You may have wondered where I have gone these past two weeks. Well, I was offered a spot as a blogger over at the Pittsburgh Lumber Co. and I decided to take the offer. I’m being paid double what I was being paid here (2 x 0) but it’s a better place with an existing reader base. Won’t you join me over there?
It looks like the next player from the 2007 roster not to be on the team next year will be Xavier Nady. If it is true, this looks like a cost cutting move and it’s one that I don’t like too much. Nady did have injuries last year but I think that he can be a productive player for the Pirates and as I mentioned in an earlier post, it looks like his health issues are behind him.
The Pirates late last week completed Manager John Russell’s coaching staff with the hiring of Lou Frazier as the First Base Coach and outfield instructor. Here is a telling quote from the GM:
“Each individual is a quality communicator, instructor and person with a broad set of experiences and abilities. As a staff, they complement each other well and will play a significant role in changing the culture in our clubhouse while restoring the sense of pride in being a Pittsburgh Pirate.”
They (the coaches) are there to instruct and let the players know that is expected of them. This is called accountability in the business world and this is one way to change the culture of the team. Just like I was talking about in a post last week.
In what can only be described as a complete shock, there are reports that the Pirates would be looking to trade Matt Morris (when I say it’s a complete shock, I mean that with 100% sarcasm). It looks like the Cards are interested in him but we would have to pay part of his contract for 2008. That can’t be too much of a surprise since the Bucs were the only team were that offered to take Morris and 100% of his contract.
Maybe we can package Wilson and Morris to the Cards..
MLB Trade Rumors has a link to an article in a St Louis paper that indicates the Cardinals might be interested in trading for Jack Wilson to replace the soon to be departing (I guess) David Eckstein.
I wonder who we could get in this potential exchange?
It looks like the Pirates had their first base coach (and more importantly it seems their infield instructor) lined up in their sights but it looks like negotiations broke off for some reason. My guess is that it had something to do with his wife being ill (it’s briefly mentioned in the article).
It’s a shame that it didn’t work out since it sounds like he could have really been a huge benefit to our infield defense.
I do wish Mrs. Hill a complete recovery from whatever ails her.
As I mentioned in a post or two yesterday, the Bucs officially announced their new Hitting Coach, Don Long, late of the Phillies minor league system. Here is a bit of Long’s hitting philosophy:
“The thing I’m interested in is connecting with each player and not just go with a blanket technique,” Long said. “That’s a little bit cliched, I know, but you really have to get to know the player. You have to get them to trust what you’re telling them.”
OK, know your player’s weaknesses and strengths and then coach accordingly. Sounds good so far.
“The type of hitter we’re going to try to create is an aggressive but under control hitter,” he (Long) said. “When he steps up to home plate, he’s ready to hit every pitch until his eyes tell him no. He has to see the ball and recognize where it’s going before he actually goes after it. . . . A lot of people are promoting walks in the game, and I believe this philosophy leads to that.”
Interesting since this is a very aggressive hitting team made up of a lot of free swingers. They drew the fewest number of walks last year and I don’t know if things can change all that much with just a new hitting coach. It’s always been my theory that the hitting coach doesn’t really make that big of a difference because the players just go according to their natural tendencies.
I would love to be proven wrong with this theory and I hope that Long can do just that.
Spring gets a step closer with this news.
The news article from pirates.com. Not a lot of new information in the article though. This does lead me to a question that I have, but I don’t know the answer. Is Russell being able to hire his “own” people or is he just providing some input here and there?
It looks like Don Long will be the new hitting coach for the Pirates. Long has worked with Russell the past two years while they were both with the Phillies organization.
