Official 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

[Troy Loney]

interesting comments from grilli re: trade deadline last year. i bet snider and gabby sanchez are pleased.

where are said comments?

[Letang Is The Truth]

i dont have the comments specifically but he was speaking to a national fox sports guy and said that the buccos didnt do enough at the deadline. he said they were throwing around names like pence, upton and victorino and ended up with what they did. a team that was in first place and looking to end a 20 year drought should have brought more impact players in

[CERV96]

i dont have the comments specifically but he was speaking to a national fox sports guy and said that the buccos didnt do enough at the deadline. he said they were throwing around names like pence, upton and victorino and ended up with what they did. a team that was in first place and looking to end a 20 year drought should have brought more impact players in

If this is true you can't really say that he is wrong.

[Troy Loney]

They didn't have the suitable prospects beyond the untouchables to make any of those deals work. And not like Victorino would have really helped that much. I'm fine with what NH did at the deadline, added an workhouse lefty in rodriguez and a potential long term bat in Snider.

[Kovy27]

i dont have the comments specifically but he was speaking to a national fox sports guy and said that the buccos didnt do enough at the deadline. he said they were throwing around names like pence, upton and victorino and ended up with what they did. a team that was in first place and looking to end a 20 year drought should have brought more impact players in

He's right. Pirate Management totally missed the ship last year. We knew Snider and Gaby were not the answers. I did like the Wandy trade. I'm sure they will get great value when they trade him and Burnett at the deadline this year.

[Idoit40fans]

I don't really care how last season ended, they've improved each of the past two years. I'm looking forward with optimism to seeing if the trend continues.

[Troy Loney]

how would pence, upton or victorino helped mcdonald from imploding, burnett coming back down to earth and karstens from being constantly injured? Correia was the second best starter behind rodriguez down the stretch.

[Kovy27]

I don't really care how last season ended, they've improved each of the past two years. I'm looking forward with optimism to seeing if the trend continues.

I hope it continues. You have to take baby steps sometimes. Burnett coming in reminds me of Gary Roberts/Bill Guerin with the Pens. Veteran Leadership and Stabilize the clubhouse. I hope they can keep the mojo past August.

[pfim]

i dont have the comments specifically but he was speaking to a national fox sports guy and said that the buccos didnt do enough at the deadline. he said they were throwing around names like pence, upton and victorino and ended up with what they did. a team that was in first place and looking to end a 20 year drought should have brought more impact players in

They finished 9 games out of the wild card. Acquiring one of those guys, especially Pence or Victorino, was hardly the difference. I understand his perspective is short-term as he's a player, but that's exactly why he shouldn't comment.

[ville5]

Grilli is now my 3rd favorite Buc. Telling a national audience that even the players are sick of dopey opies dumpster diving.

[Kovy27]

Grilli is now my 3rd favorite Buc. Telling a national audience that even the players are sick of dopey opies dumpster diving.

The players need to come out and say it more. What are they going to do? Trade them. Oh no..

I wish the ownership would grow some and do something for the players and fans to get them to that level. They won't, but they should.

[Troy Loney]

I have no problem with what Grilli said, i'm sure they would have liked a big acquisition at the time and he was just articulating that.

But those guys in the lockeroom didn't need to look outside that room to find the cause of their collapse last season. Even though Grilli was pitching other wordly the first half and was one of the main reasons they got to 16 games over, but there was also a pretty big chunk of time that second half where they couldn't trust him to pitch in any situation.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

Grilli isnt incorrect. Hes just in the incorrect person to be saying these things.

[IanMoran]

Grilli's quotes if anyone is interested...

Rodriguez lost four of his first five decisions as a Pirate, while the loss of reliever Brad Lincoln — sent to Toronto for Snider — compromised the bullpen’s depth.

“I’m not a GM, but any time you change the team chemistry, it always hurts,” Pirates closer Jason Grilli said. “You change the guys you’re comfortable with, it’s like, ‘Wait a minute. That was a piece we liked, we needed.’ Not that anybody’s asking us for our opinion


The Pirates made win-now moves at the 2011 non-waiver trade deadline, adding prospective free agents Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick. But Huntington took a different approach last year, acquiring three players he could control beyond 2012 — Rodriguez, Snider and Sanchez — in what some interpreted as an acknowledgment of the Pirates’ low-payroll reality.

“Maybe some of it’s the economics here,” Grilli said. “Players know the situation. To get a top-tier bat … maybe the expectations were a little higher on our end. That’s not a knock against who we got. It’s just when you’re winning, it’s like, ‘Dude, do you want to go for the gusto here? Do you want to go for the jugular?’ … Pull the trigger. Do you want to win? Do you want to change?

“As a player, it’s like, ‘Come on. Let’s see. Give us the pieces.’ Last year, the names being thrown around were (Hunter) Pence, (Shane) Victorino, Upton. … If anybody’s going to do it, you’d think a team that hasn’t won and is in first place would be the first to do it. Let’s not wait.”

Despite the LGP love-affair, I absolutely hate those complaints. I'll take Cutch's comments to the the media any day

McCutchen said the players were at fault in last season’s collapse. “It was on us,” he insisted. “That’s the reason we lost. There was nothing else that had to do with it — team chemistry, trades, nothing like that. We didn’t finish the job. We take the blame.”

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/can- ... dle-021913

[Mr. Colby]

Not a fan of the Grilli comments but if he really cared that much he would have signed in Chicago or Toronto.

My guess is his point came across douchier than he intended

[KennyTheKangaroo]

considering you can count the number of players who played well in the final two months of the season (Garrett Jones and ????), really no one should be blaming anyone but themselves

[Rocco]

The Pirates absolutely should have traded Marte and Taillon for Pence and Victorino et al. to satisfy the fanbase. 10 minutes later those same fans would be screaming about how the Pirates were sacrificing the future, but hey, live in the moment!

[Rocco]

I'm also confused and don't understand how trading for Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick > Wandy, Snider and Sanchez. Lee pouted, took his time getting to Pittsburgh, then got hurt and retired rather than accept a contract. Ludwick stunk in Pittsburgh. The moves Pittsburgh made last year were done in an attempt to win. They needed another starter and got him. They needed another outfielder and got him for a relief pitcher. They had to do something about McGehee and got a RH bat to replace him.

[TheGhostofGoulet]

I'm sure Jason Grilli's 6 ERA in September had nothing to do with the collapse.

Look in the mirror to see a reason for another losing season.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsj

The wall street journal sez that the buccos had the 6th best offseason based on WAR added. This was second best in the NL Central. The cubs added 8.2 WAR and the pirates 4.4.

The hidden viggorish is that the reds brewers and cards all have higher projected wins.

[pfim]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324449104578314463726340052.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The wall street journal sez that the buccos had the 6th best offseason based on WAR added. This was second best in the NL Central. The cubs added 8.2 WAR and the pirates 4.4.

The hidden viggorish is that the reds brewers and cards all have higher projected wins.

Just seems indicative of the fact that they both had the most room for improvement.

[ville5]

The Pirates absolutely should have traded Marte and Taillon for Pence and Victorino et al. to satisfy the fanbase. 10 minutes later those same fans would be screaming about how the Pirates were sacrificing the future, but hey, live in the moment!

So a fringe MLB OF, a 24 year old single A P, yes 1A, and a .250 hitter in double A=Taillon AND Marte?? lol, how does that compute?

[PhantomJB93]

IDK about Pence and Victorino but I remember Hanley Ramirez being shipped off pretty cheap and he would have not only replaced Barmes but could have batted leadoff and allowed Marte to to bat in a more suitable position in the lineup...I never understood why it seemed like we showed no interest at all in him leading up to his trade.

[ville5]

Because cheapskate couldn't get most of his salary paid for like he did with AJ and Juan D.
But legitimate mlb bat(s) could've helped. If not playoffs, at least in finishing over .500. From Aug 1st to end of season- Bucs lost 13 one run games and 7 two run games. Many to teams that finished above them.

[Rocco]

IDK about Pence and Victorino but I remember Hanley Ramirez being shipped off pretty cheap and he would have not only replaced Barmes but could have batted leadoff and allowed Marte to to bat in a more suitable position in the lineup...I never understood why it seemed like we showed no interest at all in him leading up to his trade.

Ramirez was hitting under .250 when he was traded last year and is being paid 15M this year and 16M next season. The Dodgers got him because they don't care about salaries.