Pittsburgh Lumber Co.

The Pirates have come to an agreement with free agent utility player Eric Hinske.  Dejan reports that the deal is worth $1.5 million, with incentives that could add an additional $1 million.  FanGraphs had Hinske at a value of 2 wins in 2008, a performance that would be worth $8.8 million in free agency.  I [...]

I am counting down my personal list of the top 25 Pirate prospects. You can follow the countdown here, or by clicking on the “Top 25 Prospects” link in the site header.

Date of Birth: 1/21/1987
Height: 6′1″
Weight: 175 pounds
Bats/Throws: R/R
Position: SS
Drafted: 4th Round, 2008 (Pepperdine University)

Chase D’Arnaud seems to be similar to Jordy Mercer, who [...]

Dejan reported earlier today that the Pirates have contacted Luis Gonzalez’s agent. However, according to Jenifer Langosch, Gonzalez is a backup plan for the Pirates, as their focus is on Eric Hinske. (Dejan is also reporting the Pirates’ interest in Hinske) I have no desire to see Gonzalez in a Pirate uniform, as [...]

One of the biggest debates among Pirate fans this off-season has centered on whether the team should be aggressive in the free agent market. My stance has been that it would provide little help, so why bother. The team is at least a few years away from being competitive, so why not wait until we [...]

The Pirates picked up pitcher Virgil Vasquez on waivers today, adding him to the 40-man roster. Vasquez has bounced around between a couple of organizations since last season, and appears to just be depth for the rotation and bullpen. The injury questions of Jeff Karstens and Phil Dumatrait probably contributed to this addition.
Vasquez [...]

I was looking for something to make myself feel worse. And I found it on my drive home this evening: how about comparing Tim Wakefield’s win totals every year since 1995 against the top winner for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the same year.
It was worse than I thought.
Here are the top Pirate pitchers [...]

Dan Szymborski released his ZiPS projections for the Pirates yesterday, and they are not pretty. ZiPS is much less optimistic about the team’s chances this year than CHONE. I created a new projected wins spreadsheet, substituting OBP, SLG and ERA numbers from ZiPS in place of the projections from CHONE. Fielding projections are still from [...]

The Pirate signed four of their arbitration eligible players to one-year deals today. Adam LaRoche will receive $7.05 million and John Grabow will be paid $2.3 million. Each is in his final year before free agency. Zach Duke will earn $2.2 million in his first year of arbitration, while Tyler Yates receives [...]

I am counting down my personal list of the top 25 Pirate prospects. You can follow the countdown here, or by clicking on the “Top 25 Prospects” link in the site header.

Date of Birth: 8/27/1986
Height: 6′3″
Weight: 175 pounds
Bats/Throws: R/R
Position: SS
Drafted: 3rd Round, 2008 (Oklahoma State University)

Jordy Mercer had a breakout season in his junior [...]