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3rd Base and BeyondFreddy sucked yesterday, flailing about at every pitch. I don't know if it was just a bad game or a right-handed pitcher or what, but he just stunk it up. I figured for the rest of the season a straight platoon with him and Mackowiak would be the set-up, but I'm just a stupid Pirate fan, what do I know?The Q&A today basically says the solution at third won't be the Joe Randa type, which is kind of disappointing to me since I was really hoping the Pirates might sign Joe Randa this off-season. Am I the only one who doesn't think our offensive problems are all that serious? Consider a line-up that features Bay, C. Wilson, Eldred, Doumit, and Castillo. Each one of those players has the potential to hit over 20 home-runs. I seem to remember a big fuss being made when the Young/Giles/Sprague/Martin combo banged 20+ in 1998, so I think that's pretty good. Throw in a lead-off centerfielder who gets on base better then Tike Redman, a right-fielder who doesn't get thrown off the bases as much as Matt Lawton, the Joe Randa type at third who can put up a .150 higher OPS then Freddy Sanchez, and I think we can put up a lot more runs. Minus the Joe Randa, we have all those players here now, doesn't seem like a dearth of offense to me. A bigger problem to me seems to be the pitching. I know we have arms, but its the consistency that's a problem. It's safe to assume we have Perez, Duke, and Williams set for next year, probably Kip in the middle somewhere and a guy in the system already to round it out. But I don't mind bringing someone in with a 4.50 ERA, just as long as we are getting those six innings and 3 runs every time he goes out there. I think this is why Dave Williams has been successful and why I like Josh Fogg, although Fogg has really been loosing it lately. In the beginning of this season, I thought this might be one of the worst Pirate teams I've ever seen. But unlike most other fans, I thought it was smart not to waste money to make a horrible team bad when you have half your roster floating around in AAA. I've criticized management and ownership a lot this season, but when I actually look at the situation, seems like the Pirates are set up pretty well and are in a good position to sign one or two above average free agents (who aren't 80 years old) and be competitive next year, and more so the next couple years. That is of course if we're not being lied to about payroll and such, which isn't guaranteed. posted by Rory at 3:00 PM | |
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This is a blog about the Pittsburgh Pirates. My vision: to write about the games at the games. Want to email me? Make it out to rory at bleache... you know the rest. |
