Pirates Keep on Truckin, Pittsburgh Loses a Legend

You know you live in a special city when the loss of a vendor is front page news. But long-time Pirates/Steelers/Penguins vendor Kenny Geidel was no ordinary stadium employee. Anyone who has been to a sporting event in Pittsburgh in the past 30 years knew Kenny. A shrill, throaty "Cotton Candy Heeee!" became as much of a tradition as the national anthem, and at times more melodic. He was the embodiment of our sports teams and our city, approaching his job with a tenacious work ethic and unbreakable spirit.

The grass will still be green and the ice will still be pure, but a small part of the Pittsburgh sports experience is lost forever. We'll miss you, Kenny.



To the business of baseball:

18-18. Basically the exact definition of mediocre. But for Pirate fans, this is as good as we've had it for a while. And here's the kicker: it seems as if we have nowhere to go but up. The Pirates are in every game, and are managing to pull out wins when their young star offensive players are putting up numbers like this:

Andrew McCutchen- .242 BA, 7 HR, 19 RBI
Jose Tabata- .226 BA, 3 HR, 6 RBI
Pedro Alvarez- .202 BA, 1 HR, 7 RBI

If someone would have said to me in March that the Pirates would be at .500 in May with Andrew McCutchen batting under .250, I'd have kicked them in the groin for being so dumb.



Truly, the surprise of the season to this point has been the starting pitching. The Pirates boast four current starters with ERA's in the three's. Consider that in 2010, the Pirates didn't even have one starter (at least 15 games started) below four. Coupling consistent starting pitching with a solid bullpen (currently minus the young set up man, Evan Meek) is going to keep you in games. If the Pirates can keep getting this type of pitching performance and get their young hitters on track, they all of a sudden become a division contender.

Dear Lord, did I just type that? A division contender? The numbers back me up here. In 2010, in the largest division in baseball, there were only two winning teams. 2009 was the same story. The Pirates are currently 9-6 within the division. If they can continue to beat the teams below them (Milwaukee-a HUGE if-, Houston and Chicago), while occasionally stealing a series with St. Louis or Cincinnati, then it's not a preposterous thought.

A guy can dream, right?

Pittsburgh Pirates Annual Fire Sale This Weekend!

In honor of the 18th annual Pittsburgh Pirates fire sale (or as some call it, the MLB trade deadline), I've decided to take a closer look at who may soon be former Pirates...



Starting Pitchers:

Paul Maholm: Paul’s making $5 million this year, which equates to nearly 1/6th of the Pirates entire payroll. Given the Pirates past nature of contract dumping, Maholm will be high on the list. It’s unfortunate. He’s a bit of a fan favorite, and at least offers some kind of stabilizing force in the rotation. Dodgers have shown interest, and other teams will likely follow suit before Saturday’s deadline. I’d expect him to be gone shortly.

Zach Duke: Haven’t heard about anyone knocking down the door to make a deal for Duke. No doubt that Duke hasn’t turned out quite like the organization had hoped.

Ross Ohlendorf: Too much raw talent. He’ll stay.

Jeff Karstens: Inconsistent, yet still serviceable. Just the type of pitcher the Pirates love. He’ll be here.



Bullpen:

One of the few bright spots for the Buccos, the bullpen has been sensational at times…which means it should be ripe for the picking for big-money organizations.

Evan Meek: The star of the bullpen. Meek has developed into an excellent reliever, and I would have to believe the Pirates would someday give him the opportunity to start. How that will play out? Who knows. But rest assured, the Pirates asking price on Evan Meek will be scoffed at by his potential suitors, which is fine by me. Meek stays a Bucco, no doubt.

Octavio Dotel: With the exception of some early season struggles, Dotel has been a solid closer for the Pirates (on the rare occasions they’ve had save opportunities). Dotel is actively being shopped, and remains the most likely Pirates reliever to end up on another team by next week. Dotel is making $3.5 million. He’s in his mid-thirties, so he doesn’t truly fit into the Pirates future anyhow.

D.J. Carrasco: The second most likely pitcher to be sent packing. Carrasco, who has been a steady cog in the ‘pen since coming to Pittsburgh, is considered one of the better options in a relatively weak reliever market.

Joel Hanrahan: They better not. That’s all I’m going to say.

Javier Lopez: Pretty valuable guy. Could go either way, but I think he’ll stick around.



Position Players:

Ryan Doumit: Probably the most intriguing of the trade possibilities. I don’t think many Pirate fans want to see Doumit gone (myself included), but given the fact that he’s very injury prone, and is due a sizable raise – by Pirates standards - in 2010. Offensively minded catchers are a rare breed, and Doumit is one of them, which makes him look awfully interesting to contending teams looking for a power bat behind the plate. He won’t dazzle you with his defense, but he’s serviceable. I would think some team may make an offer for Doumit that the Pirates can’t refuse

Garrett Jones: Nope, he’s cheap and the asking price is too high for other teams. Jones won’t be jumping ship.

Neil Walker: Fat chance.

Andy LaRoche: Damnit. I don’t want to see LaRoche go. At all. I don’t think the Pirates want to either, he’s an excellent locker room guy, and great insurance if Pedro Alvarez decides to go into Derek Bell mode for some reason. Please stay, Andy.

Andrew McCutchen: If the Pirates were to trade McCutchen, an angry mob would storm across the street from Finnegan’s Wake and Mullen’s to burn PNC Park to the ground. They would then Google Map the homes of Frank Coonelly, Neal Huntingdon and Bob Nutting, and through tear-soaked eyes and wretched beer breath, would proceed to throw Molotov Cocktails through the windows, killing all inside.

Delwyn Young: When was the last time we had a bench player who was this valuable? He continues to wear the black and gold.

Bobby Crosby: We pay him over a million and he sucks, why keep him? He stays.

Ronny Cedeno: We just don’t have anyone else, he’ll stick around.

Lastings Milledge: Oh, Lastings. Why can’t you quite live up to that potential? Sometimes you look like Willie Mays, sometimes you look like Chad Hermansen. Just pick one and play like them. Stop toying with my emotions.

Pedro Alvarez: See Andrew McCutchen.

Ryan Church: Who cares?

Jose Tabata: Unless his estranged wife kidnaps him too, he remains in Pittsburgh.


If the Pirates trade Andrew McCutchen, you know where to find me this weekend.

The Pirates Have Been Plundered

Even the Pittsburgh Pirate himself is pained by watching the games.

At some point, you have to feel bad for Pirates players. The recent eight game losing streak certainly hasn’t been for lack of trying on their part. It is merely a reflection of ownership’s unwillingness to spend the money it would take to make this team competitive on a yearly basis. Three years ago, when previous owner Kevin McClatchy left Pittsburgh, there was a sense that the new ownership may break the spell and begin to take the team in a different direction.

But in the words of the great author George Orwell, “This new version is the past, and no different past can ever have existed.”

New ownership, same tactics. You can tell how bad things are when you start to feel bad for players who are drafted by the Pirates (sorry, Jameson Taillon). It’s simply unfair. It’s unfair to the fans, those who knew better days for the Pirates, and those who didn’t. It’s unfair to the players, many of whom work extremely hard on the field and do many great things in the community. It’s not fair to the city of Pittsburgh, which deserves a baseball team worthy of the beautiful complex the city provided.

If you are fan enough to watch Bucco games with any consistency, I’m sure you feel the same. It’s one of those rare instances when players can’t truly be blamed for the team’s performance. They have been handcuffed and blindfolded by those above them. There are some good major league players on the Pirates, one of whom is a budding superstar. But the vast majority of the Pirates are players with more heart than talent. Having heart is valuable, I don’t want to take that away. But you don’t win baseball games without talent, and if you watch a Pirates win, you get the sense that it wasn’t because they were better than the opposition, it was because they just wanted it more.



It is to that point that leads us to wonder, where is Pedro Alvarez? I know that there are no quick fixes for this team; no saviors. But why bring up Lincoln and Tabata without Alvarez? It certainly wasn’t for lack of production, as Alvarez leads the Indianapolis Indians in home runs and RBI’s by far. At this point, every day that Alvarez spends in AAA ball hurts the Pirates. Alvarez is not a raw 19 or 20 year old (Note: Tabata, who is with the big squad, is merely 21), he’s a 23 year old who has spent significant time in both college ball and the minor leagues. Alvarez needs to be up sooner rather than later.

I’m not entirely pessimistic about the future of the Pirates. They have young talent with McCutchen, Brad Lincoln, Tabata and Alvarez. But until management ponies up the money to spend on these players, they will face the same fate as players such as Nate McLouth and Jason Bay, gone before their time.

The cards have been dealt. Will management ante up? Or will they fold once again?

A quick note to Pirates players:



Additional note: My good friend Pat has started a blog. He is an exemplary writer and human, and you would be doing your brain a disservice by not reading.

McCutchen is More Than we Bargained For

Given the promises of Chad Hermansen, Kris Benson, and countless other Pittsburgh Pirates draft picks, fans have become hesitant on these “can’t-miss prospects”. For the past several years, while in the minors, Pirates fans have wondered, “Really, how good is Andrew McCutchen?” Since his call up last year, Pirates fans are now wondering, “How long can we keep him around?”

The answer to that one is, as long as Bob Nutting wants people to come to Pirate games.

Not since the early 90’s have Pirate fans fallen so head over heels for a player. Truthfully, we haven’t had anyone good enough to make us feel that way. When you go to Pirate games in 2010, there is a far different energy to them. Many people go to games simply for something to do, but people are starting to attend just to see Andrew McCutchen. His style of play, pure ability and work ethic are something Pittsburgh fans are used to seeing on the other two Pittsburgh teams. He’s the leader this club has needed for nearly 20 years.

His contributions aren’t limited to the field. McCutchen is very active in the community, and anytime you go to a Pirate game, rest assured that Andrew McCutchen will be the last guy in the dugout, as he’s usually signing autographs for as long as he can. He’s not a Derek Bell or a Raul Mondesi, the type of player who never wanted anything to do with Pittsburgh. He’s a Sidney Crosby, someone who understood the team situation that he was drafted into, and has a genuine desire to build it into a champion.

The Pirates have been a joke in Pittsburgh for far too long. If the current ownership lets Andrew McCutchen go, the Pirates will be far worse than a punchline.

They’ll be history.