Things like NFL free agency and MLB's non-waiver trade deadline have become events, events that, well, if something doesn't happen for the home team, fans feel deflated.
I won't lie, I felt a little deflated when I turned on my car radio around 4:30 pm on Thursday to discover that the Pirates didn't acquire the services of Tampa ace David Price (I had already learned that Jon Lester would be leaving the Red Sox, but he would be going to Oakland--and not the neighborhood located in Pittsburgh, the city located in Northern California).
It's natural to want to see a result after days and days of speculation that usually accompanies baseball's trade deadline each and every late July.
My cousin texted me that he was "so frustrated." My brother texted me way too much for my tastes, telling me that the Pirates didn't get better, while the Cardinals, with their acquisitions of pitchers John Lackey and Justin Masterson; and the Brewers (the other NL Central team Pittsburgh will have to duke it out with down the stretch in 2014), with their acquisition of Gerardo Parra.......an outfielder with six home runs and 30 RBI, did.
Maybe St. Louis and Milwaukee did improve their respective squads with the pieces they added, but the Pirates didn't get worse simply by standing pat.
Whether it be hockey's or baseball's, I always find the trade deadline intriguing because we've become conditioned to think that if our team doesn't do something, it's a disservice to the fans.
Why is that?
If your team was good enough to make it to the trade deadline as a contender, why, suddenly, is it going to go downhill if no major moves are made?
The Pirates are still the same team that's 57-50 overall and 47-32 since early May (as of this writing).
Of course, our expectations rose over the past few days amid the rumors that Pittsburgh was suddenly a serious contender for Lester, and that a deal was believed to be imminent by many people "in the know."
But the Red Sox weren't just willing to accept a top prospect or two for Lester, a free agent at the end of the year who would be damn-near impossible for a team like the Pirates to sign to a long-term deal, they wanted a major league player........from a contending team.
You know who that major league player turned out to be? The A's Yoenis Cespedes, a 28 year old outfielder with 17 home runs and 67 RBI, and he won't be a free agent until after next season.
Now, the A's will be the team that will have no chance to re-sign Lester after this season, while Boston will certainly have the resources to lock up Cespedes AND maybe even Lester, who seemed to love playing with the Red Sox.
Can you imagine the Pirates parting ways with Starling Marte? If you can't, you shouldn't be crying that Lester didn't come to town, because there is no way he would have, otherwise.
And considering Marte is having a bit of a down year thanks to injuries, unlike Oakland, who also had to give up a draft pick, fellow outfielder Josh Bell or Austin Meadows may have also been part of a deal for Lester.
What about Pedro Alvarez? After all, he's having a down year. Forget the fact that he'll be in Pittsburgh until after the 2016 season and he hit 36 home runs last year (oh yeah, he's probably the only one in the organization with that kind of power), just throw him into a deal for Lester. After all, we gotta go for it!
It has been said that the only way for a team like the Pirates to acquire the services of a power hitter with the pedigree of an Alvarez would be to trade for him or draft him, which they did with the second overall pick in 2008.
Now that he's on the roster, you're just going to throw him into a deal for a rent-a-player simply because of a bad year?
If Alvarez can somehow get it together over these last two months, he would represent value that Pittsburgh simply couldn't bring back in any trade--at least from a hitting standpoint--and he could be the missing piece to the puzzle that gets the Pirates back to the postseason.
The A's did acquire outfielder Jonny Gomes, a 30something with only six home runs this year in the deal along with Lester, but how would that guy look in left field at PNC Park? Might as well just stick Travis Snider out there.
As for the trade of Rays' prized ace pitcher David Price to the Tigers for basically nothing note-worthy (Drew Smyly, a 25 year old starting pitcher who has made 17 starts and 23 year old infield prospect, Nick Franklin), I guess Pirates gm Neal Huntington doesn't have the fleecing chops of Detroit's gm because I'm sure had he been able to land Price, 28 and not a free agent until after next season, for, say, Jeff Locke and Jose Tabata, I'd like to think he would have driven both of them to Tampa himself.
In any event, the Pirates didn't get worse at the deadline, they just stayed the same. So far, that hasn't been too bad.
And if Gerrit Cole can also get it together down the stretch.................
Showing posts with label Pedro Alvarez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pedro Alvarez. Show all posts
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Its nice to finally have a baseball team to stand up and fight for the fans
Being a fan of the Pirates over the past 20 seasons wasn't easy. In fact, it felt quite hopeless. From the ineptitude of the front office, to the disparity in financial resources, I didn't even feel like watching or paying attention to baseball, outside of the occasional Buccos game.
Nationally, Pirates fans were often reminded that it was all about the Yankees and Red Sox (the greatest rivalry in all of baseball, don't you know?), and our team wasn't exactly a VIP. Oh sure, we were at the party, but usually in the same sense that a butler is at a party--in other words, it was easy to feel totally alienated and out-of-touch if you called yourself a Pirates fan.
The home team certainly didn't help in that regard, especially with "acquisitions" like Derek Bell and Jeromy Burnitz.
Speaking of that hopeless feeling. We certainly had that as we watched Pittsburgh take on the cream of the crop and be totally embarrassed and owned by the other team's superstar. How many home runs did Albert Pujols hit against the Buccos when he was with St. Louis? Certainly enough to be forever ingrained in our minds.
It's a vulnerable feeling when your favorite baseball team is a laughingstock. Every personnel move seems like a disaster. Every quote from the front-office makes headline news, but for all the wrong reasons.
Today, things feel a lot different for me. These new and improved Pirates are certainly capable of ending that hopeless feeling, and they have a ton of fight in them.
We have a veteran pitcher in A.J. Burnett who will not only compete every time he's on the mound and so do rather effectively, he'll argue with the other team, the umpires and even his own manager. What does arguing and telling an opposing player to "sit the bleep down" have to do with anything tangible? Not much. But it's sure nice to have a player that's been around the block and isn't intimidated by the spotlight.
What is very tangible is an entire pitching staff that is capable of silencing the likes of a Pujols on a rather consistent basis.
The Pirates also have a superstar of their own in Andrew McCutchen, a player who, when he's on, he's as good an all-around player as anyone in the major leagues, and he's shown that he can carry his team on his back when he's at the top of his game.
And then, of course, there's Pedro Alvarez, a home run weapon, capable of hitting a baseball out of any stadium--and I almost mean that literally. Plus, he's had great success against two of the Pirates biggest tormentors in recent years, the Brewers and Cardinals, and has a combined 21 home runs in a little under three seasons.
Yes, it's certainly great to have a baseball team quite capable of standing toe-to-toe with anyone.
I don't feel so hopeless, these days. In fact, I feel like a VIP.
Nationally, Pirates fans were often reminded that it was all about the Yankees and Red Sox (the greatest rivalry in all of baseball, don't you know?), and our team wasn't exactly a VIP. Oh sure, we were at the party, but usually in the same sense that a butler is at a party--in other words, it was easy to feel totally alienated and out-of-touch if you called yourself a Pirates fan.
The home team certainly didn't help in that regard, especially with "acquisitions" like Derek Bell and Jeromy Burnitz.
Speaking of that hopeless feeling. We certainly had that as we watched Pittsburgh take on the cream of the crop and be totally embarrassed and owned by the other team's superstar. How many home runs did Albert Pujols hit against the Buccos when he was with St. Louis? Certainly enough to be forever ingrained in our minds.
It's a vulnerable feeling when your favorite baseball team is a laughingstock. Every personnel move seems like a disaster. Every quote from the front-office makes headline news, but for all the wrong reasons.
Today, things feel a lot different for me. These new and improved Pirates are certainly capable of ending that hopeless feeling, and they have a ton of fight in them.
We have a veteran pitcher in A.J. Burnett who will not only compete every time he's on the mound and so do rather effectively, he'll argue with the other team, the umpires and even his own manager. What does arguing and telling an opposing player to "sit the bleep down" have to do with anything tangible? Not much. But it's sure nice to have a player that's been around the block and isn't intimidated by the spotlight.
What is very tangible is an entire pitching staff that is capable of silencing the likes of a Pujols on a rather consistent basis.
The Pirates also have a superstar of their own in Andrew McCutchen, a player who, when he's on, he's as good an all-around player as anyone in the major leagues, and he's shown that he can carry his team on his back when he's at the top of his game.
And then, of course, there's Pedro Alvarez, a home run weapon, capable of hitting a baseball out of any stadium--and I almost mean that literally. Plus, he's had great success against two of the Pirates biggest tormentors in recent years, the Brewers and Cardinals, and has a combined 21 home runs in a little under three seasons.
Yes, it's certainly great to have a baseball team quite capable of standing toe-to-toe with anyone.
I don't feel so hopeless, these days. In fact, I feel like a VIP.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Pirates start epic series off with a bang, ground the Cardinals, 9-2, in opening game
Francisco Liriano, this year's A.J. Burnett but without the actual acknowledgement, pitched seven innings, striking out eight and walking two, as the Pirates defeated St. Louis, 9-2, Monday night, to open the important five game series at PNC Park.
Liriano improves to 11-4 on the season and has been one of the most incredible (if mostly under the radar) additions to the team in quite some time. There was much made about the acquisition of Burnett a season ago, and the contributions he made to the team, both on the field and in the clubhouse.
The fact is, Burnett was a Godsend, going 16-10 and mentoring many of the young Pirates players as they learned how to be professional major leaguers and compete in a pennant race.
However, as good as Burnett was a year ago, Liriano is even better this season. In addition to his 11-4 mark, Liriano also has a 2.16 ERA. And believe it or not, the experts on ESPN were actually including him in discussions for the National League Cy Young award.
In all fairness, pitching is often about luck and what your offense does the day you're on the mound. Speaking of Burnett, his ERA this season is 2.96, or over a half a point lower than it was in 2012. Unfortunately, he's been pitching on the days when the Pirates often anemic offense is really, really anemic. And if it's not the offense, it's the defense, like in Burnett's previous start in Washington last Thursday, when the defense committed three errors in a four run first inning in what would be a 9-7 loss. Burnett (4-7) didn't take the loss, but he sure deserved a better fate.
No, sometimes, it's all about being fortunate. Monday night, Liriano benefited from the much-maligned Pittsburgh offense getting off to a hot start. It helped that Jake Westbrook, now 1-8 lifetime against the Pirates, was the mound opponent. Nine pitches into the game, Pittsburgh had a 4-0 lead, thanks to a walk to Jose Tabata to start off the game, a hits batsmen on Neil Walker, a single by Andrew McCutchen and a three run bomb by Pedro Alvarez (now the National League home run leader with 27 bombs).
The Pirates tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the seventh, and the route was on.
The victory pulled Pittsburgh to within a half a game of the Cardinals in the National League Central and four and half games ahead of the Reds, who lost in San Diego, Monday night.
Burnett takes the mound in Game 1 of a double-header, Tuesday afternoon, and if all goes well, the Pirates could find themselves all alone in first place by night's end. .
Liriano improves to 11-4 on the season and has been one of the most incredible (if mostly under the radar) additions to the team in quite some time. There was much made about the acquisition of Burnett a season ago, and the contributions he made to the team, both on the field and in the clubhouse.
The fact is, Burnett was a Godsend, going 16-10 and mentoring many of the young Pirates players as they learned how to be professional major leaguers and compete in a pennant race.
However, as good as Burnett was a year ago, Liriano is even better this season. In addition to his 11-4 mark, Liriano also has a 2.16 ERA. And believe it or not, the experts on ESPN were actually including him in discussions for the National League Cy Young award.
In all fairness, pitching is often about luck and what your offense does the day you're on the mound. Speaking of Burnett, his ERA this season is 2.96, or over a half a point lower than it was in 2012. Unfortunately, he's been pitching on the days when the Pirates often anemic offense is really, really anemic. And if it's not the offense, it's the defense, like in Burnett's previous start in Washington last Thursday, when the defense committed three errors in a four run first inning in what would be a 9-7 loss. Burnett (4-7) didn't take the loss, but he sure deserved a better fate.
No, sometimes, it's all about being fortunate. Monday night, Liriano benefited from the much-maligned Pittsburgh offense getting off to a hot start. It helped that Jake Westbrook, now 1-8 lifetime against the Pirates, was the mound opponent. Nine pitches into the game, Pittsburgh had a 4-0 lead, thanks to a walk to Jose Tabata to start off the game, a hits batsmen on Neil Walker, a single by Andrew McCutchen and a three run bomb by Pedro Alvarez (now the National League home run leader with 27 bombs).
The Pirates tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the seventh, and the route was on.
The victory pulled Pittsburgh to within a half a game of the Cardinals in the National League Central and four and half games ahead of the Reds, who lost in San Diego, Monday night.
Burnett takes the mound in Game 1 of a double-header, Tuesday afternoon, and if all goes well, the Pirates could find themselves all alone in first place by night's end. .
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Alvarez doesn't win Home Run Derby, someone else does
After all the controversy surrounding the initial omission of Pirates' third baseman Pedro Alvarez from the 2013 Home Run Derby, I was wondering how things would unfold when he actually participated. I feared a shut-out akin to Jason Bay's the year he participated. I also highly anticipated Pedro actually winning the thing which would have been a great story (Pittsburgh may even have held an official ceremony similar to the one that was held for Hines Ward when he won Dancing with the Stars).
Alvarez didn't put of the big 0, and he didn't win, he simply finished with six dingers, didn't advance to the second round, and then called it a night.
I can live with that. Can you? If you clicked on the link to Alvarez's Derby performance, you'll see that ESPN was ACTUALLY interviewing another player while it was going on--oh the humanity. I kid. I kid. I know people were upset with ESPN for doing something similar a season ago when Andrew McCutchen participated in the Derby.
In all seriousness, A Derby is nice and all, but I just want to see a Pirates' player do something noteworthy in the Midsummer Classic. I'm talking something on par with Fred Lynn's Grand Slam or Reggie Jackson hitting one off the transformer.
I've been watching the All Star Game for nearly 30 years, and I have never witnessed a Pirates' player truly impact the game. You might say it's because Pittsburgh has been pretty awful over the past two decades, which would mean mostly token Pirate players getting invited to the game and not having many opportunities to shine. And while that's mostly true, from the late 80's into the early 90's, Pittsburgh's baseball team was represented quite nicely at the All Star Game, with the likes of Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla making annual trips. However, they did nothing in those games (a nice prelude to how they would perform in the NLCS later in the fall). And after a bit of a resurgence over the past three seasons, the Pirates have been represented quite nicely in the exhibition game--five Pirates were named to the 2013 squad--but nobody wearing the "P" on their hats has taken advantage of the moment and given the nation a glimpse of the new and improved Bucco baseball.
Maybe it will happen Tuesday night. If not, I'm sure I'll be writing a similar piece next July.
Alvarez didn't put of the big 0, and he didn't win, he simply finished with six dingers, didn't advance to the second round, and then called it a night.
I can live with that. Can you? If you clicked on the link to Alvarez's Derby performance, you'll see that ESPN was ACTUALLY interviewing another player while it was going on--oh the humanity. I kid. I kid. I know people were upset with ESPN for doing something similar a season ago when Andrew McCutchen participated in the Derby.
In all seriousness, A Derby is nice and all, but I just want to see a Pirates' player do something noteworthy in the Midsummer Classic. I'm talking something on par with Fred Lynn's Grand Slam or Reggie Jackson hitting one off the transformer.
I've been watching the All Star Game for nearly 30 years, and I have never witnessed a Pirates' player truly impact the game. You might say it's because Pittsburgh has been pretty awful over the past two decades, which would mean mostly token Pirate players getting invited to the game and not having many opportunities to shine. And while that's mostly true, from the late 80's into the early 90's, Pittsburgh's baseball team was represented quite nicely at the All Star Game, with the likes of Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla making annual trips. However, they did nothing in those games (a nice prelude to how they would perform in the NLCS later in the fall). And after a bit of a resurgence over the past three seasons, the Pirates have been represented quite nicely in the exhibition game--five Pirates were named to the 2013 squad--but nobody wearing the "P" on their hats has taken advantage of the moment and given the nation a glimpse of the new and improved Bucco baseball.
Maybe it will happen Tuesday night. If not, I'm sure I'll be writing a similar piece next July.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Pirates win, 6-3, on Sunday to take two of three from Dodgers in weekend series at PNC Park
What's the best way to answer a run of five losses in six games? By doing what any good team would do and bouncing back with six wins in the next nine games. The Pittsburgh Pirates looked a little over-matched a couple weeks ago, losing two of three against the powerful Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park and then following that up by getting swept in a three game series in Atlanta.
If Pirates fans were feeling a little uneasy, you couldn't really blame them. After 20 straight years of losing, and two consecutive seasons of late summer collapses, any fan would be a little gun-shy. But if Pittsburgh is going to collapse for a third straight season, it doesn't look like the slide has begun just yet.
Rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole had his second straight impressive outing to start his career, going 5 2/3 innings, as the Pirates defeated Los Angeles, 6-3, Sunday afternoon to take two of three in the weekend series.
Prior to the weekend series against the Dodgers, Pittsburgh (41-28) also took two of three from both the Cubs and Giants.
Cole, who pitched 6 1/3 innings against the Giants in his Major League debut Tuesday night at PNC, is now 2-0 so far in his very young career. The impressive outings by the 2011 first overall draft pick couldn't have come at a better time for a starting staff that recently placed veterans A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez on the 15 day disabled list.
Third baseman Pedro Alvarez delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the fifth inning when he smacked a three-run home run over the centerfield wall to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.
If Pirates fans were feeling a little uneasy, you couldn't really blame them. After 20 straight years of losing, and two consecutive seasons of late summer collapses, any fan would be a little gun-shy. But if Pittsburgh is going to collapse for a third straight season, it doesn't look like the slide has begun just yet.
Rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole had his second straight impressive outing to start his career, going 5 2/3 innings, as the Pirates defeated Los Angeles, 6-3, Sunday afternoon to take two of three in the weekend series.
Prior to the weekend series against the Dodgers, Pittsburgh (41-28) also took two of three from both the Cubs and Giants.
Cole, who pitched 6 1/3 innings against the Giants in his Major League debut Tuesday night at PNC, is now 2-0 so far in his very young career. The impressive outings by the 2011 first overall draft pick couldn't have come at a better time for a starting staff that recently placed veterans A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez on the 15 day disabled list.
Third baseman Pedro Alvarez delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the fifth inning when he smacked a three-run home run over the centerfield wall to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.
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