It has come to my attention that the Pittsburgh Pirates have made yet another trade. Nyger Morgan and Sean Burnett have been traded to the Washington Nationals for OF Lastings Milledge and RP Joel Hanrahan. They also traded Eric Hinske and cash to the Yankees for a 2 minor league prospects. Right now, Lastings Milledge is starting his rehab assignment to recover from a broken finger. Joel Hanrahan has an ERA of.... are you ready for this..... 7.71!!!! He is 0-3 with 5 blown saves this year. I now present his box score from his last 3 appearances:
6/21 vs. Toronto: 1 IP 3 H 3 R 3 ER 1BB 0K 36 pitches
6/23 vs. Boston: 1 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 1BB 1K 22 pitches
6/26 @ Baltimore: 1/3 IP 3 H 4R 4ER 1BB 1K 27 pitches
Atleast he is on a good run right? As for the Hinske trade, I say good. The prospects the Pirates have gotten from NY have turned out to be solid, and Hinske is a whining bitch. Also, he was making $1.5M this year so they dumped his contract. Both prospects Pittsburgh received, Casey Erickson and Eric Freyer, has produced in the lower leagues. They are each only 23 years old.
I would have liked to see Pittsburgh keep Morgan, but Hinske was an overpaid doushe and Burnett was having some serious issues. I just wish they would have gotten more out of the deal from Washington. Milledge was supposed to be a great prospect but has battled injuries over his 3 years in the league. He did have 14 HRs and 68 RBIs last year. The biggest problem is there is noone to step in and replace Morgan right away.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Penguins IV
ESPN.com is reporting that Rob Scuderi is going to test the free agent waters when they open up Wednesday. It may be in Pittsburgh's best interest to either try to sign Philippe Boucher to a 1 year deal, or simply hold the cap space till later in the season to make a trade for a bigger name.
Penguins III
Well the Pens have definitely made some strides in the right direction so far this off season. They seemed to have had a solid draft, and now have begun the process of signing free agents. Bill Guerin took a huge hometown discount ($2.5M) to stay on the same line as Sidney Crosby. He 
put his Herbie Hancock on a 1 year $2M deal yesterday. Guerin on being able to continue to play with Sid the Kid; " I'd be lying if I didn't say that was one of the big reasons I wanted to stay. It's so much fun to play with him." The Pens also did the smart thing and resigned Craig Adams to a 2 year $1.1M deal yesterday.
The Penguins 2009-2010 roster salary is now sitting right about $53M. The NHL raised the cap by 100K on Friday and it is set at $56.8M for 2009-2010. This means they have just under $4M to get Scuderi and another LW. Don't think they are going to be able to fit in the type of talent they need under that amount. I still think their best option is finding a way to dump Kunitz's contract. If anything, the most important player left is Scuderi. They can use some of their AHL talent to fill the gaps in the line up and maybe make a trade during the season. The roster now looks like so:
LW/C/RW
Kunitz/Crosby/Guerin
?/Malkin/Talbot
Cooke/Stahl/Kennedy
Dupuis/Adams/Goddard
D/D
Gonchar/Orpik
Letang/Eaton
?/Gologoski
Assuming they can get Scuderi for around $2.5M a year, they might be able to get a reasonable LW for $1/yr.
put his Herbie Hancock on a 1 year $2M deal yesterday. Guerin on being able to continue to play with Sid the Kid; " I'd be lying if I didn't say that was one of the big reasons I wanted to stay. It's so much fun to play with him." The Pens also did the smart thing and resigned Craig Adams to a 2 year $1.1M deal yesterday.The Penguins 2009-2010 roster salary is now sitting right about $53M. The NHL raised the cap by 100K on Friday and it is set at $56.8M for 2009-2010. This means they have just under $4M to get Scuderi and another LW. Don't think they are going to be able to fit in the type of talent they need under that amount. I still think their best option is finding a way to dump Kunitz's contract. If anything, the most important player left is Scuderi. They can use some of their AHL talent to fill the gaps in the line up and maybe make a trade during the season. The roster now looks like so:
LW/C/RW
Kunitz/Crosby/Guerin
?/Malkin/Talbot
Cooke/Stahl/Kennedy
Dupuis/Adams/Goddard
D/D
Gonchar/Orpik
Letang/Eaton
?/Gologoski
Assuming they can get Scuderi for around $2.5M a year, they might be able to get a reasonable LW for $1/yr.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Writings on the Reg'
Quote of the week: "If you let someone borrow $20, and never see them again.... it was probably work the $20"
Movie Review: Watched the new Transformers last night. Pretty good. There have been a lot of reviews online that have bashed the movie. Those are most likely written by a bunch of hippie doushebags that are not fans of the first one either. The movie is long (2 hours and 11 min) but the story keeps you in it. Interesting plot to keep the movies series alive. They do leave it open for a 3rd one. More comedy in this one as well. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first one.
Grade: A
Movie Review: Watched the new Transformers last night. Pretty good. There have been a lot of reviews online that have bashed the movie. Those are most likely written by a bunch of hippie doushebags that are not fans of the first one either. The movie is long (2 hours and 11 min) but the story keeps you in it. Interesting plot to keep the movies series alive. They do leave it open for a 3rd one. More comedy in this one as well. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first one.
Grade: A
Baseball Bitching:
The Pirates finish 4-2 in their last 6 to get to 35-40. They are still only 5 games out of first in the division, but are in last place. The division is wide open, and if the Buccos can continue to win their series like this, and put together a winning streak(maybe 10 games or so) they have a serious chance. They managed to hold their own against 2 of the best pitchers in the majors. They beat Cliff Lee on Thursday and lost 3-2 to Zack Greinke yesterday.
Their biggest issues is their lack of power from both sides of the plate. Adam LaRoche is their best power hitter, and he only has 11 HRs and 37 RBIs. That's good enough to be tied for 59th and 84th respectively. Their best power from the right side is Freddy Sanchez. Freddy fucking Sanchez!!! Are you serious. He is a great contact hitter, but Freddy Sanchez!! They need to establish a serious RF and get rid of Laroche at 1B for someone better. If they can trade the LaRoche brothers for a serious 1B, they will have room at 3B to call up their #1 draft pick from last year, Pedro Alvarez. He is 6-3 234lbs and can provide some real left handed power. He spent most of this year in single A, but had 14 HRs and 55 RBIs in 66 games. He was recently called up to AA and may need more time. Ryan Doumit is still a question mark as to when he willl return. He is scheduled to start his rehab assignment in AAA Indianapolis this week. They say a wrist injury like his is brutal for a catcher. They could however play him at 1B or RF to get him up to bat. Their lineup could look something like this:
1. Andrew McCutchen - CF
2. Nyger Morgan - LF
3. Freddy Sanchez - 2B
4. Ryan Doumit - 1B
5. Pedro Alvarez - 3B
6. Jason Jaramillo - C
7. undetermined RF
8. Jack Wilson - SS
9. Pitcher
If they can get a good RF somehow, he would move up the lineup to possibly 4th or 5th.
They could always just ask Spanky Lavalliere to come back.
Statistics of the week:
1) Nate McClouth is still second on the Pirates in HRs and RBIs despite being traded away 3 weeks ago.
2) The Pirates are 5 games under .500, but have outscored their opponents by 6 runs.
3) The Nationals have been outscored by 98 runs this year
4) In 3 games against the Baltimore Orioles, Hanley Ramirez had 11 RBIs
5) Transfomers rolled $112M over the weekend and $210M since its release last Wednesday. The next highest over the weekend was "The Proposal" at $18M. $94M less than Transformers.
6) Micheal Jackson has sold over 750 million albums world wide.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Penguins II
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There has been a statistical error. Tyler Kennedy is not a free agent this offseason. The Pens re-signed him last september for a 2 year $550,000/year contract. It also appears the cap is going to stay closer to $56-57M, giving the Pens some breathing room.
Therefore, they still need to sign a LW for Malkin and RW for Crosby. A right handed RW would be a perfect compliment for both the top line, and the Power Play. Lets hope they make some moves sooner than later.
Writings On The Reg'
I have decided to write atleast once a week under this title, "The lig
I have done the off-season review for the Penguins, now it is time to focus on the 2 other Pittsburgh teams. I will do a Steelers preview sometime in July and a piece on the future of the Pirates later this week. Now to move on to some more entertaining things.
Quote of the week:
"Fights in bars should have Blades of Steel rules. If you win, you get to stay in the bar."
-the Great Beast
Movie note of the week:
Go see "The Hangover". Very well done script. Highly entertaining. Keeps you laughing from the beginning to end. Make sure you stay for the credits.
Baseball Bitching:
The Pirates are atrocious on the road. They just lost 5 of 6 on their last road trip including being swept by the red hot Rockies. (McCutchen and Nyger Morgan are probably out at the clubs pulling home skanks every night.) They now begin a 10 game home stand against the Indians (3) Royals (3) Cubs (3) and a make up game against the Mets from June 3rd. At 31-38, the Buccos need to go 9-1 at home to get back above .500. Can it be done, probably not. However, they do have alot of things going in their favor. The Indians and Royals are terrible. The only hurdle is that Cliff Lee is scheduled to pitch Thursday and they may have to face Greinke Sunday. (he throws Tuesday vs. the Astros and Sunday would be his next spot in the rotation) If they can take 5 of 6 from those 2 they are well on their way to approaching .500. The Cubbies are playing much better baseball then they were when the Pirates played them earlier this year.
Random statistics of the week:
1) The Pirates have played only 29 games at home this year compared to 40 on the road.
2) The Pirates are 17-12 at home this year.
3) The Pirates are 14-26 on the road this year.
4) The Rockies have won 17 of their last 18.
5) Albert Pujols actually is a machine. He has 8 home runs in the last 10 games. Pujols -->
6) Kate Hudson is sucking the life out of Alex Rodriguez. Rumors surfaced about those 2 banging in early June. He is hitting .145 (8-55) with 2HR and 9 RBIs in June.
7) The human head weighs 8lbs.
8) The Phillies are 13-22 at home.
I have done the off-season review for the Penguins, now it is time to focus on the 2 other Pittsburgh teams. I will do a Steelers preview sometime in July and a piece on the future of the Pirates later this week. Now to move on to some more entertaining things.
Quote of the week:
"Fights in bars should have Blades of Steel rules. If you win, you get to stay in the bar."
-the Great Beast
Movie note of the week:
Go see "The Hangover". Very well done script. Highly entertaining. Keeps you laughing from the beginning to end. Make sure you stay for the credits.
Baseball Bitching:
The Pirates are atrocious on the road. They just lost 5 of 6 on their last road trip including being swept by the red hot Rockies. (McCutchen and Nyger Morgan are probably out at the clubs pulling home skanks every night.) They now begin a 10 game home stand against the Indians (3) Royals (3) Cubs (3) and a make up game against the Mets from June 3rd. At 31-38, the Buccos need to go 9-1 at home to get back above .500. Can it be done, probably not. However, they do have alot of things going in their favor. The Indians and Royals are terrible. The only hurdle is that Cliff Lee is scheduled to pitch Thursday and they may have to face Greinke Sunday. (he throws Tuesday vs. the Astros and Sunday would be his next spot in the rotation) If they can take 5 of 6 from those 2 they are well on their way to approaching .500. The Cubbies are playing much better baseball then they were when the Pirates played them earlier this year.
Random statistics of the week:
1) The Pirates have played only 29 games at home this year compared to 40 on the road.
2) The Pirates are 17-12 at home this year.
3) The Pirates are 14-26 on the road this year.
4) The Rockies have won 17 of their last 18.
5) Albert Pujols actually is a machine. He has 8 home runs in the last 10 games. Pujols -->
6) Kate Hudson is sucking the life out of Alex Rodriguez. Rumors surfaced about those 2 banging in early June. He is hitting .145 (8-55) with 2HR and 9 RBIs in June.
7) The human head weighs 8lbs.
8) The Phillies are 13-22 at home.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Penguins
Guins Win!!! Now that the hangover from the Penguins Stanley Cup victory is starting to wane, it is time to start looking at what changes will be made this off-season if they plan to repeat. The situation they have right now is like going to the strip club and having an awesome time, then waking up to see your credit cards statement for the hummer in the back room. They bill has come in for the Stanley Cup Championship (well worth it). There are several different issues they are facing, mainly in free agent losses. The 2 biggest FA signings they need to make are 1) Rob Scuderi and 2) Tyler Kennedy. They made 712K and 541K last year respectively. Scuderi could sign something along the lines of 3 years $6M. Kennedy maybe 3yrs $4.5M. After that there is Ruslan Fedotenko. He made $2.25M this year and would be expecting the same. Guerin had a $4.5M contract with the Islanders that expired after this year. Assuming Guerin does not retire, we would probably need to take a pay-cut to stay in Pittsburgh. Personally, I think this was his last run as an NHL player. Other FA's include Miroslav Satan (best name in sports ever), Hal Gill, Petr Sykora and Craig Adams. Out of the 4 of those, only Adams would be work keeping.
The Salary Cap for 2009/2010 is expected to drop down to around $55M. With the current salary commitments for next year, they Pens are looking at close to $49M dollars withing resigning anyone. If they sign Kennedy and Scuderi to the contracts above, along with re-signing Adams to be the 4th line center at around $1M, that would put them somewhere around $53.5M for next year. They still need to sign a RW to play with Crosby and a LW to play with Malkin. The easiest solution is either A) Crosby and Malkin take a pay cut or B) they find a way to get rid of Kunitz's $3.7M contract. They would have to trade him away, and I don't think anyone will pay that much for a LW that scores once every 30 games. Sadly, the only other option would to send him down to the minors to get his contact off the books. You hate to be paying that kinda money for someone in the minors.
If they can find a way to trade for Danny Heatley, they would be the favorite for the cup next year. He is too big of a cap hit to get though. They will have to search the FA market or bring someone up from minors. So far, the lines could look like this.
unsigned free agent
LW/ C / RW
Kunitz/Crosby/?
?/Malkin/Talbot
Cooke/Stahl/Kennedy
Goodard/Adams/Dupuis
D/ D
Gonchar/Orpik
Scuderi/Gologoski
Eaton/Letang
There are many questions left to be asked. Other players they could look at include trading to bring back RW Ryan Malone, $4.4M, or LW Jarkko Ruutu, $1.3M. Malkin and Crosby need help, there is no question about that. I think they will have to trade away Kunitz, AND Gino and the Kid will need to take some type of salary cut.
The Salary Cap for 2009/2010 is expected to drop down to around $55M. With the current salary commitments for next year, they Pens are looking at close to $49M dollars withing resigning anyone. If they sign Kennedy and Scuderi to the contracts above, along with re-signing Adams to be the 4th line center at around $1M, that would put them somewhere around $53.5M for next year. They still need to sign a RW to play with Crosby and a LW to play with Malkin. The easiest solution is either A) Crosby and Malkin take a pay cut or B) they find a way to get rid of Kunitz's $3.7M contract. They would have to trade him away, and I don't think anyone will pay that much for a LW that scores once every 30 games. Sadly, the only other option would to send him down to the minors to get his contact off the books. You hate to be paying that kinda money for someone in the minors.
If they can find a way to trade for Danny Heatley, they would be the favorite for the cup next year. He is too big of a cap hit to get though. They will have to search the FA market or bring someone up from minors. So far, the lines could look like this.
unsigned free agent
LW/ C / RW
Kunitz/Crosby/?
?/Malkin/Talbot
Cooke/Stahl/Kennedy
Goodard/Adams/Dupuis
D/ D
Gonchar/Orpik
Scuderi/Gologoski
Eaton/Letang
There are many questions left to be asked. Other players they could look at include trading to bring back RW Ryan Malone, $4.4M, or LW Jarkko Ruutu, $1.3M. Malkin and Crosby need help, there is no question about that. I think they will have to trade away Kunitz, AND Gino and the Kid will need to take some type of salary cut.
To sum up, unless Ray Shero has some more magic up his sleeve, the credit card statement is going to ruin the weekend.
More analysis to come in the future.
More analysis to come in the future.
Yang to Nick's Yin
As much as I hate the term "blog", I found this can be an entertaining way to get out "the angersharks" that are swimming in my head. This will be a combination of sports, TV, movie and anything else I can come up with to bitch about. I am going to write this almost as the Bill Simmons of Pittsburgh. I am hoping to bounce ideas, points of interest, comments and conversations off of Nick Sunseri's posts as well. (123shoot.blogspot.com)
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