Pittsburgh chases more diversity!

[Skipperron]

Yeah supposedly Alvarez is asking for a major league contract and 8 1/2 Million. I felt Posey, Gordon Beckham, and Justin Smoak are better choices. I know they say that you draft the best player this round but with the Pirates I feel they need to take the best player in the position of need. Yes, draft for need. It is looking more and more like they are going to draft Tim Beckham. The Pirates need help as soon as possible and don't have much in the minors. So to me that is stupid. Take a great college player. Posey is great and fills a Pirate need as well. I believe Tampa Bay will take him though, leaving us Tim Beckham. UGH. He is a Ricky Weeks in waiting. 5 tool potential with Weeks production. And yet you will hang onto him forever waiting for him to "blossom". Also like Felix Pie in Chicago.Edited by: Skipperron

 

[LabMan]

The Pirates brought up 35 year old catcher Raul Chavez as a back up while Ryan Doumitt heals from injury,he has a .212 B/A in 170 major league games.


Was Neil Walker considered?,he could have covered at third base for the light hitting,and fielding,Jose Bautista,and gone behind the plate also.Many teams promote from double A,if it does not work out they go back down,as with most MLB teams the Pirates seem to want the face of the team to be Hispanic.The core double play positions tonight against the Brewers,Chris Gomez at short,and Freddie Sanchez at second!

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

LabMan: I know Chavez sucks, but the Pirates have committed to making Walker a third baseman, for better or worse, and he is a ways away from making the bigs yet. (He`s hitting about .205 and this average over the Mendoza Line has just been in the past few days.) We have to give Walker a little more time, probably til September, to start seeing where he fits into the Bucs` future. The same goes for Steve Pearce, too.

 

[Skipperron]

The problem facing Walker is the Pirates will select Pedro Alvarez and he will be the NEW face of the Pirates, meaning Walker will have no place to play. They refuse to consider moving him back to catcher and a move to first is asking a little to much for the young man this soon after the move to third. Alvarez is a very average third baseman and has not really hit much since coming back from his injury. Buster Posey has smoked Alvarez and even if you compare Poesey's year with Alvarez's numbers from last year he is better. But the Pirates will take either Alvarez or Tim Beckham. We just gotta have a face of color to be our new face of the team.

 

[Skipperron]

The Pirates sign another of the darker persuasion today as they ink noted head case Franklyn German, after he refused to report to minor league team for Texas.

And then of course we add another dark skinned brother when they drafted Pedro Alvarez. And would someone tell him he is supposed to wear his hat on top of his ears not over them. He has them covering half the way down his ears, with the stupid flatbilled look. Lord, I knew they would take this putz. And buster Posey was there for the taking.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Skipperron: I was hoping for Buster Posey, too. I think they are taking a big risk with Alvarez and his wrist injury. Can he play third in the bigs? What insane amount of money will the team have to pay for a Scott Boras client? Posey was a better choice, and even Justin Smoak impressed me more this year as a hitter.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

By the way, we really need LabMan on this thread!

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Skipperron: Also, how much better has the team played since they got a real MLB-caliber player as their 4th OF in Jason Michaels, instead of trotting that idiot, Nyjer Morgan, onto the field?

 

[Skipperron]

Skipperron: Also, how much better has the team played since they got a real MLB-caliber player as their 4th OF in Jason Michaels, instead of trotting that idiot, Nyjer Morgan, onto the field?

Yeah, I am so glad to not have to hear anymore stories about Nyjers great smile or his two greatest catches. And just think, we now actually have a pinch hitter that can hit.

 

[Skipperron]

I am also glad that Paulino's fat butt was sent down when Doumit came off the DL. I mean it still was a trade off of one hispanic for another but at least Chavez can play.

 

[Skipperron]

Interesting bit in the Pirates minors. Last year Brian Rogers was having a great year in the minors then was brought up to the Pirates. He had a bad first 2-3 games and was immediately sent down. Of course the black rookies struggled but stayed up most of the year. This year Rogers was sent to AA instead of AAA. He was great there and recalled to AAA. Great there as well. He had a combined ERA of 0.96. However, the Pirates signed malcontent black player Franklyn German to a triple A contract and to make room Rogers was released. They claimed he did not fit what they were looking for and needed the place for German. Never mind we had a 36 year old has been taking up space that could have been released.

Then they called up white player Bullington, and for 16 straight games he sat and never got in a game. Sent back down they recalled a load of junk Marino Salas who had been sent down earlier following a horrible few games and ERA of 7.00. They even said he impressed them the first time he was up.

Whites get 1-2 chances sent sent packing, players of color get chance after chance and even though they are bad keep coming back.

 

[Skipperron]

and now............He's Back.

Nady is probably now going on the disabled list. So who do they bring up? Not Pearce. Not even McCutchen or Thompson. You guessed it. the Afro with the smile, Nyjer Morgan. He hit .239 with a .285 OBP and .559 OPS at AAA Indy and yet he is the one coming up. the Pirates have this strange warped fascination with Morgan. He stinks as a player but they just can't get him out of their heads.Edited by: Skipperron

 

[Skipperron]

Another hispanic added to the Pirates today as they traded white minor leaguer Kyle Pearson for quite dark hispanic pitcher Denny Bautista. This team is really getting more and more hispanic by the day. their system is loaded with them.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

From today`s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"On its surface, it might appear the Pirates are intent on stocking all their Latin American signings on one minor-league affiliate, that being Bradenton of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League: Bradenton's 33-man roster includes 20 players in that category, most freshly arrived from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela."

20 of the 33 players on the roster are from Latin America?

 

[LabMan]

The Pirates won last night, coming from behind to win 12-11,at one point toward the end of the game St. Louis pitcher Chris Perez worked to catcher Yadier Molina,with Pirates hitter Raul Chavez at bat,balls and strikes were called by umpire Angel Hernandez.


The Pirate announcers "gushed"early in the game about Pirate starter Yoslan Herrera,a Cuban defector,and his 89 mph fastball,much mention was made about the beauty of the Roberto Clemente bridge in the background beyond left field,just under 30,000 fans attended the game,and it would be interesting to know what they thought the chances were of their sons or grandsons someday playing for the hometown team,most all in attendance were White.

 

[Don Wassall]

From today`s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"On its surface, it might appear the Pirates are intent on stocking all their Latin American signings on one minor-league affiliate, that being Bradenton of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League: Bradenton's 33-man roster includes 20 players in that category, most freshly arrived from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela."

20 of the 33 players on the roster are from Latin America?

The last time I saw the statistic, about two years ago, a slight majority of the players in the minor leagues are now hispanic, so 20 out of 33 is not an aberration. That's why, even though 2008 has been a great season for white players so far in the majors, it doesn't mean that baseball is going to be "whitening" itself any time soon. "Diversity" and "multiculturalism"are mandatory, especially in sports.

 

[LabMan]

The Pirates again showed that they value diversity over winning,as last night they again started Yoslan Herrera,the Rockies lit him up early and won the game 7-1,he lasted a little over one inning,and the Bucco announcers told us that he did all that he could to stay in touch with his family in Cuba.

 

[LabMan]

The Pirates have hinted that Cuban defector Yoslan Herrera may start again on Thursday,his ERA?,19.50!

 

[celticdb15]

This may be a little late, but i was very impressed with Nate McLouth in the All Star Game, i think he has star potential.

 

[Skipperron]

Yoslan is going to start his third game. I love how when white player Ty Taubenheim pitched good, he was sent down the next day. Barthmaier, the white rookie, did not pitch good and was sent down a day later. Now Herrera the black player from Cuba gets lit up in his first game, giving up 11 hits and 6 runs in just 4 innings and the pirates front office sayes he "earned another start"??????????????? And then he gets hit even harder against the Rockies. When it came time for another callup and a player to be optioned out, guess what? Not Herrera. He will start the game thursday against the Padres. I honestly, whether white or black, have never seen a worse pitcher than Herrera. Lord, he is horrible. But he will keep getting the ball and we will continue to hear of his struggles in getting out of Cuba. Actually it has been documented that the reason he left was because he was angry that his team in Cuba no longer was using him,a sign he was not that good.
All the while he has got to be loving America, getting to recieve 2 Million dollars for doing nothing more than stinking up the stadium. He might be the worst atrocity in a long while in Pittsburh.

 

[LabMan]

The Pirates traded away outfielder Xavier Nady,and relief pitcher Damaso Marte to the Yankees,and in return got four prospects,the "key" to the deal is said to be 19yr old Jose Tabata,


.One time New York minor league hitting coach Torre Tyson had this to say about Tabata,"he already carries himself like Manny Ramirez",perhaps we will get to see,"Jose just being Jose"!

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

I`m not happy with the focus on Jose Tabata being the "centerpiece" of this deal, either. He`ll only be 20 next month, but he`s had tons of discipline problems already, and some significant injury problems as well.

I would`ve liked a little more of a return on the 3 pitchers we got, but the GM had no choice but to start rebuilding the pitching in the organization. We can`t keep running losers like JVB and Herrera out to the mound and even expect to have a chance to win games.

Snell is looking more and more like a headcase, too.

Somehow we need to find a way to get at least a few more quality big-league caliber arms soon, because the farm system has virtually nothing to offer. I don`t think they will trade Bay, so maybe Wilson will go. But if Wilson is dealt, the team will have a big hole at a key defensive position. A lot of tough decisions.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

I like the two trades. Here are the guys I`m excited about:

Ohlendorf, Karstens, (Pitcher) McCutchen, Andy LaRoche, Moss, Hansen, and Morris.

 

[LabMan]

I agree VanSlyke,


Also,it was good to see the standing ovations that Jason Bay recieved in Boston last night,how did he respond?,he won the game in extra innings!

 

[LabMan]

Pirate pitcher Yoslan Herrera was sent to AA Altoona last night after lasting 1and1-3 innings against the Arizona Diamond Backs,his ERA was 9.82,and after crossing up catcher Ryan Doumit three times,he said through an interpreter,"it's just a bad day".


While he was with the Bucs,broadcaster Gregg Brown told us at length that he was a Cuban defector,how close he was to his family back in Cuba,and even coined the phrase "hip hip Herrera"!