Bball3345 Drafts

In Part One, I analyzed the hitters and in Part Two, the pitchers. This article will look at the manager, front office, and organization as a whole. As well, I will try and develop a rough plan of action heading into the future.

The colors assigned to the players will be assuming the Pirates are a playoff contender. So, while Player X may have value on a team as bad as the Pirates, the assigned color will be based on whether that player would have any value on a playoff team.





Jim Tracy...

Dave Littlefield needs to go. He has not been given a Yankee-esque budget, but Littlefield has not made the most of what he has been given. Littlefield has shown a talent at acquiring cheap, one-year veterans (i.e. Kenny Lofton, Reggie Sanders, Randall Simon, etc.); however, these are not the type of deals a "rebuilding" team needs to make. Rebuilding was placed in quotes, because the Pirates have never made a plan clear. They looked to be totally in rebuilding mode in the late-90s, but never fully committed. Last season, the Pirates front office's attempt at putting a contender together was the free-agent spending spree on useless veterans such as Burnitz, Randa, and Casey. These three took at bats away from the future of the team: Nate McLouth, Freddy Sanchez, Jose Bautista, Ryan Doumit, Chris Duffy, etc. The Pirates will be destined to lose until they finally decide on a plan, any plan will do at this point, and stick to it. Unless their plan is to not have a plan, the front office has failed miserably.



The values listed next to the names are the players' VORP from 2006.

With Ryan Doumit crushing the cover off of the ball in the minors, and Ronny Paulino keeping the starting spot warm in the majors, Humberto Cota is the odd-man out. There is no reason to carry a third catcher, so the Pirates should call-up Doumit and find a way to get rid of Cota. It is highly unlikely anyone would accept him in a trade. If there are no takers at all, the Pirates might as well drop him to clear room for Doumit's bat.

Tony Armas is nothing more than a #5 starter with no future on the Pirates. They should try to deal him at the deadline if any contender is looking for some pitching depth. If not, he should go the way of Cota and be released.

For some reason, Xavier Nady was a prime target of the Pirates last year. With Andrew McCutchen on his way up and Chris Duffy, Nate McLouth, Ryan Doumit and Brad Eldred all capable of playing rightfield, Nady should go. He likely has value around the league.

Trade Proposal #1: Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte for Chris Ray

Damaso Marte is an effective reliever, but the Pirates have plenty of prospects in the bullpen rising through the minors. What the Pirates need is a closer-type reliever, which Marte is not quite at that level.Corey Patterson will be a free agent at the end of 2007. Xavier Nady would give them a replacement for next season and Marte is the type of veteran reliever who would likely flourish under Leo Mazzone. The Pirates need a strong young closer like Chris Ray to anchor their bullpen.

Trade Proposal #2: Salomon Torres for Ben Zobrist

Torres gives the Devil Rays a veteran presence in the bullpen and a guy with closing experience. Reyes has done well for Tampa Bay, but he has injury question marks around him. Meanwhile, Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria are going to be the future left side of the infield in Tampa, so Zobrist will be without a spot in the starting lineup.

Trade Proposal #3: Jack Wilson for Austin Kearns

With Zobrist in a Buccos uniform, this makes Jack Wilson and his team-high 3 year/ $20.2 million contract obsolete. The Nationals have a horrible situation at shortstop in the form of Christian Guzman. Wilson is an improvement both offensively and defensively on Guzman. When Nick Johnson returns, Dmitri Young and Chris Snelling can aptly fill in for Kearns.

Acquiring Kearns would put the Pirates back into the logjam in rightfield, but Kearns gives them a clear-cut winner. McLouth and Duffy would split time in center until McCutchen arrived, then they could back-up the outfield, while Eldred could split time with LaRoche at first, and Doumit would shift behind the plate to share time with Paulino.



Those five listed above are the guys the Pirates must do everything possible to keep around. Bay and Paulino are the two most valuable commodities on offense and Snell, Duke, and Gorzelanny could turn into a very poor-man's version of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz.

Payroll:

2003: $ 54,812,429

2004: $ 32,227,929

2005: $38,133,000

2006: $46,717,750

2007: $38,537,823

Despite increasing revenues from the league revenue sharing, Pittsburgh has cut their budget since 2003. In 2006, Pittsburgh hosted the All-Star Game. Pirates fans were rewarded with a spending spree on old-timers Joe Randa, Sean Casey, and Jeromy Burnitz. There is no doubt the Pirates could afford to spend more on payroll. As a side note, a little over $5 million of the $38.5 payroll is toward paying off Jason Kendall's contract.

Projected Lineup:


 * 1) SS Ben Zobrist
 * 2) LF Jason Bay
 * 3) 2B Freddy Sanchez
 * 4) 1B Adam LaRoche
 * 5) RF Austin Kearns
 * 6) 3B Jose Bautista
 * 7) C Ronny Paulino
 * 8) CF Chris Duffy
 * 9) Pitcher

That is a much-improved lineup compared to what the Pirates are throwing out on the field these days. Zobrist gives the Buccos a better leadoff hitter than the current one, Duffy. Kearns adds some pop and better on-base ability than Nady.

Overall, the Pirates have not seen a winning season since Bonds left town. This has been mostly due to a lack of a concise plan. With the talented pitching rising through the minors and a cheap, pre-free agency riddled roster, now is the time for the Pirates to make a few bold moves and spend some of the revenue-sharing money to bring a winner to Pittsburgh. If the St. Louis Cardinals could win the NL Central and the World Series in 2006, then the Pirates certainly have a realistic shot in the near future. If all goes according to plan.

Thank you to everyone who read this series, voted, and commented. Baseball season is finally upon us.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/sparklines/2007/PIT_04-01_04-19_1211runDiff2red.png

Cy Young
Johan Santana:

MVP
Joe Mauer:

Rookie of the Year
Alex Gordon:

Cy Young
Jake Peavy:

MVP
Albert Pujols:

Rookie of the Year
Chris Young:

As challenged by DNL, I searched through the last 25 years of Pirates history, 1982-2006, and assembled a squad. Despite the Pirates sketchy recent past of success on the field, there was enough quality to put together a rather competitive team.

All the stats have been normalized to a 750 runs/team (4.63 rpg) environment.

Starting Lineup (with Neutralized Stats)
Order	Pos	Player		Year	Ag	G	AB	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS 1	CF	Barry	Bonds	1992	27	140	493	0.339	0.488	0.684	205 2	LF	Brian	Giles	2002	31	154	498	0.295	0.447	0.618	173 3	C	Jason	Kendall	2000	26	152	572	0.311	0.402	0.456	125 4	RF	Jason	Bay	2005	26	162	602	0.309	0.406	0.568	148 5	1B	Gary	Redus	1989	32	97	286	0.308	0.4	0.507	141 6	3B	Bobby	Bonilla	1988	25	161	611	0.298	0.394	0.516	142 7	2B	Johnny	Ray	1984	27	155	569	0.329	0.372	0.453	121 8	Pitcher 9	SS	Jay	Bell	1993	27	154	607	0.313	0.396	0.442	123

According to the BaseballMusings Lineup Analysis, this lineup would score 6.843 runs per game. None of the players have an OPS below 121 and the outfield has OPS  of 205, 173, and 148. Bobby Bonilla and Gary Redus have 142 and 141, respectively. Interesting note: Four of the players' last names start with "B" and four of the players' first names start with "J".

Bench
Role	Player		Year	Ag	G	AB	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS bOF	Turner	Ward	1997	32	71	166	0.349	0.417	0.584	159 bIF	John	Wehner	1991	24	37	108	0.352	0.391	0.417	124 PH	Matt	Stairs	2003	35	121	305	0.292	0.389	0.561	146 bC	Craig	Wilson	2000	24	88	157	0.306	0.387	0.586	149 dRp	Jose	Lind	1987	23	35	143	0.322	0.358	0.434	108

The bench had some good bats on it as well. Turner Ward had a tremendous 71 games in 1997. John Wehner and Jose Lind provide strong gloves with capable bats. Craig Wilson, originally a catcher, backs up Kendall and helps Ward and Matt Stairs provide some pop off the bench.

Starting Rotation
Role	Pos	Pitcher		Year	Ag	W	L	W%	IP	ERA	WHIP	ERA 1	SP	Rick Reuschel	1985	36	15	6	0.714	190.7	2.64	1.154	158 2	SP	Denny	Neagle	1996	27	15	9	0.625	223.7	3.26	1.194	144 3	SP	Oliver	Perez	2004	22	13	8	0.619	195.7	3.13	1.186	139 4	SP	Zane	Smith	1994	33	16	9	0.64	225	3.16	1.213	133 5	SP	F. Cordova	1998	26	15	9	0.625	219.7	3.28	1.225	131

While there isn't a Pedro on this team, there are some very nice seasons. All of the pitchers are situated between 131 and 158 ERA. Current Met, Oliver Perez was, once upon a time, quite the promising young pitcher.

Bullpen
Pos	Pitcher		Year	Ag	W	L	W%	IP	ERA	WHIP	ERA CL	Mike Gonzalez	2006	28	4	1	0.8	53.3	2.19	1.406	207 RP	Scott Sauerbeck	1999	27	6	1	0.857	69.3	3.39	1.363	229 RP	Kent	Tekulve	1983	36	8	2	0.8	96.7	1.86	1.252	227 RP	Rod	Scurry	1982	26	9	2	0.818	101.3	1.95	1.48	214 RP	Bill	Landrum	1990	32	5	2	0.714	69	2.61	1.42	169 RP	Pat Clements	1986	24	4	2	0.667	59.3	3.19	1.517	137 RP	Dan	Plesac	1995	33	4	3	0.571	68.3	3.42	1.302	122

What the starting rotation lacked in dominance, the bullpen makes up for. Mike Gonzalez was a shutdown closer in 2006, until an injury shut him down that is. Scott Sauerbeck and Kent Tekulve represent stellar seasons from the pen. Rod Scurry would be a capable long reliever.

This is a team us Pirates fans would love to see on the field in '07.