Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?

I would rather read one story about the Pirates signing a South African short-stop prospect than a hundred about Doug Mientkiewicz, Chris Gomez, Jason Michaels, and Luis Rivas. From yesterday's PG: The Pirates, trying to mine all areas to get prospects into their minor league system, hope they've found a diamond in the rough in Mpho Ngoepe from South Africa. Ngoepe, 18, is a switch-hitting shortstop who signed with the Pirates about a month ago, then made a cameo appearance in the Instructional League in Bradenton, Fla. "We need to find talent wherever it is," general manager Neal Huntington said. "It will be a great story if he makes it to the big leagues." The Pirates scouted him in Italy over the summer for some European/African baseball showcase to watch Ngoepe and were impressed enough with what sounds like some very raw baseball talent to sign him. He's going to play for South Africa in the WBC this spring and though he'll likely be overwh...

So I'm sitting here working on a test because I am completely unable to go to sleep when a playoff hockey game is on (Sharks and Stars are nearing their fourth OT), when it dawns on me that I have completely neglected to post about the Olivo Astacio incident on WHYGAVS. As you likely know, the breach of team policy that he was cut for was swinging a bat at a teammate, which makes Oliver Perez's landry cart abuse look downright pedestrian when it comes to clubhouse tantrums. The player he took a cut at hasn't been named, but he wasn't hurt in the incident. That fact was summed up perfectly in a comment left by a friend of mine on my FanHouse post about the incident : Only someone in the pirates' system could attack someone with a bat and manage to not injure him. Amen to that, Rando. I fully expect Astacio to wind up turning into the next Mo Rivera. Of course, since he's a reliever that can't find the strike zone and has a history of violent outbursts, it se...