2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

[steelcurtain311]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Did anyone seriously have expectations for him? They picked him because he's from the Pittsburgh area and they knew they could sign him. He was a terrible pick. His bat has been awful in the minors. I don't care if they say his D is good, it can't be THAT much better than Andy LaRoche's. But hey, Andy's been in a bad slump since the second half, so maybe giving him some bench time and switching it up now and then will help him out.

[ChaseB]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Did anyone seriously have expectations for him? They picked him because he's from the Pittsburgh area and they knew they could sign him. He was a terrible pick. His bat has been awful in the minors. I don't care if they say his D is good, it can't be THAT much better than Andy LaRoche's. But hey, Andy's been in a bad slump since the second half, so maybe giving him some bench time and switching it up now and then will help him out.

When he was at catcher, I had expectations for him because his bat played nicely there. When he moved to a corner, that's when his prospect status took a major hit.

[BurghFan]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Well, I think people will generally have some expectations for a #1 pick. Then again, he was a Pirates #1 pick so I guess noone should really be surprised that his hasn't panned out.

[ChaseB]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Well, I think people will generally have some expectations for a #1 pick. Then again, he was a Pirates #1 pick so I guess noone should really be surprised that his hasn't panned out.

He was a standard overdraft, which is what the Pirates enjoyed doing in the past (and in the 1st round this year, though, there was logic behind the Sanchez overdraft at least).

[steelcurtain311]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Well, we are officially the losingest team ever. ESPN says it's probably 20 losing seasons before they turn it around. I think 19, they should start to show improvement next year if everything goes right. I think their rotation can be better next season than it was this season, and it wasn't even that bad this year. Duke/Ohlendorf/Maholm/Morton were all solid, with streaks of bad starts, and I think Morton will only get better. He has very quality stuff. Add Brad Lincoln, and see where some of our prospect pitchers are, and it looks promising. They really need to do something about the bullpen though, truly a terrible, terrible bullpen.

McCutchen is there and already making an impact. Pedro could be up next year. We'll see what Clement can do. I'm wondering what happens to Andy LaRoche, while he had a decent first half, he's really crashed and it's been a disappointing season for him. He's shown no power at all, and isn't even hitting for contact anymore. First base/Third base are both key holes that need filled with quality talent.

[ChaseB]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

I think the bullpen has serious potential next year actually. Hanrahan, Chavez, Meek are three power arms who all throw 95+ and I'm sure one of Hart or Ascanio will not make it as a starter, but both have great stuff for a reliever as well. Capps can't be worse next year, so really they just need to find some left handers. They just need to get rid of the dead weight like Veal, Jackson and Bootcheck and it will be a deeper pen, and thus, better by subtraction.

But yeah, I don't think pitching is this team's issue. They don't have any true ace on the horizon, but I could see 1-5 being consistently solid (the "ace" arms will take time because you need to draft and develop those guys -- can't trade for them with average talent like the Pirates did.) The hitting is where the team could still have issues, though, a Cutch, Tabata, Milledge, Pedro Alvarez (1-4) could be pretty potent in 2 years.

[steelcurtain311]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Yeah, offense is their big issue here. They don't have any real talent at power positions. Andy isn't going to hit 20-30 HR's, and he's playing a power position. Steven Pearce isn't either, at least I don't think he is, and he's at the other power position. Jeff Clement has some promise though, but I don't like the fact that he's a lefty. Say he does become a good power threat, and Pedro comes up, what then? Pedro plays third? So two left handed power bats at the corners? Not the worst thing ever, but Clement kind of trumps what should be Pedro's role at first base, unless they can somehow convert him back to a catcher, which I'm told is doubtful at this point due to his injury problems. I think the outfield will be fine, McCutchen, Milledge, Tabata, Gorkys, sounds nice.

They have to draft an awesome infield prospect, or an awesome pitching prospect next year. Even though I'm terrified of thought of the Pirates drafting a pitcher again, I'll take Neal Huntington's judgment over Dave Littlefield's. But I don't know, while some people claim Alderson/Lincoln don't project into an ace, they've been wrong before. Either way, you got Hart, Asciano, Lincoln, Alderson, Morton, Duke, Maholm, Ohlendorf, all as possible starters next season. That surely isn't bad.

I think Capps has to go as the closer. Put him back into the SU role and see if he can work back to a closer. You have guys who can fill in the role, and possibly even be better than him. Like you said, they have numerous power arms. Although I'm not very high on Meek or Chavez, surely none of the three guys you mentioned could be worse than Capps was this year. Or else god help us all.

[ChaseB]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Yeah, I'm higher on Meek than Chavez if I had to choose, but both have legit power-arm stuff for the bullpen.

I still don't ever like drafting a pitcher in the top 3, but every draft class is different I suppose. It's not even about trusting who is drafting either, it's just a big-time crapshoot.

Regardless, you should get your wish as the early projections are that beyond Harper, Pomeranz (LHP, number 2 potential as of now), (RHP, same type of potential), Christian Colon (great contact rate, good glove, pretty much a lock to be league average or better -- doesn't have raw "tools" of a lot of top prospects though) -- are some of the top prospects for 2010. Josh Osich is converting from a bullpen role to a starter, and I think the consensus is he has the best pure stuff in college (left hander with a fastball that gets up to 96, hard curve, good changeup) but it's a wait and see with him until he sinks or swims as a starter this year.

Those are just a couple of the big-time college players as well, still don't know much about the high schoolers -- outside of Jameson Taillon (he's already a monster at 6'7 220, gets his fastball up to 96 and has a nasty curve. Obviously will need to find a third pitch at some point like most other high school guys).

Personally, I like Bryce Brentz as of now, who is a big-time OF prospect (like the Pirates need another OFer I guess, but still).

[BurghFan]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Apparently it's gotten so bad that the coaches don't even want to stay. Well, at least 1 bright spot for the Pirates after their 17th straight losing season. Andrew McCutchen won the Baseball American ROTY.

McCutchen is Baseball America's ROY

Publication recognizes Pirates outfielder's stellar debut

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com

10/26/09 3:16 PM ET

A dynamic first season in the big leagues has earned Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen Baseball America's 2009 Major League Rookie of the Year Award.

The award was announced on Monday, and McCutchen is currently featured on the cover of the publication's most recent issue.

After debuting for Pittsburgh on June 4, the day after the trade of established center fielder Nate McLouth, McCutchen batted .286 with 26 doubles, nine triples, 12 home runs, 54 RBIs, 22 stolen bases and a .364 on-base percentage in 108 games.

The 23-year-old McCutchen's 47 extra-base hits led NL rookies, and he ranked second among NL rookies in multihit games (36), runs, walks and total bases (204). He was third in RBI, third in stolen bases, third in slugging percentage (.471), third in doubles, fifth in batting and fourth in on-base percentage.

Pittsburgh's first-round Draft choice in 2005 (11th overall), McCutchen was the lineup's leadoff hitter in every game he played this season and hit four leadoff homers in the first inning. He was the first Pirates player to achieve that feat since Al Martin hit six leadoff homers in 1999.

Another Pirates player was also honored by Baseball America. Garrett Jones was named to the 2009 All-Rookie team as a first baseman. Jones batted .293 and led all Major League rookies with 21 home runs. He also notched 44 RBIs in his 82 games.

Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
<STYLE type=text/css>#comment_container{clear:both;padding-top:10px;}</STYLE><SCRIPT>bam.comments_init = function() { if (!bam.comments) { var __getScriptSync = function(url){ // local shortcut. avoids setting global props via ajaxSetup $.ajax({type:"GET", async:false, cache:true, url:url, dataType:"script"}); }; __getScriptSync("/shared/scripts/external/json2.min.js"); bam.loadSync("/shared/scripts/bam/bam.comments.js"); bam.comments.init({ domain : "mlb.com", serverUrl : "http://comments.mlb.com/ver1.0/Direct/Jsonp", // /ver1.0/Direct/Process loginUrl : "https://secure.mlb.com/enterworkflow.do?flowId=registration.dynaindex&for wardUrl=", profileUrl : "/mlb/community/profile/index.jsp?ipid=", updateProfileUrl : "https://secure.mlb.com/account/profile.jsp", contentId : "7554522", prefix : "", commentsPerPage : 3, maxCommentPageLinks : 10, commentContainer : "Comments_Table", cacheComments : true, cachedCommentsUrl : "/shared/components/comments/cached_comments.jsp", showCommentCount : false, showPagination : false, errorHandlers : null }); } };$(document).ready(bam.comments_init);</SCRIPT>

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091026&content_id=7554522&vkey=news_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit

[mjb2124]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Pirates trade Jesse Chavez to TB for 2B, Akinori Iwamura.

[Mr. Franchise]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

You guys basically traded Jesse Chavez for Tim Alderson. GG

[steelcurtain311]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Yeah, obviously just picked him up so he can be dealt by the deadline this year. But I like it, smart move. Picked him up quietly in the offseason, but when the trade deadline comes around, he could net something big. And all you gave up was Jesse Chavez. Huntington is starting to really impress me.

[ChaseB]

Re: 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates

Yeah, obviously just picked him up so he can be dealt by the deadline this year. But I like it, smart move. Picked him up quietly in the offseason, but when the trade deadline comes around, he could net something big. And all you gave up was Jesse Chavez. Huntington is starting to really impress me.

I just like it because now there are more options. I mean they needed to get a 2B even if they aren't competing this year because there were zero in-house options (Delwyn Young does not count, he's a butcher in the field). But now you can do a bunch of things with the infield. If they like Aki they can still re-sign him rather than trade him and maybe trade LaRoche if he hits well and they don't think he can handle switching to 2B -- and that's just one example. Obviously trading him at deadline is another.