http://www.sportsnipe.com Pittsburgh Pirates, Team News, Updates, and Stats from all sports sources, updated continually. http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1048025/rule-5-possibilities.html Now that teams are starting to finalize their rosters prior to today's deadline, I thought it might be fun to create a thread and look at some of the players who will be available to us in this year's Rule 5 draft. We'll be picking second in the draft order, and as such, should have a good opportunity to come away with a useful talent (or two?). Here are some of the options I like - please add your own in the comments. I'll try to add more to my list periodically, time permitting, though I'm going to be out of town for most of this weekend. Yohan Pino , RHSP, 6'3'', 158 lbs, born 12/26/83, Cleveland's system. A Venezuelan originally signed by the Twins , Pino was traded to the Indians in the Carl Pavano deal last year. His fastball only reaches the high 80s, and he lacks the physical projection to add any more velocity, but he's got a good curve and slider and strong command of all his pitches. He misses bats (8.1 career K/9), doesn't give many free passes (2.2 career BB/9), and keeps the ball in the park (0.7 HR/9) despite being a flyball pitcher. He's been primarily used as a starter, but also has some experience in relief, and could handle either role. His health record is largely clean - there was some trouble with one of his feet in 2008, but it doesn't seem to have had any lasting effects. Finesse pitchers sometimes experience diminishing returns with promotion, but I think Pino is a fairly good bet to succeed in the majors, insofar as his component rates have remained strong against more advanced competition (8.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 in 127 IP this year, mostly at AAA). He does not have a star-level ceiling, which might turn off a front office that reached for the sky with Veal last year, but I think he could do well at the back end of a rotation or in a bullpen for a number of years, and he would be useful right away. Aneury Rodriguez , RHSP, 6'3", 180 lbs, born 12/13/1987, Tampa Bay's system. Like Pino, Rodriguez was dealt by his original team in 2009, moving from the Rockies to the Rays in exchange for Jason Hammel early in the year. He has better raw stuff than Pino, however, with a fastball that's already in the low 90s and some projection remaining on his frame. He also has a good curveball, and a fairly advanced feel for a changeup for a pitcher of his age (which is not necessarily the same thing as having a functional change for MLB, of course). He maintains a good strikeout rate (career 8.0 K/9) and is solid on walks (career 3.1 BB/9) and home runs (career 0.9 HR/9) despite flyball tendencies. He has been used exclusively as a starter in his pro career, though some scouts see him as a potential bullpen option, and his health record is clean. Rodriguez has more upper-minors experience than some "live arm" picks, having spent all of 2009 in the rotation of AA Montgomery, but at this point he is probably not ready to compete in the majors, and would likely need to be hidden in a Vogelsong-type role of multi-inning low-leverage situations. He has some weaknesses typical of young pitchers, including a tendency to overthrow, and he could be frustrating to watch next season. Still, he has the potential to be a relatively high-value option down the road, occupying a spot in our rotation in late 2011 or 2012. Cole Rohrbough , LHSP, 6'3'', 205 lbs., born 5/23/87, Atlanta's system. One of the last high-priced draft-and-follow players before the system was abolished, Rohrbough signed for $675,000 as a 22nd-round pick out of Western Nevada College in 2006 - second-round money at the time. He has a low-to-mid-90s fastball, a big curveball that can be a killer when it's on, and a changeup that's a work in progress. He was regarded as one of Atlanta's top prospects coming into 2009, but had inconsistent mechanics, which led to inconsistent command of his pitches. He also experienced some shoulder soreness last year, though no injury was found, and it was attributed to tendinitis. His rate stats were sound, though not exceptional, with the walk rate (3.7 BB/9) being the biggest concern. His ERA, while ugly, was much higher than those component rates would suggest. Rohrbough is fairly raw, with no experience above A+ and inconsistent mechanics. He would probably need to be hidden like Veal was last year. There's a fairly high chance that he'll be a bust, but there's also a very high ceiling here - he could be a front-of-the-rotation starter if everything goes right. The team's success with a similar type of pitcher in Veal last year may encourage them to go back to the same well once more with Rohrbough, and we certainly have a need for lefty power arms. John Raynor , R/R CF, 6'2'', 185 lbs., born 1/4/84, Florida's system. A 9th-round pick out of UNC-Wilmington in 2006, Raynor was the Sally League MVP in 2007. He's one of the fastest players in the minors - timed at 6.3 in the 60 yard dash, with 141 stolen bases in only 418 career games, at a career success rate of 83%. He's mostly played left field, due to a weak throwing arm and some questionable defensive instincts, but could potentially play center with continued improvement. With the bat in his hands, he leverages his foot speed to hit for a good average (.298 career), and can pop a decent number of line drives. He has holes in his swing, however, leading to a fairly high K rate, and he'll probably never have much over-the-fence power. Raynor played at AAA in 2009 and struggled, posting a .255/.326/.357 raw line at New Orleans. His batting average on balls in play this year was significantly below his career norms, however, suggesting that luck may have been partially responsible for his poor performance. He had been dominant in both 2007 and 2008, but was a little bit old for his leagues, so the performance might need to be discounted somewhat. To further complicate matters analytically, he broke a bone in his hand playing in the AFL after the 2008 season, which may have dragged down his 2009 numbers. The Pirates don't have a crying need for outfielders, but you never say "no" to talent, and it's not a ludicrous fit. Our backup CF from last season (Salazar) is a free agent, and Gorkys is probably at least a year away from being ready for the majors. We could carry Raynor as our fifth outfielder and use him as a PH/PR, a caddy for Cutch, and a late-inning defensive replacement if Garrett Jones ends up as the starting RF. In time, he could develop into a Nyjer-like player if everything goes right, though he'll need to put in a lot of work for that to happen. The 2010 CHONE projection for Raynor is a .247/.324/.359 line. To be continued... Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1042818/mlb-notebook-lincecum-captures-2nd-cy-young-in-row.html Tim Lincecum needed just 15 wins to bag another NL Cy Young Award. Throw out those old baseball cards. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1042817/pirates-enter-free-agency-cautiously.html The Pirates enter the opening of free-agent season today as patient, prudent investors in pursuit of a bat and bullpen arms. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041220/john-grabow-agrees-to-resign-cubs.html More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP 6 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates' John Grabow, right, and Robinson Diaz high-five after the Pirates' 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres in a baseball game in San Diego, Sunday, April 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi) Browse more photos » For two years and $7 million or more, which is a good, if not completely unreasonable, chunk of change for him. (Grabow made $2.3 million in 2009, his last year of arbitration.) If the reports about Jason Bay rejecting a $60 million deal from the usually-pretty-circumspect Red Sox are also accurate, we could be looking at a surprisingly robust free agent market this winter. It's been interesting to see so many former Pirates quickly re-sign with their new teams--first Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson, and now Grabow. After you leave the Pirates, going anywhere else must seem fantastic. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041219/jose-tabata-goes-6for7-in-arizona-fall-league-game.html Insanity. Jose Tabata is now 6-for-6 with two doubles in Scottsdale's game against the Peoria Javelinas. Also, Chase D'Arnaud has reached base five times in the game. Scottsdale leads 17-8. None of the Pirates' pitchers have entered the game, fortunately.  Tabata is now hitting .395 in the AFL. His status as a prospect has improved a bunch in the past few weeks. I want to say that it's time to start getting excited, but I don't want to jinx it. UPDATE: He finished 6-for-7, his batting average back to .392. Unacceptable! Back to the batting cages, Jose. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041218/baseball-prospectus-minor-league-free-agents.html Baseball Prospectus: Minor League Free Agents It's subscription-only, unfortunately. This is a nifty writeup of the available minor league free agents. Picking up strikeout-and-walk guy Alexander Smit, formerly of the Reds, and turning him into a full-time reliever seems like the sort of thing Neal Huntington might do. The minor league free agent list includes a couple of other interesting, and semi-familiar, names. One is Ryan Shealy, the former Rockies minor leaguer who many of us wanted the Bucs to trade for before Adam LaRoche arrived. He missed most of the last season with an injury, but I still hold out hope that there's some hitting ability in there--he has always hit well in Class AAA, and he was awesome in brief duty for the Royals in 2008. The Pirates still need help at the corners, and Shealy has as good a chance as anybody of being next year's Garrett Jones. Another interesting guy is Ruben Gotay, who was actually in Spring Training with the Pirates earlier this year. It's kind of a shame he didn't stick, because he ended up having an amazing OBP-heavy season for the Diamondbacks' Class AAA affiliate in Reno. He's defensively limited, but he could probably play the Ramon Vazquez role better than Vazquez himself, and the Pirates have a lot of instability in their infield. (Trivia: the Pirates acquired Ruben's uncle, Julio, in 1962 in the trade that sent Dick Groat to the Cardinals.) Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040593/bay-rejects-60m-over-4-years.html Bay rejects $60M over 4 years I am not sure he will get more than $15M per, although I guess he wants more years. My first reaction was, it will never happen. My second reaction is, it probably will, and someone is going to regret it two years down the line. Fenway Park fits Bay very well, and I m not sure what signing elsewhere is going to do for him. So who do people think is the likeliest to dole out Alfonso Soriano-esque stupid money for Bay for his age-32 season onward? I have a feeling the RedSox could up their offer, but I don't see them adding more than 1 year. The Cubs? if they can get rid of Bradley's contract? Angels? Yanks? Mets? Braves? Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040592/bay-rejects-60m-over-4-years.html Bay rejects $60M over 4 years I am not sure he will get more than $15M per, although I guess he wants more years. My first reaction was, it will never happen. My second reaction is, it probably will, and someone is going to regret it two years down the line. Fenway Park fits Bay very well, and I m not sure what signing elsewhere is going to do for him. So who do people think is the likeliest to dole out Alfonso Soriano-esque stupid money for Bay for his age-32 season onward? I have a feeling the RedSox could up their offer, but I don't see them adding more than 1 year. The Cubs? if they can get rid of Bradley's contract? Angels? Yanks? Mets? Braves? Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1035879/tracy-scioscia-earn-managers-top-honor.html The Los Angeles Angels could have crumbled when pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident in April, overcome by waves of grief and sadness. Mike Scioscia kept them moving forward. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1035878/pirates-hire-steve-williams-as-major-league-scout.html Pirates hire Steve Williams as Major League scout Williams, 45, most recently served the Kansas City Royals as their Assistant Director of Scouting, a position he held since August 15, 2006. Prior to joining the Royals, Williams worked for the Detroit Tigers as their Midwest Scouting Supervisor (2000-01) and East Coast Supervisor (2002-06), overseeing a territory from Maine to Puerto Rico. His scouting career began when he served as an area scout with the Minnesota Twins from 1988 to 1995. Williams also worked for the Toronto Blue Jays as their Midwest Area Scout from 1995-99, covering a seven-state region. Williams was the scout who originally signed Mike Trombley and Orlando Hudson, among other players. He worked under current Pirates scouting director Greg Smith from 2000-2004, when Smith held that same position with the Tigers, and under current Pirates special assistant Larry Corrigan from 1992-1993, when Corrigan was scouting director for the Twins. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1035877/quotchase-darnaud-does-everything-well-enoughquot-said-american-league-scout-quothe-doesnt-have-s.html "[Chase D'Arnaud] does everything well enough," said an American League scout. "He doesn?t have a standout tool, but he has some bat speed and he can square it up. He?s got gap power, but he can turn on one and hit it out." [...] Added another AL scout: "He has to not get out on his front side so much, but he?s strong for his size. He drifts out on his front side but he has such good hands that he can make up for it." "AFL Notebook: D?Arnaud Does It All", Baseball America, Ben Badler Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1032158/jim-tracy-baby-nl-manager-year.html Jim Tracy, Baby! NL Manager of the Year! Also, Mike Scioscia received the AL award. If the opinions on the ROY were strong, I expect stronger reactions on Tracy's award. Unfortunately, even if what happened with the Rockies was just a case of Tracy taking over when a good team was getting hot, it's hard to argue with that record when the team was (what?) a dozen games below .500 when he took over... Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1031107/tracy-scioscia-win-manager-year-awards-ap.html Jim Tracy of Colorado won the NL Manager of the Year award on Wednesday and Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels was selected for the AL honor. Tracy became the second manager to win the award after taking over during the season, joining Jack McKeon for Florida in 2003. Tracy received 29 first-place votes and two seconds for 151 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of... Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1030192/journeyman-jones-gets-shot-to-shine.html Journeyman Jones gets shot to shine Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1024384/pirates-minor-leaguers-become-free-agents.html A bunch of Pirates minor leaguers have become free agents. Indulge your inner minor-league geek here: Pittsburgh Pitchers: RHP Jason Davis, RHP Eric Hacker, LHP Corey Hamman, RHP Lincoln Holdzkom, RHP Jorge Julio, LHP Bobby Livingston, RHP Juan Mateo,  RHP Scott Nestor, RHP Jeremy Powell, RHP Dionis Rodriguez, RHP Ty Taubenheim, RHP Virgil Vasquez Catchers: Hector Gimenez, Steven Lerud, Miguel Perez, Milver Reyes, Steven Suarez Infielders: Chris Barnwell, Josh Bonifay, Tagg Bozied, Larry Broadway, Ray Chang, Angel Gonzalez, Pedro Lopez, Brian Myrow, Jamie Romak Outfielders: Victor Igsema, Jonel Pacheco This list includes a few vaguely interesting guys: Eric Hacker came over from the Yankees in exchange for Romulo Sanchez and made his big league debut late this year after performing rather disappointingly at Indianapolis. Still, he'd be nice to have around this year. Juan Mateo has a good performance record and has been a good soldier for the past couple years in Altoona and Indianapolis; it was mildly strange that he never got a chance with the Pirates when it seemed like every player on the Indy staff was getting a callup. Steve Lerud has been just off the prospect radar forever; he's now 25, hasn't realized the bit of power potential he seemed to have, and can't hit for average. Too bad; lefty catchers with power have lots of value. Tagg Bozied and Brian Myrow were among the most talented hitters at Indianapolis this year and many projection systems rate them fairly highly, but they're older minor league vets and will be lucky to get another chance in the big leagues no matter where they end up. I had hopes for Jamie Romak who, until Pedro Alvarez arrived, was probably the best power prospect in the Pirates' system, but he quashed them with a horrible year at Altoona and then Lynchburg. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1018202/pirates-award-tradition-remains-rich.html Pirates' award tradition remains rich Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1017375/nl-rookie-year-chris-coghlan.html NL Rookie of the Year: Chris Coghlan McCutchen got a total of 7 votes, 2 first place, 5 second place. Garrett Jones got 2 third place votes. (This is out of a total of 32 ballots.) UPDATE by Charlie: What a silly pick. Not only is it pretty hard to defend on its merits (Coghlan's defense in left was pretty bad, which makes his offensive performance less interesting), and not only is Coghlan not a very exciting player, but this pick has a great chance of ending up in history's dustbin once the baseball gods realize that Coghlan isn't really a .320 hitter and start making his balls in play disappear into fielders' gloves. It's a real drag that the voters picked him when they could have chosen a player like Tommy Hanson or McCutchen who not only happened to be better than Coghlan but also has a shot at an excellent career. Not that we've come to expect much from the voters. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1010368/pirates-face-40man-roster-decisions-this-week.html 40-man rosters have to be set by Friday, so expect some fun stuff to happen this week. The Bucs currently have 36 players on their 40-man roster. That doesn't include Jose Ascanio and Evan Meek, who will both need to be protected by Friday. The Pirates will also have to decide whether to include a number of minor leaguers, any of whom could be selected in the Rule 5 draft in December if they aren't protected: Brad Lincoln, Gorkys Hernandez, Bryan Morris, Ramon Aguero, Casey Erickson, Michael Dubee, Shelby Ford, Jim Negrych, Kris Watts Of these, I'd say Lincoln and Hernandez are no-brainers. Morris is a tricky case; scouts like him a lot and the Pirates certainly paid a pretty penny to get him, but the performance record so far hasn't been there, and it's very hard to see how he could stick on another team's 25-man roster for the entire year. WTM is a big fan of Aguero, a reliever who spent time with West Virginia, Lynchburg and Altoona last year. Aguero had a nice season in 2009 and has followed that up with a good showing in the Dominican Winter League, but I'm agnostic here. He's almost 25, so he's not a great prospect. Every year the Pirates protect these sorts of marginal pitchers, mostly relievers--Jeff Sues, Dave Davidson, Romulo Sanchez, Luis Munoz, Olivo Astacio, Ronald Belisario, and so on--and never do they seem to get anything out of them. (Ok, Astacio was released because of behavioral issues, and Belisario blossomed with the Dodgers, but still.) The problem with Aguero is that he'd be easier than Morris to hide on a big-league roster for a year, and because he played well this year and has good stuff, there would be reason for a team who selected him to hope he wouldn't end up hurting them too badly. I'd probably protect him, but I don't think we should expect much from him in the long haul. The other guys, though at least vaguely intriguing, can probably be left off. Erickson is too far from the majors, Dubee doesn't have great stuff, and Ford and Negrych haven't shown enough in the minors. (Negrych might have some vague chance of being taken in the Rule 5 and used as a bench bat.) Watts is only a nominal prospect because he's a catcher. So let's say three spots will be needed for Lincoln, Hernandez and Aguero, and possibly a fourth for Morris. The Pirates would probably also prefer to leave one spot for their own Rule 5 pick, although they can also dump someone later to make room.  All this means that probably a couple of players will be dumped from the roster this week. Of those, Sues, Anthony Claggett, Justin Thomas, Brian Bixler, and Luis Cruz would all be potential candidates. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1004562/mlb-notebook-coachs-mental-state-at-ease.html Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu talked with bullpen coach John Wetteland Friday and said he believes that all the talk Thursday about suicide and mental health issues were highly Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/999129/mlb-notebook-mariners-sign-wilson-to-2year-10m-deal.html Shortstop Jack Wilson and the Seattle Mariners agreed yesterday to a $10 million, two-year contract. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/999128/chase-darnaud-gets-hot-in-arizona-fall-league.html Chase D'Arnaud went 3-for-4 for Scottsdale today, raising his Arizona Fall League average to .286. He got off to a slow start, but he's come on very strong recently, hitting .393 in his last seven games. Given his lack of experience in the high minors, his line so far (.286/.370/.397, with eight steals and only one CS) is solid. One strange thing I just noticed, and normally I think these Player A / Player B games are a bit silly, but this one's interesting: Chase D'Arnaud, SS, age 22 Class A 213 AB .291/.394/.427 14 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 30 BB, 31 K, 17 SB, 3 CSClass A+ 210 AB .295/.402/.481 19 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 30 BB, 41 K, 14 SB, 5 CS Player B, SS, age 22 Class A 274 AB .299/.414/.522 18 2B, 5 3B, 11 HR, 51 BB, 61 K, 29 SB, 8 CSClass A+ 201 AB .308/.422/.418 10 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 36 BB, 43 K, 24 SB, 5 CS Can you guess who Player B is (without hunting)? The answer is after the jump. The two players have very similar skillsets: average, plate discipline, a bit of power, and speed. They also played at the same levels, at roughly the same ages. They also put up these seasons one year after being drafted in the fourth round by the Pirates. Player B is Brent Lillibridge, so I predict that PECOTA will have a huge crush on D'Arnaud, and we'll all get more excited about him in around March. A couple points about this: 1) Lillibridge obviously hasn't worked out, but there are a couple reasons to hope that D'Arnaud won't suffer the same fate. First, D'Arnaud was about five months younger than Lillibridge when they put up those numbers; that's not much, but it's something. Second, and much more importantly, D'Arnaud's lower strikeout rate bodes well. It's not like Lillibridge was Mark Reynolds, but it's hard, even for a fast guy like Lillibridge, to keep putting up good batting averages while striking out as much as Lillibridge did in the low minors. Strikeouts were a big issue for Lillibridge in college as well. D'Arnaud doesn't have that problem. 2) It's telling that after Lillibridge's 2006 season, he was probably the fourth-best prospect in the organization, behind Andrew McCutchen, Brad Lincoln and Neil Walker. Now, D'Arnaud's very similar season places him somewhere around #10. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/998637/productive-darnaud-ignoring-afl-stats.html Productive d'Arnaud ignoring AFL stats Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/997223/fox-sports-pirates-brewers-discussed-ryan-doumit-jj-hardy.html More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP 3 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit, back, turns to apply a late tag as Colorado Rockies' Clint Barmes scores on double by Seth Smith in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Browse more photos » First things first: treat this with a grain of salt for now. The fact that the Post-Gazette reported that the Bucs offered Matt Capps for J.J. Hardy but didn't mention that the Pirates and Brewers also discussed a Ryan Doumit-for-Hardy swap makes this report from FOXSports.com seem a bit strange to me. Nonetheless, it's interesting: It's becoming very clear that Ryan Doumit is available on the trade market. The Pirates were engaged in talks with the Brewers earlier this offseason about a trade that would have sent Doumit to Milwaukee for shortstop J.J. Hardy, major league sources said Friday. But Milwaukee preferred to use Hardy as the trade chip to acquire a starting center fielder, Carlos Gomez, from the Twins. Hardy and Doumit have comparable contracts, which would have aided a deal. The Brewers have a couple of decent catching prospects in Jon Lucroy and Angel Salome who are both fairly near the majors, but their current starter is Jason Kendall, who has nothing left offensively. Dealing for Doumit might have made some sense for them. I'd certainly be open to trading Doumit if I were in charge, but it wouldn't be my top priority. Doumit had a dismal season overall in 2009 but hit very well in September after seemingly recovering from the wrist injury that probably dragged down his numbers before that. Dealing Doumit for Hardy would have been fine, but it would have been a lateral move--both are very talented players coming off poor seasons. Hardy might be the more talented of the two, and he's certainly the more likely of the two to stay healthy, but that's a double-edged sword--Hardy doesn't have an injury to explain why he hit so badly last year. If the Pirates had traded Doumit for Hardy, they would have essentially been trading out Ronny Cedeno (who would move to the bench if Hardy became a Pirate) for Jason Jaramillo. Again, I think that's a lateral move--Cedeno and Jaramillo are both credible second-division starters and nothing more, and neither have a ton of upside. Actually, if I had to pick which of the two had the best chance to break out, I'd probably pick Cedeno, because of the power he flashed at times last year and because he, unlike Jaramillo, has a few lines on his stat sheet that suggest he can be somewhat better than a glove-first player. The Doumit-Hardy rumors are interesting, though, and they may be a blueprint for the sorts of Doumit rumors we hear the rest of the offseason. Doumit's 2009 season was bad enough that the Pirates probably aren't going to get much value for him if they pursue a standard veteran-for-prospects deal, but they could acquire a similarly talented but problematic player who isn't a catcher, so that Jaramillo can get some more playing time. An outfielder might be a possibility.  I think the more likely scenario, though, is for the Pirates to wait until after the season starts and hope Doumit shows he's healthy and productive, then deal him for younger players. That's essentially what they did with Jason Bay--there were rumors about Bay throughout the 2007-2008 offseason, but Bay had just had a terrible year, so the Pirates waited and dealt him after he hit well for a few months in 2008. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/996218/mariners-sign-jack-wilson.html Mariners Sign Jack Wilson For $5M per for 2 years. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/991497/mlb-notebook-braves-hudson-agree-to-deal.html Right-hander Tim Hudson agreed to a $28 million, three-year contract with the Atlanta Braves yesterday, giving the team a wealth of starting pitching and setting up a likely trade to bolster the Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/987036/dock-ellis-nohitter-on-acid-becomes-great-animated-short-film-yahoo-sports.html The next time someone compiles a list of the greatest baseball films ever, the work won't be complete until... Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/987035/dock-ellis-lsd-nono-this-awesome.html Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No. This is awesome. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/983738/sb-nation-nl-mvp-albert-pujols.html More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols connects for a two-run home run in the in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Tom Gannam) Browse more photos » No surprise there. Here are the full results (again, after the jump, because the charts don't fit): Rk Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pts 1 Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals 31 - - - - - - - - - 434 2 Hanley Ramirez Florida Marlins - 6 8 11 2 1 2 - - - 220 3 Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies - 7 11 2 3 1 - 1 - 1 192 4 Prince Fielder Milwaukee Brewers - 5 4 4 7 7 1 - - - 186 5 Troy Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies - 4 1 5 2 3 3 4 1 2 134 6 Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants - 4 1 - 1 2 2 3 1 - 79 7 Ryan Howard Philadelphia Phillies - 4 - 1 4 1 - - 3 1 79 8 Ryan Zimmerman Washington Nationals - - 1 3 3 3 3 1 - 2 79 9 Adrian Gonzalez San Diego Padres - - 1 - 3 3 2 4 3 4 71 10 Pablo Sandoval San Francisco Giants - - - 1 2 2 2 3 4 3 57 11 Matt Kemp Los Angeles Dodgers - - 1 1 1 1 5 3 - 1 56 12 Ryan Braun Milwaukee Brewers - - 2 - - 2 2 1 1 - 39 13 Chris Carpenter St. Louis Cardinals - - - - 2 1 1 - 1 2 25 14 Derrek Lee Chicago Cubs - - - - - 2 1 1 3 2 25 15 Andre Ethier Los Angeles Dodgers - - - - 1 2 2 - - - 24 16 Adam Wainwright St. Louis Cardinals - - - 1 - - 1 1 4 1 23 17 Javier Vazquez Atlanta Braves - - - - - - 2 1 2 1 16 18 Matt Holliday St. Louis Cardinals - - 1 - - - 1 - - - 12 19 Joey Votto Cincinnati Reds - 1 - - - - - - 1 - 11 20 Mark Reynolds Arizona Diamondbacks - - - - - - - 2 1 2 10 21 Todd Helton Colorado Rockies - - - 1 - - - - - - 7 22 Jayson Werth Philadelphia Phillies - - - - - - - 1 1 1 6 23 Adam Dunn Washington Nationals - - - - - - - - 1 3 5 24 Juan Pierre Los Angeles Dodgers - - - - - - 1 - - - 4 25 Justin Upton Arizona Diamondbacks - - - - - - - 1 - 1 4 26 Raul Ibanez Philadelphia Phillies - - - - - - - 1 - 1 4 27 Ubaldo Jimenez Colorado Rockies - - - - - - - 1 - 1 4 28 Brian McCann Atlanta Braves - - - - - - - - 2 - 4 29 Dan Haren Arizona Diamondbacks - - - - - - - - 2 - 4 30 Michael Bourn Houston Astros - - - - - - - 1 - - 3 31 Yadier Molina St. Louis Cardinals - - - - - - - 1 - - 3 32 Nyjer Morgan Washington Nationals - - - - - - - - - 1 1 33 Yunel Escobar Atlanta Braves - - - - - - - - - 1 1   Notice the vote for Nyjer. I don't remember my ballot, but none of the unconventional votes from #21 onward were mine. Here are the results from the American League. Rk Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pts 1 Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins 24 3 1 - - - - - - - 371 2 Ben Zobrist Tampa Bay Rays - 10 6 2 2 1 - 1 - - 172 3 Mark Teixeira New York Yankees 2 3 2 4 3 2 7 1 - - 158 4 Derek Jeter New York Yankees 1 5 3 4 4 2 1 1 2 1 157 5 Evan Longoria Tampa Bay Rays - 2 4 1 2 3 2 3 2 1 106 6 Zack Greinke Kansas City Royals 2 3 2 1 1 - 2 - - - 92 7 Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers - - 3 1 2 4 - 2 - 5 74 8 Kevin Youkilis Boston Red Sox - 2 - - 1 3 1 8 1 - 69 9 Chone Figgins Los Angeles Angels - - - 3 4 1 - 1 3 1 60 10 Jason Bay Boston Red Sox - 1 - 4 2 - - 1 - 2 54 11 Kendry Morales Los Angeles Angels - - 4 - - 1 - - 1 - 39 12 Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners - - 1 - 2 - 1 2 2 3 37 13 Franklin Gutierrez Seattle Mariners - - - 1 1 1 3 - 1 2 34 14 Justin Verlander Detroit Tigers - - - 2 1 1 1 - 1 1 32 15 Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners - - - 2 - - 1 3 2 - 31 16 Jason Bartlett Tampa Bay Rays - - 1 1 1 - - - - 1 22 17 Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees - - 1 - 1 - 1 - - - 18 18 Roy Halladay Toronto Blue Jays - - - 1 - 1 1 - - - 16 19 Adam Lind Toronto Blue Jays - - - - - 2 - - 1 4 16 20 Dustin Pedroia Boston Red Sox - - - - - - 1 - 4 1 13 21 Bobby Abreu Los Angeles Angels - - - 1 - - - 1 1 - 12 22 Aaron Hill Toronto Blue Jays - - - - - 1 1 1 - - 12 23 Mariano Rivera New York Yankees - - - - 1 - - - 1 1 9 24 Torii Hunter Los Angeles Angels - - 1 - - - - - - - 8 25 Brian Roberts Baltimore Orioles - - - - - - 1 1 - - 7 26 CC Sabathia New York Yankees - - - - - - 1 - 1 - 6 27 Carl Crawford Tampa Bay Rays - - - - - - - 1 1 1 6 28 J.D. Drew Boston Red Sox - - - - - 1 - - - - 5 29 Jon Lester Boston Red Sox - - - - - 1 - - - - 5 30 Jonathan Papelbon Boston Red Sox - - - - - 1 - - - - 5 31 Robinson Cano New York Yankees - - - - - 1 - - - - 5 32 Victor Martinez Boston Red Sox - - - - - 1 - - - - 5 33 Michael Cuddyer Minnesota Twins - - - - - - 1 - - - 4 34 Shin-Soo Choo Cleveland Indians - - - - - - 1 - - - 4 35 Michael Young Texas Rangers - - - - - - - - 1 1 3 36 Jacoby Ellsbury Boston Red Sox - - - - - - - - 1 - 2 37 Jason Kubel Minnesota Twins - - - - - - - - 1 - 2 38 Alex Gonzalez Boston Red Sox - - - - - - - - - 1 1 39 Nick Markakis Baltimore Orioles - - - - - - - - - 1 1 All the votes for Franklin Gutierrez are interesting, as are the votes above for Morgan and Michael Bourn. People loved their good defensive outfielders this year. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/982841/pirates-face-phillies-six-times-in-spring-schedule.html Six games with the Philadelphia Phillies -- including two in Citizens Bank Park April 2-3 -- and four with the Tampa Bay Rays dot the 33-game Pirates' spring schedule, the club announced Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/982840/pirates-interested-in-japanese-reliever-ryota-igarashi.html Pirates interested in Japanese Reliever Ryota Igarashi "In acquiring Iwamura, we opened the door to getting Japanese players. We gave up a middle reliever to get Iwamura, so he [Igarashi] is a player we have interest in." UPDATE by Charlie: Here are some stats. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/981249/exbuc-jose-castillo-attacked-by-motorcycle-gang.html Ex-Buc Jose Castillo attacked by motorcycle gang Former MLB player Jose Castillo was attacked by armed men on motorcycles as he left his luxury hotel in a taxi on Tuesday. "They stopped the car and those accompanying them entered with two guns, and pointed them at me so that I'd give them my gold chain and wedding ring," Castillo said. Castillo, who played in MLB from 2004-08, plays for the Caracas Lions. -Associated Press Fortunately, he wasn't hurt. It's unfortunate, but if I were a ballplayer from Venezuela, there's no way I'd be willing to live there over the offseason. The risks are just too high these days. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/981248/sb-nation-nl-cy-young-tim-lincecum.html More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum pitches to the Oakland Athletics in the first inning of a game in San Francisco, Friday, June 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) Browse more photos » Tim Lincecum wins SB Nation's NL Cy Young award. Here are the results: Rk Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts 1 Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants 18 13 - 129 2 Chris Carpenter St. Louis Cardinals 9 4 7 64 3 Adam Wainwright St. Louis Cardinals 4 4 10 42 4 Javier Vazquez Atlanta Braves - 5 7 22 5 Dan Haren Arizona Diamondbacks - 3 4 13 6 Ubaldo Jimenez Colorado Rockies - 1 1 4 7 Cliff Lee Philadephia Phillies - - 1 1 8 Jair Jurrjens Atlanta Braves - - 1 1   I'm pretty sure my ballot was Lincecum, Carpenter, Vazquez. It's hard to believe how quickly Lincecum has emerged as a perennial powerhouse. He could've been a Pirate, of course--the Pirates could have taken him but picked Brad Lincoln instead. But hindsight is always 20/20, and Lincecum was seen as a tremendously risky pitcher when he was drafted because of his size and high-effort delivery. Here's an article I wrote about Lincecum and Lincoln in 2007. Of all the things you can blame Dave Littlefield for, I don't think the fact that Lincecum isn't a Pirate is a particularly good one. Anyway, here are the AL results: Rk Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts 1 Zack Greinke Kansas City Royals 28 1 - 143 2 Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners - 17 6 57 3 Justin Verlander Detroit Tigers - 8 9 33 4 Roy Halladay Toronto Blue Jays 1 2 11 22 5 C.C. Sabathia New York Yankees - 1 2 5 6 Jon Lester Boston Red Sox - - 1 1 Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/981247/pirates-release-yoslan-herrera-jason-delaney-others.html Via Baseball America, the Pirates have released a number of failed prospects: RHP Yoslan Herrera - The big prizewinner in Dave Littlefield's weird experiment with international talent. Most teams attempt to sign Latin American amateurs at a young age and move them through the farm system over a period of many years, but all that was way too slow-moving for a short-term thinker like Littlefield, who instead spent a couple million bucks on Herrera, a much older player, and got him to the big leagues within a couple years. Unfortunately, his limp 87-MPH fastball wasn't nearly good enough to complement his decent offspeed stuff, and now Herrera is gone after getting bombed in the bigs in 2008 and spending an uninspiring 2009 at Altoona and Indianapolis. By the way, check out this little anecdote about Herrera by WTM: Surprised about Herrera, too, because he made some progress this year, although at his age there's no way he's going to be a major league pitcher.  There might have been more going on with him.  I was at a DH in Bowie this year and Herrera was up in the stands in the second game after pitching in the first game.  He was rooting loudly for Bowie, so I wondered what was going on. RHP Tyler Herron - The Pirates signed Herron, a former top draft pick of the Cardinals, after St. Louis surprisingly released him earlier in 2009. He didn't pitch particularly well for Altoona, and his stuff there apparently was terrible. But he still has that first-round pedigree, he hasn't been tried much as a reliever, and he's not old; it's a little bit weird that he's now been released by two organizations. It could be that there's some personal thing going on here. 1B Kent Sakamoto 3B Eddie Prasch - Prasch was Littlefield's third-round pick in his hideous 2004 draft. Prasch showed some on-base skills as he crawled through the minors, but his power never developed. 3B Bobby Spain 3B Brett Willemburg OF Butch Biela - This is a weird one. Biela hit very well as an 18-year-old in 2007, then got by with a .342 OBP at State College in 2008. The Pirates thought enough of him to start him at West Virginia in 2009, but he wound up with back with the Spikes, not hitting at all. OF Justin Byler OF Jason Delaney - Delaney, the Bucs' 12th-round pick in '05, showed flashes of real hitting ability in the minors, but since he was almost 23 when he was drafted, he was always very old for his levels. He doesn't have much defensive value and he never developed much home run power, and now he's 27. OF Jared Keel - Keel has always hit well in the minors, but like Delaney he has always been a bit old for his levels. Also, as a 31st-round pick, the Bucs have probably never viewed him as much more than an organizational player; if they liked him they probably would have sent him to Altoona last year, given that he hit 20 homers at Lynchburg in 2008.  The Pirates have also granted free agency to Denny Bautista. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/980854/pirates-2010-zips-projections.html Pirates 2010 ZIPS Projections Somewhat inspiring to me. Thoughts? Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/978988/pirates-announce-spring-training-schedule.html Six games with the 2008 world-champion Phillies -- including two in Citizens Bank Park April 2-3 -- and four with the Tampa Bay Rays dot the 33-game Pirates' spring schedule, the club announced today. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/973391/pirates-murtaugh-nominated-for-hall-fame.html COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) -- Former Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh is among the former managers who will be on the ballot when the National Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans Committee votes next month. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/973390/pirates-class-move-approved.html As expected, Florida State League owners this afternoon approved the Pirates' purchase of Cincinnati's Sarasota franchise, which they'll move to Bradenton and McKechnie Field starting with league play this April. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/973389/twenty-managers-umpires-executives-to-be-considered-for-hall-fame-class-2010-by-veterans-committees.html Twenty Managers, Umpires and Executives To be Considered for Hall of Fame Class of 2010 by Veterans Committees "The 10 managers and umpires eligible for election consideration to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010: managers Charlie Grimm, Whitey Herzog, Davey Johnson, Tom Kelly, Billy Martin, Gene Mauch, Danny Murtaugh and Steve O?Neill; umpires Doug Harvey and Hank O?Day." Murtaugh was, of course, our manager during the '60 and '71 championship years. Keep your fingers crossed for him. O'Day also has an interesting Pittsburgh connection, in that he was the umpire during the 1903 World Series, the first of its kind, in which we were defeated by Boston. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/973388/higha-move-to-bradenton-official.html High-A Move to Bradenton Official As per the mothership, the Pirates are officially moving their Class A+ team from Lynchburg to Bradenton. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/972441/nats-swipe-bryan-minniti.html "The Nationals have hired former Mets and Orioles manager Davey Johnson as a senior advisor and Bryan Minnitti [sic], the Pirates' director of baseball operations, as Rizzo's assistant GM." -Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports Minniti had been with the Pirates for nine years, joining them initially as an intern while still in college at Pitt, and then working his way up through the ranks. Notably, he was one of the few Littlefield staffers deemed competent enough to be worth keeping around after Huntington was hired. Assistant GM is a promotion from his current position, so there probably isn't too much mystery about why he's leaving - he just got a better offer. Best of luck, Bryan. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/972440/apprenticed-to-pilot.html Apprenticed to a Pilot With Veterans Day coming up, this is a nice piece by ex-Buc Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner about his time as a Naval Aviator during WWII. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/972439/pirates-offered-matt-capps-for-jj-hardy.html More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP 6 months ago: Milwaukee Brewers' J.J. Hardy connects for a fielder's choice single in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros in a baseball game Saturday, April 25, 2009 in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan) Browse more photos » The Post-Gazette reports. This probably wouldn't have been a very appealing offer to the Brewers--they have Trevor Hoffman signed through 2010, with an option for 2011, and Capps was a complete mess all year. (It's theoretically possible the Bucs offered the deal before Hoffman signed his extension in October.) Also, Carlos Gomez, the outfielder they got for Hardy from the Twins, is still a high-upside player, even if there's a much better chance of him busting out completely than breaking out. Still, this is interesting stuff. It still appears very likely that the Bucs' Opening Day shortstop will be Ronny Cedeno, simply because it won't be easy to upgrade on him in a cost-effective way, but it's not certain. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/968785/sb-nation-nl-rookie-year-tommy-hanson.html More photos » by John Bazemore - AP Atlanta Braves starter Tommy Hanson works in the first inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, July 31, 2009, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Browse more photos » Here are the results (after the jump because the charts don't quite work on the front page): Rk Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts 1 Tommy Hanson Atlanta Braves 9 9 6 78 2 J.A. Happ Philadelphia Phillies 6 9 7 64 3 Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates 8 3 5 54 4 Chris Coghlan Florida Marlins 7 5 4 54 5 Dexter Fowler Colorado Rockies - 3 1 10 6 Randy Wells Chicago Cubs - - 6 6 7 Garrett Jones Pittsburgh Pirates 1 - - 5 8 Casey McGehee Milwaukee Brewers - 1 2 5 9 Seth Smith Colorado Rockies - 1 - 3   I voted Hanson, McCutchen, Happ. Long-term, I'm a bigger fan of McCutchen than any of them--actually, I'm not a big long-term believer in Hanson because I think he leaves the ball up too much--but his performance this year really was excellent in every way you'd hope for. Hanson also gets the edge over Happ because of better peripherals. Happ actually had a huge edge over Hanson in VORP (who had a very small edge over McCutchen) but I have to make a judgment call here and vote for the guy who was, in my view, really beating the opposition instead of the guy who pitched well but depended more on his defense. Here are the AL results: Rk Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts 1 Elvis Andrus Texas Rangers 6 9 6 63 2 Andrew Bailey Oakland Athletics 11 1 3 61 3 Jeff Niemann Tampa Bay Rays 3 5 3 33 4 Rick Porcello Detroit Tigers 2 7 2 33 5 Brett Anderson Oakland Athletics 5 1 3 31 6 Gordon Beckham Chicago White Sox 1 2 8 19 7 Nolan Reimold Baltimore Orioles 1 - 1 6 8 Matt Wieters Baltimore Orioles - 1 3 6 9 Brad Bergesen Baltimore Orioles - 1 - 3 10 Ricky Romero Toronto Blue Jays - 1 - 3 11 Travis Snider Toronto Blue Jays - 1 - 3 Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/966041/veal-quotan-entirely-different-pitcherquot-in-afl.html Veal "An Entirely Different Pitcher" in AFL Baseball America cites a 95 MPH fastball, a "free and easy" delivery, and control improvements as the reasons why Donald Veal has been completely different in the Arizona Fall League. I'm skeptical--baseball writers overreach a lot in their attempts to explain short stretches of good play--but articles this nice are always great to see. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/965485/sb-nation-manager-year-jim-tracy.html More photos » by Will Powers - AP 5 months ago: Colorado Rockies new manager Jim Tracy watches the action in the first inning against the San Diego Padres in a baseball game in Denver, Colo., Friday, May 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Will Powers) Browse more photos » Here are SB Nation's Manager of the Year results for the NL: Rk Manager Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts 1 Jim Tracy Colorado Rockies 24 1 2 125 2 Tony LaRussa St. Louis Cardinals 3 7 10 46 3 Fredi Gonzalez Florida Marlins 2 6 5 33 4 Joe Torre Los Angeles Dodgers - 9 2 29 5 Charlie Manuel Philadelphia Phillies - 3 5 14 6 Bruce Bochy San Francisco Giants 1 1 1 9 7 Bobby Cox Atlanta Braves - 1 4 7 8 Bud Black San Diego Padres - 1 1 4 9 John Russell Pittsburgh Pirates - 1 - 3   There were, it appears, 30 total ballots cast; 27 of those ranked Jim Tracy in the top three. I was one of the three holdouts (and I believe that Vlad, who I put in charge of Bucs Dugout's other ballot, was one of the others). I find Manager of the Year balloting to be a pretty silly exercise, and the choice of Tracy illustrates why. Tracy is not an intelligent man; he exhibits no great tactical expertise; his players in Pittsburgh didn't seem to like him much; he's weirdly obsessed with the 2004 Dodgers; he blames his players for everything; he all but declared war on his boss, GM Paul DePodesta, when he was with Los Angeles. I see no evidence that he's a good manager--except that he took the helm just as the Rockies got hot this year. You can chalk that up to brilliant managing if you want, but brilliant managing seems well beyond a small, stupid man like Jim Tracy. I didn't vote for him this year, and I probably never will. Fredi Gonzalez was at the top of my ballot. I have no idea who put John Russell second. It wasn't me. Here are the American League results (for which NL bloggers didn't vote): Rk Manager Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts 1 Mike Scioscia Los Angeles Angels 9 8 3 72 2 Ron Gardenhire Minnesota Twins 9 5 1 61 3 Don Wakamatsu Seattle Mariners 6 3 8 47 4 Joe Girardi New York Yankees 2 4 2 24 5 Ron Washington Texas Rangers 1 4 4 21 6 Terry Francona Boston Red Sox 1 1 3 11 7 Jim Leyland Detroit Tigers - 2 4 10 8 Joe Maddon Tampa Bay Rays - 1 1 4 9 Ozzie Guillen Chicago White Sox - - 1 1 10 Trey Hillman Kansas City Royals - - 1 1 Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/958552/danny-moskos-bombed-in-afl-rising-stars-game.html First, the good news from last night's AFL Rising Stars game: Chase D'Arnaud and Jose Tabata both went 2-for-3. Neither of Tabata's hits left the infield, and the first of D'Arnaud's was a shallow fly that no one could get to, but Tabata looked good on the basepaths, and D'Arnaud's last hit was stung. Daniel Moskos, though... the poor guy has nothing. The announcers said that the stadium gun had him as high as 92, but they also said that Tanner Scheppers hit 99 at least once. Scheppers looked great, mostly throwing fastball after fastball, but I'm still betting that gun was a little hot and Moskos was topping out at something like 90. Then there was the mystery of Moskos' supposedly brilliant slider, which he never seems to throw when I'm watching him pitch. What he does seem to throw are a couple of different fastballs, a terrible curveball that doesn't break much, and a change that has a bit of late movement and is actually a pretty good pitch. Now, boundaries between pitches aren't absolute, and so I suppose it's possible that someone might see what I saw as the curveball or the changeup and call it a slider. That's fine. But to say he has a good slider? I'm sorry, I just don't see it.  I admit it might have been a little harder than usual to tell last night, since opposing batters swung at and made hard contact with almost everything Moskos threw. Overall, he allowed four runs on five hits, including three doubles and a homer, in two thirds of an inning. His defense didn't really help him, but opposing batters were still just destroying him. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/952482/tabata-darnaud-moskos-to-play-in-rising-stars-showcase.html Jose Tabata, Chase D'Arnaud and Daniel Moskos will be in the AFL's Rising Stars Showcase here soon (at 8:15 EST), and it'll be free to watch at MLB.com. Since I've been sick all week I've rented about nine movies, which is nine more than I did in the past three months or so before that. I stumbled into one called Sugar that I was shocked I didn't know about. Maybe most of you are familiar with it already, but since it missed me I figure it missed some of you too. It's an excellent film about a 20-year-old Dominican pitcher, Miguel "Sugar" Santos, who gets called up from the Dominican academies to the spring training camp of a fictitious major league franchise, impresses the team's coaches, and skips the rookie leagues on his way to his team's Single-A franchise in Iowa. Called the Bridgetown Swing, it's a barely disguised version of the Quad Cities River Bandits, a real-life Cardinals affiliate--the Swing play their games in Quad Cities' ballpark. There isn't much about the movie that doesn't feel real; the first half hour or so is set in the Dominican, and many of the coaches there are actual Dominican coaches (such as former Nats special assistant Jose Rijo, who ironically was fired around the time the movie came out, for skimming bonuses). The outstanding lead actor of the film, Argenis Perez Soto, was a hotel worker (and amateur baseball player) in San Pedro. Some of the actors obviously aren't great baseball players, but the in-game scenes mostly look about right. There were a few details that seemed strange (such as the idea that a team would allow a talented but raw pitcher to throw six-plus innings in his pro debut), but overall it really looks like the writers knew what they were doing. The plot is complex, in a great way--this isn't a formulaic sports movie by any means. Most of it focuses on Soto's character's difficulties adjusting to life in Iowa. He lives with host parents who are sweet and love baseball, but aren't incredibly culturally sensitive and won't miss him much when he's gone. He struggles to order anything other than French toast in restaurants. Hoping to finish building a house in the Dominican for his mother, he puts tremendous pressure on himself, then comes apart when he starts to struggle. There's an interesting contrast in the film between Miguel and Brad Johnson, a black American player on Miguel's team who was recently drafted in the first round out of Stanford. If baseball doesn't work out, Brad muses that he'll probably rely on his Stanford history degree and teach. Miguel has no such backup plan.  Anyway, this is a great film if you haven't seen it--full of intriguing little tidbits for the minor league fans among you, but worth seeing even if you couldn't care less about the minors. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/947212/mlb-notebook-twins-land-hardy-to-fill-hole-at-short.html The Minnesota Twins acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy yesterday, sending speedy outfielder Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/947211/yankees-fans-celebrate-title.html NEW YORK-- Crowds roared, church bells rang and streams of paper rained down on Broadway as the New York Yankees celebrated their 27th championship yesterday in a way only this city can, with a parade up the Canyon of Heroes. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/945909/kevin-polcovich-honored.html Kevin Polcovich honored The former Pirates shortstop is being inducted into his high school's Hall of Fame. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates