Late last night the Steelers selected Cameron Heyward as the number 1 draft pick, surprising most of the "experts."
If you listen to Kevin Colbert you would get the impression that Heyward was their choice from the beginning. The Pittsburgh Sports Buzz does not have a way back machine so we can't go back and see what would happen if nobody chose Mike Pouncey until the Steelers pick.
I'm inclined to believe Colbert though. Look at how the Steelers have ignored the Offensive Line at the expense of allowing teams to pound on Ben. Picking an Offensive lineman 2 years in a row would really have been a stretch.
That being said. The Steelers have been to the Super Bowl 3 times in recent years. Despite taking Ziggy Hood, they need to find a lineman to replace Keisel in the not to distant future and this would give them time to groom him as they've done in the past with other first rounders. More on Heyward soon.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Newest Young Guns
Jameson Taillon will make his professional debut for the West Virginia Power on Wednesday. Get your tickets now.
Brandon Wood is a Pirate
Since Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly have been running the Pittsburgh Pirates they have been picking up the castoffs of other teams like they were all stars.
Huntington history
When Coonelly and Huntington took over you would think that they were trying to find their whole pitching staff from what the Yankees did not want. If the Yankees released or traded a pitcher the Pirates were there to comfort them and welcome them into the fold. Hello Anthony Clagget, Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker. Goodbye Anthony Clagget, Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker.
They even traded for some desired Yankees, that is desired by the Pirates. Not many other teams were in the market for them.
Former First Round Draft Choice
This past week, a former number one draft pick of the California, Anaheim, Los Angeles Angels(they seem to be as confused as the Pirates, as far as their name goes at least) was released by the club and became available. Based on the Pirates past practice of trying to find a rock and attempt to turn it into a diamond they jumped at the opportunity to have a former first round draft pick join the team.
Same Problem Different Team
The Angels had given up on their former first rounder, sound like a familiar scenario Pirates fans? Unfortunately, until recently, this was the norm for the Pirates. But, this was another team and their draft pick that didn't work out for them. So, by virtue of the Pirates horrible record last year, they had the first crack at picking up this infielder. As you can tell Neal Huntington is not shy about trying to take a castoff and making something out of him, especially one that was so highly thought of fairly recently.
Brandon Wood is a Pirate
The Pirates wasted no time and claimed Wood off waivers and made room for him on the roster by designating Josh Rodriquez for assignment. Brandon Wood is a Pirate shortly and an option in the infield. What does that mean? It means that the Pirates have some hope that another of their infield positions has a player with a potentially high upside.
Lack of shortstop production
When the Pirates traded Jack Wilson to the Pirates they signed Ronny Cedeno to take his place. Cedeno, another castoff, had a lot of potential, showed some power, and played a decent shortstop defensively. As with the other teams he's been with, that potential has not been fulfilled with the Pirates. There have been short flashes here and there, but nothing sustained.
No options
If the Pirates had a viable option before this Cedeno would undoubtedly be a former Pirate also, but there were none. The Pirates went so far this year as to take another diamond in the rough, Josh Rodriquez, in the Rule 5 draft. Doing this obligated the Pirates to keep Rodriquez in the majors this year, or designate him for assignment to the minors and work out a deal for him with Cleveland, or just send him back to Cleveland. For now they have designated him for assignment and will see if Cleveland wants him back.
Brandon Wood is a Pirate, what now?
It looks like the Pirates will alternate Wood and Cedeno at shortstop to see what Wood has. Since Wood has also played third he will be used as an option there also. Will Wood be an upgrade at shortstop from Cedeno? Not if his Major League playing history holds. He has been an accomplished AAA player in his Angels career, but hasn't been able to succeed at the top.
AAAA Is Wood a AAAA player? One that dominates at AAA but can't translate the success to the majors. The Pirates had another shortstop that fits this tag, Brian Bixler. He did well in AAA, but every time he was called up to the Pirates his game was never there. Couldn't hit and couldn't field. Those 2 items are slightly important if you want to be a major leaguer.
Bixler or Wilson
Since Brandon Wood is a Pirate now, will he become Jack Wilson or Brian Bixler. The jury is still out til he gets a chance, but if Clint Hurdle can turn this guy's career around the Pittsburgh Pirates will have 3 younger players with high upsides in the infield. Hopefully Brandon Wood is a Pirate that will turn into a quality player. I'm hoping he'll turn into what the Angels thought he would. But, for now Brandon Wood is a Pirate and we'll see what he can do in the next few weeks.
Huntington history
When Coonelly and Huntington took over you would think that they were trying to find their whole pitching staff from what the Yankees did not want. If the Yankees released or traded a pitcher the Pirates were there to comfort them and welcome them into the fold. Hello Anthony Clagget, Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker. Goodbye Anthony Clagget, Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker.
They even traded for some desired Yankees, that is desired by the Pirates. Not many other teams were in the market for them.
Former First Round Draft Choice
This past week, a former number one draft pick of the California, Anaheim, Los Angeles Angels(they seem to be as confused as the Pirates, as far as their name goes at least) was released by the club and became available. Based on the Pirates past practice of trying to find a rock and attempt to turn it into a diamond they jumped at the opportunity to have a former first round draft pick join the team.
Same Problem Different Team
The Angels had given up on their former first rounder, sound like a familiar scenario Pirates fans? Unfortunately, until recently, this was the norm for the Pirates. But, this was another team and their draft pick that didn't work out for them. So, by virtue of the Pirates horrible record last year, they had the first crack at picking up this infielder. As you can tell Neal Huntington is not shy about trying to take a castoff and making something out of him, especially one that was so highly thought of fairly recently.
Brandon Wood is a Pirate
The Pirates wasted no time and claimed Wood off waivers and made room for him on the roster by designating Josh Rodriquez for assignment. Brandon Wood is a Pirate shortly and an option in the infield. What does that mean? It means that the Pirates have some hope that another of their infield positions has a player with a potentially high upside.
Lack of shortstop production
When the Pirates traded Jack Wilson to the Pirates they signed Ronny Cedeno to take his place. Cedeno, another castoff, had a lot of potential, showed some power, and played a decent shortstop defensively. As with the other teams he's been with, that potential has not been fulfilled with the Pirates. There have been short flashes here and there, but nothing sustained.
No options
If the Pirates had a viable option before this Cedeno would undoubtedly be a former Pirate also, but there were none. The Pirates went so far this year as to take another diamond in the rough, Josh Rodriquez, in the Rule 5 draft. Doing this obligated the Pirates to keep Rodriquez in the majors this year, or designate him for assignment to the minors and work out a deal for him with Cleveland, or just send him back to Cleveland. For now they have designated him for assignment and will see if Cleveland wants him back.
Brandon Wood is a Pirate, what now?
It looks like the Pirates will alternate Wood and Cedeno at shortstop to see what Wood has. Since Wood has also played third he will be used as an option there also. Will Wood be an upgrade at shortstop from Cedeno? Not if his Major League playing history holds. He has been an accomplished AAA player in his Angels career, but hasn't been able to succeed at the top.
AAAA Is Wood a AAAA player? One that dominates at AAA but can't translate the success to the majors. The Pirates had another shortstop that fits this tag, Brian Bixler. He did well in AAA, but every time he was called up to the Pirates his game was never there. Couldn't hit and couldn't field. Those 2 items are slightly important if you want to be a major leaguer.
Bixler or Wilson
Since Brandon Wood is a Pirate now, will he become Jack Wilson or Brian Bixler. The jury is still out til he gets a chance, but if Clint Hurdle can turn this guy's career around the Pittsburgh Pirates will have 3 younger players with high upsides in the infield. Hopefully Brandon Wood is a Pirate that will turn into a quality player. I'm hoping he'll turn into what the Angels thought he would. But, for now Brandon Wood is a Pirate and we'll see what he can do in the next few weeks.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day 2011
Neil Walker, starting his first full season as the Pirates full time second baseman already shares something with one of the, if not the, greatest Pirate of all time Roberto Clemente.
They are the only 2 Pirates to open the season with a Grand Slam. Walker is as close to a Pirate legend as anyone on the squad this year. Not for the reason Roberto was a legend for the Pirates, not yet at least. He has not yet earned his stripes as a great Pirate based on his play.
He inherited his legendary status simply by being the hometown kid that gets to live out the dream of every kid that roots for his favorite team. He actually gets to play for the Pirates, the team he grew up watching and admiring as a youngster. I could only dream of standing out there on opening day playing the game you love.
In the fifth inning Walker stepped up to bat in Wrigley Field and sent Ryan Dempster's pitch flying over the outfield wall and out of the ballpark, eventually landing on Waveland Avenue. A dream come true.
What's great about Walker's story is that last year at this time Walker did not have a position. He was one of those can't miss prospects. He had so much talent that it was just a matter of time before he made it to the majors and was a cornerstone of the Pirates.
He was drafted as a catcher. The Pirates decided they had plenty of talent at the position so they tried him at third. He had the athletic ability and many a catchers have been successfully moved to third base.
He started off well and showed that he was capable defensively, but struggled offensively. Along comes Pedro Alvarez and now 3rd base is not open for competition and Walker still doesn't have the offensive punch the Pirates desperately need. So, he learns as many positions as he can so he can catch on as a utility player and get on the major league roster. At this point the idea of becoming an every day player is fading.
The Pirates then sign Akinori Iwamura as their everyday second baseman. As fate would have it that was a bad signing. I know, you're stunned. The Pirates never do that. Hey! was that Raul Mondesi over there. I couldn't tell because he was gone too fast. Anyway, Iwamura had major knee problems and had the range of a turtle. The Pirates tried several players including Walker.
First, he was in the rotation for a game here and a game there. Then a strange thing happened for a Pirates prospect, sorry Andrew that excludes you, he started hitting, and he started hitting home runs. So, the rotation became more of Walker and less of others. Walker kept hitting and kept hitting home runs. Remember the Pirates went some ridiculous number of games last year without hitting a 2 or more run home run. They need power hitters.
Walker kept hitting and playing a decent second base and the Pirates finally had no choice but to make him the regular second baseman. A lot of people had problems with his defensive play, but you don't just learn a new position overnight.
Does Walker's story remind anyone of the story of a former Pirate who won a batting title. Due to bad choices Freddy Sanchez languished on the Pirates bench after they signed Joe Randa to be their third baseman. Surprise, surprise, Sanchez took over during the season and never looked back, eventually moving to second base and eventually replaced at the position by Mr. Walker.
Hopefully Walker puts up numbers for his hometown team that eventually put him up there next to Roberto. For now, I'll settle for that memorable Pirates opening day in 2011 and look forward to many more days just like this for Neil.
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