State of the Pirates

[Colby]

Ughh, I did not expect a 7-9 start from this squad.  However, offseason problems that have been known are holding the team back with little depth and no MI to speak of, the team is struggling to just keep up with others.  The FGM Pirates have done historically bad in April, so the panic button isn't being hit.  Fans cite excitement with the current regime, but note that the team's slow starts since 2009 are because of the new GM's inaction in the offseason.  The Pirates have brought in most of their key players through early season trades and April scouting.  Not one player on the 40-man roster was with the team in 2009 and only a handful of those were with the Buccos in 2010.  This means that change is certainly evident.

[Colby]

Hovering around .500 still at 30-26... going 3-5 this week is not what I planned.  I have some key SPs going this weekend and a full and healthy lineup.  The negative points from my OF3/UT spots has been hurting!

[Colby]

Hovering around .500 still at 30-26... going 3-5 this week is not what I planned.  I have some key SPs going this weekend and a full and healthy lineup.  The negative points from my OF3/UT spots has been hurting!

Even worse, Pittsburgh went 1-7 last week to fall under .500.

[Colby]

Pirates team report
Pirates enter June with hopes of getting above .500 and further beyond that.  The Pirates' OF is known as the .300 club and is the 1-2-3 hitters (+ .244 hitting OF Swisher at 4th).  Ageless wonder Juan Pierre has won the leadoff spot batting .324.  Rookie Ben Revere follows in the #2 slot.  Team captain Andre Ethier follows.  Youkilis bats 5th despite all of the haters out there.  Desmond was recently bumped from 2nd to 6th due to better power and less contact over the past month.  Wieters and Kotchman both hitting around .220 are due to start hitting more but they round out the 7th and 8th hitters.  Scutaro takes the horn despite being the 3rd most valuable offensive player for the Pirates this year.

OF Pierre, Juan, $3m (2012)
OF Revere, Ben, $0.5m (P-n/a)
OF Ethier, Andre, $12m (2013)
OF Swisher, Nick, $5.5m (2012)
CI Youkilis, Kevin, $10.5m (2013)
MI Desmond, Ian, $3m (2013)
C Wieters, Matt, $0.5m (2017)
MI Scutaro, Marco, $4m (2012)

The rotation has recently gotten a booster shot.  The organization has traded away their best prospect (Bundy) to pick up Big Z.  Gio Gonzalez is racing for the Cy Young and James McDonald is pitching out of his mind.  Some young guys are contributing in addition to FA pickup Jeff Suppan and a steady bullpen.

SP1 Gonzalez, Gio
SP2 McDonald, James
SP3 Zambrano, Carlos
SP4 Happ, J.A.
SP5 Suppan, Jeff
SP6 Friedrich, Christian

Ziegler won the closer's job after Robertson went down.  Long reliever Tommy Hunter, not listed, also helps out with some spot starts.

CL Ziegler, Brad
SU Balfour, Grant
SU Coleman, Casey
MR Atchison, Scott
MR Ondrusek, Logan
MR Swarzak, Anthony

Down on the farm is a system of scarce resources.  Pittsburgh is known to farm talent only for so long until they trade them away for veterans.  There is no pitching to speak of as much of that it is not ready for the majors.  For the lineup, Juan Miranda, Matt Curry, Jason Donald, Eric Sogard, and Delino Deshields all sit and wait.  There really is no room for them as the MLB club is loaded with inconsistent talent on their bench with the likes of John Mayberry, Mike Fontenot, Brandon Snyder, and Chris Denorfia.

The team is likely to be active in the trade market tossing around names like Vizcaino and McGuire.  Current needs are a backup catcher, another reliever, and upgrades to the CIs.