Happy New Year!

Before I head out of town for New Year's I just wanted to wish everyone a happy 2008. You can make a resolution to not be a Pirate fan next year, but it probably won't work.

Nate McLouth was really good last year

In today's PG, Dejan takes a nice look at Nate McLouth's 2007 season through the eyes of the Bill James Handbook (as an aside, I didn't get the handbook until Christmas this year, but am planning on some posts from it to start off the new year). What really shines through is this: Nate McLouth was pretty freaking good last year. If the Pirates don't give him an extended look somewhere in the outfield in 2008, I'm going to be really, really disappointed.

In the same article, it's mentioned that the gold "P" is replacing the Pirate head in a lot of marketing. That move is pretty evident on the team website, which you've probably noticed has been seriously redesigned. I think it's a nice look- I've always been a much bigger fan of logos like the Penguins logo rather than ones that are clearly designed by marketing departments like the Pirates' is. I wonder if another change is in the offing for the red-bandana'd mascot.

2007

I know last year I did a big blog review of everything that happened during the year, but the honest truth is that I think the 2007 review would read kind of like the 2006 one. There were some high points, but they were actually only relatively high when compared to the depths the Pirates typically plunge to during the season (a .500 record in April!!! WOOHOO!!!). When the seasonal highlights contain the firing of most of the people charged with making your team a good team, it's probably an indication that the actual year itself was no good.

All in all, 2007 will blend right in with 2006, 2005, and the other years that have made up this abysmal streak. In 2012, you'll be browsing Baseball Reference and you'll say to yourself, "Who was Brian Rogers? Cesar Izturis played for us? Remember when we thought Zach Duke was going to be good?" and those names aren't any different than Don Wengert or Lou Collier or Kris Benson when you really get down to it. When you really think about it, it's probably too much to ask for 2008 to be a good year for the Pirates, but I'd definitely settle for different.

Zzzzz

Does anyone remember a period of time with less Pirate news? I mean, NOTHING has happened since before Christmas.
Anyways, I'm working on some stuff that is Pirate-but-not-blog related right now (you'll see what it is soon). Until then I'll just point out a couple changes I've made to the blogroll in the sidebar- Vlad (who you may recognize from the comments here, at Bucs Dugout, or at BBTF) has started his own blog called The Black (and Gold) Spot. Check it out. I'd also be a terrible Duquesne alum if I didn't point you towards The Duke's Court, an actual Duquesne basketball blog. It figures that now that I'm all graduated and moved, the Dukes are worth watching for once. I'm secretly hoping for a second round upset over UNC in the tourney this year, but don't tell anyone in Chapel Hill.

Jose Castillo finds a home

Looks like Jose Castillo won't be teamless for too long as it appears he's signed a one year deal with the Marlins to compete for their starting third base job. According to Cot's, he signed for slightly less than $2 million for the one year, which makes him the Marlins highest paid player. That's craziness. I would make a joke, but the Fish may win more games than we do next year.

Merry Christmas and such

I'm just going to leave a Christmas open thread up here, probably until the 26th, as baseball blog traffic is basically at it's lowest over the holidays and really, there's nothing new to talk about as it is. Personally, if the Pirates can just ditch the red uniforms and assemble a team that will win the 2008 World Series, I'll be happy. On a more serious note: Merry Christmas to all of you out there. Try not to think about the Pirates for a couple days. It'll make you happier, I promise.

Some true Christmas cheer

Buried on today's Hot Stove notebook in the PG is the true good news of the season:

With the "We Will" slogan gone and an apparent return to the franchise emphasizing its traditions, could those red softball uniforms show up next on the R.I.P. list?

OK, seriously, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ditch the red uniforms. I'd love a winning season, but if we can't get that losing with some semblance of dignity would be fantastic. It's not possible in McDonald's uniforms.

And today, we celebrate!

It's the holiday season and everyone has something to celebrate: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, whatever. Well, thanks to apk and Fitzcarraldo, today is officially WHYGAVS Day because it is, of course, Andy Van Slyke's birthday. This post is up a bit late because I spent eight hours in the car today, but WHYGAVS Day isn't over until midnight. Clearly, we will need to iron out some customs this year to have a proper celebration next year (assuming the Pirates haven't driven me insane by then and let's be honest, if it hasn't happened yet, it's not terribly likely). Happy WHYGAVS Day, everyone!!!

It's a Miserable Life Part 2

If you missed it, Part 1 is here.

Robert: Is that ... No ... it can't be!

Crossing the bridge, Robert has noticed something at the end that he failed to notice while conversing with Murtaugh. What he knows as PNC Park is shell of a stadium, a long abandoned construction site that looks as if it hasn't been touched in years.

Robert: Where's the park? What's going on here?

Murtaught: thinks for a second and spits a long string of tobacco juice into the standing snow on the bridge before finally responding. I'm not sure you're ready for that kind of news kid. You want a drink?

Robert: Yeah, there should be a couple of bars on Federal street. Then again...

Federal Street is full of run-down buildings and shady people. Robert notices that a massive football stadium lurks in the distance. It's not Heinz Field, but it's not Three Rivers either. The light still calls to them. It's a cracked plastic sign that simply reads 222 Bar. Robert and his celestial companion enter. The bar is run-down smells awful. The people inside look worn down and the bartender is not friendly. The signs behind the bar indicate that drinks are very cheap.

Robert: Well, I'm glad something is the same.

Bartender: What'll you have?

Robert: A flaming rum punch?

Murtaugh: (whispers) What the hell is wrong with you?

Robert: (whispers back) I dunno, it just came out.

Bartender: Hey look, mister - we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere." Is that clear, or do I have to slip you my left for a convincer?

Robert: Uhhhh ... can I have an Iron?

Bartender: You're in Pittsburgh, what do you think?

Robert: In Pittsburgh ... that's a relief. Hey, where's PNC Park?

Bartender: What's PNC Park?

Robert: It's where the Pirates play? Right across the street?

Bartender: The Pirates ?!?

Murtaugh: Oh geez.

Bartender: Kid, I dunno where you're from, but the Pirates ain't been in town for five years now.

Robert: Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!!! You've got to be kidding.

Bartender: Do I look like a kidder?

Robert: looks the bartender up and down, noticing his thinning gray hair, and his vaguely familiar gaunt, smoker's face that's been worn by time, then shakes his head. Sorry I'm from an alternate ti--- eh, I'm from Canada. What happened to the Pirates?

Bartender: You really don't know.

Robert: No, I don't.

Bartender: Dammit, kid, that wasn't a question. Back in the early 1990s, the Pirates were somethin' real special. Just had that real fire in the belly, you know? 1992 was the best group of players I'd ever seen. We won the whole damn thing. Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, Doug Drabek, what a crew. After the series, the Pirates' ownership surprised the world by offering Bonds an 8 year deal worth almost $60 million. Crazy money at the time. Bonds had to take it with the way the city embraced him for his big throw from left field to keep Game 7 of the NLCS alive, followed by his game winning homer and World Series MVP award. He was really bigger than life. Trouble was, they couldn't afford to keep anyone else. The team was OK in '93 and '94, but things kept sliding downhill from there. By '97 the team was for sale and practically bankrupt. No one wanted to buy it and that made the owners do something stupid- they left Bonds exposed in the expansion draft. Of course, he got drafted by the new team in Tampa and shortly after the Pirates were sold for fifty cents on the dollar to John Rigas, who'd been trying to buy the club for a coupla years. Things went OK until he went to jail in 2002. The league bought the team and sold it to the highest bidder. The city tried to rally together to keep them and even broke ground and got the beginnin's of a real nice stadium up before the league sold them to someone else. They're in Washington now. The Washington Grays.

Robert: I need some fresh air.

Robert is clearly shaken and it's not just from the skunked Iron City. He and Murtaugh step outside and back on to Federal Street. They being walking down towards the Sixth Street Bridge because it was never re-named for Roberto Clemente Bridge.

Robert: So, the Pirates are gone?

Murtaugh: Yep, the league moved 'em quick. Gone by the start of the 2003 season.

Robert: You really want me to believe that by throwing Sid Bream out, winning the World Series, and re-signing with the Pirates, Barry Bonds destroyed baseball in Pittsburgh forever. You do realize that by extension that means that by NOT throwing Bream out, spurring the city for San Francisco, and becoming a giant, steroid addled monster, Bonds saved the Pirates. You know how insane that sounds, right?

Murtaugh: Look, to be honest, there are 100 of these I coulda shown you. Spits. There's one where the Pirates and Bonds won three more World Series in the '90s. There's one that leads to exactly where you were when I found you earlier today with nothing changed except the outcome of the '92 playoffs. There's one that's actually worse than this one. There's one where Bonds throws Bream out and the Pirates lose in the 10th. There's several that see the Pirates beat the Braves and lose to the Blue Jays in the World Series.

Robert: I don't get it.

Murtaugh: Spits between Robert's feet. Would ya let me finish? There's a 100 different outcomes to Bonds throwing Bream out at the plate because that never happened. But there's only one outcome to Bonds not throwing Bream out, and that's because that's what DID happen. You can spend all your life wondering what mighta happened, but the truth is that it didn't.

Robert: I might trade no baseball in Pittsburgh and one World Series win in my lifetime for the shit hand we got dealt.

Murtaugh: Would you? Remember, in this world, there's no '97 freak show. There's no Francisco Cordova no-hitter. There's no Jason Kendall busting his ass down the line to beat out a bunt single in July, destroying his ankle and maybe his career in the process. There's no Garrett Mackowiak game. There's no Brian Giles grand slam off Billy Wagner, no Kevin Polcovich, no Turner Ward running through a wall, no nuthin'. All those things that you define your fanhood, and in some cases your life, by are gone. And maybe other things like that woulda happened before the team moved and maybe they wouldn't have. Maybe you'd be a big Penguin fan instead. Maybe you'd be a brainless Steeler fan chanting for Charlie Batch every time Ben Roethlisberger throws an interception. You don't know because you can't change what happened. But the fact is, those shitty Pirates that you bitch about are the reason you love baseball. Think about that. Murtaugh spits on Robert's shoes and the snow starts again. Now go tell your dame you're sorry and stop playing "what if."

Robert: Is there going to be a big intervention where maybe the police come in and rip up my parking tickets and my family members throw money at me?

Murtaugh: Now why would there be a dumb thing like that? I gotta go, but remember, it's going to get better. I promise.

Murtaugh walks off in the opposite direction, leaving Robert alone on the bridge. He stares at the lit up PNC Park for a moment before beginning to walk back down town. As he walks, he hears the sound of a saxophone playing "Auld Lang Syne." He smiles to himself. Things could certainly be worse. Maybe not much worse, but definitely a little worse.

The quest for veteran right-handed pitching continues

Apparently the holiday season isn't slowing down Neal Huntington and his quest for right-handed relief pitching. As the PG notes today, we missed out on Chad Durbin (who I suppose may have been a fifth starter if we dump Morris off on someone) but continue the search with names like Shawn Chacon, Octavio Dotel, and Akinori Otsuka. Here's what I think: I'd be terrified of using Salomon Torres in the bullpen if I were the Brewers, because Huntington dumped off a guy that fills what he views as a need position on the team for two guys that probably don't qualify as prospects. Clearly, he did not think highly of the possibility that Torres will regain his form in 2008.

It's a Miserable Life Part 1

Remember back when I said I had more to say about Bill Simmons' assertion that the Cabrera play was the worst thing to happen to any sports fans anywhere in the last 25 years? Well, I wasn't kidding. It's the Christmas season again, which means it's time to have some WHYGAVS fun. There's between one and two more parts to this and I promise it'll be finished before Christmas.

It's a snowy December night in Pittsburgh. Robert Oliver Wagner stands on the Roberto Clemente Bridge watching the snow fall, contemplating life. The winter meetings have just ended and the Pirates were once again a non-factor. In his despondent malaise, his girlfriend dumped him for caring more about a 'stupid baseball team' than her. Finally, Robert O. Wagner speaks the the magical words...

Robert: I wish Barry Bonds had thrown Sid Bream out. My life would be entirely different today.

A figure approaches him on the bridge.

Mysterious man: Is that so, kid?

Robert takes stock of the man. He's grizzled looking and there's a large dip under his bottom lip. Finally, it dawns on him ...

Robert: Danny Murtaugh? What are you doing here? You're dead? Shouldn't you be in Pirate Heaven?

Murtaugh: Damn straight I'm Danny Murtaugh. Baseball legend, second class. Big man upstairs tells me I gotta earn my pass into the Hall of Fame.

Robert: Big guy? So, there's really ...

Murtaugh: Nah, Barney Dreyfuss is just being a dick since they let him in to the Hall. Anyways, they tell me I gotta do something to earn my pass, so I'm here to convince you your life is better because the Braves won the '92 NLCS.

Robert: That's a shit job.

Murtaugh: Yeah, I know. Dreyfuss is pissed because I spit tobacco juice all over his white shoes.

Murtaugh spits tobacco juice on Robert's white shoes. The snow stops

Murtaugh: That should do it.

Robert: Do what?

Murtaugh: Bonds threw Bream out at the plate, then hit a homer in the top of the tenth. Tim Wakefield shut down the top of the Braves order and won NLCS MVP. The Pirates beat the Blue Jays in seven games with Doug Drabek throwing a complete game shutout in Game 7 and the Pirates won the world championship. You were never born.

Robert: I was never born? But I was born seven years before all that stuff happened. How does that make sense?

Murtaugh: I'm just f&*$!$# with ya.

Robert: Can we at least go back to 1992 and watch the games?

Murtaugh: What do I look like? A friggin' magician?

Robert: Well you just spit tobacco juice on me and changed the space/time continuum, so yes.

Murtaugh: Shut up. Come with me.

Danny and Robert walk over the Clemente bridge. Even on a cold, snowy night, there's a light on Federal Street beckoning them forward. Suddenly Robert notices something very different outside of the Pirates' stadium.

Robert: Is that ... No ... it can't be!

Don't you hate it when they say... TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Merry Christmas!

Cubs hire Dave Littlefield.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH

breath

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Actually, with my luck this means that 2008 will end with a the Cubs winning the World Series and DL getting a ring.

Where have you gone ...

... Carlos Garcia?!?

Ronny Paulino is not popular

Looks like we can add Johnny Estrada to the list of mediocre to bad catchers that the Pirates appear to be interested in having behind the dish next year instead of Ronny Paulino. Off the top of my head, that makes Estrada, Michael Barrett, and Kelly Shoppach that the Pirates have at least expressed and interest in this winter, with the PG also reporting they may target Miguel Olivo or Damian Miller as well. Clearly, Paulino is pretty low on someone's list in the new front office because no team targets this many crappy/semi-crappy catchers without a reason. On one hand, I know how awful Paulino was last year. On the other, would any of these guys be a real improvement?

Finally

A list of the three best things that have happened to the Pirates this off-season:

1. Fired Dave Littlefield, Brian Graham, and Ed Creech.
2. Fired Jim Tracy
3. Ditched "We Will..."
   

Great article by Dejan about the ditching of "We Will" as the promotional campaign. I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like the new management team hates that slogan almost as much as we do.

While we're at it, the Bucs also signed TJ Beam yesterday. You can probably guess the profile by now, big guy, hard thrower, serious control issues, etc. etc. Admittedly, this is better than DL's reliever profile which was generally, "Name ends in -less, sucks."

Perception problems

To continue on the "It's too early for judgment" theme that both Charlie (if you haven't checked his "Five Principles" post out yet, I recommend you do) and I have been hitting on repeatedly this winter, I think that the next important thing to talk about is the difference between what we see in the Pirates and what everybody else sees.

Being objective as a sports fan is not easy. I like to think I do a pretty decent job of it when writing this blog, but there are still certain subjects that I have irrational opinions on thigs including, but certainly not limited to, Andy Van Slyke and Matt Morris. Still, subjective opinions are what I think have created a lot of the anger that's coming from the fans and is directed at Huntington, who's been on the job a whopping three months.

One of the things I keep seeing repeated over and over is how we have to deal Snell and Gorzelanny based on the market for Santana (who will likely bring three top prospects) and Danny Haren (who netted Oakland six minor leaguers from Arizona yesterday). I'm not here to doubt the value of Gorzo or Snell, who are probably the two most talented and valuable Pirates right now. But comparing them to Haren in a hypothetical trade isn't a productive line of thought. Haren's pitched three straight years in Oakland in which he's gone over 200 innings, had a WHIP of 1.22 or lower, an above average ERA, a K/9 rate between 6.7 and 7.6 (raising each year), and between 3 and 4 strikeouts per walk. Oh, and he's only 26. He's not only a viable second option to Santana, he might end up giving the D'Backs more than the Yankees or Red Sox will get out of Santana. On the other hand, Snell has had one mediocre year and one good year in which he tailed off in the second half. He gets pounded by lefties, he often seems to hit a wall around the sixth inning, and his control isn't always great. And yeah, he's crazy. Gorzelanny only has one season in the majors to his credit and he's got some health issues. Again, don't get me wrong, they're both good, young pitchers and I have a lot of hope for both of them. I just don't know how much immediate value they have to a contender right now because of the lingering questions about them.

Take off your Pirate cap for a minute and think about the players we have to offer a contender this year (and it has to be a contender because if any of these guys were useful for rebuilding, we wouldn't be trading them). Jason Bay had a monster 2005, a pretty good 2006 (that was helped out by a huge month of May), and a terrible 2007. He's got health questions, swing questions, and a bunch of other lingering questions. On top of that, he just MIGHT be a great addition to some team and the Pirates know that, which means he's not coming cheaply. I wouldn't touch him if I were a GM. Nady's a platoon player hamstring issues. No one has any idea what Nate McLouth is actually capable of. Jack Wilson is an awful hitter with a good first half of 2004 and a good second half of 2007 to his resume. No one on this team had the ability to help the freaking Pirates win games in 2007 so why should someone assume that these players will help a contender in any significant fashion in 2008? The team was so bland and bad that Freddy Sanchez, hollow .300 average and all, was our All-Star.

I'm not saying Huntington shouldn't be trying to remake the team. He should be and by all indications, that's exactly what he's trying to do. I'm just saying that not only is rebuilding a team difficult, the Pirates are in an especially dire place and it's probably worse than we think. We know all of the good sides of these players because we have see them as Pirate fans to have any shred of hope for the team. But if they were really as good as we imagine, wouldn't the Pirates be a whole lot better?

Kevin Young was a good dude

There was one name that jumped out at me (and I'm sure at you) in the Mitchell Report when it was released this afternoon: Kevin Young. I was honestly never a big fan of Young, he had a few good years, signed a cripplingly ginormous contract, and was never really good again. What I do seem to remember about him is that he just seemed like a really good guy to me. If I'm remembering right, he was genuinely crushed when the Pirates released him in 2003 because he actually liked being a Pirate. You just don't see that happen very often.

Anyways, coupled with his all around good guy aura and his general badness at baseball, Young's name surprised me today. Here's the key excerpts from the report on old KY (can you believe we actually called a player that?): Radomski first met Young in New York City during the 2000-01 off-season. Young later called Radomski. While Radomski could not remember who introduced him to Young, he did remember that he was asked to bring two kits of human growth hormone to this first meeting. Radomski said that he went to lunch with Young and afterward went up to Young’s hotel room where Radomski sold him one or two kits of human growth hormone.

Young did not call Radomski again until 2003, during the final season of his career. Radomski said that he sold Young five or six kits of human growth hormone on this second occasion. He noted that he did not view this amount as unusual because Young needed the human growth hormone to recover from lingering injuries, and Radomski believed a five or six-month supply of human growth hormone was necessary to complete such a recovery.

You know what jumps out at me there? Young met Radomski after he signed his giant contract.
He signed his 4-year/$24 million extension after his career year in 1999. Things went in the tank in 2000, and he went out and tried to do something about it. This was a guy on a painfully small market team (remember, this was before PNC Park and revenue sharing) that was very obviously going nowhere (they had just fired Gene Lamont), and he was still meeting with shady clubhouse attendants in hotel rooms to try and get some magic stuff and get back on the top of the mountain. So raise your glass for a second to Kevin Young, one of the few Pirates of the last 15 years that cared enough to cheat. Thanks, Kevin. We could use a few more guys like you.

Mitchell Report open thread

Today is baseball's D-Day with the Mitchell Report coming out at 2 PM. You've probably heard that names are leaking out already. I'll be doing FanHouse stuff all day and I have a final tomorrow, but feel free to talk all about it in comments here.

Non-tenders

It's hard to find links for these things as they just kind of pop-up, but there's already a couple interesting non-tenders.

First off, the Tigers didn't give Chad Durbin a contract. This greatly differs from the Shawn Chacon siutation in which Brian Cashman was about to DFA old BP before DL swooped in and took him off his hands. Durbin may not sign here, but apparently Huntington knew better than to trade for a guy that wasn't getting a contract. Which is nice.

Meanwhile, Dallas McPherson was also non-tendered. Get on that, Neal. Seriously. I'm not kiding.

UPDATE: Add Mark Prior and Morgan Ensberg to the list of mildly interesting non-tenders.

Pirates/Padres update

Despite what ESPN had to say this afternoon, both the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Post Gazette are reporting that if a trade goes down between the Pirates and Padres, it probably won't be a big one. From the UT:

The Padres and Pirates have done a lot of talking to one another this offseason. And there is mutual interest on some fronts, which I wrote about this morning. But as this afternoon, things don't appear quite as hot as today's ESPN report may have led some to believe. The big point the Padres are making is that they aren't going to trade Double-A third baseman Chase Headley Not to Pittsburgh. Not to anybody, unless something really kooky happens.

If the Padres aren't trading Headley, that pretty much compliments the PG report that we're not talking to them about Bay.

Rumor o' the day

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

A deal with the Pirates is a possibility, and talks could evolve into a major swap. The Pirates, if the price is small, are interested in taking on Padres No. 2 catcher Michael Barrett, whose salary of at least $3 million is larger than the Padres usually pay to a backup.

Pittsburgh wants to move pitcher Matt Morris, a No. 5 starter whose $12 million salary far exceeds his market value. If Towers must assume a bad contract to make a deal, he is willing to take on a pitcher – such as Chan Ho Park – because Petco Park plays big.

The Padres asked about Pirates left fielder Jason Bay and also have interest in Pirates outfielders Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth. The Pirates want Padres Double-A third baseman Chase Headley.

If the Pirates can get Headley in a manner that doesn't cost them Bay, I think it would be a solid trade. The Padres do need outfield help pretty badly right now- check out their depth chart. Still, I don't imagine Headley will come cheaply. Of course, he's the type of player we should be after as opposed to, say, Chad Durbin. I guess it's that "wait and see" time of year again.

SD Union-Trib link from Rotoworld.

Two ominous links

The Detroit Free-Press confirms that the Pirates and Tigers have talked about Brandon Inge, though there's no indication of how serious things are at this point.

The PG today tells us that now that Doogie is considering keeping Marte and Grabow now that he's dealt Torres off for scraps. That's so amazingly short-sighted that I don't even know what to say. The same story says the Pirates are interested in trading for Michael Barrett from San Diego.

Despite everything the new front office has said, if we keep Marte and Grabow and pick up Barrett and Inge, it'll be pretty clear to me that the drive for 75 is alive and they're hoping to get lucky and win the NL Central with 83 wins this year. I'm not passing judgment on anyone until the off-season is over, but I don't like the way things are shaping up.

Brandon Inge is the best we can do for a rumor?

There's lots of talk in the thread of the post below and all over these here internets about Brandon Inge coming to Pittsburgh. Charlie writes up a good post on his blog about the actual possible benefits of adding a guy like Inge to the mix here. I'll use his post as a jumping off point: instead of taking the negative stance that Inge is an awful acquisition, we'll start at "intriguing." And even if we start there, I don't like it very much.

Here's the thing: if you view each of Dave Littlefield's trades in a vacuum, he wasn't a bad general manager. As late as like June of last year my uncle (who is a devoted Pirate fan) was telling my dad that I was being way too hard on DL here on WHYGAVS and that he'd made a lot of good moves. The thing was, Littlefield's moves never got us anywhere. Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez for Xavier Nady and Mike Gonzalez for Adam LaRoche aren't necessarily bad trades, but they are redundant. Kris Benson probably wasn't worth more than Ty Wigginton, but the DL had a chance to get more and the Pirates had no idea how to use Wigginton once they had him. Strictly speaking, Dave Williams for Sean Casey is a good trade, but it's not a good move when you're expecting Casey to be a power hitting left-handed bat. As I wrote in my One Craig Wilson post, Littlefield was constantly shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. Instead of consciously trying to build something, Littlefield was always attempting to maintain a status quo that never existed. It was the annual "Drive for 75," if you will.

If we trade for Inge, I don't see it being much different than any of the moves Littlefield made that ultimately ended up being so infuriating. Inge is a guy that might be able to step in and be better at third base than Jose Bautista, but he also might not (quantifying the differences between offense and defense and coupling them with projections are never terribly easy). Inge would probably come cheap because of his contract, Miguel Cabrera, and the fact that he's not a very good hitter. He would probably make the Pirates a little better and we could probably swing a trade for him that would go down in our favor. But the fact of the matter is that he'll only serve to make the Pirates a little better right now. What's Brandon Inge at third base next year? A jump from 68 wins to 70 wins? Maybe. It's not that it would be a bad move to trade for Inge, strictly speaking, it's just that it would be a classic Dave Littlefield move. I hate to say this, but the front office should be much more concerned with the team that will be taking the field in two or three years than the team that will be taking the field in 2008. It was lack of vision for things like that that doomed Littlefield and I'd hate for Huntington's first major move to be in the same vein.

Non-tenders and the like

If you're wondering if we're going to do any dumpster diving, Rotoworld's got a list of likely and possible non-tenders as we come up to the non-tender deadline here. There's not really many interesting names on either list. I would guess Morgan Ensberg's name will come up if he's non-tendered, but I think he's pretty much toast at this point in his career. Craig Monroe was a DL target in the past, but I don't see a whole lot of use for him with the team as configured right now. Any other ideas?

Salomon Torres may retire

If you want proof that the Salomon Torres trade may not have been a complete waste, word from the PG today says that Torres is considering retirement rather than moving his family or having to move away from his family.

This isn't really surprising given Torres' age (36), his numbers from last year, and his repeated statements about how much he likes playing in Pittsburgh. It is, however, a reminder that even in trades that look bad on the surface, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes than we know about.

Bye bye, Sully

Word out of Milwaukee is that the Bucs have swapped Salomon Torres to Milwaukee for minor league relievers Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. Color me... uninspired... by this trade. More relievers? Really? I mean, I get grabbing guys like Meek in the Rule 5 or off waivers, but trading for them? I can see Roberts has nice strikeout numbers and everything, but he was also a 23-year old in A ball. Salas is 26 and hasn't cracked the bigs yet, struggling last year in his only journey about AAA. I suppose something's better than nothing, but justifying trades with that kind of reasoning starts down a dangerous road. Then again, Torres really can't be worth much at his age after the season he had last year. At the very least, these two guys could have more value in another trade down the road than Torres might if he struggles at the start of this year.

People say I'm crazy

Fun link from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Dan O'Neill's column today(passed along by J in the comments):

A crazed Pittsburgh Pirates fan has created a blog called "Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke," or www.whereisvanslyke.com.

Under that banner, serving as his mantra, is a Van Slyke quote: "Every season has its peaks and valleys. What you have to try to do is eliminate the Grand Canyon."

The blogger also explains his reason for starting the site: "I used to talk to my family and friends about the Pirates non-stop. They kind of got sick of that so I started a blog."

With that in mind, my son has suggested I start a blog and call it www.cleanyourroom.com.

You know, I won't even argue the fact that he calls me crazy. Still, I wish he would've spent more time writing my URL down and less time making lame jokes about his kid's messy room.

Rule 5 Draft

The Bucs released Jose Castillo this morning right before the Rule 5 and my friend who's in Nashville and at the draft tells me we just picked up Evan Meek from Tampa Bay, who he describes as a "decent prospect, situational reliever at the big league level." That's all I got for now and I have to get back to work, but feel free to discuss how this portends armageddon in the comments.

UPDATE: Meek's minor league numbers. Awesome strikeout numbers, decent hit and walk numbers, horrifying walk rates.

Someone notices us!

Today in his ESPN Magazine column (which more than a couple people have forwarded my way), Bill Simmons has this to say about losing sports franchises:

Consider these two indisputable sports truths:
Truth No. 1: The most agonizing baseball moment since Bill Buckner's gaffe was Francisco Cabrera's series-winning single for Atlanta that killed Pittsburgh in the 1992 playoffs. Not only did the Pirates blow a ninth-inning lead, not only did Cabrera, a no-name, deliver the final blow, not only did comically slow Sid Bream somehow beat a Barry Bonds throw home, not only was it the Pirates' third straight October defeat ... but Bonds signed with the Giants a couple of months later, banishing the Pirates to small-market hell. They haven't been heard from since. The franchise was effectively murdered by one play.

And here we are, 15 years later, fighting about Chris Gomez. Ugh. I swear to you I have a lot more to say about this, but dammit, it's going to be long and well thought out and heartfelt and all those good things and I don't have the time to be any of them right now. But I will soon, I promise.

Links

Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera for Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin. Now THAT is a trade. Holy freaking crap. Sure, this put the Tigers in "Win Now" mode, but it does it EMPHATICALLY. And their lineup is now scarier than just about anything I can think of. The Marlins don't come off too poorly in the deal, either, because Miller and Maybin are both very good prospects.

Winter Meetings update from Dejan: Doogie is entertaining offers for Marte, as he should be. Also, the Pirates may have been targeting Franklin Gutierrez in the Bay talks with the Indians. That means it's probably a good thing Bay's staying put for now, because there's nothing about Guiterrez that jumps out at me, either.

This happened a couple days ago, but Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the Pirates at the turn of the last century and creator of the World Series, was elected into the Hall of Fame. Somehow, I don't think the owners at the turn of this century will be similarly honored 100 years from now.

The Bucs also may have signed Chris Gomez (I say may have because while the Trib is reporting it's done, the PG is reporting it's not in the article I linked to above) to a one year deal. I had no idea Gomez was still playing until we showed interest in him late last week. How much do you wanna bet he's going to join the illustrious list of players in the past five years that wore black and gold as their final uniform before hanging it up for good?

You may have noticed that earlier today the Nationals traded Jonathan Albaladejo to the Yankees for Tyler Clippard. If you're like me, Albaladejo's name may have rang some kind of bell in the depths of your memory, though you probably couldn't place it (I know I couldn't). Lucky for us, Charlie connects the dots. Dave Littlefield, screwing us from beyond the grave.

Reality check

There is a ton of panicking going on right now among Pirate fans right now with respect to our new GM and his off-season thus far. I am far from sold on Huntington, but there are some things I think everyone needs to keep in mind:

• Trading anyone just for the sake of making a move is bad idea. When that "anyone" is Jason Bay, it's a worse idea. Having him tank again in May and June and not getting anyone for him is not a whole lot worse than getting Lee and Shoppach for him right now. The reward for keeping him and maximizing his value is way greater than the risk of holding on to him.
• Just because we think Ronny Paulino and Nate McLouth/Xavier Nady are equal to Brian Schneider and Ryan Church doesn't mean Omar Minaya sees it that way. There's no way of knowing if Huntington was in on any types of talks for Milledge. The trade to the Nats came out of the blue.
  
• Elijah Dukes is a certifiable crazy person. Not in a Milton Bradley way, but in a, "He threatened to kill his whole family," kind of way. Personally, I would've taken a risk on him. Still, it's entirely justifiable that the Pirates' didn't.
  
• Please remember that Jim Bowden has a reputation as a bad GM for a reason. If he's making a move that seems too good to be true, there's likely something behind the scenes that we're missing. Holding his moves up as ones we should be making isn't a great idea.
  
• Huntington is not dealing from a stacked deck here. It's hard to convince people that crap is chocolate.
  
• Remaking a bad organization cannot happen overnight. Accordingly, there is no hurry to deal at these meetings.
  

I'm not suggesting that we blindly accept everything the Pirates do right now, but to start roasting Huntington already is just plain over-reactionary.

Ty Taubenheim and Josh Wilson, you guys!!!

You've probably already heard about yesterday's roster move, but I'd feel kind of remiss not talking about it at all. The Bucs DFA'd Brad Eldred and Brian Rogers and claimed Josh Wilson and Ty Taubenheim off of waivers from Tampa and Toronto, respectively.

Everything I read about Taubenheim makes it sound like he's a pretty interesting pick-up. At the very least, he's got to be more interesting than Brian Rogers. He's got some pretty solid strikeout/walk numbers in the minors, which means, what the hell, why not. Wilson is a different story. He sucks a lot. His major league numbers are really bad and his minor league numbers aren't really a whole lot better. I don't really know why we'd want him, but then again, it's not like there's really much of a point to keeping Brad Eldred around either.

If you want more reading, Vlad's got a post up about the two of them on Bucs Dugout and as usual WTM's already got pages up for both Taubenheim and Wilson. I agree with Vlad on these moves Huntington's making- they don't seem to amount to much, but at least he's trying. Every Jack Cust comes from somewhere and even if none of these guys are it, well, dropping the guys he's dropped from the roster isn't going to hurt us.

Some humor

So, I've been torn on my opinion of Neal Huntington so far. We get awful rumors of terrible things that might happen, then he comes back and denies the rumors and says all the right things. Then the terrible rumors start back up. So I keep coming back to one thought, which I think is rather brilliantly illustrated by this cartoon that my brother Dennis drew for the Carroll News.

Don't screw it up, Neal.

This better not be true

ESPN is keeping a blog going of the winter meetings with live updates from all their baseball people. This afternoon, Steve Phillips posted this update about the Pirates/Indians talk:

The Pirates and Indians are talking about a potential Jason Bay trade. Pittsburgh would get catcher Kelly Shoppach and left-hander Cliff Lee for the two-time All-Star.

I am not kidding when I say that if this trade goes down, there is at least a 75% chance that I'm turning in my Pirate-fan card for good. This is such an unfathomably stupid idea that Dave Littlefield is sitting at home thinking to himself, "I wouldn't make that trade in a million years." It's only Steve Phillips reporting it, and he's a moron of near legendary proportions, but man, I am now terrified.

And now for something completely different

As a fun reminder of how little we know at this time of year, Neal Huntington completely denies reports of cutting Nady and selling low on Bay. If that wasn't enough, there's also this interview with him at BP (sent by reader Mark) that includes quotes I swear were lifted from my subconscious like this one:

DL: It happened prior to you joining the organization, but can you comment on last season’s acquisition of Matt Morris, primarily your philosophy regarding similar moves?

NH: Our philosophy is that every move we make will be logical, rational, and well-researched. They will also be for the long-term benefit of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The quick fixes that have been taken in the past--that you see happen around the league with some teams--are not something we’ll be interested in here.

And:

We’re in a unique situation. We have lost 90-plus games each of the past three years, but we have an interesting core of guys with two years left on their contracts. We have a good young pitching staff, and an outstanding young closer in Matt Capps. We feel that we have some talent here and have an opportunity to win, but we want to be in a position to be consistently competitive every year. What we don’t want to do is win 82 games next year and then go backwards because we weren’t thinking long-term. If you look at teams like Colorado, Milwaukee, Arizona, and Cleveland, it has been the depth of their systems--the players they’ve developed--that has helped them to take a step forward. It hasn’t been players they’ve brought in from outside the organization. They’ve filled needs from within, and we need to get to where we can do the same thing. Improving our scouting and player development systems is a big part of what we’re looking to do.

Read the whole interview. It's long but worth your time. Once again, maybe we (myself certainly included) should all remember to wait for Huntington to actually, you know, do something before he rushing to judgment on the guy.

Fire up the hot stove

I'll start this post off by saying that I have a sudden, unshakable feeling of doom about this off-season. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for a fire sale that results in a 120 loss season if we can get quality minor leaguers for the guys we sell off. I've said before that I would take 110 losses in 2008 if it meant that we could have a good team in 2010 rather than 67 wins in 2008 and 67 wins in 2010. But the more I read about Huntington and his plans for the off-season and the direction things seem to be headed, the more nervous I'm getting.

Let's start with the article that will be appearing in this morning's Post-Gazette. Apparently Huntington is hell-bent on trading Xavier Nady, which is fine, and if he can't do that, he's considering non-tendering him. That's effing crazy. Nady won't cost more than $4 million next year and with Jason Bay's slump, Nady was probably the most productive Pirate at the plate last year. I understand wanting to trade him at peak value (which he may be at right now), but not only does even SUGGESTING that kill his trade value, he's not even close to prohibitively expensive. Yeah, I'd love to live in a world where Xavier Nady and Adam LaRoche platoon at first base for the Pirates because we have a right fielder than can hit. But we don't live in that world right now and until then, Nady in right field isn't the worst option. Seriously, this idea makes me so sick I spent 20 minutes trying to decide if I was upset enough to break my "no f-bomb" policy here at WHYGAVS. Ugh.

Now we move along to Jason Bay. The Boston Herald (via Rotoworld, which is indispensable at this time of year) is reporting that the Pirates and Indians are talking about a Bay swap that would involve Kelly Shoppach and some other players. That seems harmless on the surface. I actually watched Shoppach hit in the playoffs this year and thought to myself that he would be the type of player I wanted the Pirates to pick up he's a good hitter and a pretty good catcher who's completely blocked by Victor Martinez. But we're talking about a guy who's going to be 28 years old with 313 plate appearances. That's the name that's coming up in Bay talks? Clearly other players would be involved and if Doogie could work a trade for, say, Shoppach, Andy Marte (who's lost top prospect status faster than you can say 'Lastings Milledge'), and a good pitching prospect, I'd be all for that. But Jason Bay isn't worth that right now and this quote from the Nady article in the PG illustrates that:

"Right now, nobody wants Bay," another American League executive said. "That will change if he shows he's right again. But not now. He's got to get out there and be Jason Bay again."

Somehow I don't see a guy that people talk about like that coming off of the season that Bay just had fetching any kind of serious bounty this off-season. Right now I'd imagine the final trade being Bay for Shoppach and a middling pitching prospect or Bay for Marte straight up right now. Of course, I'm just speculating right now, but you've all watched enough hot stove shenanigans to know how this stuff works.

What's really scary to me is the motivation behind all of it. Honestly, I don't think there's some sinister mandate coming down from the front office to cut payroll. If that was really the motivation behind everything, why go through all the trouble of breaking down most of the front office and coaching staff and hiring new people to fill the roles? All of this talk strikes me as Huntington wanting to change things for the sake of changing things. That's stupid and that's dangerous. The only way a team in the situation the Pirates are in (meaning a small market) can be a good baseball team is for the people running the team to have a vision. They can change the path to the ultimate goals, but never the vision. Dumping everyone because the Pirates suck and the "culture of losing" needs changing, even if you can't get good value for those players, doesn't sound like much of a vision to me.