Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 10, 2012, 5:25 pm
The Pirates and Yankees have continued to discuss a potential trade involving A.J. Burnett, and we’ve seen plenty of rumors throughout the day. To summarize, Garrett Jones is off the table, which is a good thing. The point of debate now seems to be how much of Burnett’s salary the Pirates will ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 10, 2012, 6:53 am
Here’s Episode 2 of our Pirates Roundtable Podcast. Catch Episode 1 here if you missed it. Topics we discussed include: The A.J. Burnett rumors, the state of the Bucs’ minor league system, Dmitri Young, the Pirates’ announcers, and a good amount of other stuff. We have a solid group going (J...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 8, 2012, 5:32 pm
There’s been some speculation today about the Pirates and Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett, and Ken Rosenthal confirmed that the Bucs have been in talks about the struggling flamethrower. He also notes, however, that “those conversations failed to progress and perhaps qualified only as due diligence...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 8, 2012, 12:16 am
tweeted: Dmitri Young (nicknamed “Da Meat Hook”) hasn’t played since 2008 and has had some serious weight and health issues in the past. But now, the 38-year old has slimmed down big-time and is looking to make a comeback. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick wrote a good piece about Young’s efforts to...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 7, 2012, 5:06 pm
Well, the Pirates have apparently been making a last-ditch effort to make a big splash and improve their pitching this season, but it didn’t work. They went after free agents Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt, but Jackson signed with the Nationals instead and Oswalt “rebuffed” their offers to join ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 3, 2012, 4:42 pm
Hopefully this will be the beginning of something semi-regular and fun. Last night, Jon of McEffect, Jim of North Side Notch, and Cory of Three Rivers Burgh Blog joined me in a podcast to discuss the Pirates’ offseason and some other random things. Specific topics include: The additions of Clint ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 3, 2012, 4:20 pm
The Bucs signed veteran lefty Brian Tallet today. The 34 year-old has suffered through injuries and a couple of poor seasons recently, so I would assume that it’s a minor league deal. Tallet has been reasonably effective against lefties, so he’ll probably join Daniel Moskos, Doug Slaten, and ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 1, 2012, 4:01 pm
The Bucs inked reliever Juan Cruz to a minor league deal (with an invite to Spring Training) on Wednesday. Cruz is a 33-year old righty with 11 big-league seasons under his belt. His career ERA is 4.13, and last year with Tampa Bay he went 5-0 with a 3.88 ERA. He tends to put up good strikeout numb...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Feb 1, 2012, 1:38 am
Both these news bits are a day or so old, but since things continue to be slow I figured I’d put them up here anyway in case you missed them. Tony Sanchez broke his jaw in a bar fight earlier this offseason. He is apparently fully healthy now, but suffered an enormous setback in his development o...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 28, 2012, 8:09 am
It was another slow week in Bucco-land, but here are some tidbits as we inch towards spring training… RumBunter did a podcast interview with Clint Hurdle. You should listen to it.  The Bucs signed pitcher Daniel Cabrera to a minor league deal. Cabrera is known for an extremely live arm and some...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 26, 2012, 12:31 am
Here’s the proof: (via @Kristy_Robinson) OK then… ©2012 Raise the Jolly Roger. All Rights Reserved. .
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 24, 2012, 9:49 pm
In the latest shocking offseason move, Prince Fielder is headed to Detroit to join the Tigers. He will only cost Detroit $214 million over nine years. Fielder joins Albert Pujols as the second giant bat to leave the division. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that he wasn’t going back to t...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 23, 2012, 8:08 pm
It’s been a slow week for Pirates news and discussion, but the Bucs’ minor league system has been getting some attention lately…and there’s nothing else to talk about…so here goes: John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com ranked the Pirates’ overall minor league system 12th in MLB. That’s ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 18, 2012, 12:35 pm
tweeted: Sigh… ©2012 Raise the Jolly Roger. All Rights Reserved. .
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 18, 2012, 12:41 am
The Pirates have not yet reached agreements with their two remaining arbitration eligible players (Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee), but it looks like they will soon. Tuesday night was the deadline for arb-eligible players and teams to exchange 2012 salary figures. Jones asked for $2.5 million whil...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 17, 2012, 8:36 pm
The Pirates avoided arbitration with two more pitchers today, reaching one-year deals with Jeff Karstens and Evan Meek. Karstens will make $3.1 million. This was his second arbitration eligible year; he made $1.1 million last season. Meek will make  $875,000 with an additional $25,000 possible i...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 16, 2012, 1:13 pm
tweeted: Not a bad deal for Charlie, who is coming off a breakout season (10-10, 3.83 ERA). This was his first arbitration eligible year. Morton made $441,000 in 2011. The 2012 projected payroll remains a little over $46 million.  The remaining arbitration eligible Pirates are Garrett Jones, J...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 16, 2012, 10:52 am
Not a bad two days for closer Joel Hanrahan. Yesterday, he got married in Texas: tweeted: Today, he got a hefty raise, avoiding arbitration: tweeted: Congrats, Joel! This was Hanrahan’s second arbitration contract year – he made $1.4M last year. The $4.1M figure is about what people estim...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 13, 2012, 7:04 pm
tweeted: Resop made $431,500 last season. This was his first year of arbitration eligibility. Evan Meek, Charlie Morton, Jeff Karstens, Garrett Jones, Casey McGehee, and Joel Hanrahan are the remaining arbitration eligible players that have yet to agree to a contract. ©2012 Raise the Jolly Roge...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 12, 2012, 12:36 am
Yippee! Doug Slaten! Slaten is a 31 year-old lefty reliever. He was decent in limited action with the Nats over the last two years, but missed some time with an elbow injury.  He should add a little bit of lefty depth in the bullpen – the Bucs don’t have much of it right now behind Tony Watson...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 9, 2012, 11:16 pm
Reports early Monday indicated that Paul Maholm would be headed to Chicago to join the Cubs, and he confirmed those rumors tonight via Twitter: tweeted: Paul will make $4.25 million and the Cubs have a 2013 option for $6.5 million. The Bucs turned down Maholm’s 2012 option worth $9.75 million a...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 6, 2012, 6:43 am
Yes, it’s still EXTREMELY early and tons of things could (and should) change between now and April 5th, but since we’ve crossed into the new year and there isn’t much else going on at the moment, here’s a look at the Bucs as they currently stand. I started with the rotation, then looked at ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Jan 4, 2012, 6:03 pm
Bucs news and notes for the day… The Bucs signed Logan Kensing to a minor league deal today. Kensing is a 29 year old reliever that has bounced around and struggled during his time in the majors. He throws hard, but I don’t anticipate seeing him in Pittsburgh unless a bunch of the current bullp...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 14, 2011, 10:01 pm
The Bucs will sign right-handed reliever Ryota Igarashi to a minor league contract (via MLBTR). Igarashi, 32, came over from Japan two years ago and spent 2010 and 2011 with the Mets. He posted a 5.74 ERA in 69 innings in New York and was released in October. I don’t know much about his history ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 12, 2011, 11:56 pm
The Bucs tendered contracts to Joel Hanrahan, Charlie Morton, Chris Resop, Jeff Karstens, Evan Meek, and Garrett Jones ahead of the midnight deadline. They will all be back with the team next season. So will Jason Grilli, who agreed to a $1.1 million deal. The Bucs also tendered a contract to the n...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 12, 2011, 9:22 pm
tweeted: With Jose Veras likely on his way out at tonight’s arbitration deadline, the Pirates were able to flip him to Milwaukee (of all places) for Casey McGehee. McGehee, 29, is pretty much the definition of this Pedro Alvarez “contingency plan” we’ve been hearing about. He’s primarily...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 12, 2011, 9:21 pm
tweeted: tweeted: That means Grilli is back for 2012, avoiding arbitration at a pretty fair price for both sides. Grilli quickly became a fan favorite and pitched well with the Bucs, so it’s good to see him back. We’re still waiting on updates for the other arbitration eligible players. ©2...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 12, 2011, 1:27 am
Tonight (midnight) is the non-tender deadline for arbitration-eligible players. Teams need to decide whether to offer salary arbitration (a decent raise) to a player, or non-tender him and make him a free agent. Here are the eight arbitration-eligible Pirates: Charlie Morton Chris Resop Evan Meek G...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 11, 2011, 12:01 am
Our least favorite player on our least favorite team is in some serious trouble. Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and will face a 50-game suspension as a result, unless he can successfully appeal. There are a number of reactions Pirate fans had to this news. The first ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 8, 2011, 10:53 am
Albert Pujols is headed to the Los Angeles Angels, which of course is fantastic news. The Pirates will almost never see him again. The Bucs made a pick in the Rule 5 draft this morning, taking shortstop Gustavo Nunez from Detroit. Stop me if you’ve heard this before – Nunez is a good fielder th...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 8, 2011, 12:16 am
Two Bucs that won’t be back next year (in all likelihood). Neither of these are a surprise. tweeted: Lee declining arbitration gives the Bucs an extra second round draft pick. Ohlendorf’s roster spot can clear the way for Yamaico Navarro or a Rule 5 pick (draft is today). If the Bucs make a R...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 7, 2011, 11:28 pm
The Bucs made yet another move tonight – this time a trade with the Kansas City Royals. They sent Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris to Kansas City in exchange for Yamaico Navarro. Navarro, 24, will likely assume the role of utility infielder in 2012 (and could play some third if Pedro Alvarez conti...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Dec 7, 2011, 6:37 pm
The Pirates made another move this afternoon, signing left-handed starter Erik Bedard to a 1-year, $4.5 million deal. I don’t have a lot of time for a long post, but I am a big fan of this pickup. Bedard is a very good pitcher – possibly the best on the current staff – when healthy. The probl...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Nov 2, 2011, 8:00 am
After declining Ronny Cedeno‘s $3M option for 2012, the Pirates will enter the offseason searching for a new shortstop. Here’s a quick look at some available options and my thoughts: Internal options: Chase d’Arnaud – There’s still plenty of hope for Chase to become an every day major le...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 31, 2011, 8:32 pm
The Pirates declined four options this morning, sending Ronny Cedeno, Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit, and Chris Snyder into the free agent market.  It looks like there will be more joining them, as the Bucs outrighted five more players to AAA – giving them the option to declare free agency as well. No...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 31, 2011, 11:16 am
We knew that Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit, and Chris Snyder were likely gone…but Ronny Cedeno too? That one is a surprise…and to me, a disappointment. I sure hope Neal Huntington isn’t planning on heading in to 2012 with Chase d’Arnaud as the starting shortstop. He’s got a lot of work to do t...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 29, 2011, 12:24 pm
Now that the 2011 season is officially over for everyone, it’s time to dive back into Pirates offseason talk! Neal Huntington and company have a number of decisions to make in the near future. This post focuses on current Bucs that may or may not be back next season. Here’s the breakdown: Unres...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 28, 2011, 11:49 pm
Unbelievable. What a series and what an amazing run by St. Louis. You may not have liked the outcome, but this was easily the best World Series (and maybe entire postseason) in a decade. Hard to believe that the Bucs were leading them in late July. But with that, it’s officially the offseason. F...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 27, 2011, 12:27 am
…and this is was his profile picture: Stay Thirsty my friends. Follow him @ronny_cedeno, but be prepared to brush up on your Spanish. ©2011 Raise the Jolly Roger. All Rights Reserved. .
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 26, 2011, 12:39 pm
A few notes as the World Series wraps up… Out in Arizona, Robbie Grossman is still destroying the ball and Gerrit Cole had a much better second outing. Don’t forget to check their progress on the AFL Tracker page, which is updated daily. There were a few mini-rumors over the past couple days l...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 24, 2011, 8:06 pm
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is once again conducting its own end-of-season MLB awards as part of an ongoing effort to provide an improved and more transparent balloting system.  The ballots are divided evenly among chapters representing each team, along with a “General Baseball” chapter, a...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 20, 2011, 3:03 pm
The Pirates’ 2012 Spring Training schedule was released today. Here’s a quick look from Pirates.com: It looks like the Bucs won’t have their epic battle with the Manatees this year, which is terribly sad news. Instead, they’ll start the exhibition schedule with the “Black and Gold game”...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 18, 2011, 6:50 pm
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is once again conducting its own end-of-season MLB awards as part of an ongoing effort to provide an improved and more transparent balloting system.  The ballots are divided evenly among chapters representing each team, along with a “General Baseball” chapter, a...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 15, 2011, 12:45 pm
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is once again conducting its own end-of-season MLB awards as part of an ongoing effort to provide an improved and more transparent balloting system.  The ballots are divided evenly among chapters representing each team, along with a “General Baseball” chapter, a...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 14, 2011, 11:31 pm
#1 overall pick Gerrit Cole pitched for the first time in official pro ball on Friday, making a start in the Arizona Fall League. Cole had a 1-2-3 first inning (all groundouts). He allowed a single to lead off the second, but then struck out two and got a groundout to end the inning. He then strugg...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 12, 2011, 5:36 pm
After Paul Maholm hit the DL in August, many suggested that he might never throw another pitch for the Pirates. It looks like that will indeed be the case. Maholm has a $9.75M option for 2012, which is probably a bit expensive but certainly not out of the question for a decent, relatively reliable ...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 12, 2011, 5:15 pm
... a while ago, but the Pirates officially announced today that they ... Training games every year. The Pirates’ pre- and post-game shows, ... ’s radio rights holder. The Pirates’ broadcast team will remain intact ... Wehner continuing to call games. Pirates games will also still be hea...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 12, 2011, 5:06 pm
As if the division didn’t already have enough attention with the Brewers and Cardinals playing in the NLCS, there’s even more NL Central news today: The Astros are on the verge of being sold, and Peter Gammons says that if the sale goes through they will be moving to the American League West. W...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 11, 2011, 10:51 pm
Well, this news sort of seems like it came out of nowhere. Charlie Morton had surgery on Monday to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. The surgery was successful, but the expected recovery time is six months – which would put Morton out for Opening Day and early April. Morton’s agent, however...
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Brian M. posted an article on Raise the Jolly Roger! - Oct 11, 2011, 10:22 pm
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is once again conducting its own end-of-season MLB awards as part of an ongoing effort to provide an improved and more transparent balloting system.  The ballots are divided evenly among chapters representing each team, along with a “General Baseball” chapter, and...
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