The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

what baffles me a little bit is the fact that they aren't playing guys on the block....You think they'd give those guys PT to see if they got hot or if teams just wanted to see a lil bit more of em to see what they got/don't got

[tree3five]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

what baffles me a little bit is the fact that they aren't playing guys on the block....You think they'd give those guys PT to see if they got hot or if teams just wanted to see a lil bit more of em to see what they got/don't got

i bet they dont trade anybody, maybe one guy like craig wilson. if they havnt made a trade yet, i bet they dont make any.

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

Or they'll get little or no value for them...Gotta love how we waited too long a few years ago and got Wigginton for Benson, if we would have done the deal earlier could have got much more.....I'm not looking for any big deals, but atleast get something of "value" for these guys instead of letting them walk after the season....Our AA team sux, we need legitimate prospects...and Pitching,Pitching,Pitching...we could be alot better if we had any. Get tired or seeing us down 3-4 runs early time & time again..that and one hitter who has some power..Bay seems to do great when no-one is on base, but when guys on he just tightens up. I can't stand those bases loaded or 2nd & 3rd no or one outs and we get nothing outta it. If we could win even a few of those 1 run games we wouldn't have such an awful record. Nothing great, but alot better than it is

[mjb2124]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

Been a while since I posted in here. My interest in the Pirates has been dwindling rapidly as football season approaches. Few thoughts though:

- Regarding trades.... We won't get much in return for any of these guys simply because they aren't worth much. Craig Wilson won't merit much on the trade block and neither will Burnitz, Randa, Casey etc.. Frankly, the only guys I think we could trade and get value in return would be a few of the young starting pitchers, a few of the relievers (Capps and Gonzo) or a guy like Jose Castillo. Personally I'd do deals involving Maholm, Capps or Gonzo, Castillo or Jack Wilson - as long as the return was good (ie: 1B prospect Ryan Shealy in Colorado who the Rockies are rumored to want to trade to us for Matt Capps).

- Personally, there are very few players on the "Do Not Trade" list. Mine would be Jason Bay, Zack Duke, Ian Snell, Ronny Paulino and Freddy Sanchez. Everyone else would be available for the right deal.

- Speaking of Ian Snell....he's really turned things around from earlier in the season. I worried about him at that time, but he's been our best pitcher this year. He's also the only guy in our starting rotation who throws hard. We need more of that as too many soft tossers in one rotation doesn't often work well.

- I've always felt that 1 run losses are a sign of how far away a team is and not how close they are. Reason being is that many 1 run losses are due to poor fundamentals and poor mental mistakes. These things are correctable, but they're also something that should already be perfected. If they aren't perfected, that team is starting from way back at the beginning.

That's about it. I think 2-3 Pirates will be traded by the deadline. Not sure who, but that's my guess. If they fall into the Burnitz, Randa, Casey, Roberto H group, we'll be lucky to see anything better than average A or AA prospects.

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez to the Mets for Xavier Nady. If this is true, I may be turning in my Pirate Fan Membership Card....

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

For all the complaining at one place or another, I don't mind the moves we made...WE knew going in we weren't going to get alot, but get angry when we don't...You can't get a guy like Lastings Milledge or any other top prospect for a 2 month rent-a-player..What we did was trade expensive mediocrity for cheaper mediocrity...If Chacon can regain last years form, maybe we re-sign him..he has a 2 month Audition..ans Switching leagues & going from 1st Place & new York Media to Last place Pittsburgh Media Might be what he needs...Hell in PGH if you are better than .500 and a ERA arund 4.5 or below Your gonna be designated as a Messiah

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

My biggest problem is this: They do this same dance every year.

It's not going to change and I don't see it getting better. They now have no first baseman. Sure, they'll plug the hole with Randa or Nady or Hernandez, but the reality is that this team is not going to get better. It almost seems that they put their first base eggs in the Shealy basket, but didn't get him. I'm not saying that Casey was the answer, but if you are going to trade a player, make sure that you have someone to replace him.

I wasn't expecting them to make a deal for Millage or anybody like that. It's just the fact that I don't see an end in sight. Who are going to be the rent-a-wrecks next season? Chacon? Check the players who are washed up and their contracts are expiring after this season and picture them in a Pirate uniform for 2/3 of next season. At least that way, Littlefield can go get more AA pitchers at next years deadline.

I was a sophomore in HS when Bream slid across home plate and I cried because I knew that it was the end of winning for a while. What I didn't realize was that 14 years later, they would be in worse shape than they were then and there is no end in sight. I have been a Pirate fan my whole life, and I am frustrated because they are the worst franchise in professional sports.

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

What I didn't realize was that 14 years later, they would be in worse shape than they were then and there is no end in sight. I have been a Pirate fan my whole life, and I am frustrated because they are the worst franchise in professional sports.

Yeah Kinda sad for those of us who remember those early 90's teams And see what we have become...Even the LA Clippers make playoffs from time to time..I was at the Giants game on Saturday and those games are why I love goin to PNC...Sold out, Crowd into it, Team looked good. and we won..If we could only do that more often...If only the Nuttings figured out that if you spend money on team they get better..Better team = more fans + More merchandise sold + more interest around league = More $$$...If ya spend some you'll make even more

[spacefunk]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

If only the Nuttings figured out that if you spend money on team they get better..Better team = more fans + More merchandise sold + more interest around league = More $$$...If ya spend some you'll make even more

First they have to figure out how to spend the money correctly. See Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Joe Randa, Jeromy Burnitz, and on and on and on.

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

First they have to figure out how to spend the money correctly. See Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Joe Randa, Jeromy Burnitz, and on and on and on.

Exactly. That's the one thing that would scare me about Cuban taking over is that yes, he would spend money, but would he spend it the right way. The Pirates need drastic improvement of their minor league system and need a much bigger scouting presence in Latin America. If they can improve those things, then I would have much more hope for them in the future.

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

Went to the game today, Chacon looked good....hopefully he can continue it and we re-sign him. I don't look for him to be too expensice + he's relatively young.

[spacefunk]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

That's another problem. Finding free agents that actually wanna play here. Besides the ones that no one else wants. See Derek Bell, Joe Randa, Jeromy Burnitz, Pat Meares, and on and on and on. They've dug themselves quite a hole. And need young talent to help dig out.

[pncbucs]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

whooooo baby sweep of the cards... goin for 4 straight tonight against milwaukee.


a couple questions for you bored pirates (and baseball fans) to help me out with. just curious about these:
1. does anyone know what the record is for most road losses in a 162 game season is? the pirates currently are something like 14-42 away from pnc with 20 road games left. id be shocked if they cracked 20.
2. more specifically for pirates gurus... do anyone of you know of any pirate prospect that are power hitting lefties. i have noticed this as one of our biggest problems, especially with the short porch in right that they should be taking advantage of. if eldred never pans out (which is entirely possible), do we have any other options in the aaa, aa, or high a levels?

thanks fellas

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

whooooo baby sweep of the cards... goin for 4 straight tonight against milwaukee.


a couple questions for you bored pirates (and baseball fans) to help me out with. just curious about these:
1. does anyone know what the record is for most road losses in a 162 game season is? the pirates currently are something like 14-42 away from pnc with 20 road games left. id be shocked if they cracked 20.
2. more specifically for pirates gurus... do anyone of you know of any pirate prospect that are power hitting lefties. i have noticed this as one of our biggest problems, especially with the short porch in right that they should be taking advantage of. if eldred never pans out (which is entirely possible), do we have any other options in the aaa, aa, or high a levels?

thanks fellas

1. I have no idea. I was looking for it, but couldn't find anything. You now have me intrigued and I need to find this out!

2. I don't think the Pirates have ANY power hitting prospects right now. As you mentioned, Eldred was the only one I could think of, and who knows if he'll ever see PNC Park again. Their entire minor league system is lacking in power. Perhaps Andrew McCutcheon, but he's still a few years away (just promoted to Altoona).

[mjb2124]

Re: The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

I'm not sure what the answer is to #1.

#2. Not many. There's virtually no power hitters in the Pirates minor league system aside from Eldred, possibly Brad Corley and Steven Pearce - all 1B.

Who knows if we'll ever see Eldred again? He's getting older and needs to show MAJOR progress now - both offensively and defensively. Personally, I'm not very high on him anymore.

Corley is in Low A and his BB/K number is alarming (ie: he has more HR's than BB's which doesn't project well higher up).

Steven Pearce in High A is also another power hitter and he's LH. I don't know much about him except that he's got very good power according to one scouting report.

Personally I don't see McCutcheon as a power hitter. He might hit 20 HR's once he grows into his body, but I don't see much more. He also might lose his speed once he grows into his body. It'll be interesting to see what happens with him.