Jon Niese: Big Shoes To Fill

Jon Niese is by no stretch another Pittsburgh Kid, but his beginnings aren't terribly far removed from the Golden Triangle - he was born in Lima, Ohio, about 260 miles to the west as the wheels turn. He went to Defiance HS, where he was pretty good at soccer but most excellent at baseball. Niese was named Ohio's Baseball Player of the Year twice, becoming the first player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. After turning his tassel, the Mets selected the lefty 209th overall (seventh round/ninth pick) during the 2005 draft.

Jon Neise 2015 (photo Kathy Kmonice/Associated Press)

The youngster climbed the ladder in the minors in good progression, making it from the Gulf Coast League in 2005 to AAA by 2008, with performances that were more workmanlike than dazzling (MiLB slash: 40-32/3.72).

The 21 year old took his major league bow on September of 2008, and tossed three starts (one gem, two clunkers) during his call up. The southpaw began 2009 at AAA Buffalo, getting a ticket to New York in May when Ollie Perez was hurt. Maybe that's when he landed on the Bucco radar, with his first start against Pittsburgh. He spun six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits with no walks and five whiffs in a no decision that was eventually won by New York. Niese made five fairly effective spot starts before he was injured stretching for a ball at first base, ending up with a complete tear of the hamstring and season-ending surgery. It would be the first of several injuries during his career.

The 2010 campaign was Niese's first full season as he broke camp with the Mets. He slashed at 9–10/4.20 in 173-2/3 IP, with the stat line bloated when he hit a wall in late August. Still, he was named to Baseball America '​s 2010 All-Rookie Team. Niese's 2011 season was sketchy, as he finished 11–11/4.40 ERA in 157-1/3 innings. The year was cut short following an August rib cage injury. After that healed, he had an off season rhinoplasty to improve his breathing. After all the medical work, he and the Mets agreed on a five year/$25.5M extension just as the season began.

He answered the 2012 bell after inking that deal, going 13–9/3.40, spinning a career high 190-1/3 frames.  Niese was named the Mets opening day starter for 2013 after Johan Santana went down and beat the Padres. But the injury bug continued to bite Niese, who missed several starts because of rotator cuff woes. 2014 was more of the same. He opened the campaign on the DL due to inflammation in his pitching elbow, came back, and then was again placed on  the DL for elbow soreness again in early July. He was effective when healthy, posting a 9-11/3.40 line in 187-2/3 IP.

In 2015, Niese made some mechanical adjustments during spring training in order to ease the strain on his arm (about time, too, we'd guess). But his biggest challenge would prove to be the arrival of a rotation of young, fireballing arms and the steady performance of ol' man river, Bartolo Colon. Niese didn't really help his own cause much, tossing another workmanlike campaign for the Mets, putting up a  9-10/4.13 line and ending up a bullpen member by season's end.

On December 9th, the Mets traded Niese to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Neil Walker. With Charlie Morton's departure, Neise is a natural to step into his #4 spot in the rotation. But with AJ and JA Happ both gone,  he's plugged into the middle of pack. If he pitches like he did from 2012-14, it's a slotting the Bucs can get away with. Niese could pull it off; he's coming to a team that doubles down on his strengths.

What he has going for him is that he's a ground ball guy (50.0% career; 54.5% in 2015) and that plays into a Bucco strength, especially as the right side of the infield should be stronger with the leather this year. In fact, Niese made a point of that, telling the beat guys that “I’m sure what I’ll appreciate more than anything is the way (the Pirates) play defense. I’m looking forward to that.”

The lefty had a rough year with homers last campaign, and PNC Park is much more forgiving of long flies. He's also coming into a situation where he fits into the rotation; the Pirate starting staff is thin right now, unlike the New York situation where there were arms overflowing. That should relieve a little of the pressure.

So the Bucs are banking on a change of scenery to put the sparkle back in his stat line. His Tango projection for the coming season (as a Met) is 8-9/3.87 and 165 IP; Pittsburgh is rolling the dice that a new ballyard, a healthy year and a little Uncle Ray TLC can help Niese top that slash, especially if he's taking up the spot that AJ & Jay Happ tossed from last year, producing 16 wins.

Jon throws four pitches - a fastball that averaged 89 last year, along with a cutter, change and curve. He picks his spots for his heater, as it was just 47% of his pitch mix last year. He does have the ingredients for a bounce-back year, plus he's young at 29 and has a fairly friendly contract. Niese makes $9M this season, with club options for 2017 ($10M) and 2018 ($11M) and a $500K buyout. If he performs as the FO expects, he's set up to be more than a rental.

A final trivia bit: Niese was the longest tenured Met and Walker the longest tenured Pirate. It's not easy to start and finish a career with one team anymore.

12/15: HBD Jim Leyland, Jim Nealon, Bucky Williams, Art Howe; Vic Willis & Other Deals

• 1884 - 1B Jim Nealon was born in Sacramento. He’s one of the Buccos sadder stories. Nealon played from 1906-07 for the Pirates, and in his rookie season tied for the NL RBI lead (83) while hitting .255. Jim hit .257 the next season, then contracted tuberculosis. He went back home to California, played a couple of years of minor league ball and died of typhoid pneumonia in San Francisco in 1910 at the age of 25.

Jim Nealon 1907 (photo: Chicago Daily News)

• 1905 - In one of their better deals, the Bucs picked up Hall-of-Famer RHP Vic Willis from the Boston Beaneaters for journeymen UT Dave Brain, IF/OF Del Howard, and P Vive Lindaman. Willis won 20+ games in each of his four years (1906-09) in Pittsburgh, with a slash of 88–46/2.08 ERA and was part of the 1909 World Series championship club. The “Delaware Peach” (he went to Delaware College) was a workhorse throughout his career, completing 388 of his 471 starts.
• 1906 - IF Wallace “Bucky” (a childhood nickname) Williams was born in Baltimore and moved to Pittsburgh at the age of six months. After stints with the Pittsburgh Keystone Juniors and Monarchs, he played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1927–32; 1937-39) and the Homestead Grays in 1936, and was named an honorary member of the Negro League Hall of Fame in Kansas City. Bucky also played for his employer as part of the Edgar Thomson Steel team after his pro career; his sandlot squad once defeated the Grays in an exhibition game. He went to Holy Rosary and Crescent Elementary before leaving school for work, and rests now in Calvary Cemetery.
• 1944 - Pirate manager Jim Leyland was born in Perrysburg, Ohio. Leyland was the fiery, chain-smoking manager of the Bucs from 1986 to 1996. He won two Manager of the Year awards (1990 and 1992) and finished as runner-up in 1988 and 1991. Under Leyland, the Pirates went to the NLCS three straight seasons (1990-92) but lost all three, with the latter two going the full seven games against the Atlanta Braves. He did win a title in 1997 as the skipper of the Florida Marlins and also managed the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers. Leyland became a Pittsburgh boy; he still lives in Mt. Lebanon.

Jim Leyland (photo: Pittsburgh Pirates)

• 1946 - IF Art Howe was born in Pittsburgh. He began his career with Pittsburgh in 1974-75 as a utility infielder, batting .195, before being traded to the Astros, where he became a regular for six seasons beginning in 1977. He played for 11 years in all with a .260 BA, and managed for 11 more years after his playing days, winning a pair of AL West titles with the Oakland As.
• 1952 - Vic Janowicz was signed to a $75,000 contract by the Pirates a bonus baby. Janowicz was a Heisman-winning running back at Ohio State in 1950, but Pittsburgh saw his future in baseball. As a bonus baby, he had to be carried on the MLB roster for two years. Vic hit .252 as a C in 1953, but dropped to .151 as a 3B’man the following year, for a two year line of .214 with two HR and 10 RBI in 215 PA. He left the team after that season and jumped to the NFL Washington Redskins, where he played two years before a car accident ended his sports career.
• 1967 - Pittsburgh traded for RHP Jim Bunning, sending the Phillies pitchers Woodie Fryman‚ Bill Laxton and Harold Clem along with IF Don Money, who would be the Phils regular 3B until Mike Schmidt arrived and then become an All-Star with Milwaukee. HoF’er Bunning stayed in Pittsburgh for 1-½ seasons, slashing at 14-23/3.84.

Jim Bunning (photo: The Sporting News Archives)

• 2003 - The Pirates lost five players in the Rule 5 draft, 1b Chris Shelton, OF Rich Thompson, LHP Frank Brooks, RHP Jeff Bennett and 3B/OF Jose Bautista, who they traded RHP Kris Benson for to get back in July, 2004. Oddly, the Pirates had three openings on the 40-man roster, but GM Dave Littlefield told the local media that the need to add free agents to the lineup for next season was more important than keeping players the club thought would not make an immediate impact. The rest of baseball reacted a bit differently as the five Pirate farmhands went in the first six picks of the draft. Littlefield also removed pitchers Duaner Sanchez and Matt Guerrier from the 40-man roster to protect Mike Gonzalez and John Grabow, so he may have had more talent on hand than he suspected.
• 2005 - Pittsburgh signed free agent RHP set-up man Roberto Hernandez to a one-year, $2.75M contract, and then flipped him to the Mets at the 2006 deadline for Xavier Nady.

12/14: HBD Charlie, Wee Willie, Jerry & Lefty; Some Sketchy Deals

• 1896 - C Charlie Hargreaves was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He caught for Pittsburgh at the end of his career from 1928-30, and was a solid defender and hitter for the first two seasons before fading in 1930, putting up a .273 BA over that period. Charlie did rejoin the organization briefly, managing the Bucs’ Class C Keokuk Pirates squad of the Central Association in 1949.
• 1898 - 2B Henry “Heinie” Reitz was traded by the Washington Senators to the Pirates for OF/3B Jack O'Brien, IF Dick Padden and OF Jimmy “Rabbit” Slagle. It wasn’t a very good deal for Pittsburgh; Reitz played 35 games and was traded at the end of the 1899 season. O’Brien was a journeyman, Padden had three solid seasons remaining, and rookie Slagle went on to have a 10 year career, mainly with the Cubs, and a lifetime .268 BA.

Heinie Reitz 1894 (Alpha Photos)

• 1911 - Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss proposed that each team in the World Series turn over one-fourth of its share of the gate to the league, to be divided among the other teams. It marked the beginning of changes that ultimately gave players of the top finishing teams a percentage of the World Series money. Dreyfuss had actually added his owner’s cut of the 1903 World Series gate receipts to the players' share, so the Pirates earned a larger payout than the winning Boston team. Barney not only talked the talk but walked the walk in rewarding the players.
• 1918 - RHP Willie Pope was born on Birmingham and raised in Library. A 6’4’ hurler known as “Wee Willie,” Pope began his career as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1946 but was mostly known for playing with the Grays during the 1947-48 seasons. During the 1947 campaign, the righty notched a 6-7 record, but pitched a no-hitter against the New York Cubans. In the 1948 season he was major contributor to the Grays team that won the last Negro National League Pennant and won the Negro Leagues World Series against the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. He played a couple of years in the minors while his brother Dave played for Cleveland and Baltimore. Willie remained in the City after his career as a player in Pittsburgh ward politics and a local black baseball historian. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 91.
• 1943 - C Jerry May was born in Staunton, Virginia. May was a back-up catcher from 1964-70 (he started in ‘67-68) for the Bucs, hitting .237 in his seven year Pittsburgh stint. He was signed by Syd Thrift out of high school and tossed several no-hitters as an American Legion pitcher; the Bucs converted him to catcher and he was behind the dish for Dock Ellis’ infamous 1970 no-hitter. May was bumped out of the starting role by Manny Sanguillen. Jerry was a good tactician and glove guy throughout his 10 year MLB career, throwing out 42.57% of the base runners who tried to steal a base on him, good for 11th on the all-time list. He led NL catchers in 1970 with a 50% caught stealing percentage.

Jerry May 1968 team promo

• 1923 - LHP Paul “Lefty” LaPalme was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Lefty began his career in Pittsburgh (1951-54) and was a starter in the last two seasons, with a Pirate line of 14-33-2 and a 4.99 ERA. The knuckleballer was traded to the Cards in 1955, converted to a reliever, and put together several decent seasons from the pen.
• 1963 - The Pirates sent P Harvey Haddix to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for IF Dick Yencha and cash. The Kitten, then 38 and a reliever, spent the last two years of his career in Baltimore, going 8-7-11/2.63 while Yencha never made it to the MLB. Haddix later followed his rookie mentor Harry Brecheen (as St. Louis teammates, veteran Breechen was “the Cat” and his protege, the young Haddix, was “the Kitten”) as a major league pitching coach, working with the Mets, Reds, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates before passing away in 1994.
• 1998 - RHP Jon Lieber was traded to the Chicago Cubs for OF Brant Brown. Lieber tossed nine more years in the show, winning 20 games for the Cubs in 2001 while Brown was one and done in Pittsburgh. After his breakout campaign, workhorse Lieber had TJ surgery and only reached the 30-start, 200 IP mark once more in his career.

Jon Lieber 1994 Fleer Update

• 1998 - The Pirates chose LHP Scott Sauerbeck from the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft. Sauerbeck stuck with the Pirates until 2003, going 19-15-5/3.53 in his 4-½ year Bucco career before he was traded to Boston. Sauerbeck missed 2004 after surgery, and after a fairly ineffective campaign in 2006, the LOOGY’s MLB career ended.
• 1999 - “Wil Cordero, a good hitter who has had difficulty staying healthy and out of trouble, signed a $9 million, three-year contract yesterday with the Pittsburgh Pirates, his fourth team in four years...” per the New York Times. Cordero in reality was a good pick up, as he banged 16 HR with 51 RBI before he was traded in late July to the Indians for Alex Ramirez (who hit .209 and was out of baseball the following year) and Enrique Wilson, a reserve infielder who hit .262 in a 1-½ Pirate seasons. Cordero ended up with one more strong year left in him as a Montreal Expo in 2003.
• 2010 - The Pirates agreed to terms with 1B Lyle Overbay on a one-year, $5M contract; he was waived in August after hitting .227. The Bucs also signed 32-year old OF Matt Diaz to a two year deal worth up to $5M. He was sent back to the Braves at the deadline for P Eliecer Cardenas after hitting .259 with no homers.

Notes; Morton Moved, Nicosia Inked, Player News

The weekend report:

• The frustrating Charlie Morton was traded to the Phillies for minor leaguer RHP David Whitehead. Ground Chuck needed a change of scenery badly; every season here seemed like "Groundhog Day." Hopefully, the Bucs will use his vacated salary to land a mid-rotation arm to slot between Frankie and Jon Niese. It's a paper-thin staff if they don't, as Whitehead, 23, will report to Altoona.
• The Pirates signed reliever Juan Nicasio, 29, formerly of the Dodgers, to a one year/$3M deal. He fits the Bucco mold of a hard throwing wild child and projects as a bridge man behind set-up arms Arquimedes Caminaro (who at first blush came to Pittsburgh with a similar rep) and Tony Watson as things sit now, pending The Shark's 2016 disposition. 

Juan Nicasio (Pirate promo shot)

• Apparently the Pirates are being picky about who they get for the LH half of the 2016 first base platoon. John Perrotto wrote in the Beaver County Times that "The Chicago White Sox offered to pay $8 million of Adam LaRoche’s $13-million salary in a potential trade but the Pirates had no interest." Sometimes ya can't go home again, especially when ya hit .207.
• Gregory Polanco told Bill Brink of the Post Gazette at the Pirate Fest get together that he got a PRP injection in his left knee after the season. Cutch, who had nagging knee pain during the past season, said he's been taking it easy to recuperate during the off season and his knee is 100% now.
• Pirate prospect Jose Osuna and Tiger reliever Bruce Rondon helped trigger a winter ball brawl after Osuna was plunked by Rondon.
• Briefly a Bucco reliever, RHP Ernesto Frieri signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.
• LHP Zack Dodson, 25, has signed with the Orioles. The southpaw was 4th round pick in 2009 of the Pirates who has been tossing at Altoona the past two seasons.
• The Indians have signed OF Robbie Grossman, who way back was sent to Houston as part of the Wandy Rodriguez trade, to a minor league deal with spring invite.
• The NPB’s (Japanese League) Orix Buffaloes have inked deals with former depth chart Buccos, 3B Brent Morel and RH reliever Erik Cordier, NPB Tracker’s Patrick Newman tweets.
• RHP Mark Appel, who turned down a $3.8M offer from the Bucs in the 2012 draft, was traded to the Phillies by the Astros as part of the Ken Giles deal. The twice #1 pick reached the AAA level last year and hasn't yet shown the stuff that made him the College Pitcher of the Year at Stanford.
• The Cubbies add another brick to the load: Jason Heyward signed a reported eight year/$184M deal with Chicago, complete with a couple of opt-out dates.

12/13: HBD Joe, Dale, Jeff & Josh; Damaso, Eddie, The Joker Join Up

• 1935 - OF Joe Christopher was born in in Frederiksted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. He played for Pittsburgh from 1959-61 sparingly, hitting .244 before being lost in the expansion draft to the NY Mets, although he did score twice in the 1960 World Series as a pinch runner. Christopher is thought to be the first player from the Virgin Islands to play in the majors. Joe should remember his first start. He was called up to replace an injured Roberto Clemente and made his big league debut playing right field during Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning perfect game.

Joe Christopher 1961 Topps

• 1956 - Dale Berra was born in Ridgewood, NJ. The SS, the first round pick of the 1975 draft (20th overall), spent eight years in Pittsburgh (1977-84) and started the last three, but his bat (.238 as a Pirate) never came around and to boot, he testified that he was a coke user during the 1985 trial. Berra still makes the highlight tapes thanks to a 1985 baserunning blooper with Bobby Meacham while a Yankee. With Meacham at second and Berra at first, Ricky Henderson drilled a ball into the corner. Meacham slipped rounding the bases, so he and Berra came home at virtually the same time. Sadly for them, Ozzie Guillen’s relay beat them to the dish and Carlton Fisk tagged them both out - a double turned into a double play!
• 1960 - RHP Jeff Robinson was born in Santa Ana, California. He tossed for the Bucs from 1987-89. His first two seasons were strictly out of the pen, but he got 19 starts in 51 appearances in ‘89. Overall, Robinson went 20-19-17 for Pittsburgh with a 3.78 ERA. He went to the Yankees in the Sluggo Slaught deal, but couldn’t replicate his Pittsburgh success. Robinson tossed for three teams from 1990-92 and then was out of baseball.
• 1976 - RHP Josh Fogg was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2002-05 with a record of 39-42 and a 4.79 ERA. Josh finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2002 and won double figure games for three straight seasons, but was released after the 2005 campaign and pitched four more years before ending his career in 2010.

Josh Fogg 2002 Fleer

• 1996 - SS Jay Bell and 3B Jeff King were traded to the Royals for 3B Joe Randa (called "The Joker" after the Batman villain), LHP Jeff Wallace, LHP Jeff Granger and RHP Jeff Martin in a salary dump, or maybe in an effort by the clubs to set a record for Jeffs (or just “J” first names in general) included in one deal.
• 2001 - The Pirates sent P Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans to the White Sox for pitchers Kip Wells‚ Sean Lowe‚ and Josh Fogg. Ritchie struggled for Chicago and then was injured the following year, effectively ending his career. Fogg and Wells were mainstays in the Pirate rotation for three years but never blossomed beyond journeyman status.
• 2005 - The Bucs acquired LHP Damaso Marte from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for INF/OF Rob Mackowiak. It was the lefty’s second go-around with Pittsburgh, and after an injury to Matt Capps in 2006, Marte became the closer. He was traded to the New York Yankees with Xavier Nady at the deadline for José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Dan McCutchen.

Damaso Marte 2006 Upper Deck

• 2013 - RHP Edinson Volquez was signed as a free agent to a one year, $5M contract. He was quite the bargain, going 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA during the season. He signed a two year, $20M guaranteed deal with the KC Royals after reestablishing his value.

Charlie Morton: Off to Philly as the Rebuild Continues

Ground Chuck was a lot of things; electric, frustrating, jinxed, introspective and injured all come to mind. Unfortunately for all parties concerned, consistent wasn't among those things. So Charlie Morton and his $8M deal (with a $1M buyout in 2017) have been shipped to the Phillies for David Whitehead, a 23 year old righty that looks from his resume to likely provide organizational depth; he'll start at Altoona.

Charlie Morton (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

A plain and simple salary dump? Well, we're sure the FO would prefer you look at it as asset reallocation - enter stage right Jon Niese and his $9M salary; exit stage left Charlie and his $8M hit. The back end of the rotation was a train wreck last year, and we see this as a somewhat convoluted Niese-for-Morton swap to fill the #4 spot in the rotation.

That theory will be put to the test. If the Bucs get a true mid-rotation guy either through the market or a trade, then we'll know there was a method to their madness. We'd like to see them come up with a reclamation project to challenge Jeff Locke for the five hole in addition to a proven guy to plug in the middle. So in our eyes, they're two pitchers shy of a load today. Clint Hurdle told Rob Biertempfel of the Trib that "We'll definitely go look at another pitcher or two. We have a plan."

Keep in mind that the future of the staff is likely a year away, with Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Nick Kingham and company all slated to toss for Indy sometime this year. They all project to be minimally mid-rotation guys, while other pitchers like Trevor Williams and Steven Brault could step up to become back-end candidates.

So goodbye, Charlie. We wish you luck in Philly, and hope that the FO's blueprint to transition the pitching staff takes root this season and isn't short-changed into 2017.

12/12: HBD Phenomenal; Frankie Signed; Deals & Moves

• 1864 - P Phenomenal Smith was born in Philadelphia. He had a couple of brief stops in Pittsburgh in 1884 & 1890, compiling a 1-4 record. He was actually born John Francis Gammon, but got his nickname when he struck out 16 batters in a no-hit game in 1885 while pitching for minor league Newark, with no batter hitting the ball out of the infield. Only two runners reached base, one on a walk and one on a dropped third strike – and Smith picked both of them off.
• 1913 - The Pirates traded P Hank Robinson, OF’ers Chief Wilson & Cozy Dolan and IF’ers Art Butler & Dots Miller to the St Louis Cardinals for P Bob Harmon, 1B Ed Konetchy and 3B Mike Mowrey. The Cards got two or three good seasons out of their new acquisitions, but the Bucs weren’t so lucky. Harmon was keeper, tossing for four seasons and going 39-52 with a 2.60 ERA. But Konetchy and Mowrey both had so-so 1914 seasons for the Pirates, skipped to the outlaw Federal League’s Pittsburgh Rebels in 1915 and then signed with different clubs in 1916.
• 1923 - The Pirates traded IF Spencer Adams, along with pitchers Earl Kunz and George Boehler, to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in exchange for RHP Ray Kremer. Kremer was a Pirate lifer, pitching from 1924-33 with a 143-85-9 slate and 3.76 ERA. The workhorse went 200+ IP and won double-digit games (hitting 20 wins twice) for eight straight years, plus was the NL ERA leader twice. Kremer went 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 1925 & 1927 World Series games.

Ray Kremer 1925 (photo: The Sporting News Archives)

• 1928 - The Pirates bought LHP Larry French from Portland of the Pacific Coast League. From 1929-34, the knuckleballer went 87-83 with a 3.50 ERA for Pittsburgh and in a 14 year MLB career won 197 games. French, like a lot of players, joined the Navy in 1942. Unlike most, he became a career sailor, retiring in 1969 with the rank of Captain.
• 1932 - Giant CF Freddie Lindstrom ended up a Bucco in a three-way deal. New York sent CF Chick Fullis to the Phillies. Pittsburgh sent RHP Glenn Spencer to the Giants and OF Gus Dugas to Philadelphia, who shipped OF Kiddo Davis to New York. Lindstrom hit .302 in two seasons at Pittsburgh, playing between Lloyd and Paul Waner on his road to the Hall of Fame. For the cost of two reserves, the Bucs got two years of a Hall-of-Famer.
• 1941 - The Bucs traded SS Arky Vaughan to the Brooklyn Dodgers for IF Pete Coscarart, RHP Luke Hamlin, C Babe Phelps and OF/1B Jimmy Wasdell. Only reserve infielder Coscarart stuck with the team past 1942. In ten seasons, Hall of Famer Vaughan hit .324 for Pittsburgh. He later had a couple of strong seasons for Brooklyn, then left the team and worked his ranch for three years after, according to baseball lore, a dispute with manager Leo Durocher (although his family said he ran the spread because his brother Glenn was drafted and there was no one else to do the job.) Whatever the reason, he didn’t return to baseball until 1947, after Durocher was suspended for gambling.

Pete Coscarart 1945 Play Ball

• 1984 - The Bucs traded LHP John Tudor and OF Brian Harper to the St. Louis Cardinals for UT Steve Barnard and OF George Hendricks. Tudor won 21 games with the Cards while tossing ten shutouts the next season and won two World Series games. Hendricks hit .230 and lasted until August, when he was sent to the California Angels.
• 2008 - The Pirates signed IF Ramon Vazquez, the only player with major league experience added to the roster during the winter meetings, to a two-year deal worth $4M. He hit .230 in 2009, then was released the following April, ending his nine year MLB career with the Pirates eating $2M in salary.
• 2009 - The Bucs non-tendered RHP Matt Capps, allowing the closer to walk as an uncompensated free agent. He signed a one year deal with Washington for $3.5M and became an All-Star. Capps then went to the Twins and closed, but shoulder inflammation derailed him there in 2012, and a year later he had surgery. He hasn’t pitched in MLB since that time.

Matt Capps 2007 Topps

• 2014 - The Pirates officially announced Francisco Liriano’s three-year, $39M contract, the biggest FA contract in franchise history, after Frankie passed his physical. The financial terms of the deal were: $2M signing bonus, $11M in '15, $13M in '16, $13M in '17 plus sundry bonuses. The free agent had been 2014’s opening-day pitcher for the Bucs, going 35-25 with a 3.26 ERA and 543 K in 510 IP during his three campaigns with Pittsburgh.

12/11: HBD Jay Bell & O'Brien Twins; Swaps & Signings Galore

• 1906 - The Pirates traded veterans OF Ginger Beaumont, P Patsy Flaherty and 2B Claude Ritchey to the Boston Beaneaters for 2B Ed Abbaticchio. Beaumont had a great 1907 for Boston and followed with a pair of solid seasons. Flaherty and Ritchey also had two workmanlike years left in them. Abby stuck with the Pirates until 1910. He started for two years, but was a sub on the 1909 championship team and hit .253 in Pittsburgh.

Batty 1910 Tip Top Bread

• 1928 - SS Glenn “Buckshot” (his arm was strong but not entirely accurate) Wright was sent to the Brooklyn Robins for LHP Jesse “The Silver Fox” (because he didn’t really make it in the big leagues until his 30s) Petty and IF Harry Riconda. Wright, one of the top SS of the era, suffered a major shoulder injury in 1929 which affected his play in the field, but didn’t hang up the spikes until 1935 with a lifetime .294 BA after 11 big league seasons. Petty was workmanlike in 1929, but the wheels fell off in 1930, his final MLB season.
• 1930 - The O’Brien twins, Eddie and Johnny, were born in South Amboy, New Jersey. Utility man Eddie - he played SS, 3B, OF and even pitched 16 innings - spent five years (1952, 1954-57) with the Bucs, hit .236 and had a 3.31 ERA with a 1-0 record. Johnny was a Pirate for five years (1953, 1955-58) and was a middle infielder/pitcher. He put up a .260 BA and went 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA. The O'Briens were the first twins in major league history to play for the same team in the same game. On a side note, the brothers were also strong basketball players at Seattle University, and scored 84 points between them when SU beat the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters in 1952.
• 1952 - Fred Haney was named as manager, replacing Billy Meyer. The Bucs finished in last place each season under Haney’s three year reign, compiling a 163-299 (.353) record. But that was more an indictment of the Pirates talent than Haney’s leadership. In 1957, he took a Milwaukee team that featured Henry Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn to the World Series title.

Fred Haney 1954 Topps

• 1965 - SS Jay Bell was born at Elgin AFB (Pensacola), Florida. Jay played SS for Pittsburgh from 1989-96, hitting .269, anchoring the infield of Jim Leyland’s 1990-92 division championship clubs and earning an All-Star spot in 1993. Bell also won a Gold Glove in 1993, breaking a string of thirteen straight NL Gold Gloves by SS Ozzie Smith. It was the first GG by a Pirate SS since Gene Alley's back-to-back honors in 1966 and 1967.
• 1975 - The Yankees acquired RHP Dock Ellis, LHP Ken Brett and 2B Willie Randolph from the Pirates for RHP Doc Medich. Randolph suited up for 17 more seasons, was named to six All-Star teams and played in four World Series, but was blocked in Pittsburgh by Rennie Stennett, who, as fate would have it, broke his leg in 1977 and left Pittsburgh after 1979.
• 1981 - SS Tim Foli was traded to the California Angels for Brian Harper. Foli was on the downside of his career while Harper spent three years in Pittsburgh as a utilityman, hitting .243. Crazy Horse Foli returned in 1985 in a trade with the Yankees, but hit just .189 and was released in June.

Brian Harper 1984 Topps

• 1990 - Sid Bream, who overcame three knee operations to help the Pirates capture the NL East championship, was named the winner of the 26th annual Hutch Award. The award goes to a player who overcomes adversity to go on to further accomplishments, named in honor of Fred Hutchinson. Bream hit .270 and drove in 67 runs after sitting out most of the 1989 campaign. It was his last bow as a Buc, as Bream signed with the Atlanta Braves as an off-season FA.
• 1991 - The Pirates signed 3B Steve Buechele, a free agent they had traded for late in the season, to a four year/$11M contract. He played 80 games in Pittsburgh before being sent to the Cubs in a 1992 deadline deal for LHP Danny Jackson, who in turn was lost to the Marlins in the following off season during the expansion draft.
• 2004 - The Pirates swapped out LHP Arthur Rhodes to the Indians for OF Matt Lawton less than a month after they had acquired him. Lawton hit .284 with 10 HR and 44 RBIs before being flipped for Jody Gerut at the 2005 trading deadline.

Matt Lawton 2005 (photo: USA Today)

• 2013 - RHP Charlie Morton signed a contract extension for three years plus an option. He received $4M for 2014 (his last arb year), $8M in 2015 & 2016 plus a club option for 2017 of $9.5M and a $1M buyout, with $500K in possible bonuses. Morton has gone 15-21 since the deal.

Winter Meetings End: Neil Walker for Jon Niese; Rule 5 Pick; Other Action

The Bucs pull the trigger on dealing The Kid, Rule 5 picks and other jive:

• Once Ben Zobrist was off the market, guys began to bid on Neil Walker as Plan B. The auction ended when the Mets agreed to send LHP Jon Niese to the Bucs for The Kid. Other teams that discussed Walker were the Angels, Dodgers, Nationals and Orioles.
• MLB.com's Adam Berry says the Bucs have interest in 1B Mike Napoli (as have several other clubs). He also noted that they have interest in just about any first baseman currently breathing, and while NH said he hasn't decided whether to platoon the position or go for a full-timer in 2016, Clint said they were looking for a platoon partner for Michael Morse. Our money is on the ol' skipper.
• Per Travis Sawchik of the Trib, the Pirates are interested in FA Mat Latos, according to an industry source. He had a bad season, but a balky knee and peripheral bad luck may be the cause, wrote Chris Booze of Camden Chat. Latos is said to be looking for a short term, rebuild some value, deal.
• A couple of names to watch for in today's Rule 5 draft who were left unprotected by the Bucs are 1B/OF Jose Osuna, who has seven homers in winter ball, and IF Adam Frazier, who had a strong off season in Arizona/USA team. Both played for Altoona in 2015. However, neither was on Baseball America's list of 50 players with a good shot at being selected. They escaped, but there were a couple of other hits. The Pirates lost RHP Deolis Guerra to the Los Angeles Angels, who had just been signed as a MiLB FA. That made it an oddball pick, as LAA could have just signed him and not be forced to keep him on the active roster all season. In the AAA part, the Bucs took good glove, no hit SS Alfredo Reyes from the Mets. They lost a couple more guys, as the Miami Marlins took RHP Patrick Johnson, who Pittsburgh had signed from the indy leagues, and 23 year old RH reliever Isaac Sanchez (2-3/3.93 @ Bradenton). The Bucs, btw, passed on the MLB phase of the draft.
• Pittsburgh was looking for a first baseman; Milwaukee's Adam Lind was sent to Seattle for a trio of lottery ticket teen pitchers. He had a year left on his contract for $8M, coming off a 3.1 WAR year, and sounded like a perfect seat warmer for Josh Bell. Apparently not.
• The Yankees will send ex-Bucco Justin Wilson to Detroit for a pair of pitching prospects, Luis Cessa and Chad Green.

12/10: Zisk for Goose, Friend for Mikkelson, Many Other Deals/Signings; Spitter Banned; B-Days;

• 1866 - SS Frank Shugart was born in Luthersburg, in Clearfield County. He hit .268 for the Bucs between 1891-93, but booted 143 balls at SS in 204 games in his first two seasons, triggering a move to the OF and a mid-season trade in 1893. His MLB career ended when Shugart was blacklisted from baseball in 1901 after he punched an umpire.
• 1919 - The National League, spearheaded by the leadership of Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, banned the spitball, which he believed was an unfair advantage against hitters. Old wet tossers were registered and spared through a grandfather clause. The AL initially resisted, then passed their own ban the following season. Off-and-on Pirate hurler Burleigh Grimes was the last of the legal spitballers, retiring following the 1934 season after a Hall-of-Fame career.

Burleigh Grimes (photo via Centerfield Gate)

• 1939 - RHP Bob Priddy was born in McKees Rocks. He only spent his first two seasons with the Pirates (1962, 1964; 2-2-1, 3.86 ERA, 37-⅓ IP), but had a nine-year journeyman career with the Giants, Washington Senators, White Sox, Angels and Braves.
• 1958 - Pitt agreed to buy Forbes Field from the Pirates and lease it to them for five years, or until a new municipal stadium was built. It took a bit longer than five years; Three Rivers Stadium wouldn't open until 1971 as politicians wrangled over location, costs, and design. The Pirates had discussed replacing Forbes Field as far back as 1948 because of both its deteriorating condition (it was built in 1909) and small seating capacity of 35,000.
• 1965 - The Pirates traded RHP Bob Friend, a four-time All-Star, to the New York Yankees for reliever Pete Mikkelsen and cash. Friend spent 15 years as a Pirate and won 191 games. He retired after the 1966 season, going just 1-4 for the Bronx Bombers. Mikkelson had a good year for the Bucs in 1966 out of the pen (9-8-14/3.07) but faltered the next year and was released.

Pete Mikkelsen 1967 Topps sticker

• 1976 - The Pirates traded OF Richie Zisk and RHP Silvio Martinez to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Goose Gossage and Terry Forster. Except for minor-leaguer Martinez, the players were a year away from free agency, and all three took advantage to find new teams in 1978. But the big name rentals had a payoff: Zisk hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 RBI, and Gossage collected 11 wins, 26 saves and posted a 1.62 ERA with 10.2 K per nine innings. Both were named All-Stars.
• 1985 - Bobby Bonilla, who the Bucs signed out of high school in 1981, was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 draft. The Pirates got Bobby Bo back in July of the following year, but it cost them RHP Jose DeLeon. Syd Thrift had signed him as a scout and reeled him back in as GM. It was worth it - from 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 BA with 114 home runs and 500 RBI's. He also made the All-Star team four years in a row before leaving town.
• 1999 - Dale Sveum was signed as a free agent. He played three seasons for the Pirates (1996-97, 1999/.260 BA), and also managed at Altoona from 2001-03, winning an Eastern League Manager of the Year award before landing big league skipper jobs with the Brewers and Cubs.

Dale Sveum (photo via Sports Memorabilia)

• 2000 - In a day they came to rue, the Pirates signed free agent OF Derek Bell of "Operation Shutdown" fame to a two year contract worth $9.75M. Bell left the team during camp in 2002 after hitting .173 in his first campaign and never played in the majors again. The Pirates paid him $4.5M to go away when they cut him; Bell just moved onto his yacht and sailed into the sunset.
• 2008 - The Pirates, in a swap of catchers, traded Ronny Paulino to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Jaramillo. The change of scenery didn’t particularly help either player (or team).
• 2009 - The Pirates signed FA IF Bobby Crosby to a $1M deal with another $500K possible in bonus money. He hit .224, was traded to Arizona and was out of baseball after 2010. He left the majors with a whimper, but entered baseball with a bang, having won the AL Rookie of the Year Award with Oakland in 2005.

Bobby Crosby (photo Jared Wickerham/Getty)

• 2013 - Pittsburgh took three GIBBY (Greatness In Baseball Yearly awards): RHP Mark Melancon won the set-up player of the year, LHP Francisco Liriano took home the comeback player honors, and the Pirates were selected as the storyline of the year for their October run.
• 2014 - The Pirates traded minor league LHP Joely Rodriguez to the Phillies for LHP set up man Antonio Bastardo. It was a dominoes effect deal, with Bastardo filling a hole in the bullpen caused when southpaw Justin Wilson was traded to the Yankees. Bastardo put up a 4-1-1/2.98 slash in 66 Pirate outings while Rodriguez was recently removed from the Phil’s 40 man roster and assigned back to the minors after a rough 2015 AAA season.