Ah, the Pirates. The team of my father’s youth, now known more for trading away talent than anything else you are the quintessential farm system for other teams that win. Those screaming foul regarding the state of baseball’s current economics often point to your ineptitude. I have a love/hate relationship with you.
Manager: If you are a religious person, manager John Russell deserves your prayers. There is no way his coaching acumen can be determined based on his wins and losses over the last two years. Poor guy has been tied to the driver’s seat of baseball version of the Titanic. No, that’s too kind; the Titanic had some money put into it.
But all of that is in the past, this team could actually be competitive and has a real possibility of having a winning season. Seriously, I am not kidding.
Key Departures: Of course, they traded away their fair share of players last year and the year before but in the off-season the only real loss was Matt Capps.
Key Pick-ups: Octavio Dotell was signed as their closer. His walks made his ERA somewhat suspect as a viable closer.
Outfield: Will Lastings Milledge put together a full season that taps into his potential? If he does and if Nate McCutchen, who finished fourth in ROY voiting builds on his .286 average, 12 homers and 54 RBIs in his 108 games from last year the outfield will be a viable outfield. Of course, Garrett Jones will also have to build on his OPS of .938. I know that’s a lot of “if’s” but the reality is that this outfield doesn’t look bad on paper, which of course does not always translate to a looking good on the field. Grade: Offense C; Defense C+
Infield: Bobby Crosby is a pick up here at shortstop but not an upgrade over what they had before last year’s fire sale. If he fails they have Roony Cedeno. Akinori Iwamura is the new second baseman. He was hurt last year but will he should make for a stable second baseman. Andy LaRoche will be the third baseman again, which will be good once every four at bats (last year he hit .258). Overall this infield underwhelms you as can be expected by their history. Grade: Offense C; Defense C
Catcher: Ryan Doumit is what the basket containing all of the Pirates eggs for this position is currently named and it’s not looking overly promising. His career batting average is .273 but last year was a train wreck met by a plane crash. Grade D+
Starting Pitchers: I think Russ Ollendorf is poised to break out this year for the Pirates. 6’4” and 250 makes for a big pitcher. Princeton educated makes for a cerebral pitcher, I think. Zach Duke had his best ERA of his career even though the second half of the season was ugly for him. I wonder how much of that was because he felt the organization had given up on the season? If he continues to improve, Ollendorf matures (he’ll have to top out around 200-220 innings) this could be a real strength for the Buccco’s. Grade B-
Bullpen: Dotel is a walk machine. He’s currently in negotions to be the spokesman for a series of Walkers for Pittsburgh area nursing homes. Getting to him will be an adventure too. Grade C
Key To Winning in 2010: This organization has to change the culture that currently threatens to drown it. If management can convince the players that winning is a priority, they could seriously be above .500 this year.
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