New Blog added to the blog roll, The Sports Monitor though I completely disagree with his opinion of the Nate McLouth deal…

Tonight marks the first time that the MLB draft will be broadcast on TV… 6pm tonight on MLB Network and online as well with the coverage switching to online after the first round.  Tonight will be the first 4 rounds in which the Pirates have the 4th, 49th (Compensation for Tanner Scheppers), 53rd, 84th, and 115th picks.

The final MLB.com mock has the Pirates selecting Boston College catcher Tony Sanchez which would qualify as a reach pick.  The thought is that they get the position player they want in a weak position player draft while saving a bit of money to pay over slot later in the draft which is very pitcher heavy.

While I am not entirely convinced this is the way to go if it does go this way I would reserve judgement to see who we sign in late rounds similar to the late round signings last year.  I think it may be a smart move to draft a guy like OF Donovan Tate out of a high school in Gerogia, they could attempt to pay him what they think he is worth likely a bit above slot.  Not Pedro Alvarez money but somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4 million.  He has an offer to play football for UNC as well as baseball so there is a high chance he would not sign but with the new compensation system they would get a top 5 pick next year which may be a better talent pool.  My feelings on the budget is that it doesn’t have to be a certain amount every year.  For example last year 10+ million is fine last year for a huge talent in Alvarez but if the talent is not there this year then you don’t have to put out 10 million, spend 8 and have 12 available next year.  Overspending on lesser talent isn’t a great idea just because you have the money, the biggest thing the new management talks about is spending smart and we will see if they stay true to their word.

Watching the game last night we deserved to win but once we got into deeper and deeper extra innings there was an overwhelming feeling that we would find a way to lose and we did by an inch or so.  The decision to send Craig Monroe by Tony Beasley was pretty bad, I know your trying to get a run across anyway possible but he was out by 10 feet.

And not to ignore the elephant in the room… LETS GO PENS!!!

I really don’t have a favorite player, never really have, the only baseball jersey I’ve ever had that was non Pirates was a Montreal Expos Jose Vidro #3 (Home Pinstripes, One of the prettiest uniforms I’ve ever seen).  It wasn’t that I was an Expos fan or that I thought Vidro was a hall of famer, it was more of an endorsement of the way he played the game.  He was an above average hitter for a second baseman while being a bit defensively challenged.  He was Freddy Sanchez before Freddy Sanchez.  If you twisted my arm to pick my favorite player it would probably be Sanchez for much of the same reasons.  Now what does this all have to do with my man Curtis Ross Ohlendorf?  Well Tim Kurkjian wrote a piece about Ohledorf and his thesis on the rate of return for draft picks.  I am quite impressed by the work, as a fairly smart person and obviously a baseball fan I often though about this type of work but I didn’t have the time for it nor quite the expertise as a mechanical engineer, I would be very interested in getting ahold of a copy of the paper.  I may have just discovered a favorite player…

Nothing frustrates me quite like the fan reactions after a big trade, the talking out the ass moron reactions, the I’m a long time fan but I am not giving them another dollar! retards.  Well guess what if you haven’t jumped ship in 17 years your not jumping now, trading Nate McLouth is not the last straw for anyone.  Even in major publications like the Post Gazette there is already a negative spin on the trade, such as…

The Pirates failed to get any of the Braves’ top three prospects, as rated annually by Baseball America: Hernandez was ranked No. 4, Locke No. 7 and Morton not at all.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09155/975012-63.stm#ixzz0HT5b5OPd&B

Most experts agree that San Diego State’s 6′-4″ flame throwing righty Steven Strasburg will be the number one overall pick by the Washington Nationals.  He has been labeled a “can’t miss” guy.  But is the number one overall guy is usually more strikeout than hit?

2008 – Tim Beckham SS – TB

Certainly to early to tell with Beckham, he is only 19 and has advanced to A ball this season after hitting .246 with a 44/15 K to BB ratio last season in rookie and short season ball.  His average is up this year at .277 but he still showing he needs to work on his plate discipline with a 34/8 K to BB ratio.

Verdict – Foul Tip, to early to tell

2007 – David Price P – TB

Most remember Price’s appearance in last seasons World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.  He is certainly one of the top 2 or 3 prospects in the game right now and very close to coming back up to the bigs but is currently being a bit wild in Durham sporting a 3.97 ERA and a 1.94 K/BB ratio.  Those certainly aren’t bad numbers but after his brief big league performance most were expecting more out of him, just a product of being #1.

Verdict – Long Foul Ball, still to early as well

2006 – Luke Hochevar P -KC

Hochevar just had his first major league start May 10th and it certainly was a false start, he gave up 8 runs in just two innings.  In his work at AAA Omaha he was playing extremly well, 5-0 with an 0.90 ERA and a 3.00 K/BB ratio.  It still remains to be seen if he can do it in the bigs but he has time, he is only 25 yet.

Verdict – 3-1, working the count but we need to see something

2005 – Justin Upton SS – ARI

At just 21 Upton is still developing and has spent parts of now 3 seasons in the bigs putting together a .267 average in 658 at bats with a 111 OPS+ so he is certainly playing quite well at a young age.  The Baseball Prospectus put him in the same discussion with Ken Griffey Jr’s big league start.  This is exactly what you want out of a number one overall pick, this kid has star written all over him.

Verdict – Stand up triple off the wall

2004 – Matthew Bush SS – SD

Bush is exactly opposite of Upton, he has been a complete disaster.  He is pretty much a John Van Benschoten in reverse only worse.  He came out as a SS but after legal issues and poor play in 2007 he was moved to pitching and has fared ok but not exactly good either, he doesnt even appear in the top 30 prospects anymore.  This is a poster child for a bad pick in a bad year and has set the Padres back severely, they could of had Justin Verlander, Jeff Niemann, or Jeremy Sowers.

Verdict – Three pitch strikeout

2003 – Delmon Young RF – TB

Young is a poster child for a bad case of entitlement, after appearing in all 162 games in 07 the Rays were more than happy to trade him and his head case issues to the Minnesota Twins.  He was pretty average last season with an OPS+ of 102.  He also has been pretty bad so far this season with an absolutely terrible OPS+ of 57 in 102 AB.  Let’s also not forget the umpire bat incident.

Verdict – Weak grounder to second, quickly looking like a big time bust.

2002 – Bryan Bullington P – PIT

At 28 he has only appeared in 13 games, a selection based on signability the bucs passed on BJ Upton, Prince Fielder, Nick Swisher, Cole Hamels, and Scott Kazmir to take Bullington.  He has since bounced from the Pirates to the Cleveland Indians, and is now with the Toronto Blue Jays and is not pitching very well and has only appeared in 4 games with 5 strike outs and 6 walks.

Verdict – Strike out looking

2001 – Joe Mauer C – MIN

Mauer is simply a beast, a 2 time all star, gold glove winner, and 2 time batting champ.  He is a cornerstone of the Minnesota Twins, enough said…

Verdict – Home Run

2000 – Adrian Gonzalez 1B – Florida

Gonzalez is one of the few bright spots on the San Diego Padres where he landed after a wrist injury saw him bounced to the Texas Rangers and then to the Padres.  He established himself as a growing star in 2008 with his first all star appearance and should continue to be a fixture at 1B for years to come

Verdict – Driven double into the gap on an 0-2 pitch.

So going back to the turn of the century we are just 3 for 6 with 3 to be determined.  The number one overall pick can be franchise changing ala Joe Mauer or franchise crippling ala Bryan Bullington.  No matter how much they look over these guys they are still only successful about half the time, just something to keep in mind as you keep hearing about Strasburg being a can’t miss guy…

I was poking around Indianapolis’ website today and found a great “essay” of sorts about baseball that is much along the lines of what I was trying to get across in my previous post about Minor League Ball.

Baseball UP CLOSE is bigger than a game.
It’s an experience,
genuine, memorable,
a belief that the perfect summer day exists,
that fireworks should fill the sky more often . . .Baseball UP CLOSE is about relationships,
families, it’s groups of friends laughing in the sunshine,
jumping up and down, screaming with your kids (not at them) . . .

An idea that baseball has lessons to teach
that transcend generations,
a touch point where sharing a hot dog and some popcorn speaks volumes . . .

It is America’s game,
a nostalgia that takes you back to your youth,
“Victory Field” not named for a corporation, but bound to a glorious tradition,
a game that takes as long as it takes,
time measured in outs and innings . . .

Baseball UP CLOSE is an intimate venue,
where you’re part of the action,
a foul ball is all that separates the fans from the players on the field,
where the intensity of the pitcher’s eyes battle the passion of the umpires call,
it’s competition that rallies people together,
the belief that a cap turned inside out and worn backwards can change the momentum of the game . . .

Baseball UP CLOSE is value,
tickets for a little as seven bucks,
the price of admission that means hours of fun . . .

That really says it I think better than I could attempt to.  It really is a great game.

I don’t want to just do the standard game recaps, that stuff you can get from the source and it will be better than most anything I would write.  I would prefer to write on things that I noticed or thought outside of your standard news coverage though still “reporting” on things like trades, see below…  I took in the entire 4 game set with the Indianapolis Indians in Rochester this week and it was one of the better baseball experiences I have had.  The Red Wings really put on a quality presentation.  The ball park is very nice, I have been to the Altoona Curve and Charleston Riverdogs’  stadium and past the Buffalo Bison’s stadium as well and Rochester’s Frontier Field is certainly on par with those mentioned which are some of the nicer parks in baseball.  They do an excellent job with the community involvement, they had the kids in from school for the Wednesday afternoon game as well as the Rochester area police retirees last night.  Another things that is great with minor league baseball that is unfortunately lost on the larger scale of the majors is the player fan interaction.  Just in these four games I got a ton of autographs and the guys were more than happy to sign.  Andrew McCutchen was swarmed but he happily signed for everyone, including my scorecard from Wednesday and my ticket Thursday.  I printed out some of the pictures I took on Wednesday and got them signed including Neil Walker, Brian Bixler, Shelby Ford, and Steve Pearce who made up the infield which I play on assembling into a nice picture frame of the future Pirates.  When they come out on the field they joke around with you and after the first couple games they talk to you like your a regular, particularly Erik Kratz was funny wisecracking about not being McCutchen.  On Thursday night the attendance was a little lighter and I went up and sat in the upper deck just right of home plate and ended up getting two foul balls which is twice as many as I’ve gotten in my entire baseball watching life (first was from Matt Stairs at PNC Park).  I gave both to kids who were more than thrilled to get them.  Overall while I love going to PNC park as often as possible, going to a minor league park just makes me feel closer to the game we all love.  The sights and sounds seem magnified there, its a great experience… so in my suggestion go out to your local minor league stadium where ever you are, it just may renew you love of baseball and you may even find a new favorite player like Erik Kratz!!

According to the Post Gazette the Pirates have traded AAA pitcher Romulo Sanchez to the Yankees for recently DFA’d pitcher Eric Hacker. Both are outside prospects at best with Sanchez being ranked 25th in the Pirates organization at the beginning of the year by Baseball America and Hacker being just off the list (12th best right handed starter). The 26 year old Hacker has posted a respectable 1-1 record with a 4.11 ERA in 3 starts with AA Trenton. He was DFA to make room for Brett Tomko, being that he was apart of the 40 man roster for the Yanks that shows he at least has some value.

I just saw Sanchez pitch for Indianapolis on Tuesday and he was not great, 1.1 IP, 2H, 2R, 1 BB, 2 K. He did show some use last year in 10 games with the big club (4.05 ERA) and 33 with Indy (3.46 ERA). So far this year he gave up some more runs (4.38 ERA) but has a decent 15/5 strikeout to walk ratio in 10 appearances.

Hacker is a bit of an off the radar type of guy, he doesn’t appear in the major publications but as mentioned before had a spot on the 40 man roster. He is a bit old to be making his way into AAA at 26 but in his first three starts for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees he has a respectable 12/4 K/BB ratio which is certainly decent for his first time against AAA competition (for comparison Sanchez was 32/19 at age 24 in his first AAA action).

Overall I would say this would be a wash but the Pirates certainly had some good information on him and most likely studied him very closely in their trade preparation for the Xavier Nady / Damaso Marte deal last season much like what happened with Delwyn Young as well.  It is good to at least get a guy in Indy who will most likely start over someone like Jason Davis who was downright painful to watch last night and who has a bit of upside with him as well.

More stuff on Eric Hacker:

Interview with “It is about the money”

Trenton Profile

Stats

Today was simply a great baseball day, absolutley beautiful weather right around 70 degrees with sun.  The early start with all the school kids made for a very nice atmosphere, particularly compared to last night which was a bit chilly with about half the attendance.  I got Steve Pearce to sign my ticket before the game and for the most part all the guys were more than happy to sign for people though most looked to be card hounds.  My seat is supposed to be the same for all 4 games but today I moved down just to the left of the backstop net in the first row to get some better pictures.

Daniel McCutchen got the start today and looked a bit shakey in the first giving up 2 runs on 3 singles but settled down nicely and went 1-2-3 in the next two innings.  Justin Huber hit a solid double in the 4th and scored on Trevor Plouffe’s drop in single to left.  After the 4th inning the Red Wing bats went silent with only 3 hits the rest of the game, all singles.  Juan Mateo pitched nicely only allowing 2 baserunners in a rare 3 inning save, he also recorded 3 strikeouts.

For the Indians offense Andrew McCutchen was once again a beast going 3-4 on the day and reaching base in all 5 plate appearances.  He had 2 doubles, 1 RBI, 3 runs, a walk, a stolen base, and reached on an error by second baseman Alexi Casilla in the 9th.  Bixler had another so-so game, after he doubled in the first to score McCutchen he grounded into a double play struck out, walked, stole second, and then struck out again… A very up and down day.  Jeff Salazar recorded 3 RBI today on 2 singles but a missed double steal call that he didn’t get caused Steve Pearce to get caught between 1st and 2nd and marred his day.  Pearce looked better this afternoon with 2 hits, a walk and an RBI.  The bottom 5 guys in the lineup Garrett Jones, Neil Walker (who DH’ed today), Luis Cruz 3B, Miguel Perez, and Shelby Ford managed to reach base only 3 times with only Walker recording a hit and Ford scoring a run after a walk in the 5th.

Another point I did want to make today was about Andrew McCutchen.  He has been a class act so far, even with the card hounds all over him he is more than happy to sign.  After the game and a post game interview he came over and signed my scorecard as well as everyone else’s stuff and posed for pictures for a good 10 minutes.  Even when a heckler game down and gave him crap about a ball over his head last night he shrugged it off… Just a class act.  Its very easy to be a fan when a guy is that nice and I am certainly on board with McCutchen.  Jones is also one of the more fan friendly guys out there, after playing in Rochester last season he was standing around talking to some of the season ticket holders before the game today.  Overall it was a great day for baseball, a good game that we came out on the winning side of, couldn’t ask any more…  Now I’m off to find a frame for my McCutchen signed scorecard!

Andrew McCutchen

The AAA team put on their best impression of the big club tonight, a decent manageable starter exiting ahead only to have the bullpen implode and cost them the game.  Tom Gorzelanny started the game and it certainly looks like nothing has changed since spring training, he is still wild as all hell.  He had a 1 good inning of efficiency from the last out of the first inning to the second out of the second but other than that he was iffy at best with his control.  To his credit he did manage to scatter the hits and only gave up 1 run on the 6 hits in 5.2 innings.  His final line is deceiving with the 4 strikeouts to 2 walks, he was much much wilder than that.

Unfortunately if we are looking for any help for the big ‘pen we are going to go outside of the organization.  Corey Hamman who to be honest I wasn’t familiar with pitched the next 3 outs giving up one hit to Alexi Casilla who was then caught stealing for the third out.  Romulo Sanchez started ok with a flyout of Luke Hughes to right fielder Garrett Jones.  Thats were his good run ended he then gave up a double then a walk, a swinging strikeout, a 2 run double, and finally followed by a strikeout in the the 8th to bring the Red Wings back to 5-3 heading into the 9th.  In the 9th Chris Bootcheck proceeded to suck ass and give up a double, ground out 1-3, single, 2 RBI double and the game winning single.

As far as the Indian’s hitters go, Andrew McCutchen was clearly the best player on the field for either team, he did have one bad at bat to leadoff the game with a relatively weak grounder to the 3rd baseman.  He ended up going 2-5 with a 2 RBI, triple, single, stolen base, a run scored, and he advanced on a passed ball.  His other two outs came on a hard line out to the center fielder and a slow grounder which forced the shortstop Trevor Plouffe to bare hand it for the out.

Brian Bixler looked so so, his stike outs weren’t particularly encouraging, particularly when he went down looking for the third out of the 9th.  He did get an RBI on a sac fly to the center fielder in the second.  Jeff Salazar looked pretty useless with his only hit coming on a bunt single in the first, certainly out of the ordinary for the 3 hitter.  Likewise for Steve Pearce, he only had a walk and looked downright bad on his strikeout in the 7th.  Garrett Jones started well in his return to Rochester with a double in both the 2nd and 3rd innings.  Neil Walker had an inconsistent night, he had the weakest hit of the 2nd inning in which the Indians scored all 5 of their runs as well as a double off of mis-positioned Rochester Red Wing third baseman Matt Macri’s glove but also struck out.  His night was not as good as the 2-4 line looks, both hits could have been outs.  DH Larry Broadway and C Erik Kratz  were pretty forgettable outside of the organist playing “On Broadway” and a particularly terrible heckler failing in his attempt to make fun of Kratz.  Shelby Ford hit 9th and only reached base once on 4 attempts and that was when he was hit by Rochester starter Phillip Humber.

For Rochester, Humber was ok outside of the destruction in the 2nd.  I was impressed by their long reliever Reid Santos, he pitched 3.2 strong innings with 3 strikeouts and 2 hits, he had good movement and the batters really were not doing much up there against him.  Only McCutchen’s hit in the top of the 7th was any good.  DH Hughes looked good as well with an effort triple in the 3rd and a key 2 RBI double in the 9th to tie the game.  The top of Rochester’s lineup with Jason Pridie leading off and Casilla hitting second was quite speedy and did cause some havok.  The other player that looked decent was SS Plouffe who had the good play on McCutchen and reached base 3 times in 4 plate appearances.

I did take alot of pictures tonight, I am going to uploaded them tomorrow morning as well as my scorecards from tonight.  Tomorrow’s game is early, 11:05 with the gates opening at 10.  It will be another interesting day with what I believe will be Daniel McCutchen starting after not fairing particularly well in his last two outings.

Well I am finally getting to see the Pirates AAA club while I am at school in Rochester, I bought tickets to all 4 games (sec 117 Row E) down low behind home plate and it was only 42 bucks… can’t beat that…  I saw the boys out there warming up and a couple guys out in the bullpen working on their deliveries with the coaches.  I got some pictures, I hope to take a bunch tonight (still have to check if they allow cameras).  I plan on taking score and what not so expect some good minor league content the next few days…