More !THRILLING! Pittsburgh Pirates news!

• Non

  

  As I said in an earlier post, forget .500.
  
  This team needs to win 70.
  
  They've been in the 60s five years in a row.
  
  I think it's somewhat deceiving because they keep trading guys midseason and then the second half of the season is a waste. Not that they're great in the first half but if they played out the season with roughly the same group they might be better than terrible. 70-75 wins would reflect that.
• Al Capone

  I agree with your statement Non, but when have they kept their whole team intact? As a matter of fact I have a friendly wager with a friend of mine if McCutchen is on the team by the end of season.
• Non

  

  They should this time.
  
  All indications are they're targeting 2011 as something.
  
  I don't think they'll be that good but organizationally I think they want to use 2010 as a springboard to 2011.
  
  Problem is the starting pitching is still the same shaky, inconsistent guys. They just haven't been able to land the top starters in all those years picking high.
  
  They have a lot of middle rotation guys in the big leagues and in AAA and AA but they need some 1s and 2s if they're ever going to surprise and compete.
• Footwedge

  Go Bucs. As much as I hate the Steelers...the Pirates have always been my favorite NL team. I was there in 71 and 79. The fam-a-lee was pretty cool.
• Non

  

  Duke 2/3
  Maholm 2/3
  Morton 2/3
  McCutchen 2/3
  Lincoln 2/3
  Ohlendorf 3/4
  
  ^^I think that's their ceiling if they pitch up to their potential. That's not saying all those guys are at that level most of them have been too inconsistent but if they did pan out that's the type of pitcher they can be. They could actually be deep with good, solid starters if all goes well but I don't see anyone that you can pinpoint as a No. 1 starter.
• Heretic

  

  BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
  
  No one will believe this, but the Pirates found someone stupid enough to want Brian Bixler!!!!
  
  They traded him to the Indians for an actual by-god prospect!!!! Some Brito dude who is a bit old for the low level of the minors he's at, but has hit amazing there and apparently kicked ass in the Arizona Fall League. At the very least, they got an intriguing guy for a worthless player who was cluttering up the 40-man roster.
• Non

  

  Yeah Bixler didn't figure into their future at all.
  
  Nice move getting somebody.
• Non

  

  Pirates have had a good 2-3 week stretch here of making moves and adding some good competition.
  
  What's going to be difficult is making the decisions of who to keep.
• Heretic

  

  Non wrote: Pirates have had a good 2-3 week stretch here of making moves and adding some good competition.
  
  What's going to be difficult is making the decisions of who to keep.

  Very true. You have what might be a three-man battle between Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss and Rule 5 pick John Raynor for the final roster spot. And what about a guy like Steven Jackson, who was a solid, but unexceptional middle reliever last year? With all the free agents they've been going after, will any holdovers but Meek and Hanrahan have a legit shot at being on next year's bullpen roster?
• Heretic

  

  And they apparently have officially signed Dotel to further strengthen their bullpen. I'd heard they were "near" a deal a week or two ago, but hadn't heard any updates recently, which made me wonder if the deal had fallen through.
  
  Bullpen now could be contested between Dotel, Hanrahan, Donnally, Carrasco, Meek, Lopez, Hart and Jakubauskas That has the potential to be INFINITELY superior to what I was thinking it could be. A lot of marginal MLB players are getting replaced by long-time vets who have been successful in the past.