Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are entering their third year of quasi-rebuilding mode.  They haven't yet made up their mind if they are going to rebuild with their quality minor leaguers or go out and get over valued veterans.  In 1998, the gave Aramis Ramirez a shot at third base.  When he struggled, as most 20-year old major leaguers do, they demoted him.  In 1999, they consigned him to AAA, along with shortstop Abraham Nunez in favor of Ed Sprague and Pat Meares.  They almost sent 2nd baseman Warren Morris down as well in favor of Mike Benjamin, but he had such a terrific spring that they didn't know what to do with him.  Shortly after the season began, Meares broke his hand, Benjamin was needed to play short and the rest, as they say, is history.  Morris fought through his April struggles and posted a very solid rookie campaign.  The success of Morris was positive enough to prompt the Pirates to once again try youth.

This year's Pirates will definitely have a new look on offense.  Gone are most of the free swinging Bucs who didn't draw a lot of walks.  Jason Kendall is back at catcher and leadoff and bringing his career .399 OBP with him.  After suffering a gruesome ankle injury last year, some wondered whether he would ever run again.  By the miracle of modern sports medicine, Kendall is back stealing bases this spring.  Kevin Young will return at first base and hit clean-up once his knees are healthy from off-season surgery.  Brian Giles will probably be shifted from centerfield to right to make room for uber-prospect Chad Hermansen.  Hermansen, still only 22, has been languishing in AAA for 2 years now.  Although he doesn't possess a strong knowledge of the strikezone, his combination of power and speed impresses many observers.  How successful he is in his rookie campaign will probably be determined by how well he keeps his strikeout totals down.  If he can make contact consistently, he should be able produce enough to offset his lack of walks.  Coming into last year, Giles had an unmerited reputation as a guy who couldn't hit lefties and therefore, would never be more than a platoon player.  In his first year of full-time play, Giles proved his critics wrong in a big way, getting on base at a .418 clip and slugging a very healthy .614 and hitting lefties almost as well as he hit righties.  He was close to becoming the first Pirate since Willie Stargell to top 40 homers when his hand was broken by an errant pitch.  He should be the main cog in the Pirates offense for many years to come.  Former LSU College World Series hero Warren Morris should probably hit near the top of the line-up given his .360 OBP and decent speed, but manager Gene Lamont seems determined to bat Pat Meares and his .305 OBP in the #2 spot and Morris down in the order to benefit from his above average power for a second baseman.  Aramis Ramirez will once again get a shot at becoming the everyday 3rd baseman.  He spring numbers are better this time around, possibly indicating he's ready for everyday in the big leagues.  If he produces major league numbers anything like his minor league numbers, he will be a perennial All Star candidate.  He shows very good power with above average patience for someone so young.  The biggest knock on him has been a perceived "lackadaisical effort".  Maybe he was just bored with AAA.  Wil Cordero was signed this offseason to play left field.  It's amazing to note that Cordero, with all the things he's been through in his 8 years in the majors, is still only 28.  If he can stay healthy for a full year, he has the potential to be a solid run producer.  The Pirate bench is decent: John Vanderwal is a consistently good pinch hitter, Mike Benjamin can play just about any position and Bruce Aven has a good bat as a 4th outfielder.  Abraham Nunez will back-up Morris and Meares in the middle infield and provides some speed off the bench.  The Pirates question if he will ever be an everyday player, though.
GRADE: 60

Defense has been and will continue this year to be the Pirates biggest weakness.  Brian Giles and Wil Cordero are in the bottom third at their positions and Hermansen has switched positions so many times in his minor league career - he began as a shortstop, was then switched to second, left field, center field, right and then back to center - that it's hard to believe he will be accomplished at any position he plays.  His natural athletic ability will carry him only so far.  In the infield, Meares and Morris have below average range, although they usually make the plays hit right at them.  Ramirez has a good arm and soft hands but it remains to be seen if he can focus enough to avoid committing another 42 errors, as he did last year.  Young is an above average fielder at first base.  While Kendall is not quite gold glove caliber, he is very solid defensively.  However, a good catcher and a good first baseman do not a good defensive team make.  GRADE: 40

The Pirates are blessed with a young and potentially very good starting staff.  1996 #1 overall pick Kris Benson will be the ace if he isn't already.  Like his fellow Clemson alum, Blue Jay closer Billy Koch, Benson has "electric stuff".  He reaches the mid-90s with his fastball and possesses an above average curve and slider.  Last year his command of the change up improved and with it, his record.  Because his mechanics are good and his manager hasn't overworked him, he should continue to develop into one of the top starters in the National League. Ex-Brave Jason Schmidt is also developing into a premier power pitcher.  He has a nice assortment of hard pitches, but is a little behind Benson in learning how to use them most effectively.  Both Benson and Schmidt still struggle with control and get in trouble when they leave their pitches up in the strikezone.  Like Benson, Todd Ritchie was a first round pick in the amateur draft and has an impressive repertoire of hard pitches.  And like Benson, Ritchie had struggled with control until coming into his own last year.  Part of his success can be attributed to his improved change-up.  This is not uncommon with power pitchers.  If they can throw a good change-up for strikes, they don't necessarily have to throw strikes with their hard pitches to get batters to swing at them.  When they have both the good change up and the hard stuff going, then they become Pedro Martinez.  Easier said than done.  The Pirates 4th starter, although he's good enough to be the ace of the staff, is Francisco Cordova.  Last year, he struggled with shoulder problems early in the year and there were rumors that he was hacked off at the Bucs front office for sending his best friend, relief pitcher Elmer Dessens, to Japan.  Hopefully, both issues are in the past.  When he's healthy, Cordova throws a very good sinking fastball and change up.  He'll also change his arm angles and very the speed and break of his pitches.  In short, he has excellent control even if his stuff isn't as overpowering as the aforementioned guys.  If this spring is any indication, he's back.  The final spot in the rotation will be decided between two lefties: Fairfax, VA. product Pete Schourek and Chesapeake, VA product Jimmy Anderson.  Neither guy throws particularly hard and both depend on control of their breaking pitches to keep the hitters off stride.  So far this spring, Anderson looks like he has the edge.  Whichever one eventually gets the spot could have a decent year offsetting all the right handed power pitching at the top of the rotation.  GRADE: 60

The Pirate bullpen is a mixed bag.  Right-hander Mike Williams did a decent job in the closer role for most of the year.  But he's not really ideal for the closing role, as his fastball doesn't have very good velocity or movement and his only superior pitch is a slider.  Still, he'll close until he falters or the Bucs find someone else better.  They did try this offseason to trade for a closer, but each offer they made was returned with a demand for one of their front 4 starters... no dice.  It might be for the best anyway.  The Pirates already have a guy with a good moving fastball and an excellent curve: Jose Silva.  The right-handed Silva was relatively successful as a starter in 1998 until a line drive broke his wrist.  He came back last year to mixed results but did finish the season with 4 saves.  Scott Sauerbeck and Jason Christiansen will be the primary lefties out of the pen, ex-closer Rich Loiselle and Mark Wilkins will provide right-handed relief.  Mike Garcia has had a very good spring and might be a third option if Williams and Silva as closers. With the exception of Silva and Loiselle, none of the Pirates relievers have the exceptional velocity that their top 3 starters have.  They are a solid crew, but not overly intimidating.  GRADE: 55

GM Cam Bonifay is a tough read.  He and Ted Simmons (now with the Padres) did a very good job of rehabilitating the farm system over the past 5 years.  He's also done a good job of keeping most of his farm's better products.  However, his reluctance to suffer through their growing pains at the major league level might very well retard their development.  Hopefully, he'll stick to his guns this year and let guys like Ramirez and Hermanson succeed or fail for the whole season rather than turning to some expensive stopgaps like he did last year.  The Pirates will be opening a new ballpark in a year or two and they should open it with mature homegrown talent, rather than a bunch of castoff free agents.  As for Bonifay's ability to make trades to help his club, he has become notorious for 11th hour pullouts and an unwillingness to pull the trigger on bold trades.  So even if the Bucs are in the race in July, chances are fairly remote that anything will get done.  Manager Gene Lamont seems to be in his element, which is teaching young players.  He does a pretty good job handling pitchers and a reasonable job of protecting his young pitchers from wearing out their arms, a la Dusty Baker.  He's not particularly notable one way or another as a game tactician. GRADE: 55