Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Jul 17, 2010 17:02:23 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Jul 17, 2010 17:02:23 GMT -5
Erik Kratz makes his MLB debut tonight, starting behind the plate for the Bucs in place of Doumit. Let's hope he's good enough to steal Doumit's job.
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Jul 31, 2010 11:02:00 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Jul 31, 2010 11:02:00 GMT -5
Trade deadline day is like a 2nd Christmas for me. All of the MLB sites are reporting that, pending approval by MLB, the Pirates have acquired C Chris Snyder, a minor league pitcher, & cash for Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby, & D.J. Carrasco, 3 guys who likely weren't gonna be here next year anyway. Snyder is a big pay-day & a big upgrade defensively over Doumit, NTM that he has more homers than anybody on the Pirates other than Garrett Jones. I'm loving this trade. Does this mean Doumit will be traded soon, too? If the Dodgers really want Maholm so badly, maybe besides insisting on a MLB-ready starting pitcher, they'll also insist that the Dodgers take Doumit off their hands. Good stuff.
Edited to say: The trade is with the D-Backs.
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Jul 31, 2010 16:27:49 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Jul 31, 2010 16:27:49 GMT -5
On the MLB network they were speculating that the trade for Snyder was necessary, first coz Tony Sanchez's injury means his Pgh. debut is postponed by a year, second coz of how some of our pitchers have regressed. The broadcasters openly questioned whether our pitchers like throwing to Doumit.
Dotel & Lopez have been traded to the Dodgers & Giants, respectively, for not very much. Puzzling in that the bullpen was a strength & Huntingdon said he wouldn't deal any of 'em unless he was bowled over.
That wraps up our trade deadline activity. As often happens, the guy at the center of the speculation (this time Maholm) isn't the guy to go.
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Pirates
Jul 31, 2010 16:32:23 GMT -5
Post by Iron Rich on Jul 31, 2010 16:32:23 GMT -5
On the MLB network they were speculating that the trade for Snyder was necessary, first coz Tony Sanchez's injury means his Pgh. debut is postponed by a year, second coz of how some of our pitchers have regressed. The broadcasters openly questioned whether our pitchers like throwing to Doumit. Dotel & Lopez have been traded to the Dodgers & Giants, respectively, for not very much. Puzzling in that the bullpen was a strength & Huntingdon said he wouldn't deal any of 'em unless he was bowled over. That wraps up our trade deadline activity. As often happens, the guy at the center of the speculation (this time Maholm) isn't the guy to go. I hate to see the bullpen broken up for almost nothing. With the young guys having some strong hitting nights but the starting pitching being a crap shoot most nights, I would think a strong bullpen would be nice to keep together to maybe squeak out a few more wins and hopefully give the young position players something to be excited about.
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Jul 31, 2010 18:07:57 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Jul 31, 2010 18:07:57 GMT -5
I agree wholeheartedly. I could see trading Carrasco coz he was part of a good trade & wanted out anyway. The other deals make sense only if they pave the way for Moskos to come up. But Moskos ain't coming up.
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Post by terry on Aug 1, 2010 1:40:11 GMT -5
Will Evan Meek assume the closer role?
Chris Snyder looks to be a good pick-up.
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Post by Joe on Aug 1, 2010 9:24:36 GMT -5
Will Evan Meek assume the closer role? They haven't anointed a closer yet, only to say that the job will be shared by Meek & Hanrahan, based on match-ups. Personally, I like this approach. I never understood why managers make pitching moves based on match-ups thru-out the whole game, then get to the 9th inning & put the same guy out there, regardless of who's up, & sit on their hands watching him succeed or fail. Also, I once read that teams leading after 8 innings will win 99.1% of the time when the closer pitches the 9th, 98.5% of the time when somebody else pitches the 9th. So it makes no sense for a small market team to create a high salary position that makes such a miniscule difference. That said, a closer will probably be anointed next spring.
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Pirates
Aug 5, 2010 19:36:05 GMT -5
Post by Miss Dee on Aug 5, 2010 19:36:05 GMT -5
The new pitcher McDonald is looking pretty good so far.
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Pirates
Aug 5, 2010 19:40:17 GMT -5
Post by Iron Rich on Aug 5, 2010 19:40:17 GMT -5
The new pitcher McDonald is looking pretty good so far. Give him time. He will learn how to pitch like a Pirate.
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Aug 7, 2010 11:14:32 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Aug 7, 2010 11:14:32 GMT -5
The kid threw a lotta first-pitch strikes, & followed up most of those with second-pitch strikes. This rather than constantly pitching behind in the count. What a concept, huh?
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Aug 8, 2010 12:51:13 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Aug 8, 2010 12:51:13 GMT -5
Pirates fired coaches Joe Kerrigan & Gary Varsho today!
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Pirates
Aug 8, 2010 17:25:43 GMT -5
Post by Miss Dee on Aug 8, 2010 17:25:43 GMT -5
Pirates fired coaches Joe Kerrigan & Gary Varsho today! That's a start. Pitching still sucked a lot today.
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Joe
Victim
I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day.
Posts: 540
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Pirates
Aug 9, 2010 19:39:41 GMT -5
Post by Joe on Aug 9, 2010 19:39:41 GMT -5
The pitchers certainly didn't improve under Kerrigan's watch as advertised, & may have even regressed, so at least his firing had some merit for baseball reasons. However, the papers said that the firings were made for "loyalty" reasons & cite attempts by Kerrigan & Varsho to undermine Russell on a few occasions.
With that in mind, I submit my own amateur expert analysis, featuring points that you won't see in any of the local papers or sportcasts.
Kerrigan is a noted backstabber & this fact shoulda been known when he was hired. When he was Red Sox pitching coach in 2001, he conspired with the front office to have the manager fired & himself promoted to the position, even tho' it was late in the season & the team was contending. In Joe Torre's recent book, The Yankee Years, he speaks of Kerrigan's tenure as his bullpen coach, which included Kerrigan placing nightly phone calls to GM Cashman & lying about it when confronted by Torre. Kerrigan's Yankee tenure was also marred by incidents where he went out to the bars with the players, often brawling with them after a few drinks. Torre does acknowledge that the guy busts his ass studying video, compiling stats, & creating game plans. Still he's a guy with many off-field issues.
A few weeks ago Ron Cook wrote a column praising Varsho for regularly contacting Jim Leyland on the phone & picking his brain on strategy. Of course, Cook worships at the altar of Leyland & tries to include him in his columns periodically, even when he's not in the news, so naturally there was no questioning of this relationship. But it struck me as very odd that a bench coach was consulting with a manager on another team. I can see a manager consulting with another manager, perhaps one he played for, but a bench coach? The only manager that a bench coach should be consulting with is his own. I had to wonder whether Varsho had the same managerial aspirations & backstabbing tendencies as Kerrigan. And now I think I know.
This has been a Mr. Baseball commentary exclusive to this web site.
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Pirates
Aug 10, 2010 6:20:23 GMT -5
Post by terry on Aug 10, 2010 6:20:23 GMT -5
From Joe " This has been a Mr. Baseball commentary exclusive to this web site. "
Makes for good reading :-)
Heck, I remember Joe Kerrigan as a relief pitcher for the Expos, back in the 70's. Never knew he's grow up to be a back-stabbing EX-pitching coach.
Could you imagine his next MLB job interview?
Team official: Mr.Kerrigan, we have an opening for a pitching coach. What do you bring to the table, that would make us want to hire you?
Joe Kerrigan: I've coached for years, and helped lots of pitchers, I watch videos, and know how to correct a pitcher's mechanics...and if you need some inside info, about what goes on, out of the public eye, I can squeal with the best of them!
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Pirates
Aug 10, 2010 17:18:25 GMT -5
Post by Miss Dee on Aug 10, 2010 17:18:25 GMT -5
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