Pittsburgh's Minor League Free Agents, Past & Present...

Matt Eddy of Baseball America compiled the list of minor league free agents, those souls with six years on the farm and no 2014 contract in place. We cribbed his list for guys that have passed through the Pirate organization:

Pitchers: Nate Adcock (Arizona - AAA), Tim Alderson (Baltimore - AAA), Chad Beck (Toronto - AA), Joe Beimel (Atlanta - AAA), Sean Gallagher (Colorado - AAA), Daniel McCutchen (Baltimore - AA), Evan Meek (Texas - AAA) and Jonathan Sanchez (LAD - AAA).

Position Players: Brian Bixler (NYM - AAA), Luke Carlin (LAA - AAA), Jeff Clement (Minnesota - AAA), Argenis Diaz (Detroit - AAA), Josh Fields (Philadelphia - AAA), Jake Fox (Arizona - AAA), Gorkys Hernandez (KC - AA), Brian Jeroloman (Washington - AA), Andy Marte (LAA - AAA), Jason Michaels (Washington - AAA), Xavier Nady (Colorado - AAA), Yamaico Navarro (Baltimore - AAA), Jim Negrych (Toronto - AAA), Ray Olmedo (Minnesota - AAA), Ronny Paulino (Detroit - AAA), Clint Robinson (Toronto - AAA), Josh Rodriguez (NYM - AA), Jamie Romak (St. Louis - AAA) and Drew Sutton (Boston - AAA).

Others You Should Know: Matt LaPorta, Stu Pomeranz, Jeremy Hermeda, Reid Brignac, Micah Owings, Corey Patterson, and Mike Fontenot.

The Pirate MLFA are:

Pitchers: David Bromberg (Altoona), Brooks Brown (Indy), Dan Cevette (Altoona), Erik Cordier (Indy), Jason Erickson (Bradenton), Graham Godfrey (Indy), Jared Goedert (Indy), Doug Mathis (Indy), Jhonathan Ramos (Altoona), Luis Sanz (Altoona), Atahualpa Severino (Indy), Kyle Waldrop (Indy) and Kurt Yacko (Jamestown).

Position Players: Brian Bocock (Indy), Russ Canzler (Indy), Brett Carroll (Indy), Ivan De Jesus Jr. (Indy), Francisco Diaz (WV), Miles Durham (WV), Darren Ford (Indy), Devin Ivany (Bradenton), Lucas May (Indy), Anthony Norman (Bradenton), Miguel Perez (Altoona), Ali Solis (Altoona) and Oscar Tejeda (Altoona).

There are only a couple of keepers on the list. Bromberg looks to be a capable MLB insurance policy for the pen, while Ramos and Sanz have shown unrealized promise. Unfortunately for DeJesus, he's limited to second because of his range, and the inability to play short takes him out of the middle infield reserve mix.

11/4-5: Dick Groat, Wee Tommy, Mike Dunne, John Grabow, Lefty, Manny-for-Chuck, Syd, Rod Scurry & John Russell...

Dick Groat, Wee Tommy, Mike Dunne, John Grabow, Lefty, Manny-for-Chuck, Syd, Rod Scurry and John Russell...

• November 4, 1877 - “Wee Tommy” Leach was born in French Creek, NY. Leach hit 63 career homers; 49 were inside-the-park, which is still a NL record. During Leach's years in Pittsburgh (1900-12), the Pirates won the NL flag four times and World Series champions once. His 1903 triple was the first World Series hit. Leach is still in the top 100 all-time in stolen bases (361) and runs scored (1,355).
• November 4, 1930 - SS Dick Groat was born in Wilkinsburg. The Swissvale Golden Flash HS star was a two sport ace, twice an All-America at Duke in basketball. He was selected as the Helms National Player of the Year in 1952 after averaging 25.2 points per game and played one season in the NBA. But he made a more permanent mark in baseball. As a Bucco bonus baby, he never played in the minors. He was the NL-MVP during the 1960 World Series campaign, and in his Pirate era (1952-62, with two years out for the service), he hit .286 and was a three-time All-Star. A Pitt basketball announcer, in 2011 Groat was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first man ever inducted into both the college basketball and college baseball halls of fame.
• November 4, 1978 - LHP John Grabow was born in Arcadia, California. Grabow, a third round draft pick in 1997, pitched from 2003-09 for the Bucs until traded to the Cubs. In 390 Pirate appearances, he went 20-15-6/4.09.
• November 4, 1987 - Padres catcher Benito Santiago was the unanimous selection as the NL Rookie of the Year‚ while Pirate RHP Mike Dunne (13-6, 3.03 ERA) finished second.
• November 5, 1908 - LHP Ralph “Lefty” Birkofer was born in Cincinnati. Lefty worked for the Bucs from 1933-36 and went 31-26/4.04, mainly as a starter.
• November 5, 1976 - The Pirates sent catcher Manny Sanguillen and $100,000 to Oakland to land manager Chuck Tanner. It was the second player-for-skipper deal in MLB history (excluding player/managers), the first being in 1967 when the Mets sent RHP Bill Denehy and cash to the Washington Senators in exchange for manager Gil Hodges.
•  November 5, 1985 - The Pirates hired Syd Thrift as their GM, replacing Harding Peterson.
• November 5, 1992 - Rod Scurry, one of the main figures of the infamous Coke trials in Pittsburgh during the eighties, died of a cocaine induced heart attack in Reno, Nevada. He was 36 years old.
• November 5, 2007 - The Pirates named third base coach John Russell as manager, replacing Jim Tracy. The Bucs' new skipper was the 2006 International League Manager of the Year at Scranton.

BBWAA Nominees, Lloyd Lands a Gig, Notes...

The Bucs have a horse in the MVP and Manager of the Year races this year. The award announcements: Rookies, 11/11; Managers, 11/12; Cy Youngs, 11/13 and MVPs, 11/14 on the MLB Network at 6 PM...

•  Andrew McCutchen is a Baseball Writer's NL MVP finalist, along with 1B Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks and C Yadier Molina of the Cards. The last Bucco MVP was Barry Bonds in 1992 (also in 1990).
•  The BBWAA's NL Manager of the Year finalists are Clint Hurdle, Don Mattingly (Dodgers) and Fredi Gonzalez (Braves). The last Pirate manager to win the MOY was Jim Leyland in 1992.
• Gerrit Cole didn't make the cut for the Baseball Writers NL Rookie of the Year. The finalists are Jose Fernandez (Marlins); Shelby Miller (Cardinals) and Yasiel Puig (Dodgers). Pittsburgh was also, not too surprisingly, cut out of Cy Young consideration. The nominees were Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), Adam Wainwright (Cardinals) and Jose Fernandez (Marlins).
• The Pirates are the second most active team on the trade market since 2003 with 138 transactions, per Baseball Nation's Grant Bisbee. Their most frequent trade partners during that span were the Red Sox and Indians.
• Andy LaRoche signed back up with Toronto, inking a minor league deal with an invite to camp.
• Lloyd McClendon did land on his feet. As confirmed by CBS Sports Jon Heyman, he'll take Eric Wedge's gig at Seattle. McClendon last managed in 2005 with the Pirates, where in five seasons, he went 336-446 (.430).

No Qualifier For AJ, But 13 Others Get Bid, More Notes...

The Pirates did not exercise a one-year, $14.1M qualifying offer to AJ Burnett yesterday.

That doesn't mean that they plan to break ties with him. Burnett said that he'd be back in Pittsburgh if he didn't retire, and the qualifying offer is to guarantee a draft pick for a departing FA. It also guaranteed $14.1M for AJ if he accepted, and that's likely more than the Pirates want to pay, or even use as a starting point for negotiations.

It seems a bit penny-wise and pound foolish to us, but we're assuming that the move didn't occur in a vacuum and that FO has been in contact with AJ or his people.

Burnett, who will be 37 in January, put up a 3.30 ERA (2.92 xFIP, 3.10 SIERA) with a NL-leading 9.8 K/9 and 56.2 % ground-ball rate in 191 innings in his second season with the Pirates. His WAR was 3.0, which makes his market value about $15M. Various guesstimates have the Pirates looking to offer him $12-12.5M for a year.

So the Bucs are rolling the dice on AJ not playing the field; we'll see if it was a good bet. Still, low balling your top FA is a curious decision, especially with an influx of new national TV money. Maybe the Bucs are inviting him to leave.

The players who received qualifying offers this year are Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda and Curtis Granderson (Yankees); Mike Napoli, Jacoby Ellsbury and Stephen Drew (Red Sox), Ervin Santana (Royals), Ubaldo Jimenez (Indians), Brian McCann (Braves), Nelson Cruz (Rangers), Kendrys Morales (Mariners), Shin-Soo Choo (Reds) and Carlos Beltran (Cardinals).

That roster includes a handful of guys the Pirates were said to be looking at; Napoli and Morales at first, Drew at SS, Beltran in the OF and maybe P Santana. The draft pick will limit the teams that can compete for them and probably eliminates the Pirates, not that they were anything but dark horses before the offers went out for that group.

• In other news, in the Player's Choice awards, Cutch was voted the NL Outstanding Player of the year by his peers for the second straight season, while Francisco Liriano was selected as the NL's Comeback Player of the year.
• Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors takes a look at the next group on the Bucco list, the arbitration-eligible gang - Garrett Jones, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez, Charlie Morton, Mark Melancon, Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider, Michael McKenry and Vin Mazzaro.

Stadium Over the Mon

Stadium Over The Mon from the Carnegie Library collection

Ol' GW was looking over tweets between football games yesterday (just in case Cliff Lee was coming to Pittsburgh, lol), and lo and behind, our blogger buds From Forbes to Federal posted a picture of the Stadium over the Monongahela. Now Mr. Weenie is along enough in years to have sneaked into Forbes Field as a cash-strapped but nimble-footed lad, but this proposal from the fifties had completely slipped quietly into his gray matter's no-man land.

Its genesis began in 1958, when the Pirates sold Forbes Field to an ever expanding Pitt for $2M. As part of the deal, the university would lease Forbes Field back to the Pirates until a new ballyard was built.

One of the earliest suggested designs suggested a new multi-purpose stadium atop a bridge(s) spanning the Monongahela River. It was designed to be a 70,000 seat stadium with mainly covered seating, hotels, gardens, parking for 4,500 cars, a covered marina and even a 100 lane bowling alley, as proposed by Eric Sirko and drawn up by NADCO Engineering Company and consulting architect, M.de Mailly of Paris.

It was described, in perhaps a bit of a pun, as  "Completely Self-Liquidating. No Tax Loss. No Land Acquisition. A 'First' in the World."  It looks as if it would have spanned the Smithfield Street Bridge and touched down on Station Square by the Gateway Clipper docks. So the Smithfield Street Bridge would have to come down (or be used as a foundation) and the Station Square complex drastically cut. The effect on navigation would have been problematic. The face of Downtown and North Shore would have been altered in ways difficult to imagine, as would already tortured traffic patterns.

It doesn't look like it ever got past the drawing board stage; that same year, the City acquired the land on the North Shore where Three Rivers Stadium, after considerable political posing, rose in 1970. We can't find any mention of the estimated cost of the project, and our guess is that alone would have have doomed the proposal; the savings in property costs would likely have been dwarfed by the construction expense.

Still, a pretty cool idea, even if overreaching. It would have been the venue of the century.

Hot Stove, Pirate Notes...

Over the weekend notes:

• Joe Baker of MLB Nation puts together 2+2 and speculates that the Bucs may be among a handful of teams kicking the tires of Cub SS Starlin Castro. 
• 5 PM today is the deadline for a qualifying offer for FA, which is a year at $14.1M. We'll see if the Pirates use it on AJ. We expect they will. Even though he said he'd return if he doesn't retire, the Tim Lincecum deal (2yrs/$35M) and a possibly bruised ego might make him rethink taking a dip into the FA pool, so the Pirates would be prudent to lock up a draft pick if he does fly the coop. 
• Seattle announced that it plans to make a qualifying offer to DH/1B Kendrys Morales, so the rumored Pirate target would cost a first round pick (#27) in addition to the contract costs. The Red Sox plan to do the same with SS Stephen Drew and 1B Mike Napoli, also thought to be on the Bucco wish list.
• Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors takes a look at OF Marlon Byrd's upcoming free agency. His "expectation is that Byrd will match (Melky) Cabrera with a two-year, $16M deal."
• Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors took a guess at where the Top Fifty FA would land. He has Pittsburgh keeping AJ and The Byrd, with no outside Top 50 additions.
• Travis Sawchik of the Tribune Review looks at why free agency isn't the gold mine it used to be, with the locking up of young talent and the financial risk of long-term deals for aging vets being among the chief culprits.
• Lloyd McClendon, on the short list to replace Jim Leyland at Detroit, lost out to Brad Ausmus.
• The Tigers didn't pick up Jose Veras' $4M option.
• Remember Casey McGehee? He hit .289/.371/.512 with 27 home runs in Japan this past season. McGehee, 30, will decide whether to stay in Japan or head back to the United States to reestablish his MLB brand.

11/3: Deacon Wins Cy Young, more...

The Deacon wins the Cy Young Award, Harry Staley, Paul Waner, DC Shenanigans, Aki...

• 1866 - RHP Harry Staley was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. Staley pitched in Pittsburgh from 1888-91, tossing for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates. His overall Steel City record was 51-58 with a 3.21 ERA. 
• 1934 - Dizzy Dean‚ with a 30-7 record‚ was selected as the NL MVP, with the Pirates Paul Waner finishing a distant second despite a .362/14/90 slash. 
• 1960 - The Deacon, Vern Law, who finished 20-9 with 18 complete games and a 3.08 ERA, was voted the Cy Young Award winner by easily outpolling Warren Spahn. 
• 1971 - PA senators Hugh Scott and Richard Schweiker, winners of a bet made on the 1971 Fall Classic between them and Maryland senators Charles Mathias Jr. and J. Glenn Beall, Jr., rode elephants in front of the Capitol as the losers led the pachyderms while carrying shovels to clean the street. 
• 2009 - The Pirates sent RHP Jesse Chavez to Tampa Bay for 2B Akinori Iwamura, who at $4.85M became the Pirates highest paid player. Iwamura was out of shape and benched in June with a .172 average. Aki was replaced rather handily by Neil Walker, released in mid-September, and after 10 games with Oakland, he was out of MLB.

Saturday Pirate Notes...

Some wheels in motion now that the series is done:

• Wandy Rodriguez exercised his 2014 option. He'll make $13M, $5.5M paid for by the Astros.
• Still no word on AJ, who could: retire, sign for a year, or perhaps be looking for a two-year deal.  We'd expect a quick resolution; the Pirate pitching needs change quite a bit depending on whether or not he's in the mix.
• Chris Dotson of ESPN looks at the 2014 NL Central and posted "If the front office decides to stand pat, it's not unreasonable to expect the Pirates to regress a bit next year. Huntington needs to be aggressive about improving the roster this winter."
• Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com picks the Bucco farm system as #1. "I try to look for a combination of impact talent -- elite prospects who could become highly productive big leaguers -- as well as depth. Taking those variables into account, I have to go with the Pittsburgh Pirates." Jim Callis of Baseball America disagrees and takes the Astros. Keith Law of ESPN agreed with Callis, tweeting "Haven't done my rankings but don't think they (Pittsburgh) will be #1."
• OF Felix Pie was outrighted off the 40-man roster and selected free agency. He hit .138 for the Bucs and .251 at Indy.
• Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors profiled FA Justin Morneau, and wrote "Morneau could seek to rebuild his value with the Rays. He could also be a first base option for the Red Sox, Brewers, Rockies or Rangers. Pirates GM Neal Huntington could also look to retain Morneau at a reduced rate. I expect Morneau to take a one-year, $7M contract in a hitter-friendly atmosphere to try to rebuild some free agent value for next offseason."
• The MLB Network will air the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game tonite at 8 PM. IF Alen Hanson is on the squad.
• For those who just can't wait, the Pirates will open spring baseball against the New York Yankees on February 26th at McKechnie Field in Bradenton.
• Andy LaRoche again signed with the Blue Jays. He hit .271 for their Buffalo AAA club last season, his fourth organization since leaving Pittsburgh.

11/1-2: Larry French, Gary Redus, The AA, Bobby Bragan, Orlando Merced...

Larry French, Gary Redus, The AA, Bobby Bragan, Orlando Merced...

• November 1, 1907 - LHP Larry French was born in Visalia, California. He started his 14 year career in Pittsburgh (1929-34) and had a line of 87-83/3.50, winning 15 or more games four times as a Pirate. French won 197 games before he hung ‘em up and was an All-Star for the Cubs in 1940. 
• November 1, 1956 - 1B/OF Gary Redus was born in Tanner, Alabama. Redus played off the bench for five years (1988-92) with three division winning teams as a Pirate, hitting .255 in 398 Buc games. 
• November 2, 1881 - The American Association was founded. The members were the Brooklyn Atlantics, Cincinnati Red Stockings, Louisville Cardinals, Philadelphia Atlantics, Pittsburgh Alleghenys, and St. Louis Brown Stockings. The AA was considered a major league organization, though the Alleghenys bolted to the NL after the 1886 campaign and the league folded after the 1891 season. 
• November 2, 1955 - Bobby Bragan was named the new Bucco field manager‚ replacing Fred Haney.
• November 2, 1966 - OF/1B Orlando Merced was born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Merced played from 1990-96 for the Bucs with a .283 BA, coming in second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1991.

Now To Keep That Window Open...

OK, the Bucs finally broke down that September door this year. But being successful doesn't guarantee a continued run; the Pirates have some shoring up to do to keep that competitive window open.

While the attack was sputtering last year, the key to the season was the pitching, and that's where the FO should begin to build depth again. There's a nice core of returning guys in Francisco Liriano, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton, and a then whole lot of question marks.

The AJ coin flip should be decided soon, and if he returns, Pittsburgh will have have four guns to fire. Wandy has exercised his option, and the question with him is if he can pitch through an injury that seems to be more painfully nagging than structural. Jeff Locke is back, but which version is another question that will need answered.

Behind that, the Pirates have some promising arms, but not guys that are ready for the prime time. Jameson Taillon isn't necessarily on the same track as Cole. JT was drafted as a high school kid and may need some more time to get ready for the show. Kyle McPherson was highly thought of, but he's out until mid-to-late summer after surgery. The other guys are looking at an optimistic 2015 ETA.

Jeanmar Gomez, Stolmy Pimentel and even Justin Wilson will be stretched out for camp and provide a Plan B for the back end. Brandon Cumpton and Kris Johnson had their moments in 2013, but both have numbers that suggest a career from the pen rather than the rotation.

So the first step is to land some starters. They could go the Josh Johnson/Dan Haren route, looking for a sabermetric clone of Liriano, or make some minor deals like the ones that landed them Gomez, Pimentel, Vin Mazzaro, etc. But it wouldn't surprise us if they swung a trade to bring in a proven upper-to-mid level hurler on a 2-3 year stint. With the young guys still a couple of seasons away and AJ, Wandy and Frankie all in their walk years after 2014, it would make sense.

The bullpen isn't a place to get comfortable. Jason Grilli was getting his velocity back late in the season, while Mark the Shark may have to switch up his cutter-heavy approach a bit after the league made a September adjustment. But they have some guys that are under control and have some value on the marketplace, so change will be the constant. The FO has no attachment to relievers, so this would be a good year to get some value from a staff that over-performed in 2013.

The first offensive position to address is first base. Garrett Jones is 32 and played closer to his MLB line than his outlier year of 2012, and is on very thin ice to get an arbitration offer. Gaby's spot is as a platoon guy, and he raked lefties; if he remains, it will be as a platoon guy. We personally would like to see Cory Hart's tires get kicked. James Loney is a nice available piece too, especially with Gaby in tandem. Kendrys Morales is another name that keeps appearing on the radar screen as a Pirate target.

RF would be next, but with Gregory Polanco, followed by a handful of young guys, rising with a bullet, that position isn't as critical long-term. The FA market is thin, and Tom Singer of MLB.com writes "Giancarlo Stanton's name keeps popping up, and a blockbuster deal for him involving Tabata (his team-friendly long-term deal appeals to the Marlins) and some of the bullpen depth is very possible." That would be a deal that needs serious consideration. And if they decide not to move, a JT/Andrew Lambo pairing could work.

Shortstop is another spot that may be under the glass. If the Pirates sign Clint Barmes again, it will be as a bench guy to back up the middle of the infield. If he doesn't, there are a horde of glove-first infielders available, hopefully a little better with the bat than John McDonald or Brandon Inge.

Our guess is that Jordy Mercer will get his chance, especially now that Stephen Drew has been tendered, pretty much leaving Jhonny Peralta as the man on the market. It's possible they could deal here, too, with guys like Elvis Andrus/Jurickson Profar maybe on the front burner. But with Alen Hansen, who will take a middle infield spot in 2015-16, it's another area where they're not deep but do have a front-liner on the way, and the Bucs may give Mercer and Hansen a year to show what they can do. 

They're set at third with Pedro, second with The Kid, catching with Russ Martin and the Starling/Cutch duo in the pasture. But none of those spots can take an injury hit yet; the organizational depth just isn't there.

So they'll look to find an extra outfielder and a corner infielder, both of which could be filled from within or outside the system.  And that's not too bad a shopping list, compared to years past. They don't have positional depth built up, but if their core guys can avoid the tub, they could be an improved club in 2014. The advantage is that now Pittsburgh is a more attractive landing spot for FA, and the payroll is expected to rise by $20M, around the $100M mark. Not exactly the Dodgers, but a step in the right direction.