The next time I see a professional writer doing “analysis” of the form “Team X could’ve drafted player Y at this position, but instead Y went ten picks later after being passed over by a bunch of other teams that I will ignore,” I will smash his keyboard.
I just happened to be looking this up — guess who had the fifth-highest WAR of any first-rounder in 2000? Sean Burnett, who the Pirates drafted nineteenth. That’s right, fully 90% of the teams missed on their picks in 2000 (counting Rocco Baldelli, though that wasn’t the Rays’ fault). So this “The Pirates could have had Wainwright, Sabathia, and Halladay in their rotation if they had had a time machine” crap is the laziest form of hackery.
Also nice is the claim that Sano, who just tore up rookie ball, could help bring a winning season soon.
Just for fun:
Tampa Bay has done a great job at drafting and building their oganization from within. At the same time…
-In ‘99, they drafted Josh Hamilton #1. It has been well-reported that one of the tiebreakers that went in Hamilton’s favor was his makeup. He was suspended for four years because of crack-cocaine abuse. Tampa never got a ML at bat from Hamilton and they could have drafted Josh Beckett who went #2.
-In ’00, they drafted Rocco Baldelli at #6. Of course, the right answer would have been Chase Utley, a 40-win middle infielder who went at #15.
-In ’01 they took Dewon Brazelton at 3 instead of Mark Teixeira…DUH!
-In ’02 they took BJ Upton who has been a solid player but they obviously should have taken Greinke, Fielder, Hamels or Cain.
-In ’03 they took Delmon Young instead of Nick Markakis.
-2004 saw Jeff Niemann instead of Jared Weaver
-2005 had them drafting Wade Townsend instead of Cutch.
-They got it right in ’06 and ’07…lucky bastards but in 2008 they drafted Tim Beckham instead of Hosmer and Posey.
Clearly, right now the Rays should be the AL frontrunners because they should have Hosmer at 1B, Cutch and Markakis in the OF and a rotation of Price, Weaver, Cain, Hellickson and Matt Moore!
Or how about the Royals and their all time great farm system?
They took Mike Stodolka over Utley in 2000, Colt Griffin over David Wright in ’01, Chris Lubanski over Markakis and Mitch Maier over Adam Jones in ’03, Matt Campbell and JP Howell over Gio Gonzalez and Huston Street in ’04, Alex Gordon over Tulo in ’05, and Luke Hochevar over Evan Longoria in ’06.
It is a stupid point for people to bring up (most of the time) because with the benefit of hindsight it can be said of almost every team and every draft.
same ol'- same ol' article, IMO... typical time machine argument with claims that pirates will get rid of their talent
almost all teams get rid of talent. but for some reason, the pirates get singled out.
the writer is kevin lole, who is the UFC lead writer on yahoo. this shocked me
because i have never seen his work on anything other than MMA fights.
IMO, he basically is rehashing other writer’s work
The odd thing about that article is that it is written as a fan, and yes it did take the relabeling by yahoo as “Plea from a Pirates Fan” for me to go back and verify that Kevin Iole is lumping himself in with the rest of us. I sometimes wonder if being a Pirates fan is kind of like being in a relationship with a drug addict. Way down deep you know that this is an unhealthy relationship, but that isn’t really what matters in the end. When you are in a relationship like that you have two decisions. You can either choose to cut ties because you know that this will never work, or you can stick beside that person (or team) hold them accountable for the mistakes they make, but also be willing to forgive past transgressions in the hope of moving forward.
I don’t know if you can be a Pirtaes fan if you are going to hold the last 20 years over their heads. It will only turn you bitter in the long run. I think it is healthy to question the current leadership in regards to not extending Cutch, we just want them to do what is best for them, but we can’t keep holding Barry Bonds, Derek Bell, and Bryan Bullington over their heads. At some point, if we want this relationship to work out, we just have to move on.
well that did get my hopes up,
seems one of smiziks henchmen hired a ghost writer.
karreemofwheat - February 20, 2012
er did not get my hopes up.
karreemofwheat - February 20, 2012
oh for christ's sake
The next time I see a professional writer doing “analysis” of the form “Team X could’ve drafted player Y at this position, but instead Y went ten picks later after being passed over by a bunch of other teams that I will ignore,” I will smash his keyboard.
I just happened to be looking this up — guess who had the fifth-highest WAR of any first-rounder in 2000? Sean Burnett, who the Pirates drafted nineteenth. That’s right, fully 90% of the teams missed on their picks in 2000 (counting Rocco Baldelli, though that wasn’t the Rays’ fault). So this “The Pirates could have had Wainwright, Sabathia, and Halladay in their rotation if they had had a time machine” crap is the laziest form of hackery.
Also nice is the claim that Sano, who just tore up rookie ball, could help bring a winning season soon.
WHYG Zane Smith - February 20, 2012
I hate the "shoulda drafted this guy" crap
Just for fun:
Tampa Bay has done a great job at drafting and building their oganization from within. At the same time…
-In ‘99, they drafted Josh Hamilton #1. It has been well-reported that one of the tiebreakers that went in Hamilton’s favor was his makeup. He was suspended for four years because of crack-cocaine abuse. Tampa never got a ML at bat from Hamilton and they could have drafted Josh Beckett who went #2.
-In ’00, they drafted Rocco Baldelli at #6. Of course, the right answer would have been Chase Utley, a 40-win middle infielder who went at #15.
-In ’01 they took Dewon Brazelton at 3 instead of Mark Teixeira…DUH!
-In ’02 they took BJ Upton who has been a solid player but they obviously should have taken Greinke, Fielder, Hamels or Cain.
-In ’03 they took Delmon Young instead of Nick Markakis.
-2004 saw Jeff Niemann instead of Jared Weaver
-2005 had them drafting Wade Townsend instead of Cutch.
-They got it right in ’06 and ’07…lucky bastards but in 2008 they drafted Tim Beckham instead of Hosmer and Posey.
Clearly, right now the Rays should be the AL frontrunners because they should have Hosmer at 1B, Cutch and Markakis in the OF and a rotation of Price, Weaver, Cain, Hellickson and Matt Moore!
Or how about the Royals and their all time great farm system?
They took Mike Stodolka over Utley in 2000, Colt Griffin over David Wright in ’01, Chris Lubanski over Markakis and Mitch Maier over Adam Jones in ’03, Matt Campbell and JP Howell over Gio Gonzalez and Huston Street in ’04, Alex Gordon over Tulo in ’05, and Luke Hochevar over Evan Longoria in ’06.
It is a stupid point for people to bring up (most of the time) because with the benefit of hindsight it can be said of almost every team and every draft.
KentuckyPirate - February 20, 2012
nicely done
WHYG Zane Smith - February 20, 2012
same ol'- same ol' article, IMO... typical time machine argument with claims that pirates will get rid of their talent
because i have never seen his work on anything other than MMA fights.
IMO, he basically is rehashing other writer’s work
white angus - February 20, 2012
fine, i have 2 number 1's... mondays...
white angus - February 20, 2012
Cole and Taillon approve of this post!
esp on doubleheader mondays!
BurgherKing - February 20, 2012
from the title i expected a warm and fuzzy glowing review on the off season
then i read it and was like no hope is springing.
karreemofwheat - February 20, 2012
Nothing to see here...
just the usual crap by someone who apparently is either naive or arrogant enough to believe that they themself would’ve made all the right moves.
Kev S - February 21, 2012
Not only was the article anoying
the font they use was bothersome. It seemed like there were random spaces all over.
MDBuc - February 21, 2012
... as a fan.
The odd thing about that article is that it is written as a fan, and yes it did take the relabeling by yahoo as “Plea from a Pirates Fan” for me to go back and verify that Kevin Iole is lumping himself in with the rest of us. I sometimes wonder if being a Pirates fan is kind of like being in a relationship with a drug addict. Way down deep you know that this is an unhealthy relationship, but that isn’t really what matters in the end. When you are in a relationship like that you have two decisions. You can either choose to cut ties because you know that this will never work, or you can stick beside that person (or team) hold them accountable for the mistakes they make, but also be willing to forgive past transgressions in the hope of moving forward.
I don’t know if you can be a Pirtaes fan if you are going to hold the last 20 years over their heads. It will only turn you bitter in the long run. I think it is healthy to question the current leadership in regards to not extending Cutch, we just want them to do what is best for them, but we can’t keep holding Barry Bonds, Derek Bell, and Bryan Bullington over their heads. At some point, if we want this relationship to work out, we just have to move on.
dswoager - February 21, 2012
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