Moving Out:The Pittsburgh/Portland Pirates (2004)

[dannymac910]

September 2006 Review

A rough year is over, and it finishes with another losing season in third place. I'm just glad it wasn't a 90 loss season because we managed to sweep the Cardinals in the final three games of the seasons all with 89 losses.

Freddy Sanchez was injured again, this time for six months, although he will be back for the beginning of the 2007 season. Our big ace pitcher in Brandon Webb wasn't at all an ace as he couldn't even notch 10 wins. But all in all I think we're still taking a step in the right direction and I'm looking to make a BIG splash in free agency so stay tuned for that.

Team Notes

• Juan Pierre's average dipped a whole bunch dropping to .334
• Jason Bay finished with 31 home runs and also hit for the cycle in June
• Paul Maholm was our best pitcher all year 13-8 with a 3.28 ERA
• Juan Pierre led the league in stolen bases for the 3rd year in a row with 90
• Mike Gonzalez had 38 saves but 8 blown saves!
• Our first pick Thomas Miller ended up being a total bust and is now a 63/77 he didn't hit a single homer in AAA
• Ian Snell pitched 100 innings with an ERA of 6
• Oliver Perez's strikeout numbers went down but so did his ERA, and that's what we need

[dannymac910]

Twins Win 2006 World Series!

[dannymac910]

Off Season Special

Re-Signings

• Juan Pierre signed a 3-year 10.25 million a year deal. After the way he hit there was no way I could let him go.
• Mike Gonzalez was awarded a 5 million dollar 1 year deal in arbitration
• Geoff Geary was awarded 2.9 million dollar 1 year deal in arbitration

Releases

• John Grabow was released

Trades

• Geoff Geary was traded to Kansas City for Angel Sanchez

And now for the big news!

• Mike Gonzalez and Rob Mackowiak were traded to the Devil Rays for MLB home run leader Jonny Gomes

That's right 53 home run hitter Jonny Gomes is coming to Pittsburgh and will be patrolling right field. The original trade was Gonzalez Gomes straight up but I mad the trade a little more fair by throwing in Mackowiak. It's was hard to give up Gonzalez but I don't think he was worth 5 mil. and it set up one of our big free agency moves. Gomes will add that big power to the #5 spot but I can't expect him to hit 50 again so I won't put him at cleanup.

Your newest Pirate, Jonny Gomes

Free Agency

Well here's were things got interesting. With no 3rd baseman and about 10 million dollars open in my budget I decided to make a big splash and got Jimmy Rollins. The best player in free agency besides Manny Ramirez, Jimmy was signed for 6 years at 11 mil. a year. Jimmy will go right into the #2 spot in the lineup and will give us a nice power boost. Jimmy was also one of the league leaders in steals and with him and Pierre we should be the team with the most steals in 2007. Now you may be thinking. "We have Jack Wilson, a Gold Glove shortstop, what do we do with Rollins?" Well, that's a good question. What I wanted was a 3rd baseman and being disappointed with no real good ones out there I looked at Rollins and noticed that he had a great arm and could go into 3rd base with no problem (kinda like an A-Rod situation.) Well with Rollins, Wilson, and Sanchez in the infield it looks like the Pirates will have the best defense in the league.

Welcome Jimmy Rollins to the lineup.

Now I bring you the second splash of the 2007 season. The reason I traded Mike Gonzalez wasn't because he wasn't worth it, but because there was a man in free agency. A legend, a Hall of Famer. That man was Mariano Rivera. We signed him to a 2 year 4.75 million dollar deal and the main reason I did this was to put Matt Capps into the set-up spot and after Mriano's contract is up I'll put Capps right into that closer spot. So now our team is complete and I used up all my budget to make sure we go at least over .500 and maybe make the playoffs.

Also say hello to future Hall of Famer, Mariano Rivera.

[dannymac910]

Free Agent Signings

• Manny Ramirez went back to his home town and signed with the Mets 4 years 14.8 million dollars
• Jason Kendall went to the White Sox for 4 years 8.7 million
• Ichiro is now with the Tigers for 3 years 7.9 million dollars
• Pat Burell went to the Red Sox to replace Manny; 5 years 13.8 milion dolars
• Jeff Bagwell's with the Mariners; 2 years 4.3 million
• Brad Penny went to the World Champion Twins; 2 years 3.3 million

[dannymac910]

Updating in a little while...

[Red Sox Fan 734]

i like the new format

[dannymac910]

i like the new format

Thanks, I saw the Red Sox today at Yankee Stadium and Jason Varitek, Josh Beckett, and Jonathan Papelbon walked right by. It was awesome.

[dannymac910]

Joaquin Benoit Out For 3 Months

April 16, 2007- The season started very well for Joaquin Benoit, but that will come to a stop for three months after Benoit suffered a broken tibia after slipping on the mound Tuesday. Benoit had a 2-0 record in 2 starts so far this season notching 15 K's with a 1.29 ERA. The injury shouldn't hamper the Pirates too much as it give a chance for young starting pitcher Ian Snell and will move Shane Youman into the long relievers role. Ian Snell will get his first start of the season against the Brewers on the 21st.

[dannymac910]

April 2007 Review

WOW! Wanna talk about a power surge? Or offense in the first half of April our offense went OFF! Jonny Gomes had 10 home runs in the first half only but got into a slump and finished the month with 10. Gomes is one of the league leaders in home runs and RBI's with 26 and also has a great team leading .325 average. If this keeps up Gomes could have a possible triple crown season and is also in a contract year so we might have to pay some big bucks come November.

Everyone on our team had a fantastic offensive start to the season but everyone cooled down come the end of the month as it seemed we couldn't win a single game. Juan Pierre and Jimmy Rollins are a perfect 1, 2 punch combo and Rollins haven't done that badly at third making only one error for the month. Jimmy has a nice .259/.357/.471 stat line with 2 dingers which is all we really need him to do all season. Get on base, steal, score. As simple as that.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is youngster Kendry Morales in his first full season at first base. He's been just great and has been better than I expected in the 8 spot. Hitting 4 homers in 21 games, when last year he hit 5 in 111 games. So far this season he has 10 RBI's and a .261/.354/.464 stat line. Morales really isn't the greatest first baseman but hasn't made an error all year so that's a good sign. I'm looking forward to following Kendry for the rest of the season and see what he can do, and if he struggles at first I'll stick him at DH next year when we move to Portland.

Pittsburgh's Offensive Stats This Year

Our pitching has been solid this year as we haven't had a pitcher struggle yet as opposed to years past when players would have records 10 games below .500 and our rotation is full of great strikeout pitchers. Our bullpen has struggled a bit but Mariano has been good even if he's only pitched 3 innings. Mariano hasn't given up a run or a single hit and has 4 save in 3 IP. Paul Maholm is having another great April with a 3-0 record, a 2.55 ERA and 33 K's in 35.1 IP, and a .227 BAA.

Pittsburgh's Pitching Stats

[dannymac910]

Pirates Offensive Player of the Month

Pirates Pitcher of the Month

[TheBigBomber]

Really enjoying the dynasty, hopefully you'll get to the playoffs this year and get to the WS. I like the addition of Jonny Gomes and Jimmy Rollins, they should add some nice offense to your team.

[dannymac910]

Really enjoying the dynasty, hopefully you'll get to the playoffs this year and get to the WS. I like the addition of Jonny Gomes and Jimmy Rollins, they should add some nice offense to your team.

Thanks man, I'm really liking the new format as its quiker and more fun to write.

[dannymac910]

May 2007 Review

May had more ups and downs than the Empire State Buildings elevator. It started off normal and then we hit a 5 game losing streak, but Freddy Sanchez came back and it one of his few bombs in his first game back. But currently no one on the team is hitting over .300 except Freddy Sanchez who's hitting .330 but I can deal with it considering the amount of homers we're hitting now. I never would've guessed big ball would be more effective than the small ball I tried to play in years past.

After all the trials and tribulations of the beginning of the month we got some real bad news. Our first round pick in 2005 Alejandro Mushibay suffered a torn rotator cuff and will be out until late next season. Mushibay was going to be our first draft pick to make it to the bigs as I was planning to call him up later this year. He was pitching well in AA with a sub 2 ERA and was looking to be a quintessential part of our big league bullpen. He will be missed but hopefully he can come back next year and overcome this injury, although it's doubtful.

Jason Bay is turning out to become a bigger home run hitter than Jonny Gomes. Bay has a National League leading 17 home runs with 47 RBI's. Well, since Bay is finally having a season with no injuries he has really flourished. I really think Bay can win the NL MVP this year and I'm close to naming him the team captain.

Pittsburgh's Stats So Far

Pitching has come along very well and Paul Maholm has become our "guaranteed win" pitcher, but Oliver Perez has the team lead in wins with 5 and him and Brandon Webb have been striking out people all year long. Our only pitching problem is after Joaquin Benoit's injury we just can't seem to find a good replacement and Ian Snell has become a "guaranteed loss" pitcher with a 2-4 record and a 4.50 ERA. And Shane Youman has been HORRIBLE as a starter with a 8+ ERA, but we have no other pitchers ready in the minors so we're just gonna have to deal until Benoit gets back.

Mariano Rivera has settled very well into the closer position with 11 saves and only 1 blown save. Mariano has a sub 2.00 ERA and no injuries yet which is surprising considering his health is in the 50's. Hopefully he can last the entire year and maybe next year as Matt Capps makes his transition into closer.

Pittsburgh's Pitching So Far

Pirates Batter of the Month

Pirates Pitcher of the Month

[dannymac910]

[dannymac910]

June 2007 Review

Another rough start to the month. We just kept going back and forth 3 losses here than 3 wins, 2 losses, 3 wins, etc. etc. But if it kept up like that then we'd be over .500 easily. And we were, we finished with a June record of 16-10 which put us 12 games over .500 and got put us snugly into 2nd place only 5 games back from the dangerous Houston hitters. Jason Bay just keeps heating up and has 24 homers and is 1 behind Manny Ramirez for the league lead. Manny's having a triple crown season which is making me regret not throwing massive loads of money at him but we just didn't ave the cash. Bay hasn't made a single error in left field which leaves me to believe that he might get that Gold Glove that has eluded him the past couple of years, but he has been out for a week with a twisted ankle but it won't hurt 'em that much.

Kendry Morales is having a fantastic season I mean he hasn't made a single error and last season he was a very poor defender so it surprised me. Kendry has become everything I hoped for he hits well but the most important thing is he gets on base, .372 OBP is just what I can ask for and add his 9 homers and he has become a real offensive threat. With Jack Wilson struggling at the number 6 spot I thought it was time to give Kendry a promotion and move him up. And now that I look back at that trade from 2004 it really makes me proud. All I had to give up was a couple of aging players and a prospect reliever and I got my future first baseman for years to come. It really worked out well.

Pittsburgh's Offense Up To June

Now we can talk about pitching and one thin I have to talk about is the turn around of Ian Snell. He's really come around as our number 5 guy with 6 wins and a 3.32 ERA and a 3.12 DICE and he's turned out to be very solid but in order to stay in the hunt this year I may have to package him up with Duke and maybe a prospect and get a veteran starter, but if we can keep it close it may not be needed. Oliver Perez is another guy who's having a career year as he continues to K people like usual but the only thing that's different from last year is tat he's actually winning game now and has a team leading 8 wins, although he does have a bloated ERA of 5.04 he's still finding ways to win and we PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! Paul Maholm has still been our ace even though his ERA jumped a little to 3.58 but he does have a DICE of 3.04 which is comforting. He also has 7 wins. I'm going to have to give him a contract extension, and it will be big and long. (that's what she said)

Here's The Pitching Stats

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Pirates Hitter of the Month

Pirates Pitcher of the Month