OffSeason Moves

[thedddd]

Nick Evans signed with the Dodgers...Totally forgot he was on the AAA roster.

Signed Felix Pie with a ST invite.

 

[magnumo]

The roster moves (prep for the rule 5 draft) and the minor league signings appear to include nothing too notewothy. But that's what I've come to expect from this front office.

Pie is the only one of the minor league signings whom I've even heard of..... but he's failed to have an impact in several organizations since losing his status as a highly-touted prospect. On the other hand, there's always some hope, I guess; I just don't see much in this group. The other five seem to be much longer shots than Pie..... but admittedly, their quality (or lack thereof) probably is pretty typical of such players being signed to minor league contracts by other teams at this stage of the off-season.

I expected them to protect Sanchez, Cabrera, Black, and Irwin. Strickland is a minor surprise but I won't argue with it. I WILL note that the much-discussed increase in strength of the Pirates' minor league system (now 5 full years into the Huntington administration) hasn't seemed to cause much of a problem yet, regarding management of the 40-man roster.

So..... NH has left a 40-man opening, presumably to allow the Pirates to pick a player in the rule 5 draft. Hopefully, that pick will be more productive than Gustavo Nunez was in 2012. From my perspective, the draft of Nunez was just another bad move by Huntington. Nunez had a significant ankle problem BEFORE last year's rule 5 draft, spent the entire year on the 60-day DL..... and then was waived by NH and claimed by Arizona. Doesn't sound like a guy who had much of a chance to stay on the 25-man roster and contribute.

I apologize for my pessimism..... but I see little hope for this franchise under the current FO.

Note: When I have logged in to this board over the past couple of weeks, I have been greeted with the following message: "Hello magnumo. It appears that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks. Is your team really that bad? Throw your two-cents in the discussion." (Bold added by me.) Too bad that there was no way for me to answer that bolded question with a resounding "YES!"

 

[sychmd]

i have missed your humor, magnumo.
yes, our team is bad, but not that bad. the unfortunate part is the front office, scouts, and especially the player development team are really terrible.
instead of the support system putting the best possible 25 on the field and maximizing players capabilities, ours is 180 degrees from that objective.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and we are all very blessed in this country thanks to God and our military. May you all have a great HOLYday season filled with peace and grace.

 

[stillmatic32]

Felix Pie. I used to play baseball simulation leagues and he was always a hot prospect and a must acquire for me. Ironically so was Jeff Clement.

 

[thedddd]

Stillmatic that is funny but he was that guy...too bad he has as much value as Clement today.

Mags thanks for the humor and what you state is so true I am not looking forward to 2013. Nothing is looking good for them at the moment.

 

[Darkstone42]

The roster moves (prep for the rule 5 draft) and the minor league signings appear to include nothing too notewothy. But that's what I've come to expect from this front office.

Pie is the only one of the minor league signings whom I've even heard of..... but he's failed to have an impact in several organizations since losing his status as a highly-touted prospect. On the other hand, there's always some hope, I guess; I just don't see much in this group. The other five seem to be much longer shots than Pie..... but admittedly, their quality (or lack thereof) probably is pretty typical of such players being signed to minor league contracts by other teams at this stage of the off-season.

I expected them to protect Sanchez, Cabrera, Black, and Irwin. Strickland is a minor surprise but I won't argue with it. I WILL note that the much-discussed increase in strength of the Pirates' minor league system (now 5 full years into the Huntington administration) hasn't seemed to cause much of a problem yet, regarding management of the 40-man roster.

So..... NH has left a 40-man opening, presumably to allow the Pirates to pick a player in the rule 5 draft. Hopefully, that pick will be more productive than Gustavo Nunez was in 2012. From my perspective, the draft of Nunez was just another bad move by Huntington. Nunez had a significant ankle problem BEFORE last year's rule 5 draft, spent the entire year on the 60-day DL..... and then was waived by NH and claimed by Arizona. Doesn't sound like a guy who had much of a chance to stay on the 25-man roster and contribute.

I apologize for my pessimism..... but I see little hope for this franchise under the current FO.

Note: When I have logged in to this board over the past couple of weeks, I have been greeted with the following message: "Hello magnumo. It appears that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks. Is your team really that bad? Throw your two-cents in the discussion." (Bold added by me.) Too bad that there was no way for me to answer that bolded question with a resounding "YES!"

Hey, look on the bright side, at least the Pirates are run better than the United States government.


...Wait, maybe that's not a good thing, after all...

 

[magnumo]

Hey, look on the bright side, at least the Pirates are run better than the United States government.

...Wait, maybe that's not a good thing, after all...

I agree completely.

But then, ANY business which survives for even a few years MUST be run better than the government. Unlike a business, the government has no competitors and no incentive to satisfy its "customers." Thus, anything the government does is doomed to be inefficient and poorly run.

Is it a good thing to be better run than the government? Probably..... although that's a VERY low hurdle.

 

[thedddd]

Heck Enron was ran better than the Government......


Anyway few more "minor" moves:

Traded for:
Vin Mazzaro - more relief hope it sticks kinda crap
Clint Robinson - designated Matt Hague for him. Basically better bat worse glove than Hague and hits left handed. Minor numbers look great but probably another Jeff Clement.
Lets hope they "find" another like Garrett Jones.
Zack Stewart - once top Blue Jays pitching prospect but that was due to lack of talent at the time. Nothing more than minor league filler.


Anyway enough for the optimism I am not feeling warm and fuzzy with the Pirates yet again.

 

[magnumo]

Heck Enron was ran better than the Government......

Enron had less corruption, too.

I continue to become increasingly disenchanted with MLB..... the inability of the Pirates to compete, the ongoing financial disparity, the new drug problem with artificial testosterone, etc. I keep telling myself that I should purge baseball from my world and stop wasting my time. Unfortunately, I'm probably a baseball addict.

 

[Illinest]

It has become clear to me that i have different expectations of the bucs front office than most of the rest of the regulars here. Let me lay this out for you so that everybody understands why im not mad about signing martin.

I believe that neil needed to do something like the following in order to earn a C grade:
Sign a starting catcher, sign a starting pitcher and retain everybody else. No trading jones or trading hanrahan. No letting mckenry be the starter. This is for a C grade - the bare minimum acceptable.

If neil had spent 8-12 million on a starter and done something like re-sign barajas or some other crap catcher to be the backup for mckenry then i would give him a D grade. If neil signs martin but doesnt sign a starter or else sheds salary by moving jones and/or hanrahan then neil would deserve an F. Some of you talk as if it had to be one or the other. That is ridiculous. Neil needs to run the team as if he's trying to be competitive.

Now neil gets to show us if he's serious about being competitive. If martin turns out to be the only signing or if his arrival comes at the cost of talent at other positions then i will be first in line to shit bricks. In the meantime i'm not going to complain about upgrading a crappy position because i dont buy into the idea that this deal precludes any other.

 

[thecrow124]

What the heck is the vCash thing under our profile pictures?

A C grade is unacceptable for a front office that has said they will build a team to win multiple championships. Neil can not afford to sign marginal talent for top dollar that does't help him achieve his stated goal. You don't win championships with one star and a bunch of mediocre baseball players. Pierzenski will probably get 4 and 50 and I would much rather have him at that than Martin for free.

 

[thecrow124]

So we sign a net zero player for $17 million and we DFA a player that is actually good enough to help our team. I have had enough of NH. Time for a change, I have supported him up to this point , but no more.

 

[Burgh Sports Rule]

Does anyone else find this move surprising? We had heard earlier in the day, that the Pirates would non tender Karstens. I did not like that, but who knows?

This next move to me, is the surprising one. All other arbitration eligable Pirates players were tendered offers... except one?

The Pirates tonight, avoided arbitration with SP Charlie Morton signing him to a 1yr 2M deal.

Does anyone else find this move surprising? Morton coming back from Tommy John surgery & all.

Do you like or dislike this move by the Bucs?

Morton made 2.445M last yr. So, the re signing of Morton comes at a 445k cut in pay for him & savings for the Pirates. ( Per The Trib )

Thoughts...

Burgh

 

[magnumo]

I'm surprised that they signed Morton..... but at $2 mill, I can't argue with the move.

I think NON-tendering Karstens is a very bad move.

 

[Illinest]

I would've been surprised by the Morton signing a few weeks ago but I believe it was the Post Gazette that ran an article about him earlier this week and you've got to think that the team would've nixed that if they were just about to let him go.

I half suspect that Morton is a part of Neil's master plan and I'm not particularly happy about that. Not that I hate Morton or think he's sure to fail or anything - he pitched pretty well for us for a while - but Morton should be the sixth guy in the plan. Maybe. Maybe seventh or eighth. A great low-cost risk to give him another shot but not an answer for the hole created by Karsten's departure.

 

[sychmd]

i like karstens. he seems to have been our most consistent guy for the last couple years when he is on the mound. he also is relatively younger. with many question marks this year and especially next year, why release him.

we need cole and taillon and some other AAA guys to really help on the mound this year.

martin, if we have extra money, 8.5 /yr is ok, but not sure we can afford that with our other needs. if it is a high probability of 275/350/800 and 21 HR, 85RBI and above ave defense, then it is a good deal. i would much rather make some trades and bring in a AAA phenom that is cheap and ready to bust out. unfortunately that means player evaluation talent to know who to get, and who to give up. we are terrible at that process.

 

[Illinest]

i like karstens. he seems to have been our most consistent guy for the last couple years when he is on the mound. he also is relatively younger. with many question marks this year and especially next year, why release him.

we need cole and taillon and some other AAA guys to really help on the mound this year.

martin, if we have extra money, 8.5 /yr is ok, but not sure we can afford that with our other needs. if it is a high probability of 275/350/800 and 21 HR, 85RBI and above ave defense, then it is a good deal. i would much rather make some trades and bring in a AAA phenom that is cheap and ready to bust out. unfortunately that means player evaluation talent to know who to get, and who to give up. we are terrible at that process.

That hypothetical catcher that you suggested would be worth a hell of a lot more than what Martin got.
Martin is probably a 5-6 million player whom we had to overpay to get.
Whose fault is it that we overpaid? That we had to overpay? Bonifay, Littlefield and Huntington.

We can pay market price when we're not a joke anymore.

 

[thedddd]

What the heck is the vCash thing under our profile pictures?
A C grade is unacceptable for a front office that has said they will build a team to win multiple championships. Neil can not afford to sign marginal talent for top dollar that does't help him achieve his stated goal. You don't win championships with one star and a bunch of mediocre baseball players. Pierzenski will probably get 4 and 50 and I would much rather have him at that than Martin for free.

Just figured it out. It is for the vbookie (Sports Forums, Sports Message Boards, Football Forums, College Football Forums, Sports SportsHoopla - vBookie) where you can bet on games using that vcash.

 

[magnumo]

Pirates trade switch-hitting catcher Ramon Cabrera to Detroit for LH starter Andrew Oliver. I've long been intrigued by Cabrera's bat. Oliver doesn't look like much of a prospect, based on his performance record to date.

This is a small-time deal, but looks like another that the Pirates would have been better off not to make.

 

[TheBurgh88]

Hoping the Pirates resign Grilli and I think Lannan would be a great pickup if it's less than $4 million per.