Bucs Ink Gonzo and Nady; Sign Nick Green

The Pirates came to terms today with Mike Gonzalez and Xavier Nady, each receiving one-year contracts and avoiding arbitration.







Gonzalez, 28, went 3-4 with a 2.17 ERA in a career-high 54 appearances in 2006 and converted each of his 24 save opportunities in his first full season as a closer. Gonzalez, who qualified for arbitration for the first time this winter, will receive a pay raise from $347,000 to $2.35 million.




Nady, 28, is coming off a year in which he set career highs in batting average (.280), home runs (17) and RBIs (63) while splitting the season with the Pirates and Mets. Like Gonzalez, Nady was eligible for arbitration for the first time. He'll earn $2.15 million in 2007 after making $427,000 a year ago.

The Pirates also signed utility man Nick Green. Green, 28, batted .184 with two home runs in 63 games last season with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and New York Yankees.

Rumblings...

Over at Only Bucs, Wilbur Miller wrote an open letter to Bob Nutting. Everything Wilbur writes is a good read, so I suggest checking it out.

Dejan tells us in today's PG that the Pirates and Braves are still caught up on the Adam LaRoche deal. The Braves want Duffy, too, but the Pirates still won't give him up. I don't understand why and I never will, but man Littlefield loves that Duffy kid.

Speaking of that, credit Charlie over at Bucs Dugout with this fake dialogue between the Pirates and Braves. It's funny.

Jim Callis

A few of the most interesting questions Baseball America's Jim Callis fielded in his most recent chat. I really like Callis, so enjoy.

mike (Brew City): Over/Under on Brewers wins set at 86.
Jim Callis: Over. I'll take them to win the NL Central.

Ron (Lincoln,NE): McCutchen in the Burgh after All-Star break in 2007, or 2008 for sure?
Jim Callis: 2008 for sure.

Bruce (Pittsburgh): Who's worse Cam Bonifay or Dave Littlefield?
Jim Callis: Looking at their track records, Bonifay was probably worse but Littlefield hasn't been much better.

Nutting in spotlight

Wow, the Pirates have an owner, and he's all over the place. We'll see how long this lasts. Both the Trib and the PG throw articles at us today about Nutting. Enjoy.

I noticed these in the Notes under Dejan's piece in the PG:

The Pirates will invite six of their top prospects to the major-league portion of spring training: outfielder Andrew McCutchen, catcher Neil Walker, starter Brad Lincoln, reliever Jesse Chavez and shortstops Brent Lillibridge and Brian Bixler.

Should be fun to see these guys get some playing time during spring training.

Jacque Jones

A while back I wrote in this space that I thought Jacque Jones would be a solid, last ditch addition for the Pirates in right field. Jones will turn 32 this year but he isn't the typical older, plug-in player the Pirates usually go after. Over 162 games Jones averages 23 home runs and 80 RBI's. His last three years he has gone deep 24, 23 and 27 times while playing for the Twins and Cubs.

The main reason I thought Jones would be an above-average addition was because he would come at a fairly cheap price and would have a small enough contract to just keep the position warm until the Pirates could rightly fill it. Now the Chicago Tribune reports the Pirates are the most likely destination for Jones, if he his traded before the season starts, and the asking price would include either Chris Duffy or Nate McClouth.

Anyone who reads Internet blogs or rumor mill sites understands that sometimes things are written without actual substance behind them, but in this case, this is one of the top newspapers in the country, so you would think there has to be something to this report. DL has already made it clear that Chris Duffy is not likely to be included in any trade that doesn't blow his socks off, so would the Pirates deal McClouth for Jones?

This is an interesting proposition. If the Pirates believe Duffy is the answer in center, would the plan then be to trade McClouth for Jones who could keep right field warm until McCutchen is ready? Would the Pirates then keep Duffy in center and put McCutchen in right to fill out the outfield with Jason Bay?

I guess we should stay tuned.

Meet Bob Nutting

You say you want to meet Bob Nutting, well here he is in a nutshell.

"The business of running a Major League Baseball team is still running a business," Mr. Nutting said. "At the same time, I believe that winning is the most important thing. A baseball team has to win baseball games."

"Before Bob is through, you'll have a winner in Pittsburgh," Dr. Hofreuter said. "Plain and simple, he's not the type of person who wants to be attached to anything that is less than excellent. You'll see that."

Those are the two statements from the article that stand out the most to me. Bob Nutting says running a team is a business, meaning your bottom line must still show profit. At the same time, he says winning is the most important thing. So would he be willing to take a year or two less profit to make the Pirates a winner? I don't get that impression, but that may just be me.

In his most recent hot stove notebook, Dejan from the PG makes a few key points:

-How much better can the Pirates current hitters improve?

-The Pirates have made two offers to Brian Lawerence

-Littlefield has no problem going with Sean Burnett, if he wins the 5th starter job

-Brian Rogers spent the fall re-discovering his split fingered fastball in the AFL

-Josh Sharpless gained ten pounds of muscle in the off-season

-The Pirates will likely stay in house to fill their bullpen needs

Spring Training Dates

In case you haven't seen it , here is the Pirates spring training schedule.

Among the dates, the annual meeting with Manatee C.C. and a few home and home's with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Tribune Review columnist Joe Starkey writes a column for the Trib today which states the obvious, Kevin McClatchey's time as head of the Pirates was a failure.

Nuttings take control

Bob Nutting has taken full control of the Pirates away from Kevin McClatchy.

Bucs in the news

Ken Rosenthal mentions the Buccos a couple times in his latest column.

TRADE TALK

The Diamondbacks considered acquiring Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg and trading Chad Tracy to the Pirates for left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez. But, like virtually every other team interested in Gonzalez, they wanted the Pirates to include a second player in the deal.

AROUND THE HORN

The Pirates not only are refusing to trade any of their young starting pitchers, but they also are unwilling to part with center fielder Chris Duffy, who enhanced his standing by playing well at the end of last season. Duffy is a strong defender and energetic player, and the Pirates lack an internal replacement. The Braves wanted Duffy along with Gonzalez for first baseman Adam LaRoche.

...it's a shame that everyone wants more along with Gonzalez. If so, they are missing out on one fine reliever. On the second part, the unwillingness to trade Duffy baffles me. I don't think he is accountable for that many wins to this team and he's still yet to prove himself. If McCutchen is the future at that position, I believe McLouth would do a good enough job to hold it down for the time being.

Bonds fails amphetamine test

Well, it's just an ex-Pirate, but I can't go without posting a link to this. A report has surfaced that Barry Bonds failed an amphetamine test last season and blamed it on teammate Mark Sweeney.

It's only a matter of time...

NL Central

The Cardinals came to terms with starting pitcher Mark Mulder, the biggest pitching name left on the open market. The deal is worth a reported 13 million dollars over two years. If Mulder stays healthy enough to make 30 starts in both 2007 and 2008, Peter Gammons says incentives could bring the deal to as much as 45 million over three years.

Mulder is expected to miss the first half of the season as he recovers from rotator cuff surgery. Mulder was 6-7 with a 7.14 ERA in 17 starts last year. He was sidelined from June 22 to Aug. 23 with rotator cuff damage and what the team called an impingement in the shoulder, which had caused him to alter his delivery. He went back on the DL on Aug. 31.

In other news, Baseball America has worked itself into the National League during its unveiling of each teams Top 10 prospects. Currently the magazine/online publication is revealing the National League East over the next few weeks. The following is a schedule for NL Central teams to be revealed. Since some of the content on Baseball America is pay only, we will post the NL Central information when it is available.

Chicago Cubs -- Jan. 29

Cincinnati Reds -- Jan. 31

Houston Astros -- Feb. 2

Milwaukee Brewers -- Feb. 5

Pittsburgh Pirates --Feb. 7

St. Louis Cardinals -- Feb.9

Pirates 2007 ZIPS

Of course many of you know that the 2007 Pirates ZIPS projections are out and you have probaly already reviewed them and formulated your opinions on them. I, however, did not get a chance to review them until lately and there were a few things that struck me as important and worth noting, so here goes.

Pitching: Age ERA W L
Zach Duke 24 3.92 14 12
Thats a great year from Duke. The best projected year of any Pirate starter and its not even close. If Duke has a year similar to these numbers, I would consider that great progression for the kid.

Paul Maholm 25 4.63 8 9
Here is what gets me about Maholm. They project him for 30 starts and 177 innings but only 17 decisions. They expect him to average less than six innings, or a possible quality start, everytime out. This, of course, can not happen if the Pirates want to keep their bullpen healthy and fresh.

Sean Burnett 24 6.15 5 12
This guy means so much to me as a Pirate fan. Another young lefty, that if he returns from injury to 100 percent, would make him or any other young starter extremely expendible in a trade. The projections sure aren't good, but let's hope they aren't right either.

Other Projections of Note: Ian Snell only other starter to win double digit games (10), Gonzo would lead team in ERA (2.45), Matt Capps would pitch in 88 games,

Offense: P Age AVG OBP SLG HR RBI
Jason Bay lf 28 .279 .378 .521 30 88
Ouch, ouch and Ouch. Oh and ouch. 88 rbi's? For the team's best hitter? .279 average for an all-star? There isn't much to say. If this actually becomes Bay's 2007, the Pirates won't amount to much anyway.

Xavier Nady rf 28 .280 .341 .467 16 57
Second on the team in batting average, third in home runs, and based on only 407 at bats. ZIPS just does not believe the Pirates are going to score runs and it shows.

Others of note: One .300 hitter (Sanchez), McLouth (21) and Duffy (22) over 20 stolen bases but Lillibridge trumps all with 32, Bautista hits 18 bombs, Eldred 14 homeruns and 11 walks in 215 at-bats.

So there it is. Just some things that initially caught my attention and I am sure with more in-depth focus, different predictions can be made.

Yoslan Herrera

We've all heard about Yoslan Herrera and his travels to signing his first MLB contract. The Trib has a nice feature on Herrera and his dreams of pitching in the major leagues. It's a good read and a nice distraction from the usual Bucco bashing that goes on in local papers at this time of year.

In other news, the Bucs conducted informal workouts. Spring Training can't come soon enough.

Pirates Sign Gryboski

On Monday the Pirates came to terms with relief pitcher Kevin Gryboski. The minor-league contract will provide him with an invite to spring training.

Gryboski, 33, was 0-0 with a 14.29 ERA in six games with Washington last season and 4-6 with seven saves and a 3.71 ERA in 52 games with Class AAA New Orleans. The graduate of Wilkes College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has a 12-8 lifetime record in the major leagues with two saves and a 4.07 ERA in 238 games and five seasons with Atlanta (2002-05), Texas (2005) and Washington (2006).

Collier talks Pirates

Gene Collier, columnist for the Post-Gazette, wrote a Bucco column Saturday. If you didn't notice it, here it is. It's kind of the usual bash the Buccos for their lack of progress in the open market.

Bayliss Finishes Impressive Year

Jonah Bayliss, the relief pitcher acquired in the Mark Redman trade from the Kansas City Royals in December of 2005, continued his excellent 2006 by wrapping up his winter ball season in Venezuela. Bayliss is expected to compete for a bullpen job with the Pirates in 2007 and some consider him to be a legit closer of the future candidate.

Bayliss concluded his campaign in the Venezuelan Winter League with an eight-game scoreless streak for the Caribes de Oriente to lower his ERA to 1.88. The 26-year-old right-hander was 2-1 and struck out 18 in 24 innings while holding opponents to a .214 average. He spent the 2006 season with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was 3-3 with a 2.17 ERA and held the International League to a .181 average.

The link also has an updated report on other Pirates playing winter ball this season.

John Sickels minor league rankings

This is a little late, but in case you haven't seen it yet, John Sickels posted his rankings of Pirates prospects over at his blog. This is a preview to what will be said in his book which is due out soon.

None of it should surprise you, especially his one sentence to sum up the Pirates' farm system. Enjoy.

D+? Well at Least It's Not an F!

Baseball America released it's organizational report cards for the 2006 season and the Bucco's passed, but not at all with flying colors. The Pirates received a D+ overall, after receiving grades in 5 different categories. The categories included Major Leaguers, Minor Leagues, Talent Level, Player Procurement, Organizational Direction. Here is how the Pirates Fared:

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Major Leaugers-Bringing in mediocre veterans may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it led to another losing season and second-worst record in NL.
D
Minor Leagues-Altoona was only affiliate to reach the playoffs; Pirates left Williamsport to establish NYP affiliation with nearby State College, Altoona's sister franchise.
C
Talent Level-Much of Pirates' hope for the future lies with young arms like Tom Gorzelanny, and system is thin on premium talent after Andrew McCutchen.
C
Player Procurement-Got a couple of useful pieces in trading Sean Casey and Oliver Perez; went for college pitching in draft, led off by Brad Lincoln at No. 4 overall.
C
Organizational Direction-Hosting All-Star Game showed off great PNC Park to the nation, leading everyone to wonder when the Pirates will put a decent team in it.
D
OVERALL GRADE
D+

Just for kicks, only three teams received an A-minus or better. The Twins and Tigers (A-) and the Dodgers received the only A.

Season Ticket Sales Down; Bucs Interested in Lawrence

In a total surprise, the Pirates aren't hosting the All-Star Game in 2007 and they aren't raking in the season ticket commitments like they did last year. Pirates officials say they expect the same amount of people to come through the gates, however, because apparently they are banking on the team actually playing better.

The Pirates are one of a few teams interested in Brian Lawrence, and according to Lawrence's agent, the interest is heavy. Lawrence has a career 4.10 ERA but hasn't pitched since 2005 after tearing his labrum with the Nationals.

Pirates Bring Back Hernandez

The Pirates have re-signed Jose Hernandez for another run as a utilityman.

Hernandez, 36, and the team have agreed to terms on a one-year, minor-league contract for which he would receive $900,000 at the major-league level. That will represent a $50,000 raise on his salary of last season.

Hernandez, a favorite of manager Jim Tracy, played five positions in 63 appearances for the Pirates in 2006 and batted .267 with two home runs and 12 RBIs. He was traded Aug. 22 to Philadelphia for cash considerations. For the Phillies, he batted .250 with a home run and seven RBIs in 18 games.

Hernandez also spent 58 games with the Pirates in 2003, part of a 1,587-game career.