- First base: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe examines the Bucs first base choices; nothing really new here. Eye on Baseball's Max Axisa writes that the Bucs and Kendrys Morales have a "mutual interest," but we think the combination of Scott Boras looking for a top dollar contract and the loss of a first round pick works against that interest. Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs looks at all the players available and concludes "...there’s not a ton out there." He advocates that the FO's best value move is Andrew Lambo. Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects adds that he thinks the Bucs are in a great bargaining position.
- The overall ability of the Pirate infield is discussed by Fangraph's Jack Weiland.
- Dave Cameron of Fangraphs examines the Freddy Freeman deal, and later in the article spends a few paragraphs explaining how much money the Bucs saved by signing Andrew McCutchen when they did.
- John Dreker of Pirates Prospects reports on a pair of Latinos the Buc scouts are following.
- William Tasker of The Flagrant Fan picks the five least valuable players based on the projection systems; Garrett Jones leads the list with a predicted .23 WAR.
- The Dodgers signed Paul Maholm to a $1.5M deal; we wonder if the Bucs missed the boat by not bringing him back to anchor the bottom of the rotation.
- Game on! Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow and begin camp Thursday.
"Somehow we have developed this large contingent of know-it-all baseball fans who bay like wounded coyotes at any mention of wins, losses, RBI or batting average. I never know whether I should blame myself for this or not.." (Bill James)
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Tuesday Takes...
The Daily 411...
Definitely with you re: Maholm. He would have been a better option for the 5th spot than Edinson Volquez. Much better, even with his injuries and mileage. And of course he started his much-underrated career in Pittsburgh. Agreed, also, that Burnett did much to burn bridges at PNC, and that the Pirates more or less "fired him without firing him"---though he could still have come back and made very good money if he had been willing to swallow his pride even a little bit. The FO obviously believed that he would not do that, and events proved them right. Burnett was good in Pittsburgh, and his place in Pirates lore is secure. But $16 million was too much to pay him at this point in his career and with the behavioral baggage that he brings. BTW, I have read that his deal with Philadelphia contains some kind of player option for 2015. If that is so, it is an even more unreasonable contract by Pirates standards. Assuming the team now proceeds to spend the money upgrading the team elsewhere, I have no problem with them letting Burnett walk.
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