Just in case you want to keep score on the 2011 Buccos, here's the 40-man roster as it exists today. There are actually 41 guys; Kevin Correia needs a space cleared for him. (The players in italics were added after the season.)
Pitchers (23): Ramon Aguero, Jose Ascanio, Michael Crotta, Joel Hanrahan, Kevin Hart, Jeff Karstens, Wilfredo Ledezma, Chris Leroux, Brad Lincoln, Jeff Locke, Paul Maholm, Joe Martinez, Daniel McCutchen, James McDonald, Kyle McPherson, Evan Meek, Bryan Morris, Charlie Morton, Daniel Moskos, Ross Ohlendorf, Scott Olsen, Chris Resop, and Tony Watson.
Waiting to be added: Kevin Correia.
Removed after season: Zach Duke, Sean Gallagher, Steve Jackson, Justin Thomas, and Donnie Veal.
Catchers (3): Ryan Doumit, Jason Jaramillo, and Chris Snyder.
Infielders (7): Pedro Alvarez, Ronny Cedeno, Pedro Ciriaco, Lyle Overbay, Steve Pearce, Josh Rodriguez, and Neil Walker.
Removed after season: Jeff Clement and Andy LaRoche.
Outfielders (7): John Bowker, Matt Diaz, Gorkys Hernandez, Garrett Jones, Andrew McCutchen, Alex Presley, and Jose Tabata.
Removed after season: Lastings Milledge, Delwyn Young, and Brandon Moss.
GW's shot-in-the-dark order: McCutchen (CF), Tabata (LF), Walker (2B), Alvarez (3B), Overbay (1B), Diaz/Jones (RF), Snyder/Doumit(C), Cedeno (SS).
Walker could drop down, but he runs better than the guys behind him, so we kept him at the three spot. Cedeno and Snyder are interchangeable at the bottom of the order; we don't think Dewey is long for Pittsburgh.
Not a bad guess at our lineup, Ron, but Walker hitting third? I dunno 'bout that. That's asking a lot of a guy who was thought to be a utilityman at best going into last season---though that is probably more an indictment of this front office and its player evaluation "skills" than it is an indictment of Walker. While I like Walker and believe the slow start to his pro career was mostly due to the serious wrist injury he had in the minors, I still think he has a lot to prove.
ReplyDeleteJust a matter of elimination, Wil. He could flip with the Jones/Diaz OF platoon, as we sorta had as a disclaimer; I'm not sure what kinda order preferences Hurdle has.
ReplyDeleteHeck, he may put Overbay there; I don't really have a clue how any of the new guys run, except slowly.
I agree that he's ideally suited to bat sixth. I kept him third just because the Pirates don't have, as you may have noticed, lol, an ideal lineup.
That's for sure!
ReplyDeleteAgain, what gets me is the very definite and pronounced "American League Flavor" of this team. Only it's not American League Heavy, it's American League Lite. Bleah. Give me Ciriaco and Tabata and McCutchen at the top of the lineup in that order, and run-run-run-force-the-action.