Notes: Corey D; Rotation; AFL; Ol' Bucs on the Move, Season Ends w/Boston Title, Pearce WS-MVP & Stuff

And the recent happenings:

• Corey Dickerson was the only Pirate to make it as a finalist for the Rawlings Golden Glove award. His left field competitors are Adam Duvall (Reds/Braves) and Christian Yelich (Brewers). Corey had a DRS of +16 and seven assists as he showed himself to be the steadiest player in the pasture for Pittsburgh this past season. Winners will be announced November 4th.
• If the Pirates are looking for starting depth - their five-man is solid but with question marks behind them - here's the starting pitcher market per Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors. Depth may or may not come into play; Mitch Keller and JT Brubaker will be AAA reinforcements, and/or perhaps the Bucs will count on Nick Kingham/Clay Holmes to shake the freshman blues and develop. Still, lots of maybes behind the returning rotation.
• Some familiar names opted for minor league free agency - 1B Pedro Alvarez, RHP Brooks Pounders, LHP Mike Zagurski, IF Goose Gosselin, RHP George Kontos, and RHP Brandon Cumpton.

Mike Zagurski 2013 (photo Justin Aller/Getty)

• SS Cole Tucker is hitting .349 in 10 games for the Surprise Saguaros; 1B Will Craig is batting .262 with a pair of homers. LHP Blake Weiman is the leading Bucco pitcher with a line of 0-1-1/1.18 and eight K in eight IP.
• Boston won the series in five games with a 5-1 win over the Dodgers; Steve Pearce hit two homers and won the MVP after going 4-for-12 with three long balls. David Freese did his best to get LA going; he was 5-for-12 with a homer. And you know what the final game means: pitchers and catchers report in 108 days....
• Moon Township broke ground this week for a Miracle League Field for challenged kids. It's the seventh ML field in the area built with the support of Pirates Charities.
• The Angels claimed C Kevan Smith, 30, off waivers from the White Sox. Kevan is from Cranberry, and was a multi-sports star at Seneca Valley HS. He QB'ed at Pitt, but when told to switch positions, he instead switched sports. Smith had a .375 BA, 19 home runs and 123 RBIs in his three seasons with the Panther nine and was twice named All-Big East. The Chicago White Sox selected then him in the seventh round of the 2011 draft. In the last three campaigns, he's gotten into 146 games with Chicago and hit .281, but with a meager 14% throw-out rate during that span. The Sox also outrighted RHP Rob Scahill, 31, (six games/5.40 ERA), who spent most of 2018 in AAA Charlotte.
• St. Louis Cardinals C Yadier Molina was named the recipient of the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award. Yadi, like the Great One, is Puerto Rican, and he and his wife have founded Foundation 4 to help children cope with poverty and disease on the island.