The Pirates in the Dominican
Bucs Dugout —
... Dejan is back and he wrote a great article about a Pirates tryout in the Dominican Republic. It is a nice feel good story. I like the article for two reasons; (1) it gives insight into what the Bucs are doing on the island, and internationally; (2) I have taken several classes on Latin American history and geography, and the article gives a nice snapshot about life and baseball in the D.R. ...
News and Notes--Nov. 30
Raise the Jolly Roger —
Who doesn't love a good, old-fashioned, Jack Wilson rumor update? Well, [Ken Rosenthal] noted today that since the Dodgers wanted the Pirates to pay some of Wilson's salary, the Pirates wanted another prospect (plus the shortstop Hu and the outfielder Young--as reported earlier this week). Apparently that was the reason why "the ...
Links
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? —
For reasons that will become shortly apparent, I've been working on cleaning/updating the sidebar links. That means that I've got some new links to add to the sidebar, as well as some other things for your general perusal. ...
10 Birthday Wishes for Pedro Alvarez
MVN RSS —
In selecting Pedro Alvarez with their top pick in June's draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates put tremendously high expectations on the power-hitting third baseman. Alvarez needs to be the face of the franchise that the Pirates' first-round draft choice in 1985 was.
Barry Bonds earned two National League MVP awards (and was runner-up once) in his seven seasons in Pittsburgh.
And while spring training is quickly approaching, it's not time for Pedro to put an entire organization on his back just yet. Here are 10 wishes for our star at the hot corner on his 22nd birthday:
10. Stay nimble enough to field ...
Congratulations to Dejan Kovacevic
Bucs Dugout —
For winning twice in the Associated Press Sports Editors' Best Writing of 2008 awards. He placed second among writers at papers with circulations between 100,000 and 250,000 for breaking news, which a source tells me was for his coverage of the Jason Bay trade, and third for "projects," which was for his brilliant series of articles about the Pirates' presence in the Dominican Republic.
Writing at as high a level as Kovacevic does, especially given the deadlines he faces and the number of frequent flyer miles he must accumulate, must be difficult and often seem thankless, especially now that ...
On Angel Sano and Latin America in general
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? —
There's been a lot made lately of DK's story in the PG last week about 16-year-old Dominican super-prospect Miguel Angel Sano and the Pirates' chances of signing him. The dollar figures being thrown around with Sano's name are staggering. It seems likely that Sano's signing bonus could top $4 million and people are wondering whether (or maybe more accurately, how) a 16-year-old is worth that kind of money.
There are a few things to remember that aren't generally mentioned in this sort of discussion. The first is that Sano is a free agent. He wouldn't be worth $4 million as a draft pick, but then, Pedro Alvarez ...
