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Pirates’ Liriano, Cole to Provide a Genuine Top of the Rotation
Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that Francisco Liriano would be the team’s Opening Day starter for the 2014 season. “[Liriano] is another guy that models the behavior we want to instill in others,” Bucs manager Clint... More of this article »
Pirates, Burnett Pass on Qualifying Offer Deadline
Monday’s 5 PM deadline to issue qualifying offers to pending free agents passed without an offer being made to Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher A.J. Burnett. Pittsburgh has a number of veteran players set to hit free agency... More of this article »
Pirates Pitching Situation is Unstable and Unsustainable
The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff, to put it one way, is running on fossil fuels. Before long, the whole party’s going to crash. The Pirates are currently 10-9 despite playing one of the most challenging early-season schedules... More of this article »
Pittsburgh Pirates: Assessing An Improving Farm System
ESPN’s Keith Law recently released his list of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball (paywall), a list paced by the St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays. Ever the rebuilding franchise, the Pittsburgh... More of this article »
Chicago Cubs: Theo Epstein’s Patient Approach to Rebuilding
After two World Series titles raised the expectations of the Boston Red Sox and their wunderkind GM Theo Epstein, the Red Sox Way, as it’s sometimes called, abandoned its steady approach to organizational depth in favor of win-now,... More of this article »
Pirates 2013 Opening Day Payroll to Grow, But Not Really
The Pirates have the 9th-highest local viewership of MLB’s 30 teams The Pittsburgh Pirates project to have a 2013 Opening Day payroll somewhere around $65 million, according to Pirates Prospects. While that would classify... More of this article »
After Trading Hanrahan, Pirates Should Now Deal Garrett Jones
Pirates need to make a move on Jones, and soon The Pittsburgh Pirates just completed a 6-player trade with the Red Sox that sent P Joel Hanrahan and prospect infielder Brock Holt to Boston in exchange for OF/1B Jerry Sands, P Mark... More of this article »
Marlins Trades Reaffirm MLB’s Laissez-Faire Indifference
“The damage to the Marlins’ ‘brand’ is impossible to calculate.” Baseball, often derided for it’s uncapped, laissez-faire player market that rewards deep pockets like the Yankees and Dodgers, is... More of this article »
5 Things the Tigers Must to Do Win the World Series
Many predicted the Tigers would reach the World Series. It’s how they got there that no one saw coming. The Detroit Tigers reached the postseason with an 88-74 regular season record, posting the fewest wins of any division champion... More of this article »
What Happened to the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Pirates – There are still two games left to lose Twelve wins. For the promises of the currently expiring five-year plan and its big-money draft picks, prospect-raking trades and hopeless free agent acquisitions, the Pirates... More of this article »
Pirates’ Low Payroll, Improved Record Signal Small-Market Success
(Heather Culligan @ flickr) Whether or not the Pirates reach the postseason, their 2012 campaign will likely end as proof that GM Neal Huntington’s five-year plan has gone exactly according to plan—that is, following the formula... More of this article »
Pirates – Rodriguez, Snider, Sanchez – Since the Trades
Snider is hitting .325 through 14 games with Pittsburgh (Krustation @ flickr) Pittsburgh didn’t make the salary splash some may have wanted at the 2012 trade deadline, one they entered as bona fide buyers for the first time in... More of this article »
Nationals, Pirates and MLB Draft Spending Leaders Climbing Standings
The Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates, two clubs that many expected to improve but few figured would contend, have made their marks on the MLB standings this season. The NL-East leading Nationals have the second-most wins... More of this article »
Pirates Lose Series – Not Season, in Cincinnati
Neil Walker had a two-run home run in Pittsburgh’s 6-2 win over the MLB-leading Reds Sunday (Keith Allison – flickr) The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped two of three in Cincinnati over the weekend in what must have been considered... More of this article »
Andrew McCutchen Named NL Player of the Month for July
McCutchen leads all MLB players with a .373 batting average (Keith Allison – flickr) Pittsburgh Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen has been named National League Player of the Month for July, the second straight month in which he’s... More of this article »
MLB Trade Deadline Analysis: Grading the NL Central Moves
Dempster, after turning down a move to the Braves, accepted an eleventh-hour trade to the Texas Rangers Tuesday (andysternberg / flickr) The NL Central has become a three-horse race with gap ever-widening between the Reds, Pirates... More of this article »
Pirates Trade Analysis – Snider for Lincoln Low-Risk, High-Reward
Snider addresses a glaring hole in the lineup for the Pirates (Krustation / flickr) The Pirates traded RHP Brad Lincoln to the Toronto Blue Jays late Wednesday night, acquiring OF Travis Snider to address the lack of power in right... More of this article »
Pirates’ Correia Seeks Trade After Bullpen Demotion
Correia has asked for a trade (Keith Allison / flickr) Pittsburgh has been one of the most active teams in the trade market, even if they’ve only completed one meaningful deal so far. After acquiring LHP Wandy Rodriguez from... More of this article »
Andrew McCutchen, Chris Sale and MLB’s Biggest Salary Bargains
Baseball players get paid. Period. North America’s only major team sport to operate without a salary cap has often been derided for the uneven playing field created by its lack of payroll parity, but you’ll hear no complaints... More of this article »
Pirates Recall OF Starling Marte from AAA Indianapolis
Pirates fans will finally see the organization’s prized outfield prospect make his debut (RJ Schmidt / flickr) Pittsburgh called up corner outfielder Starling Marte Wednesday afternoon, ending months of speculation as to when... More of this article »
Pedro Alvarez Beginning to Meet Pirates’ Early Expectations
Pedro Alvarez is becoming the power threat Pittsburgh hoped it had drafted in 2008 (Image jmd1280 / flickr) The Pittsburgh Pirates’ renaissance has had many faces. Andrew McCutchen’s MVP emergence. A.J. Burnett‘s... More of this article »
Pirates, Huntington Not Likely to Overpay for Justin Upton
The idea of bringing Arizona OF Justin Upton to Pittsburgh has many in baseball imagining a Pirates’ outfield that includes a former MVP candidate in Upton (fourth in 2011 NL MVP voting) and the prohibitive favorite to win 2012... More of this article »
MLB Trades Affected by Expanded Postseason – Compensatory Picks
Justin Upton has surprisingly become the center of MLB trade rumors, but will the cost of a former MVP candidate scare GMs? (SD Dirk – flickr) At just past the halfway point of the MLB season and with the July 31 trade deadline... More of this article »
Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen Headlines NL Midseason MVP Candidates
McCutchen leads MLB with a .367 batting average (photo Keith Allison / flickr) The MLB season kicked off its second half Friday and two of the National League’s top MVP hopefuls squared off in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 10-7... More of this article »
Pirates 2012 First Round Pick Appel Turns Down $3.8 Million Offer
The 5:00 PM deadline for 2012 MLB draft selections to sign contracts passed Friday afternoon and Stanford RHP Mark Appel declined to sign his tender with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The number-eight overall draft pick and Scott Boras ‘advisee’... More of this article »