10 days in review

After being sick for the past week and having my computer blow itself up multiple times I'm finally able to sit here and blog to you.


Adam Laroche gets traded.

Today during the Brewers-Pirates game, Adam Laroche was traded to the Boston RedSox for 2 mid level prospects. Now Neil being able to acquire 2 players for Laroche is a miracle in itself.

Adam has been horrible this year. Yea i know he usually sucks until the start of the 2nd half but the way he has produced has made his other years in Pittsburgh look like All-star seasons.

I liked Adam himself, he seemed like a good guy. He never rubbed me the wrong way until he picked up his batting helmet. I wish him the best of luck in Boston and hope he turns it around but i don't expect him to amount to much.

Some people see this just as a salary dump, which it more than likely is. Jason Bay was a salary dump. Freddy Sanchez will be salary dump.But its not a salary dump if the player isn't producing, its called taking out the trash. While not to many people dis agree with this trade/dump its hard to imagine Steve Pearce being the 1Bmen for the rest of this season. Who IMO is a bigger waste of space than Laroche was. The only difference is about 7 million dollars.

Garrett Jones should be at first base to replace Adam. but no, we get to see more free swinging and backwards K's. Lastings Milledge should be taking over in LF but again no, we get to hope and pray for our Major League Starting 1B to just make contact with the baseball.

I will say this about Niel, he doesn't seem to want any players who were brought here by Dave Littlefield and he doesn't seem to have a lot of patience for Littlefields players. So hopefully this Steve Pearce siting is just short notice until Lastings is fully healthy and capable of roaming LF.


The Pens Sign Goalie Brent Johnson.

The Pens signed goalie FA Brent Johnson to a 1 year deal worth 530k. Johnson is believed to battle Curry for the final backup goalie spot but I'm pretty sure this job is just Johnsons now.

I think this is a great pick up for Ray Shero. Johnson is more than capable of being a backup and much better then Garon and his 1.1 million we had last year.

Johnson is 32 years old and has played in 247 career games in his 9 seasons. He has a Record of 111-94-13-12 2.63 GAA and a .903%SP.

He started his Career in St. Louis before being traded to Phoenix in 2004. Then signed as a FA to back up Olie Kolzig in Washington before the 2005 season.

This signing leaves the Pens with 1.63 million left in salary cap. Its believed that Shero is still trying to work out deals with other teams to try and shed some salary. I sorta expect that Dupuis and Godard will be gone before the season starts.


Jack and Freddy tell Front Office to Shove it.

A few days ago Pirates fans were stunned to hear that the Front Office wanted to try and extend the contracts of Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson.

Well the excitement didn't even last 24 hours. The Pirates offered Jack a 2 year 8 million extension. Then offered Freddy a 2 year 10 million extension.

While the offer to Jack Wilson seems more than fair the offer to freddy was beyond low ball. So what did Jack and Freddy do? They said a big "Fuck You". Now they didn't quite put it like that. but its pretty much what i would have done. Freddy is set to make 8 million next year alone, so why would he buy that out only to take a 6 million dollar pay cut the 2nd year.

Now both players say they still wanna try and work something out, but its not gonna happen. They will both be shopped vigorously until the trade deadline. There might not be much of a market for Jack, but someone is going to want Freddy.


Ian Snell is Still a Douchebag.

After 5 impressive starts in AAA Indy. Ian Snell refused to be called up to replace Vergil Vasquez. He said he didn't wanna be apart of the Pirates team anymore and wanted to remain in AAA.

Now in all seriousness. What the kind of loser wants to stay in AAA instead of playing in the Major Leagues. Is he that much of head case that he cant take the criticism of all 12,000 pirate fans when he pitches. WTF does he think is gonna happen if he gets traded to a winning team? Does he think that all is well and other fans don't BOO bad players? Does he think other locker rooms and new teammates will ignore him when he throws them under the bus? What kind of city is Ian Snells kind of city anyway? How much douchebag can 1 person have in them?

This kid has so much talent but has no heart what so ever. He has no brain and no respect to go along with that hole in his chest. I know the Pirates suck, but they have to be better than playing for a last place AAA team. If he prefers all night bus rides, crappy hotels and groupies with herpes and no teeth then by all means Ian, get yours.



Don't hate the Playa, Hate the...

Earlier in the week Big Ben was charged with Sexual Assault. Apparently some girl doesn't appreciate the fact that Big Ben was allowing her to try out as his new center.

yea i know that's wrong, but this chick is a headcase. there's not much in details i can give for this but this bitch is just crazy. This problem will resolve itself and Ben will be fine. I fully expect nothing to happen and this chick be locked up in the loony bin for bein a dumb bitch.

Quick Minor league Round About.

Lasting Milledge was named player of the week and has been tearing the ball of the cover in AAA Indy. Hes batting .400 with an On base % of .511.

Pedro Alverez finally seems like he is becoming comfortable in AA. Hes raised his BA from .250 to .280. Hes hitting over .338 the past week. and hes only striking out about once a game instead of 2-3x a game.

Jose tabata has been a machine lately. Hes raised his BA to .297. He has hit safely in something like 17 out of 18 games. he is also batting over .400 for the past 10 games.

These 3 players are just great to see preforming like that have been. I expect Milledge to be called up soon. Tabata and Alverez MIGHT get moved up to AAA before the seasons out just to give them a taste. I'm pretty sure tho they will finish the season in AA and start in AAA next season tho.



1 last thing.

Jason Kendall is a fuckin turd nugget.

Dave Kerwin would whoop his ass any day.

go buy some Dave Kerwin shirts here

Zach duke gets all star nod

After Matt Cain got hit with a line drive last night, Zach Duke was chosen to be his replacement in the 2009 all-star game to join teammate Freddy Sanchez.

Duke was chosen over Braves ace Jair Jurrjens and Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo. Now some might see this as a bush league choice by Charlie Manual to take Duke over talent such as them, but people dont see what Duke really has done this year.

Duke is 8-8 with a 3.29 ERA 1.21 WHIP 65k:32BB.
Hes 4th in innings pitched with 126 innings. Tied for 1st with 3 complete games(2 of which were losses). Duke has been nothing short of a horse for this Pirates team and is pitching the best since his rookie campaign.

Dukes record doesn't reflect just how good hes been this season. In his 18 starts 13 of them were quality starts. In his 8 losses the Pirates offense got a total of 10 runs. He has reached the 6th inning all but once this year and has gotten to the 7th or later in 11 starts. Hes tied for 3rd in double plays with 15 while sporting a .94/1 groundball/flyball ratio. Duke deserves this all-star nod just as much as the next person but being a Pirate may have hindered an all-star spot from the get go.

little issues

i have encountered a little problem with my desktop and it wont be fixed until Tuesday. i will have some updates from time to time just maybe not everyday.

Doumit to rejoin team

Jen Langosch reports that Ryan Doumit will rejoin the Pirates tonight for the final series of the 1st half against the Phildelphia Phillies. It looks like Robinzone Diaz will be the extra catcher that is sent down.

Having Doumit back adds much more to the pirates lineup. He does hit for more power than JJ/Diaz, better batting average and after working with Joe Kerrigan in the off season seemed to handle the pitching staff rather well before his injury.

Now who knows if Doumit can stay healthy the rest of the year because health is always an concern with him. Adding a catcher who has the ability to hit .315 20hr power and leadership always helps out a team. Its also up in the air what his place in the lineup will be with the erratic changed that John Russell makes on a nightly bases. This should tho drop everyone down 1 spot into a more comfortable role. Also adding Freddy Sanchez back tonight will drop Jack back into his 8th spot. I don't know for sure if Freddy is playing tonight it was just speculation that he would be ready for tonights game.

Penguins to announce signing of Jay Mckee

The Pens are set to announce of the signing of Dman Jay Mckee at some point today. According to Andy Strickland the deal is worth 800k for 1 year. Mckee is a physical Dman whos game relates to one Brooks Orpik who already scowls the Pens blue line.

Mckee was bought out of his contract by the Blues worth over 4million a year. He will receive around 2.6 million this season from the buyout.
Last year Mckee had 1 goal and 8 assists while being a +11 for the St. Louis Blues. For his Career hes played in 740 games scoring 20 goals with 95 assists and is a +49.

Hes not going to wow you for his offensive skills but he will make us forget about losing Rob Scuderi to LA.

This gives the pens awesome balance at the blue line with puck movers and stay at home dmen.The Defensive lines should look something like this considering no injuries to start the season

Gonchar-Orpik
Letang-Mckee
Gologoski-Eaton.

This signing shows just how good Ray Shero is. He talked a multi-million dollar dman into a 800k dman for 1 season. Giving Mckee the chance to play for a championship and up his value and play for the last contract of his career. This signing also gives younger pens such as Ben Lovejoy and Brian Straight a full season to get fixed to the NHL game. Lovejoy is already seen by most as NHL ready now after his season last year in WBS for the Baby Pens. Straight is coming out of his junior season at Boston College and has a chance to make the Pens roster out of camp but more than likely will play the season for the Baby Pens.

Pirates Struggles Continue..

The Pirates and Astros 3 game set finished this afternoon with another ugly loss for the Buccos. They seem to really be missing Freddy Sanchez in the field and batter box. The last 11 games the Pirates are 3-8 and slowly slipping into obscurity at the bottom on the NL Central. They are still 8 games back from 1st place but the problem is that they are now 4 games back of 5th place. While every team in the Central is staying steady and keep a close eye on each other the Buccs keep finding ways to lose and slip out of the race.

Now can anyone say they honestly expected this team to compete for a division title? HELL NO! Its just the opportunity this team has and with the talent they do have it is kind of frustrating to watch us get 3-4 hit every other night. They now have scored 1 run or less 23 times this year, that more than 1/4th of the season so far.

1 of the the few bright spots with the bat has been Garrett Jones lately. Seemingly when no one else find a way to hit the ball hes at least getting a hit here and there.

The Pirates play the World Series Champs and 1 of the hottest teams in the majors right now, the Philedelphia Phillies the next 3 games. The Phillies have been killing teams lately and have 1 of the best offenses in the league. I think its safe to say this is going to be another tough series to watch. Hopefully the Buccs can get Freddy Sanchez back, hes supposed to be back in the lineup on Friday.

The Buccs will throw Duke, Ohlendorf and Vazquez at Blanton, Hamels, and rookie J.A. Happ. The Phillies Stadium is another sandbox and will make it even tougher for Pirate pitchers as they not only struggle on the road but seem to get lit up in all hitter ball parks.

With the trade deadline looming in the coming weeks, who knows whats going to happen. I just know if somehow Adam laroche, Freddy Sanchez, Matt Capps, Jack Wilson, John Grabow get traded this is probably going to be 1 of the worst second halfs pirates may ever watch. If we cant hit with these guys in the lineup, what the hell are they gonna do w/o them. Altho with the way Adam Laroche is hitting it might be an upgrade.

I believe things will turn around but things always have to get worse before they get better. That's just the way it is in life. Hang on Buccs fans, find the positives so matter how few their are. Enjoy baseball for what it is, a game. Games are meant to be fun and enjoyable so lets take it for what its worth and hope for the best.


After the game the Pirates optioned Steve Pearce and Steven Jackson back to AAA. They recalled Donnie Veal because of the rule 5 obligation. They will recall someone else before fridays game to fill out the roster.

Penguins Roster and Salary 2009

To see the contract obligations beyond 2009 Click Here