Pittsburgh Pirates

By Dejan Kovacevic Neal Huntington said yesterday that Capps will be the closer next spring. gt;Notebook: Why is Frank Coonelly the only one vocally upset by the season? Huntington addresses the question. Also, Pedro Alvarez and Brad Lincoln win gold medals.

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;Game story: Pirates 3, Dodgers 1. From Jeff Karstens to Matt Capps, the bullpen was terrific. The players also had some unusual motivation. Box score gt;Audio: Karstens. gt;Opponent: The Dodgers, by the Los Angeles Times' Dylan Hernandez.

By Dejan Kovacevic In the game story, you will find rather strong language from Frank Coonelly about the performance of some players, as well as how the team might respond to those players' performance this winter. gt;Next: The Dodgers, by the Los Angeles Times' Dylan Hernandez.

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;Pittsburgh stuff: Finally, all the Pittsburgh entries into one online volume. gt;Brian Sabean, the Giants' general manager, gets quite defensive about the Freddy Sanchez trade. Sure sounds like his club option will not be picked up.

By Dejan Kovacevic If they separated the rookie awards into player and pitcher, the Pirates might have a chance. As it is, neither Garrett Jones nor Andrew McCutchen is likely to beat out the terrific pitchers, Tommy Hanson or J.A. Happ, in National League voting. gt;On the Pirates: The piece on the rookies.

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;Game story: Pirates 5, Padres 1. Morton and Doumit were not the only ones who fared well. Garrett Jones, Andrew McCutchen and Matt Capps also showed. Box score gt;Audio: Morton. PHOTO of the champions: John Mitchell/Lynchburg Hillcats

By Dejan Kovacevic Perhaps a couple lessons could be learned from Matt Capps' minor injury ... As for the second baseman, see all of the above but substitute "Freddy Sanchez" and "shoulder" for a similar theme. gt;This is the Notebook, which has the latest on Capps, as well as Jack Wilson heading out to Syracuse...

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;Today's Sports poll question asks if you want Karstens out of the rotation. gt;Chris Duffy will come to town with a smile. gt;Another old friend, Damaso Marte, goes on the DL. Seems there might be a reason why he has not thrown as hard as he did while in Pittsburgh.

By Dejan Kovacevic A. The Pirates still are scouting him, including a visit from Neal Huntington, to get all the necessary information on him. gt;That On the Pirates feature is here. gt;Lots of Pirates fodder in Bob Smizik's inbox. gt;Mike Elek, one of our Web gurus, loves the Pirates anew.

By Dejan Kovacevic I have long maintained Pittsburgh has a latent fan base for baseball, based mostly on the fact it has been here for so many generations. Even the kids who could not care less about the Pirates -- and that surely is most of them -- know that their parents or grandparents do.

By Brian A sweep of the 11-1 Florida Marlins and a 9-6 mark tied for second place in the standings have Bucco fans wondering if this is finally the year. Can they actually break .500? Can they stay in the playoff hunt? Can we have exciting reasons to watch the Bucs after the Steelers hit camp in [...]

By Dejan Kovacevic The fact -- and that would be fact -- is that the Pirates have been a very good team in every facet right now. Not sure how long that will last, but there is no disputing it at the moment. gt;Audio of LaRoche. gt;Final word on the Marlins from the Palm Beach Post.

By Dejan Kovacevic In that context, then, it is absolutely zero surprise that a) Ryan Doumit asked the Pirates if he could rehabilitate in Pittsburgh and b) that management easily agreed. gt;Bob Smizik wants to see the Pirates follow Florida's model. gt;USA Today praises the Pirates' rotation.

By Dejan Kovacevic He could have complained about home plate umpire Randy Marsh's refusal to give him an outside strike the whole inning, but declined. gt;Xavier Nady is headed for the DL and Tommy John gt;Pirates Charities begins awarding its "Fields of Dreams."

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;It is Jackie Robinson's day in the majors today, and Pirates great Bob Friend shares his thoughts on the topic with the New York Times. gt;Outfielder Delwyn Young, offered to the Pirates in the Jack Wilson talks, has been designated for assignment by the Dodgers. Sometimes the best de...

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;Audio of Freddy Sanchez, author of four hits. gt;The Marlins like Ronny Paulino in the early going. They probably should not expect too many more triples, though. gt;Did anyone else notice that Ronald Belisario, released by the Pirates this offseason, made the Dodgers' 25-man?

By Dejan Kovacevic gt;This is the game story. Mostly written in the fourth inning. gt;Bob Hertzel of the Beaver County Times writes that the Pirates owe Jack Wilson a winning season. gt;ESPN takes its jabs at the Pirates, even after that rousing opener. LaRoche's early defense will not help this trend.

By Dejan Kovacevic I suppose one could point out here that the Pirates also had dramatic victories -- even more dramatic -- to open their previous two seasons, from Xavier Nady and Jason Bay going deep in extras in Houston, to another set of extras last year in Atlanta. But then, someone would point out that, sa...

By Dejan Kovacevic For all the talk here in the past few days about which Adam LaRoche the Pirates can expect in 2009, how about Freddy Sanchez? The Sanchez story also functions as a preview of PirateFest, including a candid assessment from Neal Huntington about why he looks forward to this weekend.

By Matt Bandi There has been much debate on Nate McLouth’s defensive performance in centerfield this year. On one hand, he had only one error, and that did not occur until the final week of the season. On the other, he was at or near the bottom of most advanced defensive metrics for the majority of the season....

By Dejan Kovacevic By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:45 a.m. Monday Pirates 6, Padres 1: In addition to stuff about the Adam LaRoche and Steve Pearce home runs, some of the athletes and John Russell talked about how their season changed so dramatically on July 31. Video: Dunlap the detective tracks down Alvarez.

By Dejan Kovacevic Notebook: Free agency? Who said anything about free agency? Neal Huntington did. ... Also, Ronny Paulino sounds like a man who would rather be playing elsewhere. The Beaver County Times' John Perrotto puts the Pirates on "academic probation."

By Matt Bandi I really hope that this is the last thing I have to write about Pedro Alvarez unless it is related to baseball. Last night, Frank Coonelly was interviewed on the Pirates postgame show. There was a lot of interesting discussion between the Pirates’ president and host Rocco DeMaro, but one thi...

By Dejan Kovacevic Audio: Maholm is pretty tough on himself. Q&A: Why no news conference for Alvarez? Eric Hosmer is headed to Arizona instructs, says the Kansas City Star. PHOTO: Alvarez embraces his father, Pedro Sr., after the contract signiing. Dave Arrigo/Pittsburgh Pirates

By Dejan Kovacevic MILWAUKEE -- This city's metropolitan area is two-thirds the size of Pittsburgh, in terms of population, but here it is all energized about Major League Baseball in late September. Moving on, Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein analyzes the Alvarez matter further, but this, too, re...

By Dejan Kovacevic In a stunning reversal of a summer-long drama, the Pirates and top draft pick Pedro Alvarez last night agreed to terms on a revised four-year, major league contract worth a guaranteed $6,355,000, according to three sources intimately familiar with the talks.

By Dejan Kovacevic By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:32 a.m. Wednesday Dodgers 6, Pirates 2: The score does not tell the story. Notebook: Adam LaRoche will cost the Pirates a lot of money next season, but should he actually only get paid for the half in which he produces?

By Dejan Kovacevic Dodgers 8, Pirates 2: Ross Ohlendorf hovers around 91 mph, and his breaking pitches land at about 50 feet. A sign he is tired? John Russell thinks so. Just about the only highlight came when Adam LaRoche hit one of those Kevin Young-esque home runs that mean absolutely nothing.

By Dejan Kovacevic Pirates 7, Cardinals 2: Only Doug Mientkiewicz can upstage everyone with an eighth-inning pinch-hit appearance in a five-run game. Also, Nate McLouth nearly hit one out of the stadium. Notebook: If there are "no scholarships," as Neal Huntington has declared, why is Andy LaRoche playin...

The world is upside down in Major League Baseball this week, starting with the debut of instant replay for big league umpires and the AL East’s top team (the Rays) drawing 13,000 in their home ballpark in August. The Pitch tears apart both issues, as well as the Pirates’ second-overall MLB d...

By Matt Bandi On Friday night, as Pirates fans awaited word on No. 1 draft choice Pedro Alvarez, DeMaro tried on another hat: Reporter. Jim Callis of “Baseball America” is perhaps the leading authority in the country on the draft. He was on ESPN after midnight saying there was no word on Alvarez.

The biggest names that changed cities on deadline day made some immediate impact through the weekend. Manny Ramirez predictably went yard in Los Angeles, Jason Bay busted out the big stick and defense at Fenway, Mark Teixeira clutched up for the Halos, Xavier Nady dropped a six-RBI game a...

While the Reds represent in the List of Guys who Lied About Being Drafted in the 30th round. This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I talk all-star selections, good players that bad teams out to trade, and everything in between. Specifically: The Brewers signed C.C. Sabathia I...

This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I have a lot of catching up to do. We discuss our trip to Victory Field tonight, and how the Columbus Clippers are now a Nationals affiliate that employ Ray Olmedo. We discuss the trade rumors around Ken Griffey, the injuries affecting th...

Tweet tweet Cardinals Finally signed Kyle Lohse for 1 year and $4.25 M. What the hell happened to the consensus best free agent starting pitcher? Collusion? Backlash against Scott Boras? Ahoy! Pirates Steve Pearce, one of the Pirates best prospects was cut and send down to AAA camp.Starter...

Tonight on the podcast we talk with Pat Lackey, writer of Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?, contributor at the Fanhouse, author of a chapter for the Hardball Times season preview, and all-around media darling. We talk about: The front-office changes the team has made this off-season a...

Dusty Baker should stop talking The Cubs Mark DeRosa is undergoing heart tests The Pirates signed Byung-Hyun Kim A $1 M Major League deal.Ray Olmedo DFA’d to make room. The Astros signed Shawn Chacon to help with their rotation The Cardinals signed Ron Villone.

As the show visits Pittsburgh Lumber Co. author Matt Bandi, it taps into perhaps the most volatile fan base in the big leagues in its Pittsburgh Pirates edition of The Pitch’s 30-team 2008 MLB Season Preview. Bandi sounds off on the fallout of the Oliver Perez trade, Doug Mientkiewicz’s adv...

We did, however, get together 15 minutes together about: Pirates signed Freddy Sanchez to 2 year deal with option for 3rd. He’s getting $4.3 M in 2008.Reds signed Matt Belisle to $1.25 M. And how much are they offering Phillips again?Astros have 2 arbitration eligible players, INF Mark Lorett...

By Cory Humes I recorded a five-minute interview aired tonight on FM NewsTalk 104.7’s Pirates pre-game show. Broadcaster Lanny Frattare spoke with chairman of the board Bob Nutting about many aspects of Pirates’ management. Frattare: Now you said “candidates,” that’s to say then that you’re going to...

Why were pirate attacks so often successful? Pirate ships usually carried far more crew than ordinary ships of a similar size. This meant they could easily outnumber their victims. Pirates altered their ships so that they could carry far more cannon than merchant ships of the same size.

By rob@newyorkmetspodcast.com (Robert J. Safuto) Still going sideways but hopeful. Recap of the frustrations of a lost home series to the Braves and Marlins. Congratulations to Tom Glavine on his 300th career victory. Discussion (more like a rant actually) of what it means to be “a Met.” Hopes for the series’ against the Pirates and National...

Jack Wilson was the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Friday night against Houston. Not even Wilson knows how much longer he will keep the job.

Atlantas Bobby Cox moved past Sparky Anderson into fourth place in career managerial victories when the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 92 on Saturday night, Coxs 2,195th victory in the majors.

Cardinals rally in 9th, edge Pirates in 12th Arizona Republic, AZ - Apr 10, 2007 score the winning run in the 12th inning, and the Cardinals rallied from two runs down in the ninth to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 on Tuesday night. ...