Pirates fans rejoice!!!

• Heretic

  

  We've (supposedly) just signed Joe Beimel to be a reliever. This means we have someone on the team who looks like they're almost as big of a junkie as that homeless DJ dude everyone was in love with for a couple days!
  
  
  
  A step in the right direction!
• Non

  

  He's back.
  
  I think we're set now with Beimel and our big bopper, Lyle Overbay.
• rock_knutne

  When I saw the thread title, first thing I thought of was that the Nuttings sold the team.
• Heretic

  

  rock_knutne;656762 wrote:When I saw the thread title, first thing I thought of was that the Nuttings sold the team.

  
  Nope. Just that they signed an average-ish relief pitcher who looks like a crackhead!
  
  For actual positive news, Andrew McCutchen is getting a lot of positive pre-season press. Both Ken Rosenthal and Greg Amsinger of the MLB Network said he was the best centerfielder in the game for right now; and he was named to Jayson Stark's All-Underrated Team as his CF. (http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/1/22/1950019/mlb-network-andrew-mccutchen-1-center-fielder-right-now)
• Non

  

  I like their young position players.
  
  Cutch, Walker, Tabata and Alvarez are nice
  
  starting pitching is just dreadful, they'll need somebody like a Rudy Owens to be a surprise
• Heretic

  

  Yeah...and I don't know that anyone like Owens will be a factor until the end of the year. Most of their best potential starters weren't above AA last year (Owens, Morris, Locke...as well as lesser lights like Wilson and Watson). It's pretty much us fans hoping that McDonald builds on the promise he showed last year, Morton isn't a complete headcase and can rewind the clock to late '09 when he looked to have a lot of potential, Lincoln was just over his head last year...but is ready for the bigs now and guys like Corrella and Maholm don't suck too much.
• Non

  

  Yeah all those pitchers like Owens, Locke and Morris will start at AAA probably. They won't be called up until midseason at least, if they're pitching great.
  
  They didn't get enough in free agency. They tried a little bit to get a Jorge De La Rose or Pavano, but ultimately ended up with only Correia and Olson. Neither of those pitchers will be a significant upgrade. They're both back of the rotation starters, Correia is a middle of the rotation starter potentially. Maholm, McDonald and Ohlendorf are about the same. No front line starters IMO.
• Heretic

  

  Yeah. McDonald could be a #2, but needs to get his inning-count up. Last year, he seemed good for 5-6 innings, but didn't have the ability to go deeper into games with consistency. Ohlendorf can be a #3. I don't think anyone else in current competition for a job is above bottom-end. Morton could be if he VASTLY improves the "between the ears" part of his game. Corrella just doesn't excite me, as he was poor in a pitcher's park last year. Lincoln's too young to give up on based on 5-10 bad starts, but I can't see him as more than a middle/back-end starter.
• killer_ewok

  

  HELLS YEAH!