MLB Winter Meetings: As Pedro Alvarez and the Pittsburgh Pirates Turn

The Winter Meetings kicked off today.

It took less than a few hours before the Pittsburgh Pirates talked about what many consider to be the most important player in the 2012 season, Pedro Alvarez.

A few contingency plan quotes were jacked up.

And then it went to the hot topic of Pedro’s conditioning. But nothing was more amusing to us than the name drop. Mark DeRosa.

Sure it makes sense to have competition after the struggles Pedro showed last season. Absolutely it does.  We simply don’t understand how University of Pennsylvania alum DeRosa could be that guy.

We don’t understand why the Bucs and Alvarez can’t communicate in a traditional manner.  It all reeks of something quite strange. Is Alvarez that much of a rebel?

It makes me want Alvarez to succeed more than ever and I’m sure Neal Huntington wants the same thing.  Without a rebound season from Alvarez in 2012, it’s hard to imagine the Pirates rebuilding efforts being labeled successful.  It’s time for the Bucs to have a slugging superstar, if it’s not Alvarez, we have no idea who it will be in the short term.

With such an important season a few months away, it just seems odd that it began this way.  But doesn’t it always with Pedro and the Bucs?

Videeo of GM Neal Huntington and details on Derrek Lee, Pedro Alvarez and the starting rotation are here: