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I will return soon.]]> 2 April 2009 12:41:30 EDT story on MLB's website.

I will catch up with the remaining three pieces on my Opening Day Predictions tomorrow. I have been busier than expected this week. I have all day tomorrow to work on it, so I will.]]> 5 February 2009 18:19:21 EST Opening Day Roster Predictions is a five-part series where I will predict and discuss who I feel should be taking the field on the 25-man roster come Opening Day in April.

In the second installment of this series I will discuss my predictions for the five starting rotation spots. I would like to start out by saying that in my opinion the Pirates currently do not have a player who fits the normal "ace" description. I am not trying to take anything away from Paul Maholm, as he did excel as the top of our staff last season, but he is not your normal top of the rotation pitcher.

With that in mind, I am going to make my last effort at persuading management to make an offer to right-handed free-agent Ben Sheets. Every day Ben is not signed, his stock is going down and he becomes more and more of a bargain. He wants a two-year or more offer and no team out there seems to want to give him that offer.

The Pirates rotation is really young (all 27 years of age or younger) and could benefit greatly from having a quality veteran guy like Ben Sheets. Sheets was the National League starting pitcher at last year's All-Star game and has also made 3 other All-Star appearances in his 8 year career. He has a lifetime 3.72 ERA and went 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers last year.

Now, offer him a 2-year $20 million deal and add an escalator clause to reach $25 million if he stays healthy. To those saying he wouldn't even consider playing for the Pirates, at this point he will look at anything that gets him back on the field for a price closer to what he's looking for. It wouldn't be a permanent fit and would only be a bargain stop-gap till players like Brad Lincoln and Bryan Morris are ready. When ready trade Ben Sheets away to a contending team for prospects. If we were to sign Ben this off-season, our rotation would look more normal with a real top of the rotation pitcher in Ben Sheets, followed by Ian Snell and Paul Maholm.

Anyway with that off my chest, here is more realistically what the 2009 rotation will look like: Ian Snell, Paul Maholm, Tom Gorzelanny, Zach Duke, Jeff Karstens.

Ian Snell, 27, looks to rebound after a difficult 2008 season, where he went 7-12, with a 5.42 ERA. Snell has a lot of good pitching traits, but most importantly he shows no fear on the mound. He is not afraid to throw against any hitter out there. Ryan Howard at the plate? No problem. He has a fastball that reaches well into the mid-90's, as well as a decent curve ball. Once he learns better command of his pitches, he will be an excellent pitcher. I see Ian once again becoming the leader and staff ace by the end of the season.

Paul Maholm, 26, looks to continue what he started last season as the Pirates current go to guy. Last year Paul went 9-9, with a 3.71 ERA. His biggest asset was his consistency to have control of his pitches. He was able to throw any number of his pitches (fastball, change-up, curve, slider) for first-pitch strikes. That is a huge plus for a Major League pitcher. Paul is doing his best to fill in the top of the rotation for us, as he typically would be a middle of the rotation pitcher.

Tom Gorzelanny, 26, had a real difficult 2008 as he was demoted down to AAA for an extended period of time before rejoining the club. His struggles might have been due to him being overused down the stretch of the 2007 season by Jim Tracy, but I look for him to turn it around this year. He is much healthier now and has a great arsenal of pitches. He has a nasty slider and a great change-up. Tom just needs to settle in with more first-pitch strikes and avoid that one blow-up inning.

Zach Duke, 25, was yet another one of our young pitchers who just absolutely blew-up last season. He was 5-14, with 4.82 ERA in 31 starts. It seemed like he got lit-up a lot in the first innings of the game but was able to settle down the second go around on hitters. He has been the topic of discussion this off-season and Joe Kerrigan has been working with him quite a bit. Duke doesn't tend to over power hitters with his fastball, which tops out at 93 MPH, but he has a wicked curveball. If he could set up pitches better and get more strike outs, he would see a vast improvement in his numbers.

The last rotation spot will likely come down between Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens. They both are 26 years of age and came from the Yankees organization during the Nady-Marte deal. Both are back-of-the rotation starters and also could be effective relievers. As I mentioned above, I would rather see Karstens be the one getting the starts in the 5th rotation spot and have Ohlendorf moved to the bullpen.

After being acquired by the Pirates at the end of July, Jeff Karstens started out 2-0 in August, with 15 scoreless innings. After that he seemed to fall apart, but everyone in Pittsburgh had already saw his potential. He nearly pitched a perfect game in Arizona in just his second start in a Pirates uniform. Jeff went 7 perfect innings before surrendering a double in the bottom of the 8th. He finished that game only allowing 2 hits and a walk, in a complete game shut-out to the Diamondbacks.

That wraps up the Pirates rotation discussion. Be sure to stop by later today as I will discuss the bullpen options for 2009.

*I apologize for being a day late with this discussion, as I was caught up with work for my classes.

Photo: Getty Images]]> 4 Feb 2009 00:38:54 EST Opening Day Roster Predictions is a five-part series where I will predict and discuss who I feel should be taking the field on the 25-man roster come Opening Day in April.

Today is the first part in the series and I will discuss my predictions for who should fill out the eight starting positions in the field. The end of last year is a good place to start, as most of those players will be regaining the position they had. Here are the players I feel should be your 2009 starters:

C: Ryan Doumit
1B: Adam LaRoche
2B: Freddy Sanchez
3B: Andy LaRoche
SS: Jack Wilson
LF: Brandon Moss
CF: Nate McLouth
RF: Steve Pearce

All those players are pretty much a lock at their positions (barring any unforeseen circumstances during Spring Training), except maybe my choice of Steve Pearce as our starting right fielder. Some might also disagree with Andy LaRoche, but right now he is our best option. He has a lot to prove, but I feel he will make a much better impression on everyone this season. Let's start off by discussing the right field situation.

Throughout the off-season, management has stated that Nyjer Morgan will most likely be your everyday right fielder at the start of the season. I respectfully disagree with that decision. I briefly touched on this in a post last week, but we are going to discuss this a little farther.

can argue, that so far in the majors Nyjer has been the better player at the plate, but the number of at bats for both players is so small that that is almost meaningless. Now, if we take a look at each Nyjer Morgan and Steve Pearce's minor league statistics we can get a better idea of how they will do in the majors.

Steve Pearce had two seasons in the minors where he hit 40 doubles and he had two seasons where he hit over 95 RBIs. Those kinds of numbers are what you would like to see from a corner outfield spot. Plus doubles are usually a good indication of power, which converts to HRs at the major league level.

Nyjer Morgan on the other hand, is more of singles hitter. Sure he had a decent average throughout the minors, but he barely hits the ball over the outfielder's head. One other thing I don't like about Nyer is his inability to run decent routes to the ball in the outfield. I just get the feeling he doesn't know what he is doing out there.

That is why I chose to put Steve Pearce starting instead of Nyjer Morgan. Now, unless management sees something that I don't see and can only be fixed with more work in the minors, there is absolutely no reason not to start Steve Pearce. Nyjer can still be a key part to our team, as he provides a lot of speed, but I do not feel he contributes enough at the plate to be a starting corner outfielder. We will discuss more options with Nyjer Morgan during our bench post Thursday.

Photo: Getty Images]]> 2 Feb 2009 11:06:50 EST Wow, what a game. I don't think you could of asked for much more in that game if you were a Steeler fan. Maybe you would of liked to see Willie Parker bust for a big run, but other than that this game had it all.

James Harrison busted out 100-yard INT return for TD to end the first half. Larry Fitzgerald was just remarkable out there. Then, of course Big Ben led a last minute drive, capped by an amazing catch by Santonio Holmes, which left 35 seconds left on the clock. Unbelievable! Santonio was named MVP of the game after that TD.

Congratulations to the Steelers as they become the first franchise to reach 6 Super Bowl Titles. Also congrats to Mike Tomlin for becoming the youngest coach in Super Bowl history to win the big game.

Photo: ESPN]]> 2 Feb 2009 10:37:46 EST As everyone is well aware, today belongs solely to the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they try to become the first NFL franchise to reach six Super Bowl wins. If... When they come away with the victory, Mike Tomlin will also become the youngest coach to win the big game.

Twenty of the Steelers players from Super Bowl XL will be returning to try and capture their second victory in black & gold. I know Ben would like to play better than his last one, but he's the type of guy that gets the job done no matter how ugly his stat line looks. He's always making that last minute drive, if necessary.

Hines Ward, Super Bowl XL MVP, was injured in the AFC Championship game so he will be playing at 80%. The thing is, his 80% is everyone else 120% so I am not worried.

I am going to predict that Nate Washington will have a big game and the Steelers win 24-14.

Let's go Steelers!

Photo: Getty Images]]> 1 Feb 2009 12:41:20 EST With every passing day, the MLB season is quickly crawling back up on us. The off-season is slowly coming to a close, even though there are a surprisingly large number of free-agents still available. Manny Ramirez... anyone out there still want him? Anyway, I personally can't wait for Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report in Bradenton, Florida in a little over 12 days!

Before Spring Training begins, I would like to get my predictions out there as to who I think should make the opening day 25-man roster in April. I am going to break this little series into 5 separate posts, so I am able to provide a little detail without throwing too much information at you at one time. Plus, it gives me time to do some research. The series will run everyday next week.

The five categories I will cover are the position players, the rotation, the bullpen, the bench, and then I will conclude with a wrap-up of where I feel the rest of the people on the 40-man roster will end up. The first post will be made starting Monday, February 2nd, after the Steelers beat the Cardinals and win their record 6th Super Bowl ring Sunday! The complete schedule for the mini-series will be as follows:

Mon, Feb 2: Position Players
Tue, Feb 3: Rotation
Wed, Feb 4: Bullpen
Thu, Feb 5: Bench
Fri, Feb 6: Wrap-Up

The series begins Monday so be sure to check back to see who I feel should be taking the field for your 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Photo: Getty Images]]> 31 Jan 2009 16:08:41 EST The news came quicker than I thought. Late last night the Pirates announced that T.J. Beam was designated for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster for newly acquired Eric Hinske.

Beam was not one of the players I had guessed that would be designated for assignment. Again I thought either Jesse Chavez, Dave Davidson, or Romulo Sanchez would of got the cut before Beam. However, Beam was a few years older than those guys.

T.J. Beam, 27, had a fairly decent 2009, but I guess management saw something else. He compiled a 4.14 ERA in 32 games last season. That is decent over 45 2/3 innings, but his K/BB ratio was not so hot. He struck out 24 batters, but then walked 20. That usually is a good indicator that he wasn't getting the job done on the mound.

The Pirates now have 10 days to release, trade or waive T.J. Beam for assignment. Beam will definitely be placed on waivers with the hope that he clears and can be assigned to Class AAA Indianapolis. I don't seem him making it back to us, he is probably going to be picked up by some club.

Photo: Getty Images]]> 31 Jan 2009 13:08:52 EST Well, it's official. Both, top Pirate pitcher Paul Maholm and versatile free-agent Eric Hinske, have passed their physicals in Pittsburgh. Their signings were both announced today at a press conference that was held at 2 PM.

No official word has been reported yet on who will be getting the boot from the 40 man roster, in order to make room for Hinske, but I expect an announcement to be probably made early next week. My guess would either be Jesse Chavez, Dave Davidson, or Romulo Sanchez.

Paul Maholm, like Ryan Doumit, was very humble and grateful for his multi-year deal. Paul signed a 3-year $14.5 million contract extension, which takes him through the rest of his arbitration years and possibly a 4th year, his first year as a free-agent. Paul will make $3.5 million in 2009, $4.5 million in 2010, $5.75 million in 2011, and has a $9.75 million club option for 2012 (first year of his free agency). The buyout for his club option is $750,000.

Eric Hinske was also proud about his signing, as he is able to make a maximum of $2.5 million in 2009. He looks forward to having the opportunity to provide the Pirates with his versatility of playing multiple positions. Again, he will be able to back up Adam LaRoche at 1B, as well as play some 3B, and possibly start out the season as our 3rd outfielder at left and right.

interesting thing to note is that Eric Hinske was on both the Boston Red Sox World Series team in 2007, as well as the Tampa Bay Rays last season in the World Series. Who knows... maybe the Pirates in 2009!

Photo: Getty Images]]> 30 Jan 2009 17:00:56 EST Today has definitely been one of the bigger days for the Pirates this off-season. They were able to ink not only Paul Maholm to a 3-year extension, but now also ink Eric Hinske. A little after 5:00 PM it was reported that the Pirates and Eric Hinske have come to terms on a one-year deal. The contract details are not all available as Hinske, like Maholm, still needs to pass a physical by the end of the week.

The base salary according to Dejan looks to be around $1.5 million with $1 million in possible performance bonuses. Those bonuses are most likely going to be determined based on the number of plate appearances for Hinske in 2009.

Eric Hinske, 30, will be a big help for the Bucs as he can be shifted all over the corner positions (LF, RF, 3B, and 1B). He is a very versatile player in the field and has a strong presence at the plate as well. He has a lot of pop and will bring some power to the Bucs bench. Last season, he provided the Rays with 20 HRs. He also had one big home-run. Maybe you remember? It came in the World Series. His celebration can be seen in the picture to the right.

This is an excellent pick-up for the Pirates, as I have mentioned. A base salary of $1.5 million is nothing for the insurance Eric will provide from the bench / fourth outfielder. Keep up the good plan front office. I support you.

Unfortunately this means the door is all but closed for Doug Mientkiewicz. Lets hope the blog world doesn't go crazy. Yes, Doug was a great presence in our clubhouse. He was a great leader. Yes, for a while I blogged and had a man crush and wanted the guy to be resigned, but Eric was the better choice. Eric is younger and hits for more power. If this is good-bye Doug, thank you for giving us everything you had every game you played for us. Good luck in the future, keep playing hard.

Photo: Getty Images]]> 29 Jan 2009 21:41:30 EST