Bucs Trade Winds Bucs Trade Winds Talking Pittsburgh Pirates baseball from the ledge. Articles
Some Interesting Non-Tendered Links
2007-12-13 05:51:00 Dallas McPherson - was non tendered by the Angels. He is coming off back surgery, but the Pirates should jump all over this before anyone else does. Even coming off injury, he is a gamble worth taking. Emil Brown - remember him? Well the Royals have decided to non-tender him. Brown led the Royals in RBI's 3 straight years, the only player other than Carlos Beltran to do that. Neal, look away. Emil was Tike Redman before Tike was Tike. Huh? He is only 32, and played on the "Freak Show" Pirates for 66 games. Seems like he should be 50 by now. Mike O'Connor - is coming back from left elbow surgery in November 2006 and was not offered a contract by Washington. He would fit in well with all the other starters in Indy, they can compare battle scars. They would all have so much in common and save the Pirates the trouble of burning his arm out. Nook Logan - no Nookie for you Washingt... More About: Interesting , Links , Some , Eres , Tender
Vizcaino to Pirates or Rockies
2007-12-13 03:28:00 Ken Rosenthal, from foxsports.com, is reporting the Vizcaino sweepstakes is down to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies . Vizcaino (33) was 8-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 77 games for the Yankees last year. UPDATE (12:26 am) The Post-Gazette is reporting the Pirates "narrowly" missed out on Vizcaino. More About: Irate
Chad Durbin
2007-12-13 00:32:00 Remember the rumor about the Pirates trading for Chad Durbin .... The Tigers decided not to offer right-hander Chad Durbin a 2008 contract, making him a free agent Thursday. BTW Take: Expect him to be signed by the Pirates soon.
Notes at the Mothership
2007-12-13 00:29:00 Pirates.com has the latest Notes posted. A basic run down of the article is: All 5 arbitration eligible players will be tendered. The Pirates have made a minor league contract offer to Kuwata. Kuwatamania lives on! Wooooo! The Pirates have been in discussions with Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori, he is only interested if a team will guarantee a MLB contract. Forget about Inge, Huntington wants another year to see what they have in Bautista. Marino Salas, one of the pitchers acquired for Torres, is expected to make the club and fill Torres' spot in the pen. Hope the guy has a rubber arm. The Pirates are "scouring" the free agent wire for right handed bullpen arms, though it is not a pressing need thanks to Salas. Walker ended his Mexican league season early, as previously decided by the Pirates and Walker, batting .268 with 17 RBI. In a quote from the article on Walker getting time to play 3B in Mexico: "Reports were very positive," Huntington said of Walke...
Pirates Outfielder and Pitcher to Padres
2007-12-12 22:12:00 At this point, this is sheer rumor as no official news sources are carrying the details: Word from San Diego is the Padres and Pirates have agreed to a deal that would send a Pirates Pitcher , I am assuming Morris, and an Outfielder to San Diego in a 6 player trade. More info as as it becomes available. UPDATE(5:23 pm): The Post-Gazette is reporting the Pirates and San Diego have not discussed Bay. BTW Take: The Post-Gazette update dispels Bay to San Diego, as mentioned by the San Diego Union Tribune and ESPN, but it does not dispel a different outfielder to San Diego. That narrows the phantom list to Nady, McLouth, Morgan and a slew of Minor League fodder. UPDATE(9:06 pm): Names are starting to fall in place. It looks like Barrett to Pittsburgh with Morris and either Morgan or McLouth to San Diego. There are minor leaguers in the deal and (the most traded player in baseball) PTBNL, likely based on Morris' perf... More About: Irate
The Biggest Pirates Offseason Deal Has Been Finalized
2007-12-12 21:34:00 Yes, you read it here... The Pirates have officially come to terms with Chris Gomez. Jason Bay is still a Pirate. More About: Deal , Offseason , Has Been , Irate
Trade Winds: As the Rumors Flow
2007-12-12 18:44:00 Thanks to Eric for this link: The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting neither Shoppach nor Lee were part of the Bay trade negotiations. Finally: In the Bay negotiations, it's believed Lee and catcher Kelly Shoppach were never involved in the deal. Pirates GM Neal Huntington was more interested in acquiring three to five of the Tribe's top prospects. BTW Take: I like this. Bay is the Pirates centerpiece. To ask for less than top prospects would be foolish. Now the 3-5, depends on the other number. Is that 3-5 top 30 prospects? Asking for 3-5 top 10 prospects would be insane, but would be a starting point I guess. At least I now believe Huntington when he says he wants to build the farm and grow from there, looking at 2008 and beyond. Pat From WYGAVS found this link: The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting a deal with the Pirates and Padres is a possibility. The names mentioned are Morris and Barrett in the initial ... More About: Rumors , Trade , Winds , Flow
Five Players Tendered
2007-12-11 19:27:00 The Pirates are tendering all 5 arbitration eligible players. Bautista is in his first year of eligibility. Sanchez, Nady, LaRoche and Grabow are in their second. BTW Take: No surprise, Huntington would be a fool to let any of them walk. More About: Players , Tender
Validating Inge?
2007-12-11 19:07:00 Pat at WHYGAVS has a post up on Brandon Inge asking if that is the best we can do for a rumor. Charlie from Bucs Dugout has a post up providing numerical proof that Inge would be a good acquisition. The Detroit Free press reports the Tigers and Pirates have been discussing Inge over the last few days. I have a couple posts saying it would be terrible to land Inge and fearing it would happen. Now I will take the time to justify my statements. One thing has been made clear by Inge, he does not want to play catcher again. Sorry Charlie, he won't fill in as an emergency catcher when Doumit gets hurt again. As for his defense, I can't throw numbers around with Charlie, that's his thing and he is very good at it. I can only make my defense of Inge's defense by what I have seen in the last few years he has played with the Tigers. (I have seen quite a few Tigers games, my in-laws are from Detroit) Inge is the type of player ... More About: Dati , Vali
Bucs Intrigued by Inge
2007-12-10 03:04:00 Just what I was fearing... The Detroit Free Press is reporting: The Pittsburgh Pirates are intrigued by Inge but wary of his contract. They shed roughly $6 million from their 2008 payroll by cutting infielder Jose Castillo and trading reliever Salomon Torres this week. DL wanted him. Front office wanted him. Now Huntington wants him? It seems as if someone other than the GM is making the calls on these matters. Let's see. McClatchy is gone... DL is history... Tracy, ditto.... Who is left? Mr. Nutting? For someone who wanted baseball people to run the team, a lot of the same moves are being made. Why else would Castillo not have another chance with new management and manager? Ownership can be the only answer. Maybe DL wasn't the moron we all thought he was, maybe ownership simply used him as a scapegoat for their penny pinching ways?
Sally and Inge
2007-12-09 17:30:00 The Salomon Torres deal looks a little better than it did Friday. Since Sally has decided he may retire, the deal is something we haven't seen in Pittsburgh, in our favor, in a long time. Seriously, when was the last time the Pirates got something for nothing?Please Mr. Huntington, ignore thefact that Inge has requested a trade and Detroit is shopping him. The Pirates are better off with Bautista at third. Inge is one of the most overrated and overpaid players in MLB. Just look the other way, nothing to see here.Leave your opinion in the BTW Forum.Register for the forum here:http://forum.bucstradewinds.net/inde x.cgi?action=register
Something You Might Have Missed
2007-12-08 01:22:00 Former Pittsburgh Pirates firtsbase prospect Chris Shelton was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Texas Rangers for minor league outfielder Freddy Guzman. More About: Some
Pirates Trade Torres
2007-12-07 23:50:00 Today, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded reliever Salomon Torres to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league relievers Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. According to the Post Gazette: Salas, a 26-year-old right-handed reliever, had 17 saves and a 2.77 ERA in 51 appearances last season, split between Class AA Huntsville and Class AAA Nashville. He has 82 saves and a 3.59 career ERA in six minor-league seasons. Roberts, a 23-year-old right-handed reliever, had a 3.44 ERA in 45 appearances last season for Brevard County in high Class A. After being Milwaukee's fifth-round pick in the 2005 draft, he has 12 saves and a 4.07 ERA in 101 appearances, including 19 starts. Salas' Brewerfan.net power ranking history http://www.brewerfan.net/Vie wPower50PlayerTracker.do?playerId=1028 Salas' Rotwire sheet http://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.h tm?id=8908 Salas' Baseball Cube Stats http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/ Marino-Salas.shtml Roberts' Brewerfan.net power ranking ... More About: Trade , Irate
Trade Winds are a blowing, A.K.A Rumor Mill
2007-12-07 20:47:00 Moonlight Bay An interesting rumor has come from Yankee-land. No, not Marte to the Yankees. There are multiple reports the Giants are in discussions, at least inquired about, with the Yankees on the availability of Hideki Matsui. Depending on the source, Noah Lowry is the likely return. I would assume some minor leaguers would be involved as well. Here is one link to the story. Why would this deal interest any black blooded Pirates fan? Well, the Yankees would be in the market for a veteran outfielder, possibly a left fielder. Maybe a Pirates left fielder. This actually has some merit, not just idle speculation. The Indians deny having had resumed talks about acquiring Bay, this would indicate that a second bidder could be on the horizon with the Indians not willing to improve their offer. Someone in pinstripes possibly? With the Yankees being interested in Marte and Grabow, a package could be improved wi... More About: Rumor , Trade , Winds
Nothing but Good News, Rule V
2007-12-07 05:45:00 Well, there is always a bright light to look for. Then the is the proverbial, pray it's not an oncoming train.We, as fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates, must give Huntington some major praise on the Rule V draft. Unlike his predecessor ( yes, Dave, I am speaking of you and the famous Rule V debacle) Mr. Huntington did not lose a player in the MLB portion of the draft. A couple possible reasons:First, the Pirates protected everyone who should have been protected. Two, DL left no one worth protecting.Huntington, and the 30 or so front office monkeys with him, did a fine job in this draft. Let's review:Jose "Can you see" Castillo, adios. In the long run, this is best for everyone involved, particularly the team that picks him up and whips him into shape.Hello to the newest member of the pen, Evan Meek. A nice pickup, but we should have gotten this Leek kid mentioned in the Post Gazette: Meek, 24, is a hard-throwing right-hander -- capable of regularly hitting 95 mph -- who had a 4.3... More About: News , Good News , Good
Sports Minute (Or So)
2007-12-06 21:21:00 The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)Written by Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Elliot Steingart, and Chris StraitNew York Giants leading rusher Derrick Ward is out with a leg injury. Ward's leg is so weak, doctors briefly mistook it for Eli Manning's arm.The Lions' Roy Williams may be out for the season. Detroit will have to replace him with one of their other 742 wide receivers.Ricky Williams' season ended after he tore a chest muscle. Williams will spend the next few weeks trying to convince his doctor it was due to glaucoma.Tom Petty will play at half-time of the Super Bowl, dedicating "Don't Come Around Here No More" to the Miami Dolphins.Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been selected NASCAR's most popular driver by internet users for the fifth straight year. Earnhardt is well liked by both NASCAR fans that own computers.Tony La Russa pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. The Cardinal manager admitted to falling asleep at...
Rule V Prediction
2007-12-06 07:05:00 Here is my lowly guess at who the Pittsburgh Pirates grab with the second pick of the rule V draft:Brian Barton, an outfielder in the Indians system. He is a 5 tool guy, with a few questions attached to his demeanor. The next time you hear "it doesn't take a rocket scientist" to play for the Pirates. Well, this kid had an aerospace engineering major at Miami. He is 25 and had a knee injury in 2006, but is definitely worth a gamble. At his age and his performance level, he may be ready to play in MLB right now. I don't see wasting a bench spot on him him being an issue, he will contribute.Like I said, this is a guess. I have no solid insight, and no idea what the Pirates will do. I just know Huntington said they would make a selection. Oh, did I mention the kid is in the Cleveland system, someone Huntington knows a little about.A link to Barton's stats at The Baseball Cube:http://thebaseballcube.com/players/B /Brian-Barton-3.shtml More About: Rule
Russell to be Manager, Maybe.
2007-11-04 15:00:00 As of late Saturday, contract discussions were still ongoing between John Russell and Pirates management. According to multiple sources, Russell will be named Pirates Manager on Monday November 5th. According to a friendly source, there is a 75% chance the press conference will go off Monday with Russell being named manager. That still leaves us with a 25% chance of hope. BTW Take: I still believe Russell is the wrong choice, even after he is named manager. I had the same belief when Tracy was named. Let's see how reliable my gut will be. More About: Ager
Welcome Back Chuck, and a Manager
2007-11-03 01:24:00 Welcome Back Chuck According to the Tribune, the Pirates have made there decision. Chuck Tanner will be a special assistant to GM Neal Huntington. Welcome back Chuck, it will be good to see you now and again around PNC. Coonelly guarantees he will not be a figurehead, which is good for Chuck, he would hate to be a figurehead. New Manager ? Oh, by the way, the Pirates are expected to announce the new manager Monday. My odds on favorite for the job is Jewett, but would not be surprised by Skinner. Oddly enough, none of the 5 candidates have been told who the selected is. Kinda of an eerie DL feel coming off this one. Sorry Neal, you don't deserve that harsh of a comment just yet. Neal and Bob: How long until we start reading about Neal Huntington and Bob Nutting and someone cracks, "Neal and Bob, because that's what they do."? Poor Kenny. Maybe Macha will be manager in a couple years, or in a couple days? The "NEW" ... More About: Ager
Sports Minute (Or So)
2007-11-01 22:00:00 The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)Written by Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Elliot Steingart, and Chris Strait A Colorado Rockies fan offered 25 years worth of Playboy magazines for two World Series tickets. Two tickets? We find it hard to believe that someone with that many adult magazines actually has someone he can take to the game. The Yankees heard of A-Rod's decision to opt out of his contract when agent Scott Boras sent a text message to Brian Cashman. This means A-Rod will most likely leave the Bronx, and Boras and Cashman are no longer BFF. And in case you didn't think Boras was a big enough jerk already, he signed the text message with a sideways winky face. Retiring Houston Astro Craig Biggio was given the Roberto Clemente Award. Not for his community service, but for ending his career in a tailspin.Pacman Jones is on his way to San Diego, hopefully to make it rain. The Tour de France is expected to have a wh...
Manager Rumors
2007-11-01 06:00:00 Here is a rundown of potential new managers for the Pittsburgh Pirates, with link goodness and my odds for the person to be named Manager : John Farrell - 50% - The hot man on campus, Boston's pitching coach. Torey Lovullo - 40% - Cleveland's Triple A manager. John Russell - 35% - The Phillies' triple-A manager. Joey Cora - 27% - Ozzie's main man in Chicago, could be an interesting fit. Tony Pena - 25% - Don't hold KC against him, upper management quit on him long before he quit the team. Joel Skinner - 20% -Indians 3rd base coach, I just don't see him as a good fit. Jamie Quirk - 15% - Colorado Bench Coach. He has expressed interest, but the Pirates have not to date. Rick Kranitz - 5% - More likely as a pitching coach, but you never know with the Pirates. Dave Jauss - 5% - More likely as a minor-league field coordinator or a special assistant to Huntington. Buck Showalter - 1% - Long shot at best,... More About: Rumors , Ager
Random Madness
2007-10-30 23:05:00 For Buzzman77 Poor Joe I feel bad for Joe Girardi, he is stepping into a bad situation. Girardi is not inheriting Joe Torre's team, he will have a team minus Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens and Andy Petite, those players alone made roughly $108M in 2007. He will still inherit the expectation of winning championships, with half the payroll. Girardi will still be expected to deliver a World Series winning team with a team in flux. Believe it or not, the Yankees payroll will be closer to $100M than the current $200+M. Although they do still have plenty of time inflate that number. Girardi would have been better off taking a job with Pittsburgh, or any other team outside of the Yankees, just to avoid the expectations. At least in Pittsburgh there is no expectation of winning more than 75 games, all ownership wants is cash in the pockets. Poor Dodgers The Dodgers are about to make a huge mistake by potenti... More About: Random , Madness
Adios Mr. Tracy and 3 Others
2007-10-05 20:35:00 Jim Tracy will be officially fired from his position as Pittsburgh Pirates manager at a 3:30 press conference. In addition to Tracy, director of baseball operations Jon Mercurio, director of player development Brian Graham and scouting director Ed Creech were all terminated by Pirates brass. Assistant GM Doug Strange was demoted to special assistant. Discuss this topic in the BTW Forum. To post in the BTW Forum you must be registered. Register here. More About: Adio
New GM Announced
2007-09-21 22:14:00 Neal Huntington has been named as the new GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Discuss this topic in the BTW Forum. To post in the BTW Forum you must be registered. Register here. More About: Anno
New To Name New President Thursday
2007-09-13 01:46:00 The Pittsburgh Pirates are scheduled to announce Frank Coonelly as the new president of baseball operations Thursday . More About: President , Resident
I haven't forgot.
2007-09-10 07:30:00 Due to unfortunate circumstances, i.e. technical difficulties, I haven't been able to post the last few days. I have been busy trying to recover anything from my home server. I have lost a ton of data including at least parts 5-9 of the 2007 and Beyond posts and all the stats I had stored for rainy days. My home server has gone belly up, luckily I have saved most of the photos of my children. That was the only stuff I worried about backing up. More About: Haven
Google Alerts - Pittsburgh Pirates
2007-09-08 09:19:00 Google News Alert for: Pittsburgh Pirates Wilson helps Pirates pound CubsTSN.ca - CanadaPittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Tom Gorzelanny surrendered one run over seven solid innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates pounded the Chicago Cubs, 6-1, ... See all stories on this topic Pirates loss may be Tigers gainDetroit Free Press - United StatesHours before the Tigers began a series that will help determine their 2007 fate, the Pittsburgh Pirates issued a new release that could impact how Detroit's ... See all stories on this topic Bullington's 1st start ends quicklyIndianapolis Star - United States1 overall pick in the amateur draft, Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Bryan Bullington gave up five runs and seven hits in three innings to the host St. ... See all stories on this topic Gorzelanny's solid seven-inning performance carries Pirates past ...The Canadian Press - PITTSBURGHPITTSBURGH (AP) -- Tom Gorzelanny allowed one run over seven effective innings and Jack Wilson homered... More About: Google , Rate
No More DL!
2007-09-07 21:04:00 Dave Littlefield has been released of his duties as General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates as outlined in a letter from Robert Nutting to the Pirates Fans. BTW Take: About time. I still find the "letter to Pirates fans" a little odd. I think Robert Nutting is trying to endear himself to Pirates fans by directly addressing them rather than the standard press release. It is an interesting idea, something he likely learned in Business Management 101. Overall, Nutting is gaining some respect from me. He realizes that a good baseball mind needs to oversee the GM's moves, something McClatchy never realized. With McClatchy not grasping that idea, many moves that should have been vetoed still were made. I still think that is how Morris became a Pirate, no one with an in-depth knowledge of baseball to nix the deal before it was signed. It doesn't matter if I like Morris being a Pirate, which I kind of like, what matters is the Pi...
Some New Stuff
2007-09-07 06:35:00 For those observant enough, the menu bar under the BTW banner has expanded. I added a few additional links that I hope you all enjoy and use. For those new to the site, in my spare time I have fiddled with a few things and created some BTW sister sites that have nothing to do with baseball. Ok, there is some baseball on everything but the BTW Mall, which is a deal site that also has some baseball equipment deals as well as memorabilia links. So there is baseball everywhere. The BTW Store has Pittsburgh Sports items via Amazon, another thing I have played around with. There is a chat, that I may use during games or log into when a big deal comes down or major breaking news. I'll have a link up when I plan on being their live. Everyone can feel free to use the chat room for almost anything. I also did some tweaking to the Forum. Hopefully some of you will leave some messages, I check it daily for anything new...which has yet ... More About: Stuff , Some
Sports Minute (or so)
More articles from this author:2007-09-07 06:00:00 The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)Written by Steve Hofstetter, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Rich Ragains, Elliot Steingart, and Chris StraitWe can't predict the future, but we'd like to wish Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr good luck on the new job he'll probably have soon.NFL coaches Mike Nolan and Jack Del Rio will be outfitted exclusively by suit maker Joseph Abboud this year. Unfortunately for Bill Belichick, Abboud does not create oversized sweatshirts.The son of Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid has been charged with drugs and DUI. Who does this kid think he is, a football player?Speaking of drunk, the Tampa City Council will not allow the Buccaneers to sell hard liquor at Raymond James Stadium. Clearly, the city council has never had to sit through an entire Buccs game.Tough break for the Minnesota Timberwolves. A bum shoulder from a jet skiing accident could cause Mark Madsen to miss three months. Only three months. The Wolves are currently try... More About: Ports 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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