Bucco News 3/31/06

[jdev28]

Pirates name Santos fifth starter, cut Duckworth, Gerut

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06090/678444-100.stm

The Duckworth move doesn't suprise me a whole lot, but I expected more out of Gerut when they got him.

I hope this guarantees McLouth a spot on the big team. I was really impressed with him last year.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

Adjust your fantasy rotations accordingly.

I personally think I jinx any Pirates that I draft onto my fantasy team, including Gerut in a keeper league.

This year I took Bonds. Hopefully I jinx him.

[Stoosh]

I wonder if this means McLouth becomes their first option in CF instead of Duffy. I only say that for the following reasons:

1. Duffy had a so-so spring; McLouth looked great.
2. Duffy might still be a little rusty from missing a couple of months last year.
3. I would've thought that it might be more beneficial for McLouth to go to AAA and play every day in RF as opposed to seeing spot duty here.

Nevertheless, this organization has quietly done a nice job assembling young talent in the high minors. Indy could very well open the season with Eldred at first, DeCaster at second, Furmaniak at short, Bautista at third, Paulino behind the plate, and an outfield that includes Sadler, Rajai Davis and Jody Gerut (or McLouth if he goes back down).

That's a really nice change from a lineup last year that included a lot of AAAA guys like Koonce, Crespo, Wigginton, Leon, and Nunnally. And I'd like to think that just about any of those guys could come up and not be completely overwhelmed this year if need be.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

WooHoo! A team with overpaid veterans on short contracts that has a great team at the highest minor league level and should be in great shape in about 3 years!

Sounds.....vaguely.......familiar..........

[Mad City Mike]

It just stuns me that people think this team might be a .500 team. Give me a break. When Victor Friggin' Santos is your second starter, you are doomed to failure. The only hope is that he pitches so badly early on that it forces them to bring up Burnett or Gorzellany. Face it, the only reason this scrub made it is because of which arm he throws with. You'd be hard-pressed to find one person who says he's better than Burnett or Gorzellany. But the Godlike Jim Tracy pronounced from on high that he needed a righty in this spot, so a righty it will be. Doesn't matter if that righty can get anybody out, as long as he throws with the right arm. Whatever...

[Stoosh]

WooHoo! A team with overpaid veterans on short contracts that has a great team at the highest minor league level and should be in great shape in about 3 years!

Would you rahter have a team with overpaid veterans on long-term contracts (which is a more accurate comparison to the Pens, by the way)?

My, my...how quickly we've forgotten Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Kevin Young and Jason Kendall. I'll take Randa, Casey and Burnitz on one-year deals over those four loads on spikes any day.

Given how badly Cam Bonifay handcuffed this organization with those four contracts, I think Littlefield's done a decent job assembling young talent at the top levels of this club. And that's not even taking into account the fact that he was ordered by ownership to deal the club's franchise player in 2003 and take less than pennies on the dollar so the club could meet their payroll. That trade combined with those contracts that Littlefield inherited from Bonifay set this club back at least five years...maybe more.

Has Littlefield made his mistakes? Absolutely, but so has Brian Cashman. So has Theo Epstein. So has John Schuerholz. The problem is that when Cashman and Epstein make a mistake, they can generally fix it by throwing a five-year contract worth $50 million at the best free agent at that position. If Littlefield makes a mistake on a long-term contract, it sets the franchise back a couple of years.

There's no commitment to Randa, Casey and Burnitz beyond this year unless the Pirates choose to extend them. If the young players at AAA prove over the first half of this year that they're ready to step in and start contributing at this level, there's no one standing in their way. If Nate McLouth proves he's ready to step in as your full-time right fielder next year, you don't have to worry about moving Derek Bell and the two remaining years on his deal. If Brad Eldred clobbers the ever-living hell out of the ball in Indy this year, you don't have to worry about a washed-up Kevin Young and the $24 million you owe him over the next four seasons blocking Eldred at first base.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

If we've got these players ready to make the jump, I'd much rather see the money spent towards some starting pitching to solidify the staff.

This veteran rent-a-player stuff is getting silly season after season.

$7.5 million for Casey? It's a great story and all, and I hope it helps attendance, but why spend that kind of money on a player unless he's the final piece of a puzzle. Save the money and bring in the missing link once all of these other young players that we keep seeing for 3 weeks in September are ready to go.

[Kicksave]

WooHoo! A team with overpaid veterans on short contracts that has a great team at the highest minor league level and should be in great shape in about 3 years!

Sounds.....vaguely.......familiar..........

The only difference is that we have young guys who are pusing these stop-gaps. We're not rusing anyone to the big leagues.

You got Eldred, who is just fine-tuning his swing; learning some plate discipline before he takes over at 1B.

People forget that Bautisa lost a year of development, so the fact that he's just getting reps before he takes over is fine with me. Guys like Randa will probably take a platoon role to be able to settle down in a place they like. I got a feeling Casey will do the same after this year. If Casey is able to teach Eldred just half of the plate discipline that he has, Eldred will be a top 1B in the league.

I'm supprised they're going to keep McLouth up. I think its great. His defense isn't as great as Duffy's but his bat has been awesome. Where do you hit him though? Hes not a leadoff hitter, but i'm assuming thats where they'll put him. Ideally, I'd like to see Sanchez lead off but there is no where for him to play in the field. If Jack doesn't find his bat this year, by mid season you gotta trade him for some pitching and insert Sanchez in at SS. Have him lead off with McLouth at CF batting 2nd, Burnitz-Bay-Casey-Doumit-Castillo-Randa.

Also, I feel bad for Duckworth. He did everything to be in this rotation but because of Santos' roster situation, he was sent down. If we were to send Santos down to AAA, he would have been returned to the Royals because he was a rule 5 pickup. Say after the first month, Santos sucks, who gets called up? Do you bring up Burnett or do you bring up Duckworth?

Regardless, we've got some depth this year. It has been nice knowing who will be your starters comming into spring training. I'm looking for a 3rd place finish from our Buccos. Its going to be (in this order) Cards-Stros-Pirates-Brewers-Cubs-Reds.