Bucs Extend Littlefield...

Stoosh · Post by **Stoosh** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:03 pm

...by one additional year, locking him up through the 2008 season.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06093/679081-100.stm

I know some fans out there aren't going to like this, but I think he's got the organization on its way. The series of articles that Dejan wrote in the P-G yesterday were very insightful into some of the changes that Littlefield and the Pirates have implemented (the one about the increased presence in Latin America was terrific). The piece about how Brian Graham tracks the progress of these prospects (the "Pirate Plan" stuff) was also a pretty interesting read. I'm not sure how much that kind of stuff went on when Bonifay and Mickey White were running the show.

I think the problem a lot of people have with the Pirates is that it takes a lot of patience to see this stuff through. Unfortunately, casual fans look at the way the things can be fixed relatively quickly in the league the Pirates' neighbors play in. In the NFL, free agency helps make things a little easier to turn things around (two years ago, the Steelers were 6-10) or mask mistakes in personnel (Zo Jackson, for example). A lot of casual fans probably expect the same "quick fix" stuff to happen here, and when they don't get it, they don't want to invest time and money into the product. I can't say I entirely blame them.

I'm willing to give Littlefield more time because I think he's got it going in the right direction. Bonifay invested five years in a plan that blew up in his face. It's taken Littlefield time to blow it all up and start over, but I think it's finally starting to look up a little.

MrKnowNothing · Post by **MrKnowNothing** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:17 pm

I don't really mind it. I think Littlefield is a pretty good GM.

People need to understand that if you constantly change GMs, it's going to take even longer for the team to ever become close to good. They are at the point now where they might as well stick with Littlefield for the next 3 years to see if the team improves.

ExPatriatePen · Post by **ExPatriatePen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:19 pm

MrKnowNothing wrote:
I don't really mind it. I think Littlefield is a pretty good GM.

People need to understand that if you constantly change GMs, it's going to take even longer for the team to ever become close to good. They are at the point now where they might as well stick with Littlefield for the next 3 years to see if the team improves.

Was Raul Mondesi Littlefield or Bonifay?

Stoosh · Post by **Stoosh** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:23 pm

Mondesi was Littlefield's call.

But Mondesi also washed out of Anaheim and Atlanta after the Pirates cut him, so it wasn't like the Pirates were the last team to try to give this schmuck another chance.

ExPatriatePen · Post by **ExPatriatePen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:37 pm

Stoosh wrote:
Mondesi was Littlefield's call.

But Mondesi also washed out of Anaheim and Atlanta after the Pirates cut him, so it wasn't like the Pirates were the last team to try to give this schmuck another chance.

At least they didn't have too much tied up in him from what I remember.

What got me about Mondesi wasn't that they miscalculated his abiliites/value, but that, if I remember correctly, they totally blew it when it came to dealing with him and getting some value for him or atleast, keeping someone else from getting value from him.

Maybe I'm wrong, but i thought they totally blew the contract part of his deal.

Was Derek Bell Littlefield or Bonifay?

Post by **Fast B** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:49 pm

ExPatriatePen wrote:
Was Derek Bell Littlefield or Bonifay?

I'm almost positive that was Bonifay's doing.

Also, from the Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Bell ... ll_player)):

As of March 2006, Operation Shutdown is currently in its 48th month.

:mrgreen:

Stoosh · Post by **Stoosh** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 2:59 pm

Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Jason Kendall and Kevin Young's ridiculous $6-million-a-year extension were all Bonifay. And people wonder why it took so long for this club to recover from all of that misspent money.

ExPatriatePen · Post by **ExPatriatePen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:38 pm

Stoosh wrote:
Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Jason Kendall and Kevin Young's ridiculous $6-million-a-year extension were all Bonifay. And people wonder why it took so long for this club to recover from all of that misspent money.

Kendell was a mistake I think most any GM would have made.

I agree with you on the others though.

JS© · Post by **JS©** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:12 pm

Fast B wrote:
ExPatriatePen wrote:
Was Derek Bell Littlefield or Bonifay?
I'm almost positive that was Bonifay's doing.

Also, from the Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Bell ... ll_player)):

As of March 2006, Operation Shutdown is currently in its 48th month.
:mrgreen:

and while I rarely agree with MM, I did get a laugh out of another quote on the page. This may even be better than the status section.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports columnist Mark Madden summarized the incident: "Derek Bell becomes the ultimate Pirate: Lives on a boat and steals money."