Bucs v Cubs, Notebook

The Bucs and Cubs go at it again tonight, with Wandy Rodriguez taking on Edwin Jackson. Last year, Wandy was 13-12/3.72 with the Bucs and 'Stros while Jackson was 10-11/4.03 as a Nat. The game begins at 7:05 and will be on both TV (Root Sports) and radio (The Fan 93.7).

We'll post the lineups and game notes this afternoon.

• The Giants claimed RHP Hunter Strickland off waivers from the Bucs and optioned him to San Jose. So the Pirates swapped him and 1B Clint Robinson (who was claimed by Toronto) out for Jonathan Sanchez and Brandon Inge on the 40-man roster.
• IF Brandon Inge will begin his rehab from a cracked shoulder blade at Indy, which starts its schedule Thursday. 
• John Sickels of Minor League Ball rates Tyler Glasnow and Phil Irwin among his Sleeper Prospects.
• Will Carroll tweeted that "(Gerrit) Cole's being matched up with #5 starter for Pittsburgh, which says he won't be around long." That may be, but we still don't expect him in Pittsburgh before June. On the other hand, the Pirates have already made a couple of moves that make us suspect they're all in (for what, we're not quite sure) this year.
• The Pirates have the fifth biggest pool amount of $8,884,600 for this year's draft, largely because they have two first round picks. If you need refreshed, the team can spent that amount in any combination during the first ten rounds (11 picks for the Pirates). Each round has a value, and if you don't sign a guy, his round's value is subtracted from the pool. 
• Jeff Oliver of the Tribune Review interviewed Jay Lustig, who was a minority owner of the Bucs until last season. Lustig appreciates how Bob Nutting put the franchise on a solid financial footing, and says “People say he is a cheap owner, but nothing is further from the truth. He allocates the money properly. He wants to make enough money to keep us from going into the red. He is running the business rationally." Reading between the lines, Lustig seems to suggest the only way to get a winner in Pittsburgh is to sell the team to Daddy Warbucks. Maybe he's right.
• Larry Shepherd was born in Lakeland OH on this day in 1919. He managed in the Pirate system from 1953 to 1966, spanning the Sally to the International League, and won three league titles along the road. He returned to the Bucs after a year away in 1968 to replace Harry the Hat Walker at the helm, and in almost two seasons put together a 164-155 record. That was back ion the day when the FO actually had expectations of the team, and Shepherd was replaced by Alex Grammas with a week to go in the '69 season despite an 84-73 slate.