MVN: Most Valuable Network

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - Draft picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable is a weekly collaboration of Pirates writers from around the internet. Thank you to all of the authors that have contributed to this post. To read more of their work, please click on the link next to each name. If you would like to submit a question to our panel, please e-mail me here. Question: Now that the signing deadline has passed, which Pirates' draft pick are you most excited to see entering the system? Were there any selections that you were disappointed to see go unsigned? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters The excitement of the past few days has almost been too much to handle. When looking back at the flurry of signings that were made this past week, any Pirate fan should be happy with the work of the new management team. I am excited about many of the players that have come into the...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - Why keep watching?

Question: Which storyline interests you the most about the remainder of the season? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters The stories leading up to this point in the season revolved around the new management team, the draft, and the trade deadline. Now that most have passed I think there will be a few stories left to follow throughout the season. One will most definitely be how Steve Pearce adjusts to major league hitting. His development in the final parts of the season will go a long way to seeing what type of major leaguer he can be. Another somewhat related story is whether Andrew McCutchen will make an appearance in Pittsburgh. With the apparent rebuilding going on McCutchen's name will be on the lips of most anyone watching the Bucs. Finally the story that will more than likely dominate this team come the end of the year will be the streak. Everyone...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - Trade deadline

Question #1: Were the Pirates winners or losers at the trade deadline? Why? Michael Jack from Hyzdu Headquarters I have read some of the national media reports about the trade deadline and they have the Pirates as losers. I really think that they came out as winners and not losers. Sure they did not get a real can't miss prospect, but no one was giving up those guys. They tried with the Rays to get that type of player, but they did not budge. But really their bigger problem was just getting guys that can play in the major leagues. You look at the upper levels of the organization, there are very few guys that should ever be in the big leagues. There was no depth whatsoever in this system and these trades gave that to us. The system was so barren that it needed almost anything. Adding all of...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - How soon should we see McCutchen?

Please note that many of these responses were submitted before the trade of Xavier Nady. Question: Should the Pirates bring up Andrew McCutchen as soon as there is an opening for him in the everyday lineup? Or should he remain in Triple-A for further development, regardless of the situation in Pittsburgh? Dave from Bucs Trade Winds The determining factor in whether McCutchen is called up is who gets traded. If Nady is the one to go, I would think Pearce is the logical choice for a call up since he is a right fielder and would take Nady's spot in the batting order. McCutchen will get the call only if Jason Bay is traded, allowing McCutchen to move into the left field slot and bat in the leadoff position. I would see McLouth dropping in the order to fill the 3 spot that would be vacated by Bay. Honestly, I...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - Future of the starting rotation

Question: Long term, what do you expect from the team's main starting pitchers (Duke, Dumatrait, Gorzelanny, Maholm, Snell)? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters When this season first started, I definitely thought that things would go much differently with the starting rotation. Instead the rotation has imploded. Here is what I think may be in store for them. Ian Snell - Easily the biggest disappointment of the staff. Coming over a good year and the new contract it looked like things would be looking up for him. Instead he has regressed this season and I really don't know what he'll do in the future. My best guess is that Ian will never be a true ace, but will probably be our excuse for one. Tom Gorzelanny - Again another disappointment. I really think that he was hurt this year, but never let on to that. So we don't know if it is...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - Should Jack Wilson be traded?

Question: If the Pirates have the opportunity to trade Jack Wilson for a quality prospect or two, should they pull the trigger? Would you be willing to see a repeat of our early season shortstop issues if it meant the team would improve a year or two down the road? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters As bad as the shortstops were early this season and as valulable as Jack Wilson appeared due to it, I would be willing to move him for some prospects. I'd do it with some caution, as I would want to max out his value, due to his value to the Pirates. So it might be hard to find that value, but I would not really consider it if we could not get something that could one day equal his value. At this point the Pirates just need to accumulate as much talent as possible. The entire...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable, 06/24/2008

Question: At what point do you expect the Pirates to field a championship-caliber team? Will the team's top prospects (McCutchen, Walker, Pearce, Alvarez, etc.) be enough to take them to that level? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters This is something that I have pondered at length. I think when looking at the future we may be looking at 2010-2011 until the big league club can be competitive. Will they be a World Series contender by then? I don't think so, but you can never tell. I would think that in 2-3 years we will have brought in Alvarez, McCutchen, and Walker among others to fit in with any holdovers, McLouth and Doumit come to mind, from this current team. By then I would think we would see some competitive baseball being played in Pittsburgh. I think we can all agree that if there is not some upgrade or addition to the...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - 6/17/2008

Question #1: Do you expect Freddy Sanchez to rebound in the second half of the season? Why? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters I really don't know what to think about Freddy Sanchez. I think that his shoulder is still bothering him. So I feel that will hinder any rebound talk for him. I do think he will play slightly better this year, but I don't think we'll see a return to form for Freddy later this season. I would think we should consider it an accomplishment if he ends up hitting .280 at the end of the season. Andy Smith from Bugs and Cranks I don't expect anything more than slight improvement from Freddy Sanchez in the second half, simply because it would be hard for a hitter with his pedigree to be this bad for the course of 162 games. However, I don't think any rebound is going to be...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - Draft Special

Question: Which player would you like to see the Pirates draft with their first pick? Why? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters Ideally it is going to come down to two players, Tim Beckham and Pedro Alvarez. Whether or not we have a chance at Beckham is in the hands of the Rays with their first pick. I would think that if Beckham is off the board, we will take Alvarez. The nightmare option would be if the Rays took Posey and the Pirates had to make a decision between Beckham and Alvarez, but that is another matter. I think with Alvarez we get the best hitter in the draft and the one who can quickly get to the majors. I know the argument for 'fast track' guys makes us cringe thanks to Dave Littlefield, but having Alvarez come on board potentially with McCutchen, Walker, Pearce, and others makes a ton of...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - 5/20/2008

Question #1: Has Xavier Nady turned the corner as a Major League hitter, or is he simply playing above his head right now? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters I think that Nady has turned the corner offensively. I think he is finally living up to the expectations that were made of him when he was drafted out of college. I have always liked him as a player, and I wanted him instead of Bay in the Brian Giles deal. I guess Dave Littlefield always liked him so he got him back in the Oliver Perez deal. I know many thought that he was no more than a bench player, but I thought there was more there than that. So far I think he has proven what he can do when healthy. Perhaps he was always a major league hitter, just injuries always slowed him. Either way I think he is now...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - 5/12/2008

Question #1: Which Pirates will be traded by the end of 2008? What kind of return will the team receive in these deals? Mike from Hyzdu Headquarters I think there is a rather sizable group of players that the team would be open to moving via trade. Among the first to be traded would be Damaso Marte. The rest that will likely be moved are Bay, LaRoche, and Grabow. I really think that they may hang on to Nady and instead try to move LaRoche instead. What can we expect to get for this collection of talent? Well a lot of that depends on how we may package these guys together or even when we would trade them. I think that we would be targeting perhaps one player who is a AAA guy, who could step in right away. We would need some more depth to go with the movement...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable 5/6/2008

Here is the second question in this week's roundtable. Keep in mind that many of these responses were submitted several days ago, before Sean Burnett was recalled from Indy. The roundtable will return with fresh content next Monday. Again, please add your two cents in the comments section below. The Pirates' starting rotation easily has the highest ERA in Major League Baseball. Matt Morris was just released, with Phil Dumatrait taking his place. Do you anticipate any other changes to the rotation in the near future? Brian McElhinny from Raise the Jolly Roger! Morris' release gets rid of one glaring hole in the rotation (I think Dumatrait is better than people think) but there are still two major problems. Tom Gorzelanny has got to be a concern, as he piles up walks and loses velocity. Be it an injury or a mechanics change, his outlook is bleak at the moment....

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable - 5/5/2008

The Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable has returned. After nearly a year's hiatus, some of the best Pirate minds are again coming together to discuss the team's most pressing issues. Many thanks to all who contributed, and please take the time to visit each of their sites. I would encourage everyone to join in the comments section below. This is meant to be a forum for discussion and debate, and that includes readers as well as the writers. Disagree with something you read? Make your voice heard. Now, on to today's question. Is Nate McLouth legit or just another one-hit wonder in center field for the Pirates? If he is legit, how does that affect the team's future plans in center with Andrew McCutchen looking impressive in Indianapolis? Brian McElhinny from Raise the Jolly Roger! Clearly, McLouth is not in a position to continue playing at his current pace. However, I do...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable #33

Question #1: Who are the eight best candidates for Pittsburgh's rotation right now? Are you happy with the five guys throwing for the Pirates, or is there room for significant improvement? Is there enough depth that Dave Littlefield could trade pitching to fill other holes? Jim from Sportsocracy: Looking at the state of the Pirates starting staff so far, it's hard to justify that the best five guys are in the rotation right now. Gorzo and Ian Snell have been fine, and even looked good at times. Zach Duke has struggled, but given his level of talent and the prevailing thought that he may be the ace, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Paul Maholm had one great start and has been pretty bad otherwise, and Tony Armas has been awful as most predicted. I don't see any reason not to bring up some combination of...

Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable #32

This is the 32nd edition of Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable, a weekly collaboration of Pirates writers and thinkers from around the Internet. If you’d like to submit a question to our panel, or if you’re interested in learning more about participating, e-mail the moderator here. Question #1: Two months ago, we predicted how the NL Central would finish in 2007. With April nearly in the books, have your opinions changed? Do you think the Bucs can finish in the middle of the pack---or even higher---or are they a fifth or sixth place team? James Pete from Tribe Report: I wasn't here for the first prediction, but looking at this from an outsider's perspective, I would have to say that Pittsburgh is a middle of the pack, .500 team this year. Start with the good. Offensively, you have JBay, and a bunch of questions. I like Duffy, a speed demon who is...