MVN: Most Valuable Network

Of players and stats

I have a confession to make. I am not a stat head. I am not one of these baseball fans that consider Bill James a baseball god, nor an I one of those baseball fans that carry their laptops with SPSS ready to create stats from last year's raw data. However, this little note in this morning's Post-Gazette really makes me think that there may be something to this whole stat phenomenon. Consider the always famous Player X: • Took 61.6 percent of the pitches he saw, eighth-highest in the league. Barry Bonds' 67.2 was tops. • Had the league's highest success rate in stealing bases, 95.7 percent. He stole 22 of 23, a year after stealing 10 of 11. • Scored 38 percent of the time he reached base, 11th-highest in the league. One reason: He went from first base to third on a single 3 of 7 times....

Update to Bucs Blogroll

After some procrastination, I have organized and made some additions to the Pirates blogroll. You can access the blogroll by clicking the "Links" tag next to my head or by clicking here. The changes are self-explanatory. I made new categories based on whether the sites are specific to the Pirates or about Pittsburgh sports in general. If I am missing a site that should be there, please feel free to let me know. If you are starting a new blog and want to be included, by all means let me know and I'll be happy to add it. I'm obviously missing some of the common baseball sites - Baseball Think Factory, The Hardball Times, etc. I will add those as time permits....

The World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates by Dick Groat and Bill Surface

I picked up this book on ebay a couple of months ago for a pretty good price. The book dates back to 1961 and was published in the aftermath of the Pirates beating the Yanks in the series. It was the only book written about the 1960 Pirates (that I'm aware of) until longtime Pittsburgh sportswriter Jim O'Brien began his "Pittsburgh Proud" series and penned one called Maz and the '60 Bucs back in the mid-1990s. Can you imagine if there had only been one book published about the 2004 Red Sox? I specifically wanted to read this before tackling the much more recent The Best Game Ever by Jim Reisler, which I just got for Christmas. At any rate, Surface was apparently a sports writer of the time, though I'm not familiar with him and the book doesn't have an "about the author" section. So, I might be mistaken...

More on the 1994 Draft: The All-Star Team

Same deal as the previous post, but looking at the 1994 draft. In this case, I'm excluding any first round picks even though the Pirates picked Mark Farris before Nomar Garciaparra, Paul Konerko, Jason Varitek, Terrence Long and Jay Payton were selected. Catcher - A.J. Pierzynski First base - Wes Helms Second base - Placido Polanco Shortstop - Julio Lugo Third base - Aaron Boone/Russell Branyan/Corey Koskie Outfield - Dave Roberts Outfield - Scott Podsednik Outfield - Daryle Ward Starting pitcher - Javier Vazquez Starting pitcher - Brian Meadows Starting pitcher - Carl Pavano Starting pitcher - John Halama Starting pitcher - Jose Rosado Relief pitcher - Bobby Howry Relief pitcher - Keith Foulke Relief pitcher - Danny Graves Relief pitcher - Kyle Farnsworth Relief pitcher - Jim Brower Bench Ronnie Belliard Geoff Blum Bubba Trammell Matt Treanor And there are two former first rounds picks from this draft (in...

More on the 1993 Draft: The All-Star Team

Thanks everyone for your comments on th post about the 1993 and 1994 Drafts. RollingWave had the salient point that there wasn't much talent available in that draft for the Pirates to have selected. He was right. The following is an All-Star team of guys the Pirates could've taken. So, no players that were selected before the Pirates first pick (A-Rod) and no players that were drafted but didn't sign (Jacque Jones). Catcher - Paul Lo Duca First Base - Richie Sexson Second Base - Scott Spiezio Shortstop - Mark Loretta Third Base - Scott Rolen Outfield - Jermaine Dye Outfield - Gary Mathews Outfield - Chris Singleton Starting Pitcher - Jeff Suppan Starting Pitcher - Matt Clement Starting Pitcher - Kevin Millwood Starting Pitcher - John Thomson Starting Pitcher - Brian Moehler Starting Pitcher - Glendon Rusch Relief Pitcher - John Rocker Relief Pitcher - Scott Sullivan Relief Pitcher...

The Drafts That Doomed the Bucs: 1993 and 1994

After the collapse in the 7th game of the 1992 NLCS, the Pirates lost two marquee free agents in Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek. As a result of the free agent losses, the Pirates received two sandwich picks in the first round of the 1993 draft, a measure designed to help teams recover from the loss of top shelf talent. What happened was nothing short of a disaster. The 1993 draft took place on June 3. Of the 56 players the Pirates chose, just four made it to the majors and only two had any sort of impact on the club. Five days after the draft, GM Ted Simmons suffered a heart attack. He resigned a few days later and was replaced by Cam Bonifay, who had been assistant GM. Bonifay was the architect of the 1994 draft which has to be among the worst in the history of the...

Hamilton Shipped from Reds to Rangers; Count Me Disappointed

The Reds and Rangers pulled off a trade: Josh Hamilton is headed to the Lone Star State. The Rangers are sending top pitching prospect Edinson Volquez and minor league hurler Danny Herrera to the Queen City. Charlie has some comments detail on the pitchers in the deal. Baseball America has even more. Rather than look at this from the perspective of the Reds and the Rangers, how about a look from the perspective of a Pirates fan on what this says about the Black and Gold. In early December when I read that Hamilton was on the block, I suggested the Buccos go after him. Not that I expect MOTO Huntington and Co. to look to me for advice, but shouldn't they realize that center field has been something of a black hole since a certain Andy Van Slyke patrolled there over 10 years ago? Other than Matt Lawton's half...

Hooray!

We didn't sign Chad Durbin, but came in second! This is great news since we really don't need to sign these kind of players. We need to throw the kids out there and let them play and see what they have. In short, we need to rebuild. I think that the new management knows this and is doing what it can to accomplish this goal but trying to sell high at the same time. It's a risky strategy but it's about time we had any strategy at all....

Pirates News and Notes: Search for bullpen help continues

The Pirates are continuing their quest for a right-handed reliever. Two names mentioned in today’s Post-Gazette are Shawn Chacon and Octavio Dotel. Chacon, who turns 30 on Sunday, was effective for the Pirates last season in a long relief role. He also started four games and saved another. Overall, he posted an ERA of 3.94, but his walk totals continued to be a concern. Chacon walked 4.5 batters per nine innings in 2007, which was only slightly better than his career mark of 4.67. That lack of control likely will always be an issue. Dotel, 34, was a dominant reliever with Houston early in this decade, posting ERA’s of 2.66, 1.85 and 2.48 in 2001-2003. He has battled injuries the past few seasons, and has struggled with control problems over that period. However, his strikeout numbers have remained high. Last season, he struck out 41 and walked 12 in...

Should the Pirates trade Freddy Sanchez?

The Pirates have a barren minor league system, mostly devoid of impact talent. The Major League team has won less than 70 games in three consecutive seasons. The majority of the team’s offense is made up of average players in their prime who will be eligible for free agency in two or three years. General Manager Neal Huntington is new to the organization, with fresh plans to rebuild the farm system. It is obvious that several starters could be on their way out in the next year or so. I would like to examine the pros and cons of dealing each of these players. Here are my thoughts on trading Xavier Nady, Jason Bay and Jack Wilson. Today we will look at Freddy Sanchez. This post will be much briefer than the others in this series. Freddy Sanchez is definitely a player that the Pirates should consider as potential trade...

Gene Clines: One of the 9, Two Times Over

Not sure why exactly, but I've been thinking about Gene Clines recently. So, to continue with a somewhat random (both in time and in quality of play) string of posts on ex-Pirates from back in the day, let's talk Gene Clines. Notables How acquired: Buccos pick in the 6th round of the 1966 draft Switcheroo: He was originally chosen as a pitcher but switched to OF because he could rake. He led the Salem (rookie) loop in hitting in 1966. The jump: After spending parts of three seasons at AA, Clines made the jump to the Show in 1970. First ML game: June 28, 1970. He appeared as a pinch runner in the 7th inning against the Padres replacing Jose Pagan who had doubled home what would be the winning run. First ML hit: 7th inning pinch hit single (batting for Orlando Pena) off Jerry Koosman of the Mets in...

Thoughts on Mitchell and the History of Drugs in Baseball

Not a fan of the report at all. It smacks of a overblown, long winded witch hunt. Baseball owners are just as guilty as the players are when it comes to the proliferation of the use of steroids in baseball. Both parties benefited. Neither party was interested in preventing it until there was some outrage about the historical values being toppled the way a toddler pushes over a tower of blocks. There aren't really any former Buccos of consequence on the list. For the record, they are: Jason Christiansen, Jose Guillen, Tim Laker, Josias Manzanillo, Gary Matthews, Jr., Denny Neagle, Armando Rios, Benito Santiago, Ron Villone and Kevin Young. Plus Barry Bonds. Not that all of those guys were bad. They aren't of consequence because none of them helped the Pirates achieve anything other than mediocrity, except for Bonds, who, by all accounts, was clean of steroid use when he...

Of Mountains and Mole Hills

Last week, there was some hand wringing and teeth gnashing in Bucco Nation over the trade of Salmon Torres to the Brewers for 2 minor league players that are marginal prospects. Matt did some analysis of the trade, which I thought was pretty spot on. But let's take a look at some of these grievances (I guess sine it's festivous season we need the feats of strength next) and try to debunk them: Huntington Sold Low - Personally, I thought that he was selling high at this point in Torres' career. This is a guy who didn't take care of himself last off season and failed in the closer's role. He's talked about retirement last year and has already threatened to retire post trade to Milwaukee. Given this set of circumstances, I'm surprised that we got what we did for him. We should have gotten PlayerX for him - This...

Should the Pirates trade Jack Wilson?

The Pirates have a barren minor league system, mostly devoid of impact talent. The Major League team has won less than 70 games in three consecutive seasons. The majority of the team’s offense is made up of average players in their prime who will be eligible for free agency in two or three years. General Manager Neal Huntington is new to the organization, with fresh plans to rebuild the farm system. It is obvious that several starters could be on their way out in the next year or so. I would like to examine the pros and cons of dealing each of these players. Here are my thoughts on trading Xavier Nady and Jason Bay. Today we will look at Jack Wilson. It is interesting to examine Pirate fans' perceptions of Jack Wilson. The casual fan looks at Wilson as the face of the franchise, a good ballplayer with a...

Pirates deal Torres for two minor league relievers

The Pirates traded right-handed relief pitcher Salomon Torres to the Milwaukee Brewers today for minor league relievers Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. This ends Torres' six-year tenure with the Bucs. The 35-year-old pitcher resurrected his career with the team in 2002 after spending four years out of baseball. He was the most dependable reliever for the Pirates the past few years, averaging about 85 appearances per season from 2004-2006. However, he struggled through injuries in 2007. He pitched in only 56 games, posting an ERA of 5.47 and a WHIP of 1.41. Salas, 26, split 55 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in 2007. The right-hander had an ERA of 2.77 and a WHIP of 1.20, with 54 strikeouts and 22 walks in 61.2 innings. He saved 17 games. Roberts, 23, made 45 appearances for the Brewers' High-A team last season. Also right-handed, he stuck out 74 and walked 37 in...

Bucs Should Have Interest in Josh Hamilton

According to this morning's USA Today, the Cincinnati Reds are shopping Josh Hamilton. Everybody knows his story. So, I won't bother with the details. What is important is that he is young (27 in May), cheap, plays centerfield, has power and gets on base (131 OPS+ last year). I say go after him and he holds down centerfield until Andrew McCutchen is ready. Then determine which one of the two is better at CF with the other manning LF (or RF if Jason Bay is still with the club at that time). Some downsides: 1. Injury history - Hamilton spent a chunk of last year on the DL (just 26 games after the break) 2. Lack of playing time - until last Spring, he'd hardly swung a bat in the previous couple of years. Can he really be that good? Or will pitcher's adjust to him? In limited time, he...

Pirates release Castillo, select Meek in Rule 5 draft

As expected, the Pirates released Jose Castillo today. Castillo, who as little as two years ago was considered the second baseman of the future, spent most of 2007 riding the bench. He was unhappy in that role, and voiced his displeasure several times. In four seasons with the Pirates, Castillo hit .256/.297/.380 with 33 home runs in 1,492 at-bats. Castillo's release made room for Evan Meek on the Pirates' 40-man roster. The team selected the right-handed reliever from Tampa Bay with the second pick in the Rule 5 draft. Meek, 24, had a 4.30 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP in 44 appearances with Double-A Montgomery in 2007. He struck out 69 and walked 34 in 67 innings....

Should the Pirates trade Jason Bay?

The Pirates have a barren minor league system, mostly devoid of impact talent. The Major League team has won less than 70 games in three consecutive seasons. The majority of the team’s offense is made up of average players in their prime who will be eligible for free agency in two or three years. General Manager Neal Huntington is new to the organization, with fresh plans to rebuild the farm system. It is obvious that several starters could be on their way out in the next year or so. I would like to examine the pros and cons of dealing each of these players. Check here for my thoughts on trading Xavier Nady. Today we will look at Jason Bay. Jason Bay trade rumors have been flying all over the place since the beginning of the Winter Meetings on Monday. Whether there is any substance to these reports is anyone’s...

McLouth not on the block

There were lots of rumors yesterday that Nate McLouth was was the block to be traded and this caused great consternation to some members of Pirate Nation, especially some on the Pirates mailing list (for the young kids reading, mailing lists were before blogs and web based forums way back in the paleo days of the 1990's). Anyway, our GM laid those rumors to rest: "We are not actively looking to trade Nate McLouth," Huntington said. and "Nate is a guy we like a lot," he continued. "He is a great fit. We feel like there are a lot [of people] in the [Pirates front office] that wish we could get him every day at-bats." If you consider the rumor that I just posted, this looks to be quite true....

Bay and Paulino to Cleveland?

Rumors are very ethereal things. They can be true one minute and then the next minute they aren't, so take them with a grain or two of salt. Now that I have gotten the disclaimer out of the way, the Post-Gazette is reporting this morning that the Bucs and the Indians have the framework in place for a trade that will send Bay and Paulino to Cleveland for outfielder Franklin Gutierrez, catcher Kelly Shoppach and either starter Cliff Lee or a minor-league pitching prospect. I don't know enough about those three to know if it's a good trade or not but from the rumblings around the internet, it doesn't sound like it would be a good deal. What would make it a good deal is Matt being correct in his analysis that Bay's bat speed is slowing down....

Tigers Farm System Now Depleted; Jack Wilson Better Not Wind Up There

Hanging out, doing some work and watching my beloved Irish take on K-State. The SportsCenter 30/30 update interrupted the game and reported that the Marlins have sent Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers for six prospects. The report names four of them - Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Mike Rabelo and Eulogio De La Cruz. Can't imagine the Tigers farm system will have anything of value left after the deal. So, if the Bucs wind up shipping Jack Wilson to the Detroit club, it is likely that player received in return would be either a major league spare part or a minor league filler....

Dreyfuss Voted into Hall of Fame

Former Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss was elected to the Hall of Fame. That was probably overdue, as I pointed out back in May when I linked to a post by Joe Posnanski who made a strong case for Dreyfuss to get in. That piece of good news is followed by three pieces of bad news. First, the committee elected five people, insuring a glut of people at the podium next summer in upstate New York. Second, one of those people was Bowie Kuhn. Don't get that at all. Finally, one of the people wasn't Marvin Miller. Really don't get that at all. Which was a more influential figure in baseball in the 1970s? If the players had hired a weakling to run the union or if the owners had somehow managed to convince the players not to unionize, do you think Kuhn would've revolutionized the game the way Miller did...

Neal Huntington: "We need above-average players"

An interview with Pirates’ general manager Neal Huntington was published at Baseball Prospectus on Sunday. It is an interesting read that gives us a bit more insight into the team’s plans, both in the near and distant future. For some analysis, check out any of these posts. However, it was one simple quote at the end of the interview that interested me: I feel we need above-average players across the board, and that’s what we’re working to put together in Pittsburgh. It seems simple, right? If you want to win, acquire players who are superior to other players in the league. However, Dave Littlefield and company never seemed to understand this concept. They appeared determined to find an average player for each position, then sit back and relax. (Or maybe there were other factors involved?) Here is a look at the Pirates’ 2007 stats, compared with the National League’s average...

Downfall of the Fam-A-Lee - Part 17

Like 1982, the Pirates were very much in the race in 1983. The club was tied for first as late as September 17. The Buccos went just 6-8 over the final two weeks of the season while the Phillies caught fire and went 13-2 over the same stretch to win the division by a comfortable six games. The team was dominated by outstanding pitching. The staff was fourth in the league in ERA and second in strikeouts. The offense was average. Jason Thompson slipped from his 1982 marks (and would continue to slip), though his OBS+ was still solid. The team finished third in the league in BA and fourth in OBP, but just seventh in runs scored. So what happened next? Dave Parker left for his hometown as a free agent. The Pirates picked up aging former All-Star Amos Otis as a free agent hoping he'd be a suitable...