn't go so well. Actually, the review itself isn't so bad. It does focus on the highlights, but hey, what did you expect?

I'm going to do my own 2006 review over the next couple days, looking at various things that happened, what I wrote about them, and pointing out times where I looked especially smart or especially stupid.

Brewers sign Suppan

Apparently the going rate for a middle of the rotation starter that's been mostly average for his career is now 4 years/$42 million. That's what the Brewers gave Jeff Suppan on Christmas Eve, mostly for his NLCS MVP performance, I suppose. COULD the Pirates have matched that offer? Sure, I they probably could've. But SHOULD they have done it? No, I don't think so. The Brewers deal had to have been way above what anybody else had offered, as Suppan and his reps said they were going to wait for Zito to sign to see who else was interested.

This signing leaves the Pirates with Tomo Ohka and Joel Piniero as options to fill the last spot in the rotation, though the amount the Brewers just paid Suppan certainly makes both of them more expensive than they were before the signing. I kind of doubt much will happen in this next week on that front (or the trade front) as everything slows down between Christmas and New Years'. That doesn't mean things will stop, though. If someone makes someone else an offer someone else can't refuse, things will probably move pretty quickly (like, say, Jeff Suppan signing a contract on Christmas Eve).

Merry Christmas

I don't think much baseball action is going to be going down in the next two days, so I think it's safe to put the Christmas post up and come on back on Tuesday. Anyways, Merry Christmas to all you readers and your families out there. Try not to let Dave Littlefield ruin things too much. I wouldn't leave you guys with nothing, and since my de facto Christmas post was up on Thursday night, today I'll leave you with my favorite You Tube Christmas find of the season: A Charlie Brown Christmas voiced over by the cast of Scrubs. Does it get any better? I say no.



And yeah, if anything big goes down, I'll be back before Tuesday.

Huffing and puffing

According to the Post-Gazette, the Pirates have made contact with Aubrey Huff and are considered to be "in the running" to sign him. This is about the time of year something like this should happen, Gonzo talks seem to be slowing, the Nuttings are calling and telling Littlefield to raise the budget so they won't look suspicious, and Huff really isn't that old (30), even though his numbers have declined in each of the past three seasons. If we were to sign Huff in addition to picking up, say, Melky Cabrera or Adam LaRoche it probably wouldn't be a bad move. If Huff ends up being the crown jewel of our off-season, well, I'm going to be disappointed. As Dejan points out, DL has inquired about Huff in the past and we all know what that means...

Links and such

Dejan gives the latest Gonzo update, that is that the Braves talks and Yankees talks seem to be stalled. Despite this, he says in his Q&A today that he doesn't see Gonzo in black and gold in 2007.

Speaking of Adam LaRoche (well, kind of at least), Bob Ley defends his OTL piece about LaRoche's ADD here (link via BBTF).

The Pirates main site does a winter-ball roundup today, this time featuring Jose Bautista and his walk-happy ways in the Dominican League. Admittedly, a .439 OBP is pretty impressive. It's good to see him bounce back a bit after his bad slump to end last season.

And finally, Ken Griffey Jr. has managed to hurt himself in a "home accident." Details are sketchy. Perhaps he was "washing his truck."

Yes, Virginia, there is a Nutting family

Anyone that's a regular reader of Dejan's Q&A knows that he's fond of joking that he has no real evidence to prove that the Nutting family actually exists (at least I think he's joking). It being December 21st and all, people often spend this time of year talking about another mythical character. With the theme of this week being "have fun and not talk about Gonzo rumors," let's keep it going. If you're looking for the original "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," editorial (which is one of my all-time favorite Christmas reads) just click here.

Dear WHYGAVS Editor,

I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say that there is no Nutting Family. Papa tells me, 'If you see it on WHYGAVS, it must be so.' Please tell me the truth. Is there a Nutting Family?

Andrea V. Slyke
18 Nintenty-Second Street.

And of course, the response:

Andrea, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the optimism often so endowed upon the very young. They believe things they want to be true, rather than things they know are the truth. All minds, Andrea, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere utility player, an Abe Nunez, a Raphael Belliard.

Yes, Andrea, there is a Nutting Family. They exist as certainly as greed and avarice exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its lowest despair and depression. Indeed! How wonderful would be the world if there were no Nutting Family! It would be as wonderful as if there were no Francisco Cabreras. There would be childlike faith in baseball, poetry, romance, and a tolerable existence during the summer months in Pittsburgh. We should have limitless enjoyment in all of the senses. The eternal light of the franchise that has now been dimmed by fourteen consectuve losing seasons would be bright once again.

Not believe in the Nutting Family? You might as well not believe in John Wehner! You might get your papa to check the owner's box at PNC Park every day from April through October, but even if they never saw the Nutting Family, what would that prove? Nobody sees the Nutting Family, but that is no sign that there is no Nutting Family. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see the World Series Champions dancing at PNC Park? Of course not, but that's not proof that World Series Champions do not exist. Nobody can concieve or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart a baseball to see what's there, but there is a veil covering the winning world which not the strongest man could tear apart. Only faith, Latin American scouting, improved player development, and common sense can push aside that curtain and view the picture and glorious victory beyond. Ah, Andrea, unfortunately the Nuttings do not believe in these methods of improving a baseball team. They instead focus upon cutting costs, shooting fireworks, lying to the fans, and making money. No Nutting Family? We could only wish! They live and they will live forever! Not even a Seven Springs gaming license will stand between them and us. A thousand years from now, nay, ten-thousand years from now they will continue to destory the hope and dreams of childhood.

This makes the Cota thing more confusing

The Bucs apparently signed Einar Diaz to a minor league contract today. Back in the day Diaz was the successor to Sandy Alomar Jr. in Cleveland, but he's had mostly a journeyman career since then, playing for Texas, Montreal, St. Louis, and 3 games with the Dodgers last year. He's essentially Cota in six years, though signing a guy like him to a minor league deal makes more sense (to me at least to me) than keeping Cota on the 40-man. From the same article we learn that San Diego claimed Craig Stansberry off of waivers and the Mets are involved in the Suppan bidding. Soup's agent says he's going to wait until Zito signs to make a decision, meaning that the Pirates probably have no realistic shot at him. That's not really a bad thing.

The Pens

As you probably know, the Isle of Capri didn't get the bid for the slots license, leaving the Penguins future in Pittsburgh in serious jeopardy. I remember in fourth grade when the Bucs were for sale and I was terrified every single moment that the team was going to leave until McClatchy rode in on his white horse and bought the team (it's funny looking at that sentence now, but that was how I felt when I was ten). Of course even that wasn't as dire as the situation the Pens are in now because of their expiring lease and miserable arena. Anyone looking for speculation on what happens next can head over to the Pensblog and check out the lengthy conversation going on over there.

Links, links, links

The on again/off again pursuit of Jeff Suppan is so on right now. Dejan does expect the market to really heat up once Zito signs and the teams that lose out on him get involved.

Eric Gagne passed his physical and officially signed with the Rangers. Jim Tracy and Jim Colborn must be disappointed. The Rangers are expected to make a big push for Zito now.

Cross your fingers, but Ryan Klesko signed a one year/$1.75 million deal with the Giants yesterday. Then again, we celebrated when the Orioles took Burnitz "off the market" last year.

Roundtable #4 is up and running.

New poll

I finally got around to making a new poll. Vote in the sidebar, discuss in the comments. Results to the last poll, which gave a resounding "NO" to the question of whether or not DL should burn money on a middle of the road starter, can be found here.

Masumi Kuwata Elimination Challenge

The very first thing I thought about after we officially signed Masumi Kuwata to a minor league deal yesterday was that it seems like some kind of reality game show, in which a washed up player from the Japanese equivalent of the Yankees (the Yomiuri Giants) tries to make the cut with the worst baseball franchise in America. Then I realized that if the Pirates ran with it, it would be a hell of a show. Just imagine, a washed up player trying to make it in a new league is Disney stuff. Then throw in the fact that Kuwata is the first Japanese player in the storied history of the Pirates organization. Let Dave Littlefield design some challenges for the show and you've got yourself some must see TV.

Cultural Assimilation Task #1: Teach Ryan Doumit one phrase in Japanese.
Result: Doumit spends the entire half hour trying to convince Kuwata to bring cases of Sapporo to the next house party he and Chris Duffy host in Bradenton, saying that "Everyone just keeps getting pissed when we buy 2 kegs of High Life." Kuwata is crestfallen, thinking that he has failed his first challenge and will be forced to return home. When asked to recite a Japanese phrase, Doumit looks into the camera and says "Domo arigato, Mr. Kuwata" and begins doing the robot. Kuwata is confused, but happy to be advancing. Task accomplished.

Physical Challenge #1: Pitch a scoreless inning against Manatee County Community College.
Result: After loading the bases with two outs in the seventh inning against MCCC's second string, Brian Bixler makes an outstanding stop up the middle to save Kuwata's bid for the team, prompting Masumi to yell in jubilation, "YOU'RE WITH ME, LEATHER!!!" The team begins to suspect that this may not be as hard as they think. The commenting overlords at Deadspin get wind of the incident and proclaim "YWM,L" to have officially jumped the shark, forgetting that the very phrase itself jumped the shark way back when Mulder first left the X-Files. Task accomplished.

Cultural Assimilation Task #2: Act as Ian Snell's personal pitching coach for one day.
Result: Unfortunately for Kuwata, he draws the day Ian pitches against the Red Sox for this task. He repeatedly tells Snell through a translator that pitching to David Ortiz might not be a good idea. Kuwata's translator struggles to translate, "Snell doesn't do that," which is all Ian will say back. Finally, Kuwata tells him that he's ugly and shorter than most people he knows in Japan. Snell punches Kuwata out, then pitches three perfect innings. Task accomplished.

Physical Challenge #2: Face Ortiz, Ramirez, and Drew without dying.
Result: In the same game as the Snell game, Kuwata comes in to relieve Ian. He must face the dreaded heart of the Red Sox order without taking a life-ending line drive to the face. He surrenders three consecutive monstrous home runs. Speculation emerges on "Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?" that "Only on a Dave Littlefield-created reality show could a contestant give up three straight home runs and advance." Discussion in the comments initially agrees, but then drifts to how hot Trenni Kusnierek looked during the post-task interview. Task accomplished.

Cultural Assimilation Task #3: Bad Japanese stereotype survival.
Result: Zach Duke runs around the clubhouse screaming, "Yattaaaa!!! Newwwww Yooooooork!!!" and keeps asking Kuwata if he can bend space and time. Salomon Torres asks if he wants to watch the new Jet Li movie. Jason Bay asks him if he is a ninja. Dave Littlefield tells him that the next task is the "Rotating Surfboard of Death." Kuwata tells Bay to shut his flapping head while shoving Littlefield and muttering "Out of my way, Ethan Hawke." Task Accomplished.

Physical Challenge Task #3: The Rotating Surfboard of Death.
Result: Kuwata passes with flying colors. After the competition he announces to Dan Potash in perfect English, "I hate Dave Littlefield." Despite his 9.50 ERA to that point in the spring, he is embraced by the internet Pirate community. Task accomplished

The Final Cutdown.
Kuwata makes it to final cut-day in camp. Dave Littlefield announces that despite his 7.42 ERA Kuwata will make the team because of his veteran leadership. When asked how he will be a veteran leader without speaking much English, Littlefield responds, "He'll lead by action of course." When asked again about his 7.42 spring ERA, Littlefield says, "He made the team for his veteran leadership." Dejan Kovacevic stabs himself in the eye with a pen, Ed Eagle writes a headline about "JAPANESE SENSATION MASUMI KUWATA!" and John Perrotto starts a rumor about the Pirates trading Kuwata for Manny Ramirez because the Red Sox will need help in the pen with Jonathon Papelbon now in the rotation. In order to make room for him on the 40-man roster, Ryan Doumit is cut. Littlefield reasons, "What, I was only going to make excuses not to play him for another three years, then trade him for a starter with an ERA of over 7. Why dick around? We figured we should just cut him now." Romulo Sanchez is kept on the 40-man roster despite his spring ERA of 56.20. Wilbur Miller is heard for miles screaming "Romulooooooooo!" in a Shatner-esque manner.

New roundup

Yoslan Herrera finally signed his contract with us, so whatever issues there were over his physical must've gotten cleared up. Craig Stansberry was DFA'd to make room on the 40-man for Herrera.

We also apparently managed to sign Masumi Kuwata to a minor league deal. I assume he figured he'd have the best shot at making our team right out of camp.

Yes, Alexis Rios might be available on the trade market (ESPN insider link). No, I don't think the Blue Jays would take Paul Maholm for him like they would've last winter. Maybe I'm wrong (Olney does say they're looking for a fourth starter). If I am, DL better pull the trigger and quick.

It seems like we never talk about anything else

Dejan has a good round-up of all of the Gonzalez talk at the PG today. Everything Dejan writes makes sense. To summarize: the Braves would love to have him but will require more for LaRoche. The Yankees would love to have him and may be interested in sending Melky Cabrera our way. According to Dejan's sources in New York, we are "intense"ly interested in Melky. Cabrera is not "Lefty McThump." He may or may not be down the road, but he's the type of player I think we should be interested in. He's got one year playing in one of the toughest markets in baseball under his belt, and he put up an OPS of .751 at age 22 for the Yankes. That is impressive. When considering any of his minor league numbers, age is a factor. Charlie has a good post up talking about his merits. The bottom line is this: a 22-year old outfielder with a bunch of upside is better for this team than a 28 year-old reliever who's got some injury questions and has likely peaked. Mike Gonzalez has never pitched more than 54 major league innings in a year. Since being converted from a starter before the 2003 season, he's pitched more than 60 innings in a season once. He's very good, but someone that pitches as often as he does is expendable for a team that only scored less than 700 runs the last three years. LaRoche is a good fit for the Pirates, but that doesn't mean that Melky Cabrera is a bad one.

Anyways, Dejan says that a deal is not imminent, though something will probably happen with Gonzo before the dawn of 2007. You will know when a deal is imminent because Mike Gonzalez will disappear from this:

Round up

The New York Daily News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution squash the three-way Pirates/Braves/Yankees trade rumor that popped up on ESPN yesterday, saying that no such talks have ever taken place. Pretty much everyone said the until the ESPN thing appeared yesterday, so this isn't surprising.

Anyways, the Daily News article says that the Yankees and Pirates haven't even talked in a couple of days, though they may resume next week. The AJC piece wonders why the Braves are even shopping LaRoche at all, which I think is a pretty valid question. Still, I agree that with so much speculation surrounding LaRoche he'll probably end up somewhere other than Atlanta next year. I don't think Mike Gonzalez is going to do it though. The Yankees would likely be much quicker to part with Cabrera for Gonzo straight up than the Braves would be to part with LaRoche.

Meanwhile, Dejan shifts his focus away from all of the Gonzalez speculation to look at the Masumi Kuwata situation, pointing out that even if the Pirates don't sign him, at least they're finally looking at Far Eastern players which is something they haven't done in the past. The headline to this article was probably written by the same editor that made the "Freddy Sanchez delivers happy ending" headline earlier in the summer.

ESPN: Trade is "in the works"

ESPN says that the oft-rumored three-way trade between the Pirates, Braves, and Yankees is "in the works" with Gonzo going to New York, Melky going to Atlanta, and LaRoche coming here. I'm not entirely certain that LaRoche is going to be a better player for us than Melky in the long term. I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens.

The Gonzo rumors continue flying

A day after Dejan wrote an article about everyone being interested in Gonzalez, Johnny P. follows up with an article in which he says pretty much only the Yankees are left. It's hard to take him seriously though, because he refers to Melky Cabrera as a left-handed hitter when he is, in fact, a switch hitter. Anyways, if Perrotto is to be believed, the Bucs turned down a Chad Tracey for Gonzo offer from Arizona and told the Red Sox to take Coco Crisp and go home, while the Braves have exited the bidding for Gonzalez. Meanwhile, the Yankees have offered up Melky Cabrera (who the PG said would NOT be offered) while the Pirates are asking for Scott Proctor as well. Charlie is asking what everyone thinks DL will end up getting for Gonzalez and the responses are not very positive. Knowing DL's track record, I'll be surprised if he trades him at all.

Dave Littlefield is a robot

I'm serious. He's the most predictable person alive. On Tuesday when talking about non-tenders I wrote:

Joel Pineiro has had a Kip Wells-esque career arc, as well as some injury
trouble, and would probably make a decent 5th starter, if healthy. I seem to
recall his name has been mentioned in the same sentence as the Pirates in the
past and we all know that once a player enters DL's radar, he stays there.

Today the Trib brings us:

The Pirates are eyeing free-agent right-hander Joel Pineiro as a possible fifth
starter for their 2007 rotation.

They're guessing his price will be in excess of $7 million. With his history it's probably not worth it.

Meanwhile, the PG tells us that the Mike Gonzalez market is hopping. If (when) DL screws this up, I'm going to be pissed. My favorite part of the article comes at the end when we find out that the Bucs actually made 8 minor league free agent signings yesterday (not 7 as previously reported). The 8th player? Mike Edwards, of course.

Minor League Signings

The Bucs signed seven people to minor league contracts today. Not much there, Wasdin has bounced around a bit and Michael Ryan is always rumored to be signing a minor league deal here since he's from Indiana, PA. Dejan gives a good account of each of the players.

And while we're at it, here's the Baseball Cube page for Franquelis Osoria, the Dodgers' pitcher we grabbed off waivers earlier this week. I don't know much about him, but besides a 24 game stint with the Dodgers in 2005 he's been pretty awful since getting to AAA. Tracy must like him.

Has Littlefield actually been that bad this off season?

DL has been shredded apart on the internet in the past couple of weeks for his performance (or lack thereof) this off season. It's pretty easy to do, the Pirates have quantifiable needs (specifically left-handed power bats in right and/or first) and they have things to trade (bullpen help, young starting pitching) and yet we've done nothing except maybe sign a mysterious Cuban defector, pluck a reliever off of waivers, and tender contracts to Shawn Chacon and Humberto Cota. Mostly, though, it's easy to do it because it's Dave Littlefield. I've dished out my own share of DL bashing this past month or so (hell, it's got it's own tag on my blog), but I'm honestly not sure it's deserved. Let's play devil's advocate here and view things through a different light.

What was my biggest complaint about Dave Littlefield last year? His complete inability to leave guys like Burnitz and Randa alone and say, "2006 is not going to be the year we compete. Let's build for 2007 and beyond." It would've been brutal to hear, but it would've been honest and the right thing to do. This year he seems to be staying away from the veterans that get him into so much trouble. He's been interested in Suppan, but not to the point that it's consumed him and he's going to give Soup a contract that will actively hurt the team (at least I haven't gotten that impression yet). We haven't heard the name Ryan Klesko yet. We have heard Trot Nixon and some vague Aubrey Huff rumblings, but those players seem to be secondary on DL's agenda to acquiring what we really need.

We can also look at DL's inactivity at the Winter Meetings in a different light. First off, in a market where Gil Meche is worth $11 million/year it's true that our young pitching is more valuable on the trade market, but they're also more valuable to us. In Duke, Snell, Gorzy, and Maholm we're looking at four guys we can control relatively cheaply for the next four years or so. That doesn't make them untouchable, especially if there's pitching in the system behind them. The problem is that there's nothing in the system we can count on behind them. Burnett was bad at Indy last year. If you missed it over the summer, read azibuck's first hand diary at Bucs Dugout of Burnett's performance against Rochester in June. He looked like a AAAA guy. That was about the best he looked all year, like a AAAA guy. I know he's only 24 and I know TJ surgery takes a long time to bounce back from, but I wouldn't count on anything from Burnett just yet. Van Benschoten? He's one of the most injured prospects I've ever seen. When he's healthy he looks great, but to count on him to be healthy is foolish. Bullington had one decent year in Indy in which he justified his prospect status, beyond that he's been hurt and he's been mediocre. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not rooting for these guys or that I'm saying they're all worthless, I'm saying that to count on any of them for anything would just be foolish at this point. It still doesn't make Maholm or any of the other three untouchable (I do say again and again that no one is untouchable and I mean it), but I understand why it would take a haul to move any of them at this point in time.

Littlefield has, of course, one major card to deal if he holds on to his young pitching: Mike Gonzalez. It seemed foolish of Littlefield to not deal Gonzo for LaRoche during the meetings (assuming he was given the opportunity). But since the meetings have ended, Gonzo's name has been mentioned in conjunction with the D'Backs, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Indians, and still the Braves. It would appear that Littlefield has actually managed to create a market for one of his players. Now maybe Littlefield will still clamp on to Gonzo with a vice and not deal him at all, but I think that even Dave Littlefield should be able to play five teams off of each other and make a good deal for Gonzalez.

I hope no one is mistaking what I'm trying to do here. I'm not saying Littlefield is a good GM, because there's ample evidence to prove otherwise. I'm not even saying that we're all going to be happy with whatever it is that he ends up doing this off season. It's just that maybe we tend to judge DL a bit harshly. He's earned it, after all. Still, I'm not so sure he hasn't played his cards right to this point of the off season. Last year DL's off season dealings were mostly done by or around New Year's Day. He had already signed Burnitz and he signed Randa shortly afterwards. The next couple of weeks are going to be very telling.

Round up

Matsuzaka and the Bosox finally reached a deal. Not surprisingly, it's worth $52 million, or just a little more than the rights the Sox paid to negotiate with him. Boras would've never accepted a deal for less than the posting fee, I don't think.

Joel Zumaya's wrist injury in the playoffs was not pitching related. It was Guitar Hero related. That's almost as good as Zambrano's internet injury. (via Rotoworld)

Littlefield assures people that the only reason that Cota and Chacon were offered contracts is so that they can be around if the Pirates need them. In somewhat related news, Maldanado has been signed to a minor league contract.

Interesting non-tenders

The non-tender deadline being midnight last night adds a couple of new names to the free agent market. Marcus Giles is obviously the big one but I don't really think the Bucs will have much interest in him. There are a couple interesting names on the list. Joel Pineiro has had a Kip Wells-esque career arc, as well as some injury trouble, and would probably make a decent 5th starter, if healthy. I seem to recall his name has been mentioned in the same sentence as the Pirates in the past and we all know that once a player enters DL's radar, he stays there. Jerome Williams is your classic "tons of talent but can't straighten things out" guy. He's only 25, which makes him mildly interesting. Victor Zambrano was traded for Scott Kazmir once. Other than that, he sucks and he walks a ton of people. You know what that means...

New roundtable

Today brings us Pirate Rountable #3. I wasn't able to participate due to school getting in the way this week (note how few posts are on the front page from the past 7 days), but that does not stop the round table from, umm, turning. Anyways, there's lots of good contributions as usual, so check it out if you've got the time. Corey's tweaked the format a bit so I'm just linking to the front page of the blog.

More Gonzo talk

The East Valley Tribune says that now the D'Backs are interested in Gonzo. Chad Tracy perhaps? A good GM would be able to take all of this interest in one of his players and really take someone to the cleaners in a deal. I just hope DL doesn't screw it up royally. Via Rotoworld.

Cota gets a contract

The deadline to offer contracts to arbitration eligible players was about a half hour ago and the Pirates tendered everyone, Shawn Chacon and Humberto Cota included. Chacon is understandable, pitching is expensive on this market and he is not. Cota is unexplainable. The only reason Humberto Cota would get a contract from this team is... well, there's no good reason. Paulino and Doumit are both much better and more valuable players. Maldanado can be signed to a minor league contract and kept in Indy for an emergency. This is stupid.

Gonzo rumors

According to the New York Post the Yankees and Red Sox are arguing over Mike Gonzalez. I don't know if the Pirates are involved. It probably doesn't matter, the Red Sox and Yankees tend to get what they want. Anyways, the rumors involve Scott Proctor (a middle reliever!) and Melky Cabrera (who would be useful) from the Yankees and the Red Sox are dangling Coco Crisp, who isn't really necessary in Boston because of JD Drew's arrival. Rotoworld (where I picked the link up) seems to think that Gonzalez isn't worth either. I'm not really sure either is what we're looking for, but Cabrera is very intriguing because of his age (only 22).

Maybe some good news

Some interesting stuff in Dejan's article at the PG today. Apparently the Pirates are still planning on making an offer to Suppan, though it doesn't sound like it's going to be a competitive one (he says two years, which I wouldn't think would be enough). It would also appear that Perrotto blew yesterday's Kuwata rumors out of proportion and that we're most likely looking at him for a minor league deal. I still don't know why we're looking at all, but I guess a minor league deal is better than a big league deal.

I honestly have no idea what to make of this

So, umm, yeah, according to Perrotto the Pirates are apparently close to signing Masumi Kuwata, a 39 year old veteran (huge emphasis on veteran) of the Japanese Central League and they may be close to pulling off a massive six player deal with the Braves. Let's take this one at a time.

Close to signing Masumi Kuwata. If I had one question for Dave Littlefield it would be... "What are you, f*cking nuts or something?" His Baseball Cube page doesn't have numbers for 2006 (I think they're a year behind there, even the prominent Japanese players don't have 2006 numbers up), but from 2003-2005 his ERAs were 5.93, 6.47, and 7.24 and his WHIPs for the same seasons were 1.51, 1.61, and 1.77. He will be 39 next year. There is literally not one good thing that can come of this. If we sign this guy and are serious about making him our 5th starter, I might never have any hope for the Pirates ever again. I'm not joking.

Discussing sending Mike Gonzalez, Jose Castillo, Nate McLouth, and Humberto Cota to the Braves for Adam LaRoche and Kyle Davies. This one just smells like bullshit to me. Why would anyone want Humberto Cota in a trade if they knew we were planning on non-tendering the guy tomorrow? How do Nate McLouth and Jose Castillo equal Kyle Davies? I can't imagine this deal is for real outside of Littlefield's mind. I hope it is, mind you, but I just don't see it.

As usual, the only thing to do is take this with a grain of salt because it's Perrotto, who's kind of like our own local mini-Rosenthal. If we were close to trading for Davies, why would we sign an ancient Japanese pitcher? If we weren't close to trading for Davies, why would we sign an ancient Japanese pitcher? Can the Braves really be so desperate to dump Giles at second base that they'd trade Davies to get Castillo and McLouth? How can anyone believe any trade rumor with Humberto Cota's name involved? There's waaay too things that don't add up on this one to believe any of it until we see more.

Roundtable

The second Pirate roundtable is up. Only one question this time around, this time revolving DL's (non)performance at the Winter Meetings. When I'm one of the more positive people out there and about the nicest thing anyone can think to say is "well, by not doing anything he avoided screwing up the team worse," well, things don't look so good. Just like last week it's long but it's worth your time to read through all of the different opinions if you get a chance.

Olney on Meche

A week and a half ago, I wrote this:

Right now the image that every single player in the league has of Pittsburgh is that it's where careers go to die. No one will ever waive a no trade clause or sign a contract here until that changes. This off-season we've got the money to spend and we've got the hole to fill, bring in a guy like Suppan and prove to everyone else that Pittsburgh doesn't have to mean the end of a career.

I was highlighting the reasons why the Pirates might sign Jeff Suppan. Buster Olney thinks that similar reasoning is behind the Royals ridiculous signing of Gil Meche (behind the Insider wall, which I'll assume most of you don't have):

This is part of what Kansas City general manager Dayton Moore is trying to buy as he agrees to a $55 million deal for Gil Meche. Oh, sure, he's overpaying for a high-ceiling talent who really hasn't accomplished that much yet. Meche has never pitched 200 innings in a season, has won more than 11 games once, and has had more arm surgeries than seasons with an ERA under 4.00.

But Moore also is buying some attention from prospective free agents. The Royals went toe-to-toe with the big boys and won, outbidding the Chicago Cubs for Meche, outbidding the Boston Red Sox for Octavio Dotel.

The question, of course, is whether or not signing Gil Meche will allow Dayton Moore to do what Dombrowski did in Detroit by overpaying for Magglio Ordonez and Pudge Rodriguez. My gut feeling is no, but I guess we'll see. Dotel signing there quickly after Meche may be a sign that the Royals are changing perceptions.

Marquis a Cub

Jason Marquis is going to sign a 3 year, $21 million deal with the Cubs. I've never seen a team spend money in one off season like these Cubs have. They've dished out a quarter of a billion dollars on free agent contracts in their desperate attempt to build a team for Lou Piniella to manage. Jason Marquis had an ERA over 6.00 last year and lost his roster spot in the playoffs to Anthony Reyes, a rookie with 21 career starts. This is now worth $7 million a year. Lots of people thought the Pirates would look to Marquis to fill the hole in the rotation, but I'm not sure I'd want him for half of what he signed for.

Anyways, this deal certainly pushes Jeff Suppan's price up to the "The Pirates could afford it, but please, please, please let's not pay Jeff Suppan $52 million for four years" range (that's if the insane Gil Meche deal didn't do that already). I hate saying this, but at this point I think Chacon is the best option for the Pirates as fifth starter unless Littlefield can swing a good trade for a young starter (like the rumored Kyle Davies trade). I don't think it's worth it to trade something away for the 37-year-old Lieber when we're not going to contend next year. We might as well break camp with Chacon in the 5 slot and hope that Herrera, Van Benschoten, or Burnett impresses at AAA this year.

This will probably only make you angrier

I missed this earlier, but Dejan had a post-winter meeting article in the PG today. He tells us what we can look forward to from here on out. There's one positive name: One of the Pirates' alternatives could be Los Angeles Angels first baseman Casey Kotchman.

The teams are not an easy match for a trade because the Angels' priority is adding a power bat, but general manager Bill Stoneman always is happy to take pitching.

Although the "teams are not an easy match" thing can't make anyone positive that we're going to go anywhere on that front.

Moving along from there, we learn that Dave Littlefield is thinking about trading for John Lieber. As in, giving up a player in order to get John Lieber in return. Lieber will be 37 next year. Ugh.

This will probably only make you angry

The New York Post reports that the Pirates and Yankees have discussed a Damaso Marte for Kevin Thompson trade. Kevin Thompson put up an OPS of .773 in AAA last year. As a 26 year old. Since Marte is currently one of the best values in baseball, I think we could do better (via Rotoworld).

News update

Between school and trade rumors, I'm waaay behind on important news. Let's catch up:

• Yuslan Herrera is coming.
• Jason Bay had surgery. All reports say it was minor and won't even affect spring training. It probably was minor, but do initial reports ever say anything else?
• In a bizarre meneage-a-tois, shortly after the Braves finished up their deal with Mariners for Soriano, effectively screwing the Pirates on the LaRoche deal (unless you believe the Pirates screwed themselves on it, which is more than plausible), the Pirates selected Sean White in the Rule 5 from the Braves, then immediately traded him to the Mariners for cash. It's weird and probably slightly suspicious that three teams were so prominently involved on two strange moves like that in the same day. Meanwhile, the Nuttings are happy because they love cash.
• Ed. note- We also dropped Yury DeCaster, presumably to make room for this move and then for Herrerra when he officially signs. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.
  
• In other Rule 5 news, the Reds picked up the infamous Josh Hamilton, formerly of the Devil Rays. You may remember Hamilton from the SI story a couple years back that mapped his path and the path of the other Josh drafted at the top of the 1999 draft, Josh Beckett. The story went something like this, "Josh Beckett, World Series MVP. Josh Hamilton, tattoo covered crack head." Hamilton has worked to get clean since then, but he's struggled in the minors. He was in the NY-Penn League last year and has to be a long shot to make the Reds this spring.
  
• JD Drew: Red Sock
• Greg Maddux: Padre
• Jason Schmidt and Luis Gonzalez: Dodgers
• Gil Meche: Overpaid Royal
• Barry Bonds: Cardinal?
  

Let's reevaluate

So we've got a day to think about the death of the LaRoche trade. We've got a ton of people that have now weighed in on it (Dejan, Ed Eagle, Perrotto are the local guys) and we've got a few versions of what may have happened:

• Littlefield stalled on Gonzo for LaRoche, Schuerholtz moved in another direction.
• Schuerholtz asked for some time to look at Gonzo's medical records, then moved in a different direction.
• Schuerholtz asked for Maholm instead of Gonzo, DL balked, Schuerholtz went in a different direction.

Strangely enough, I'm not sure DL deserves direct blame for this trade falling through. My best guess as to what happened is that Littlefield got played like a fiddle. Schuerholtz wanted Soriano and pushed the Gonzalez deal to the forefront to force the Mariners to act and give up Soriano for far less than he's worth (Raphael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez is an absolute heist). The paperwork to prove Gonzo is healthy should've taken about 10 minutes to go through, he had tendinitis, he got it checked out by a doctor, the doctor's checked him and found no ligament damage, and he was throwing off of a mound by the end of the season. A quick check of the report the doctors filed on his arm in August should've been enough to clear that. Instead, Schuerholtz used it to buy time, then sweep the rug out from under DL's feet. The truth is that DL probably did stall a bit and we know he's got a reputation for being incredibly hard to deal with. It's likely that the Braves never indicated that his stalling was a problem and they never told him there was a window for the deal beyond the end of the meetings today. That would explain why he's so upset today. Not because the Braves lied to him, but because the Braves used him to catalyze the deal they really wanted to make without ever letting him know they were negotiating elsewhere.

I'm not sure Littlefield could see that he was getting absolutely played this time around because Gonzo for LaRoche is a deal that makes sense for both teams. That's why it's not directly his fault. The fault lies in the fact that this happens to him all the time. Burnitz and co. used DL to milk a better contract from the Cubs two years ago, Bill Mueller did it last year, and now Schuerholtz is doing it this year. As they say, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, I'm a f*cking moron." OK, maybe only I say that. Still, his reputation as a tough dealer makes it easy for teams to pretend they're seriously negotiating with him over the period of a couple of days while they're using that perception to work out a better deal for themselves. The question is how well Littlefield can bounce back. Gonzo is an incredibly valuable commodity on this market to other teams that DL can easily deal. Can he work out another deal? I kind of doubt it, but I suppose we'll see.

I think I hate the Pirates. There. I said it.

While I've been holed up in a computer lab trying to make sure I don't fail out of college, Dave Littlefield has been pissing on my head and telling me it's raining. By all accounts the Adam LaRoche deal is now dead.

Here's the Dejan's take at the PG:

The Braves accused the Pirates of taking too long to decide on the deal. The Pirates say the Braves were wary about Gonzalez's health.

And Ed Eagle at Pirates.com:

By nightfall, however, the proposed deal appeared to be abandoned altogether. Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz reportedly grew frustrated waiting for Pirates GM Dave Littlefield to pull the trigger on the trade and decided to move on to other options.

Would LaRoche have been a cure-all for the Pirates? No, certainly not. Would he have been a young, left-handed bat that could hit right handed pitching and put some balls over the left field porch? Yes. Is that more valuable than a very good reliever who seems to a likely candidate for a let-down year? I say it is. Unfortunately, I don't run the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unless DL was hesitant to pull the trigger on this move because he has Gonzo lined up in a trade for Loney or Kotchman (yeah, sure, that's what it was), well, it's going to be another Blue Christmas for Pirate fans.

The Pirates may be on the verge of doing something not stupid

According to this update from the Post Gazette, the Pirates and Braves have more or less agreed on a Mike Gonzalez for Adam LaRoche deal except that Gonzalez's notoriously balky elbow scares the Braves. The PG update is strange, it doesn't say Gonzo is getting more tests to prove to the Braves he's healthy and it doesn't say that a deal is done minus a physical, but it implies that it would probably be done if Gonzo was 100% healthy. I don't know if this means a deal is contingent upon Gonzalez proving his health or if the Braves have told us they won't do the trade because Gonzo's arm scares them. Remember, he missed the last few weeks of the season with elbow tendinitis but was cleared by doctors of any ligament damage and was throwing off of a mound in September. I'm sure we'll know more tomorrow.

Some light in the tunnel?

Dejan's got his daily Winter Meetings update for today up at the PG's site and it assures everyone that did some Trot Nixon related freaking out that the Pirates are still in the running for Adam LaRoche. The rest of the story talks about a couple of other familiar names, Hawpe (forget about it) and Ryan Church (still a possibility). Check it out if you've got the time. Meanwhile, the Braves website also talks about LaRoche rumors (via Rotoworld), mentioning that the Braves might be interested in Jose Castillo and the Pirates might listen if the Braves were willing to send Kyle Davies our way. I can't believe the Braves would ever consider a move like that, but holy shit, if something like Davies and LaRoche for Gonzo and Castillo even slips out of Schuerholz's mouth I hope DL takes that deal and runs with it before anyone else even knows what happened.

A conundrum wrapped in a riddle

Pirates.com is doing it's usual thing, spinning every little thing the Pirates don't do as positive. Still, I find this article curious. First in today's article we get this:

In a market where productive pitchers with relatively little big-league service seem to be coveted as much as established starting starters and middle-of-the-lineup boppers, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a pretty strong hand to play with this offseason.

We then have two filler paragraphs before this:

One thing that has become abundantly clear at these meetings is that the Pirates are not looking to deal any of their top four starting pitchers. While Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny and Paul Maholm aren't considered untouchable, the Pirates would have to be blown away by an offer to even consider moving one of them.

So.... the Pirates have things that everyone is interested in. And the Pirates have needs to fill. But they aren't particularly looking to trade those things to get anything to help the team out. Not that this surprises me, it's just depressing.

You know when Dave Littlefield was a kid he was the asshole in his neighborhood that would always trade baseball cards with his friends and make offers like "I'll give you Trey Beamon and Will Pennyfeather for that Bonds rookie card. I mean that's a two for one deal and one of those two is bound to be almost as good as Bonds since the Pirates trust them to fill his position. You know what? I'll even throw in Freddy Garcia and Midre Cummings to even things out." You know, besides the fact that Littlefield grew up in New England. In the '60s.

Trot Nixon... brilliant!

Not willing to part with replaceable pieces to pick up something you need? Then head to the scrap heap! You'll meet Dave Littlefield there. He's currently thinking about picking up an outfielder who is left-handed, but who slugged .394 last year and will be 33 next year. If you keep reading, you'll learn that he also apparently asked about Kevin Millar before Millar signed with the Orioles. Dejan writes that Littlefield must be attempting to acquire platoon pieces under the reasoning there's no particularly intelligent reason why the Pirates would've asked about Millar. Personally, I think Dave Littlefield's brilliant plan will culminate with contract offers to David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez... in 2015.

Updates

As mentioned before, DK will be doing daily chats during the winter meetings from Orlando. The transcript from today's chat is now up. As per the usual, he answers a bunch of questions, including the one that I had today after reading his morning column:

where_IS_van_slyke_ : Dejan- are the Pirates really serious about trying to acquire Loney or Kochtman? Both guys would seem to demand a much larger return than what the Pirates appear to be willing to part with this winter.

Dejan Kovacevic: Exactly. Which is why, if they are going to be serious in such bids, they are going to have to give up a starter. ... And I remind here that just because the Pirates say they are reluctant to part with a starter does not etch it in stone. I get a lot of mail about untouchable this or that, and no such designation has been given by the Pirates to any player on the roster.

He also teases us a bit with this one:

SpacePirate: Can you give us a name of a LH hitter that the Pirates are currently "targeting" that would surprise us?

Dejan Kovacevic: Yes, but it will cost you two quarters in one of those shiny green boxes tomorrow.

I suppose speculating on the name would be useless. The only name I've seen the Pirates connected to today is Adam LaRocha, via Ken Rosenthal, and that's not exactly a surprising name. Most of what Rosenthal writes should be taken with a grain of salt since he's like a national version of Perrotto when it comes to rumors, but here's what he says:

The Pirates have inquired about Braves first baseman Adam LaRoche, but are unlikely to part with the pitcher the Braves covet most, left-handed closer Mike Gonzalez.

If the Braves traded LaRoche, they most likely would go with Scott Thorman at first base next season.

OK, breathe for a second. Count to ten. AUGHGHHHHGHGHGHHGHGHH!!! We've been through this a million times before: the relievers are who we should be trading. If I find out this is true, my head will probably explode. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Gonzo is worth more than LaRoche. I will reserve final judgment until something actually happens.

Kicking off the winter meetings

To kick off the winter meetings, first I've got a new Pirate site for you. Cory from ANPG has worked hard to bring together a bunch of Pirate writers from across the internet for the Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable and today the project sees the light of day. Anyways, the first post is up and it's massive, so you may want to bookmark the page and slowly work through it until next Monday, when the next post will be up.

Meanwhile Dejan outlines the latest list of potential lefty bats. Currently out: Dunn, Hawpe, Jacobs. Currently in: James Loney (this would be shocking, he's rumored to be part of the "Manny to LA trade" so I can't imagine what we could offer to get him), Ryan Church, Casey Kochtman (who I doubt we have enough to pry from the Angels), and Geoff Jenkins. Geoff Jenkins? Be still, my beating heart. Dejan will be chatting from the winter meetings today at 2, but you can log on early and submit questions before then.

Rotoworld's Aaron Gleeman is blogging live from Orlando, so keep an eye on his that for fast breaking, umm, rumors.

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee

The race to the bottom of the National League Central is going to be fun this year. In the last couple of days we've received two reminders as to why Dave Littlefield and Wayne Krivsky are who they are.

First, Roberto Hernandez signed with the Indians (OK, this happened Friday, I know, this has been in the queue since then and I haven't gotten it posted, sorry). This seems innocuous at first, but then realize that the Mets offered Hernandez arbitration before he signed. And that Roberto Hernandez is a Type A free agent (link via BBTF), which means that compensation for him is steep (Rotoworld says that because their first rounder is protected and because they owe a pick for Dellucci that it becomes a supplementary first rounder and a second rounder). Which means that had we offered him arbitration, we'd have those picks. Which means that in reality, we traded a supplementary first round pick, a second round pick, and Oliver Perez for Xavier Nady, a guy that can't hit right handed pitching and can't hit at PNC Park. Brilliant

Meanwhile, in Cincinnati, Wayne Krivsky has decided to file a grievance against the Nationals for the much maligned Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for Gary Majewski and Royce Clayton trade, claiming that the Nationals didn't tell him that Majewski was hurt. I had two immediate reactions to this news. First I thought to myself, "Admitting you've been duped by Jim Bowden is a very embarrassing thing for anyone to do." Then I thought about it a bit longer, and remembered that Majewski was injured practically at the same time he showed up in Cincy. And somehow this grievance is getting filed now? Remember how quickly Dave Littlefield (DAVE LITTLEFIELD!) acted when he thought Theo Epstein screwed him on the Sauerbeck and Gonzo for Lyon and Martinez trade? Anyways, Charlie has done the leg work on this one, digging up ample proof that anyone with a computer that cared to look could've know Majewski was hurt before the Reds traded for him. I don't think Krivsky's grievance is going to have much leg power.

If all else fails, it's going to be amazing watching these two match dull wits on the way to the bottom this summer.

Sunday links

Dejan gets ready for the Winter Meetings and does his best to assuage the paranoid types like myself that if the Pirates go out and drop a 4 year $40 million contract on Jeff Suppan that it won't be the end of the world. There's a nice little breakdown of the kind of money the league funnels into this team:

This offseason, all 30 teams -- including the Pirates -- received a check for $36.5 million that broke down to roughly $20 million for the national broadcasting, $6.5 million for the Advanced Media and, as a one-time bonus, $10 million from the sale of the Washington Nationals. The latter money stemmed from every team owner pitching in approximately $4 million to buy the Montreal Expos in 2002, then selling that franchise for $450 million last year...

Last year, the Pirates were cut a check for $25 million. This year, it should be slightly more.

That means the Pirates will make a minimum of $61.5 million this year before a single ticket is sold for PNC Park. That can buy a whole lot of Jeff Suppan.

So, $50 million or so into payroll, $10 million or so for the lease, operating costs, etc., and we've got a whole lot of profit for the Nuttings. The rest of the article is worth the read, if you haven't read it yet.

There's also some Winter Ball stuff to catch up on. Dejan gives most of his Hot Stove column to Jose Castillo and Ryan Doumit:

Castillo is batting .337 for Caracas, that average ranking third in the Venezuelan Winter League, and he has four home runs and 23 RBIs in 89 at-bats.

Doumit is at .291 for Mazatlan of the Mexican Pacific League, including five home runs despite a home field known as a hitter's graveyard, and 15 RBIs. Maybe most impressive, he has maintained the sharp eye he displayed at the end of the Pirates' season, drawing 17 walks in 137 plate appearances and posting a .395 on-base percentage.

He also talks about how both have been playing out of position, with Doumit mostly at first and Castillo mostly in the outfield. It's hard to know what to make of those kinds of numbers in winter leagues given the level of competition, but I'd certainly rather see them hitting than not hitting.

Meanwhile, at Pirates.com there's more Nyjer Morgan love, as well as a rundown of just about everyone you can think of that is Pirate property and playing somewhere this winter. At least, I think all of those guys are Pirates. I should probably check better, given the source.

Arbitration deadline

The deadline for teams to offer their free agents arbitration was last night at midnight. This is slightly less of a big deal than it's been in the past because players that aren't offered arbitration no longer have to wait until May 1st to suit up with their old team. The reason it still matters is that anyone that's offered arbitration by their old team and rejects the offer, then signs with a new team will cost their new team draft picks (Cory breaks it down here). Anyways, of the big names left, Zito and Jason Schmidt were offered arbitration while Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte were not. Carlos Lee and David Dellucci, who both have preliminary agreements with other teams in place, were offered arbitration. Of potential interest to the Pirates, Jeff Suppan, Vincente Padilla, and Gil Meche were all offered arbitration while Tomo Ohka was not. Jeromy Burnitz (who somehow is a Type B free agent and would've garnered us a compensation pick, though he likely would've accepted arbitration and we'd just be stuck with him again) and Joe Randa also fall on the "not offered" list.