Pirates Draft Day Edition of Rumbunter

Much to the chagrin of the Post Gazette Editorial Board, baseball prospects do turn into good baseball players.  Exhibit number one.  Andrew McCutchen. 

The Bucs battled again last night.  Good sign.

No killer instinct from the Bucs last night.  Bad, bad sign.

It was another very winnable game that slipped away.  As you will hear later, I spent some time in the car today.  The St. Louis Cardinals have a very tough roadtrip.  They aren’t playing well having dropped five of six.

Two opportunities for the Pirates to gain ground on the Cards were lost in 48 hours.  Remember that when the wild-card rolls around sports fans.

Duke was out-juked.  And David Ross again.  WOW.  Talk about deja vu. That brings back memories of taking our son to his first baseball game.   Duke (9.00ERA against Atlanta; 2.10 versus the rest of the league) didn’t out juke the Braves that day either.[Brody’s first game]

Ahh, the major league baseball draft is here.  First and only question that I have and it’s not even a question really.  Why is it on a Tuesday?

Sure, many great people are out of work, so I am sure some people are planning on tuning in…but…what else is going on tomorrow?  No, really Tuesday?

Seriously, the MLB Network coverage should be interesting.  I just have this feeling that no matter who the Pirates select…it immediately is going to be the wrong player in the eyes of the ‘fans.’

The Bucs are playing fake out with this pick.  Don’t fall for the bluff. [PG]

Rumbunter linked this article from Tim Kurkjian at ESPN the other day about Ross Ohlendorf.  Jordan at YanksGOYard.comis a great writer, so I trust he won’t get angry at me for throwing this out there.  And since I have just spent six hours in a vehicle driving back and forth from the nation’s capital listening to Sirius XM NFL and ESPN battle for the twenty-fifth time whether a one week deadline has been given to Farve, I’m spent. 

Anyway, Jordan is brilliant.   Check this out…

"Ohlendorf is telling us the Yankees have a backward approach to baseball.  Instead of investing heavily in “proven” free agents, the Yankees should be spending their money on prospects.  It’s the Hugh Hefner Method.  Hef learned that the rate of return on marriage was pretty low.  He spent a lot of time and money on one woman with the knowledge that her value would diminish as she aged.  So he changed his thinking.  He spent the same amount of money on several young talents knowing some of them might not work out.  Those who did succeed stuck around and generated 3 or 4 times the production of 1 wife.  Sure, some of the money was wasted on chicks that wouldn’t get down, but the end result justified the spending.  Who would you rather have: 1 Kimberley Conrad forever, or 1 Kendra, 1 Holly, 1 Bridgette…then 2 twins and a 3rd random playmate?  The Marlins caught on to this and won two World Series titles with it; invest in the young, win it all, dump them before it becomes too costly.  The Marlins GM should write a thank you card to Hef every time he so much as looks at those banners.I’m not advocating the Yankees never hand out another $100 million deal.  They needed to get an all around slugger like Teixeira this winter, and they needed an ace in the (large) mold of CC Sabathia.  But it’s more cost effective and ultimately a smarter investment to put money into the farm system.  Who would you rather have, Carl Pavano for $40 million or Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes for a tenth of that?"

"The Yankees need to spend money on better scouts and they need to spend money to sign the prospects they want.  They cannot continue to be apathetic about developing minor leaguers.  George Steinbrenner didn’t help the situation and frequently gutted the farm system in favor of high priced free agents.  Now that King George has vacated his throne, Brian Cashman needs to prove he’s a good GM by churning out some players."

Hmmm….this really makes me think about our prospects in the minors.  It also makes me appreciate the work the ‘business side’ is doing for the Pirates.  I spoke to an insider today who stated, ‘if we are patient with the team on the field, we must be patient with those off the field.’  Incredibly well stated.

So let’s turn back the clock to last year and take a peek.  Ahh, a 6-4 win over the DBacks.  Form your opinion and let me know your thoughts.  Here is what I think, McLouth certainly looks solid with that .303 average hitting in front of Bay. 

And I was more impressed with McCutchen last night.  There is a word for Andrew McCutchen.  Special.

We all know that it will take time for the Pirates to come together.  Some of us are struggling with it more than others.

But you know what?  Maybe I will Tivo that draft tonight after all.  If there is a possibility that the next Andrew McCutchen will be picked…yeh, definently I will.

Good Luck Draft Gurus.

Holy hell, 50 rounds!!?  What the..