Official 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

[Troy Loney]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=19694

Baseball Prospectus top prospect list. Pirate notes. Gerrit Cole ranks as the top pitching prospect...ahead of Bundy (that's different). Taillon also really high...odd list really, Hansen made it Polanco didnt.

I was wrong, Polanco is on there in the 40's. Is there any analysis that compares the major prospect ranking sites/scouts to see who's the best at it? Thinking specifically, Baseball America, keith Law and jonathon mayo.

[Letang Is The Truth]

no josh bell? he fell off pretty quickly, no?

[Idoit40fans]

I like Mayo's, but there is nothing behind that.

[pfim]

no josh bell? he fell off pretty quickly, no?

He hasn't had an AB in 10 months.

[Troy Loney]

how is there not some sort of analysis out there that compares the success of these guys? Nate Silver is a baseball guy...we need to get him to do that.

[Letang Is The Truth]

no josh bell? he fell off pretty quickly, no?

He hasn't had an AB in 10 months.

i still feel like that is a pretty precipitous drop given his discussions last year?

[Troy Loney]

josh bell got some votes from BA, he's one of the first out on their top 100.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/pr ... 14782.html

[Troy Loney]

i think the consensus on baseball america is that the pirates' top prospects nosedive after 6. That's why they consider it a shallow system.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

pirates prospects had bell projected as playing first base in their 2018 projected lineup, which was somewhat interesting. the OF was marte, polanco and cutch so that more or less explained why he was playing first.

[Troy Loney]

pirates prospects had bell projected as playing first base in their 2018 projected lineup, which was somewhat interesting. the OF was marte, polanco and cutch so that more or less explained why he was playing first.

Troy Loney's future lineup projection also has Bell at first base. If the guy has bum knees, it's probably best to just fatten him up and put him at first base right now.

[Rocco]

Jeanmar Gomez is really showing why the Pirates wanted him today. Also the text on the Gamecast on Chrome is unreadable, which is strange since I used Chrome last year with no problems.

[FreeCandy44]

That's what makes it fun.

[DudeMan2766]

Father-Daughter duo aint allowed back this year. The first paragraph is especially delicious.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/pittsburgh-pirates-fans-banned-fined-28000-security-guard-lost-finger-skirmish-022713

[Rocco]

2 homers for Gaby Sanchez today. McDonald didn't walk anyone in 3 innings of work, but he did give up 3 homers.

[slappybrown]

For you hard-core guys, what should my realistic expectations be for this season?

[KennyTheKangaroo]

same old same old.

[slappybrown]

so 70 or so wins?

[Kovy27]

For you hard-core guys, what should my realistic expectations be for this season?

Get 20 games up and then finish 80-82.
Sigh...this team might be the ruiner of sports for me.

[Troy Loney]

I definitely believe the Pirates are getting better, unfortunately, the national league has been getting much better as of late. I think there are some pretty interesting comparisons on how other teams are better than the Pirates.

Nationals - They've been throwing a ton of money into the draft and free agents, plus the only recent draft they punted (aaron crow) turned into Drew Storen.
Braves - Homegrown hitters and relief pitchers. They don't need a top 2 pick to get talent out of the draft.
Phillies - A lot of money, and a good bit of it spent wisely.
Reds - Willing to spend more money and are better at developing players.
Cardinals - See Reds
Dodgers - Spending lots of money and developing some elite talent (Kemp and Kershaw)
Giants - Spend a lot of money, don't mess around in the draft.

I'm going to say 75 wins. They dismantled the biggest strength of the team which was the back end of the bullpen last year, and the weaknesses aren't improved enough to improve on last year.

[Rocco]

If you have MLB Network the Pirates game is on tonight. They're playing the Red Sox though so don't expect Pirates talk. The MLB hosts have basically talked all Red Sox.

[Rocco]

So far Locke has given up a leadoff single (Pedroia was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double) and walked two hitters in the 3 batters he has faced. And in a surprise Tim Neverett is in the booth with Jerry Remy, so they're actually mentioning the Pirates once every 5 minutes.

[Rocco]

Tabata hits a check-swing nubber with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd. New season, same Jose. I predict I'll have a derisive nickname for him by April 27.

[Kovy27]

Tabata hits a check-swing nubber with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd. New season, same Jose. I predict I'll have a derisive nickname for him by April 27.

That late? I already have one for him.

[ulf]

jenny dell > lacee collins. i think she can break the streak.

[ulf]

wait no! she's a red sox reporter, on root tonight. lame. the streak lives.