Like many, I inherently don't understand why Casey McGehee is regularly starting ahead of Garrett Jones at first against righties. For all anyone knows that will never happen again, but it's happened several times YTD, ergo this. Here are McGehee's platoon splits:
Before I start, this post isn't some:
"ZOMG guys Youk is soooo dreamy, I'm sure that the Red Sox will give him to us for Gorkys Hernandez and a pick 'n' mix of projectable pitchers named Zach."
I merely wish to discuss the possibility of acquiring Youkilis, whether it would be possible and whether the Pirates should entertain the idea.
To really make sense of how good the farm system is demands comparison. Baseball America does an annual ranking FWIW. It put the Cardinals 10, Pirates 11, and Nationals 12. Here are BA's top 10 prospects for each team:
Cardinals
1. Shelby Miller, RHP Drafted: Brownwood (Texas) HS, 2009 (1st round).
2. Carlos Martinez, RHP Signed:Dominican Republic '10 Signed by: Juan Mercado.
3. Oscar Taveras, OF Signed: Dominican Republic '08. Signed by: Juan Mercdo.
4. Zack Cox, 3B Drafted: Arkansas, 2010 (1st round).
5. Kolten Wong, 2B Drafted: Hawaii, 2011 (1st round).
6. Tyrell Jenkins, RHP Drafted: Henderson (Texas) HS, 2010 (1rst round supplemental).
7. Lance Lynn, RHP Drafted: Mississippi, 2008 (1st round supplemental).
8. Eduardo Sanchez, RHP Signed: Venezuela '05.
9. Matt Adams, 1B Drafted: Slippery Rock (Pa.), 2009 (23rd round).
10. Jordan Swagerty, RHP Drafted: Arizona State, 2010 (2nd round).
Pirates
1. Gerrit Cole, RHP Drafted: UCLA, 2011 (1st round).
2. Jameson Taillon, RHP Drafted: The Woodlands (Texas) HS, 2010 (1st round).
3. Josh Bell, OF Drafted: Dallas Jesuit HS, 2011 (2nd round).
4. Starling Marte, OF Signed: Dominican Republic, '07.
5. Luis Heredia, RHP Signed:Mexico, '10.
6. Kyle McPherson, RHP Drafted: Mobile (Ala.), 2007 (14th round).
7. Tony Sanchez, C Drafted: Boston College, 2009 (1st round).
8. Robbie Grossman, OF Drafted: HS, Cypress, Texas, 2008 (6th round).
9. Stetson Allie, RHP Drafted: HS, Lakewood, Ohio, 2010 (2nd round).
10. Jeff Locke, LHP Drafted: HS Conway, N.H., 2006 (2nd round).
Washington
1. Bryce Harper, OF Drafted: JC of Southern Nevada, 2010 (1st round).
2. Anthony Rendon, 3B Drafted: Rice, 2011 (1st round).
3. Brad Peacock, RHP Drafted: HS, Wellington, Fla., 2006 (41st round).
4. A.J. Cole, RHP Drafted: HS, 2010 (4th round).
5. Brian Goodwin, OF Drafted: Miami Dade JC, 2011 (1st round supplemental).
6. Alex Meyer, RHP Drafted: Kentucky, 2011 (1st round).
7. Matt Purke, LHP Drafted: Texas Christian, 2011 (3rd round).
8. Sammy Solis, LHP Drafted: San Diego, 2010 (2nd round).
9. Derek Norris, C Drafted: HS, 2007 (4th round).
10. Steve Lombardozzi, 2B/SS Drafted: St. Petersburg JC, 2008 (19th round).
Note a couple of things. Most of these players were drafted quite early. In the case of the Cards, this has been helped a great deal by some excellent Latin American signings. Those typically take a number of years to impact perceived talent levels (or be candidates to play in the majors). Only a few late round draftees (like Mike Adams from that powerhouse, Slippery Rock, or Kyle McPherson, an infielder from an NAIA school) break the top 10. In addition to some very nice international signings, the Cards have not promoted players who could have played in the majors.
Washington gets a high ranking largely because of Bryce Harper. Almost by definition a system with Harper in it is an excellent minor league system, because he projects to be a star. Most of the rest of their players are unproven, or less than major talents. BTW, Rendon is hurt again. The Nats think he'll play this season.
The recipe for a good minor league system is to draft early and often, work the international scene hard, and don't promote players until they force your hand. The Bucs have drafted early (but not typically multiple times in the high rounds), stopped looking internationally for the most part, and promoted out of desperation. Were it not for the Moskos draft, one might almost argue that DL was starting to get it in 2007. Ah well.
Well, some things have changed. Cutch is a superstar. Yay! Presley looks like yet another Tike Redman, Chris Duffy, etc. Tabata is showing some signs of progress, and he hasn't gotten much older in the last two months (he's probably about two months older.) McLouth's only problem is he isn't very good at baseball right now. Starling Marte now has a .268/.333/.446 line in Indy.
I was certainly hoping that Marte would tear up AAA, but he hasn't. I would keep him in AAA for the duration of this season in hopes of a summer 2013 call-up. So now, with the Pirates two games below .500, instead of being sellers, the Pirates should at least inquire into the prices of corner OFers around the league. I would also look into first basemen such as Justin Morneau and Billy Butler, as Garrett Jones would play fine in right field.
I think most of us figured that this situation would work itself out. Unfortunately, it has, but not in our favor. Now, instead of having four OFers for three spots, we have two OFers (and a light hitting Tabata at that) for three spots. Time to get another bat, and corner OF or first base will be way easier than acquiring a good stick at shortstop or catcher.
rying to stay ahead .....
This post is for the Tuesday May 15th game at Miami. I will post scores when I get a chance to update them.
Today's Pitchers:
Pirates RHP Kevin Correia (1-3, 3.47 ERA) vs. Marlins RHP Josh Johnson (0-3, 5.87 ERA)
The Game Rules:
[ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx
e.g. Pirates 5 Marlins 3
Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier.
[ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with
[ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes". We can handle those.
PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS
A special thanks to ChuckPirate for having the vision to start this game and to GreenWave for having the courage to continue it.
UPDATE: CoryR moves up by correctly guessing the Marlins score.
| God Loves | 27 |
| Karreem of Wheat | 23 |
| MDBUC | 17 |
| BobDH | 13 |
| Garrett122 | 9 |
| ChuckPirate | 6 |
| Greenwave | 6 |
| StanBelinda | 6 |
| CoryR | 6 |
| CurveFan | 4 |
| Crusade | 4 |
| BattlingBucs | 4 |
| Wizard of Woz | 4 |
| C Shint | 2 |
| Rintintinsoldier | 2 |
| Ryebread | 2 |
| G Dog | 2 |
| GeorgeQUAD | 2 |
| Lighthouse913 | 2 |
| SuperStar25 | 2 |
| Steel Champs | 2 |
| Kostic518 | 2 |
| Proo | 2 |
| Theatrain | 2 |
| BurgerKing | 2 |
| Rams 4 Ever | 2 |
| Ibuc | 2 |
| JustinM | 2 |
| BadAndy | 2 |
| Grambo119 | 2 |
| pittbluedevil | 2 |
| Clutch22 | 2 |
| SoldierJoe | 2 |
| JSteeler86 | 2 |
| that412kid | 2 |
Good Luck and Go Bucs!
From captainlatte on tumblr (opens in new window), this news of an antitrust suit filed against MLB on Wednesday in New York by a group of fans from California, Mississippi, Indiana and Philadelphia.
From the linked article (which is complete with coverage map and a link to the suit, which includes ROOT Sports Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Baseball, Inc. as defendants:
The plaintiffs in Garber v. MLB allege that the league has violated Sections One and Two of the Sherman Act by unfairly restricting its fans’ ability to watch out-of-market broadcasts in two primary ways.
And:
…Interestingly, the Garber suit does not name all 30 MLB teams as defendants, instead suing only the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners, along with the Office of the Commissioner, MLB Advanced Media, DirecTV, Comcast, and various RSNs
The items in the "Nature of the Action" of the lawsuit are pretty interesting, including this:
"11. In addition, the Defendants have colluded to sell the "out of market" packages only through the League. The League Defendants are then able to exploit their illegal monopoly by charging supra-competitive prices. As a result of this monopoly, moreover, the League is able to require purchasers of MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings to buy all "out-of-market" games of all the League's teams even if the fan is only interested in a particular team or particular game... "
Sit down and read it all when you have the time; this one's not something you can simply scan quickly.
Pretty interesting, eh?
EDITED TO ADD: One of the links in the story leads to a description of the case at Sports Law Blog, (clicking this also opens a new page) which you might have missed just perusing the original linked article. It has a good overview, and also more links (including the MLB's specific blackout policies) and other commentary / opinion.
It will also be interesting to see if the Garber lawsuit finally motivates MLB to update its antiquated television blackout policies. The rules have been frequently criticized by baseball fans, and can lead to absurd outcomes such as fans in Iowa being unable to watch any game involving the Twins, Royals, White Sox, Brewers, Cubs, or Cardinals on either the MLB Extra Innings or MLB.tv packages, even though in many cases none of those teams' games are available from their local cable provider. MLB has reportedly been considering updating the rules for years, but has yet to act. Perhaps this threat to its cherished antitrust exemption, along with potential treble damages, will finally force the league to act.
Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS! Let's go BUCS!
With the lack of production from our catchers, any chance that Morales gets a shot soon? I know he just came back from injury a few weeks ago but if I remember correctly doesn't he have an opt-out clause sometime in May? I could see them sending Fort down just to play everyday and supposedly Morales is good defensively and has good on-base percentages which is something this team lacks
Anyone have any thoughts?
This post is for the Monday May 14th game at Miami as I am unsure of computer access tomorrow. I will post scores when I get a chance to update them (done - BDH).
The Game Rules:
[ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx
e.g. Pirates 5 Marlins 3
Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier.
[ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with
[ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes" or "piratas". We can handle those.
PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS
Congratulations to Karreem of Wheat and BobDH for correctly guessing yesterday's game score!
Updated Scores as of the end of game 34:
| God Loves | 27 |
| Karreem of Wheat | 23 |
| MDBUC | 17 |
| BobDH | 13 |
| Garrett122 | 9 |
| ChuckPirate | 6 |
| Greenwave | 6 |
| StanBelinda | 6 |
| CurveFan | 4 |
| Crusade | 4 |
| BattlingBucs | 4 |
| CoryR | 4 |
| Wizard of Woz | 4 |
| C Shint | 2 |
| Rintintinsoldier | 2 |
| Ryebread | 2 |
| G Dog | 2 |
| GeorgeQUAD | 2 |
| Lighthouse913 | 2 |
| SuperStar25 | 2 |
| Steel Champs | 2 |
| Kostic518 | 2 |
| Proo | 2 |
| Theatrain | 2 |
| BurgerKing | 2 |
| Rams 4 Ever | 2 |
| Ibuc | 2 |
| JustinM | 2 |
| BadAndy | 2 |
| Grambo119 | 2 |
| pittbluedevil | 2 |
| Clutch22 | 2 |
| SoldierJoe | 2 |
| JSteeler86 | 2 |
| that412kid | 2 |
Good Luck and Go Bucs!
My turn as "Guess the Score" game host.
[ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx
e.g. Pirates x Braves x
Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier.
[ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with
[ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes" or "piratas". We can handle those.
PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS
I have done my best to update "season scores" using the Game 16 scores as the starting point. I made a simple spreadsheet to using for keeping and sorting scores as I hope to be doing this fairly often. I will try and let people know ahead when I will be unable to post for a game and maybe someone else will post instead. I will also try and post as early as possible (sorry for the lateness of today's post, but this is my lunch break).
I will continue to post as long as someone besides me wants to play.
Without further ado, the updated scores:
| God Loves | 27 |
| Kareem of Wheat | 18 |
| MDBUC | 17 |
| Garrett122 | 9 |
| BobDH | 8 |
| ChuckPirate | 6 |
| Greenwave | 6 |
| StanBelinda | 6 |
| CurveFan | 4 |
| Crusade | 4 |
| BattlingBucs | 4 |
| CoryR | 4 |
| Wizard of Woz | 4 |
| C Shint | 2 |
| Rintintinsoldier | 2 |
| Ryebread | 2 |
| G Dog | 2 |
| GeorgeQUAD | 2 |
| Lighthouse913 | 2 |
| SuperStar25 | 2 |
| Steel Champs | 2 |
| Kostic518 | 2 |
| Proo | 2 |
| Theatrain | 2 |
| BurgerKing | 2 |
| Rams 4 Ever | 2 |
| Ibuc | 2 |
| JustinM | 2 |
| BadAndy | 2 |
| Grambo119 | 2 |
| pittbluedevil | 2 |
| Clutch22 | 2 |
| SoldierJoe | 2 |
| JSteeler86 | 2 |
| that412kid | 2 |
Good Luck and Go Bucs!!!!!!
