Big Week looms for the Pirates, some thoughts about it.

[Crimson's Ghost]

The Pirates will embark on a six game in six days road swing starting tomorrow night in Minnesota. Charlie Morton (6-4 4.59) will look to get things back on track as he opposes Mike Pelfrey (5-7 3.94) with an 8:10 start time. The Pirates will likely begin the day 6.5 games out of first place with the Cardinals on their way to winning tonight. This week is also significant because of the non-waiver trade deadline takes place Friday afternoon. The Pirates have made one trade by bringing in Aramis Ramirez, and may be in on a few more and it will be a busy week tracking down all of those rumors.

Starting with the games in Minnesota.....

-- The Pirates will be able to use a DH for both games of course, and since both probable pitchers for Minnesota are right handers, it will be a great opportunity to use Pedro Alvarez as a DH. Pedro had two big home runs in the Washington series, and if he is any way going through a hot streak, being able to use his bat without his glove is the ultimate scenario for Clint Hurdle.

-- The Pirates are 0-2 against the Twins this year, and I find that significant in one sense. After their two game sweep, the Pirates dropped to 18-22, but reeled off six straight following that series to climb over .500 and they have not dropped below since. In a season of many twists and turns, that is a memorable turning point.

-- Charlie Morton holds a 7.52 ERA on the road and has been reeling a bit after an impressive 5-0 start to his season. He has been able to eat six innings a start in his four outings this month, but hopefully he can have a turning point of sorts tomorrow and keep the Pirates in the game longer.

-- How about some appreciation for Polanco's improvement? Is he the superstar we expect him to be? Not yet, but he is showing the signs of it at least. Polanco's average is up to .243 since it was at .231 at the All Star break. He is batting .274 this month and has really come up with some big hits, some nice throws, and has used his unique skill set to impact the game all the way through. Patience is slowly paying off, and the notion that they need to add Marlon Byrd or a Justin Upton type isn't looking like a needed move anymore. Polanco is still going to mess up this second half and struggle, but he will also shine at times also. He is not a liability right now, and like everyone has been saying all along, Harrison will be able to plug right in at right field on occasion to help lessen the load.

-- Liriano will be the starter Wednesday afternoon against his former team. Liriano made his start with the Twins, and spent seven seasons in his career there. He had a few good years, but he really has enjoyed the most success in his career here in his three year stint in Pittsburgh.

Now with the Reds....

-- The Pirates will line up with Locke, Burnett, Cole, and Morton in the four game set. It is not set right now who Cincinnati will match with, but obviously Pirate-killer Johnny Cueto will not be one of those probables. Quietly, Jeff Locke has not been as bad as some might think. His June ERA was 2.96 and his current July ERA is 2.84. With a quality start on Thursday, the Pirates would get two sub 3 ERA months from their fifth starter. Pretty good stuff.

AJ Burnett has been roughed up in his two post All Star break starts, but he was due for a letdown of sorts with such an incredible first half, but with his metrics and numbers, everything points to him righting the ship here shortly. Some better defense from himself would have saved himself some runs on Saturday's loss to Washington.

Gerrit Cole is 0-3 against the Reds and 14-1 against the rest of the league. Tough to figure, but certain teams have certain pitchers figured out, and the Reds seem to have Cole's number. In his three starts this year, he has allowed 11 of his 33 earned runs against him this season and he has not been able to pitch more than five innings. Obviously with Morton, you have a bad road pitcher as well. So the chips do not stack up as nicely as they normally do with Burnett and Cole, but we'll see what happens.

-- That potent Reds offense could be a little lighter by the time the Bucs get to town. A full-scale fire sale may happen. Johnny Cueto is gone. Marlon Byrd, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Aroldis Chapman, Mike Leake? All have been at least rumored to go, we'll see how they play it, but I think at least another deal or two may be in the works for Cincinnati.


And for the trades....


-- The rumor last week was the Pirates were basically trying to give Pedro Alvarez away, and now today it sounds like they plan to keep him. Pretty telling sign that the first base market it weak. Adam Lind would be a nice fit, but the asking price and competition might be a little high. Rumors have come up that the Pirates are interested in Mike Napoli. In an absolute true split with Alvarez, it actually would not be horrible. Napoli stinks against right handers, and Pedro can't hit lefties. Pedro's splits against a right handed pitching are as follows. .238/.309/.456 with 14 Homers and 44 RBI. Napoli's splits against lefties .235/.354/.469 with 5 home runs and 12 RBI. Napoli isn't a great defensive first basemen at all, but he has nine less errors in 6 more games than Alvarez.

--A Chris Davis from Baltimore rumor has been thrown out there, but are the Orioles even selling at this point? Sounds like a suggestion by someone more so than a rumor. Davis has slugged 101 homers since the start of the 2013 season, with 22 this year. Good power hitter, but I just doubt he's actually available.

-- The name Ben Zobrist keeps coming up, and before the Aramis Ramirez trade, he seemed like an ideal fit. It makes little sense to me that they are still in on him. He essentially plays a role that Harrison already has. With Mercer, Kang, Harrison, and now Ramirez, what role would Zobrist have exactly? I guess he would effectively end Sean Rodriguez in Pittsburgh, but to add him now with a similar player in Harrison, it seems like something they could hold out on and save the prospects.

-- Relief pitching is basically the only thing that makes sense to me for the Pirates to add. Caminero has not been good lately and Bastardo is shaky at best. They have a great back end with Melancon and Watson, and Hughes being a good third option himself. The Mets ended with Tyler Clippard, who would have been a great addition, so we'll see where the Pirates go from there.

-- I would be surprised if the Pirates added a starter, but you never know. Locke has been better lately, but Morton has declined a little. At the end of the day they stack up with anyone 1-2-3, and that's what you need in a playoff series.


Schedule Breakdown

64 Games Remaining (Currently 57-41)

Home - 29 Away - 35
Teams with .500 or better record: 33 games // Below .500: 31 games
NL Central - 35 games
NL West - 20 games
NL East - 7 games
Interleague - 2 games



Reds - 10
Cardinals - 9
Cubs - 9
Brewers - 7
Rockies - 7
Dodgers - 6
Marlins - 4
Giants - 4
Mets - 3
DBacks - 3
Twins - 2

[Crimson's Ghost]

So far...so good. The Pirates open the road trip with two wins, and the offense really flexed its muscles. 18 runs in two games.

-- Jung-ho Kang. Can't say enough about his play. Since the day Harrison went to the DL, Kang is batting .400. It's an unreal clip. The Home Run on Tuesday was a majestic shot, and one of the more memorable plays of the season. When they get back to full health, there's just no way Kang comes out of the lineup. Harrison may shift all around, Aramis and Jordy will alternate, but at the end of the day, Kang has to be play just about every game.

-- Morton and Liriano. Neither guy threw particularly well, but they hung in there and gave them a chance to win. Morton gets blasted by Pirate fans, but Burnett could have that same exact start five games in a row and would be praised for "gutting it out". It's all how the fan base perceives the two players. Liriano can still be effective when he's not entirely on, proving he's just a really good pitcher.

-- Francisco Cervelli went 5-9 in the series and is up to .304 with his batting average. Just hard to believe from losing Martin in the off-season to right now, catcher is not even an issue one bit. Pirates looking pretty good not overspending for a catcher on the wrong end of 30.

-- Gregory Polanco left today's game with a leg injury. Hopefully nothing serious as he has transformed himself lately. That hit the other night was epic, and is just another highlight reel for him in July. Walk-off against the Cards....Homer off Scherzer after fouling off all those 3-2 pitches.....gunning down Harper....that three run double on Tuesday. The guy is really showing something.

-- Tony Watson's implosion and Antonio Bastardo's struggles today only convinces me further the Pirates need another arm. Watson won't have many games like that, but it's just a bad situation that they don't have many other places to turn in the event of that happening.

-- Big news of the day? Tyler Glasnow being promoted to AAA. The 6-8 Right Handed pitcher dominated AA this season, and at 21 years old he is one of the most promising prospects in all of baseball. Glasnow will be in Pittsburgh sometime in June next year if he stays healthy, and it will be a highly anticipated debut. Maybe not quite Gerrit Cole, but it will be big time.

-- Trade Deadline deals are heating up. Cueto and Tulo two huge names already off the board. Hamels close to Texas, and Carlos Gomez possibly to the Mets? Big names flying around, but I doubt the Pirates get in on any of that action. But some smaller deals could go down.

[CoachSmith]

Acquiring Aramis Ramirez (rightfully needed) and Joe Blanton (better than caminero???) is the equivalent of being a child and asking your parents for a new pair of Nikes but instead getting a great new pair of Zips....
If only Mr Nutting would part with some of his riches (not sell the farm) to actually acquire a significant piece, a bat, a starting pitcher to replace that unreliable god awful makes me drink to calm my nerves AJ wanna be Jeff Locke (all star my ****), perhaps we could advance past the NLDS.
Sorry but we should be making a statement before 7/31, not shopping at the thrift store. Nutting wants to win but only on his terms, which makes winning it all less likely. You're welcome Mr Nutting, for I consistently purchase tickets to watch your team play and am proud to purchase and wear your team merchandise, for your entire tenure as owner and then some. We deserve better.

[abpk2903]

Oh, here we go again. I swear these next 36 hours literally make baseball fans go mad. I mean it's worse than a full moon night at the dog kennel.

Fans were so mad a few years ago when Huntington didn't trade Gerit Cole for some Choo guy that played for the Indians. It's silly to trade a player that the pirates have contractual control over for the next several seasons while they will continue to get better for a player that is in the twilight of their career. Deadline deals rarely ever work out for the buyer.

Teams aren't going to talk to the Pirates and trade them a big time asset without Bell, Glasnow, or Polanco being a centerpiece of the trade. In all likelihood, all 3 of these guys are future all-stars.

The only trade that really makes sense right now is trying to find a bench bat or a middle reliever.

[Crimson's Ghost]

The Pirates have the third best record in baseball and are on pace for 95 wins. There aren't many holes they need to go address. The Royals and Giants made the World Series last year without a big move while Oakland and Detroit faded sat in the playoffs and still haven't recovered. Sometimes the best move is no move. People get too worked up over nothing. This is already a good team, it's not about the reluctance to trade prospects it's about not messing up what they have on the major league club.


Joe Blanton was literally worth the shot, he came basically free. Aramis was and is a good addition. The Pirates are in great shape and are going to be in striking distance to catch the Cards by the time they play them in two weeks in my opinion

[Crimson's Ghost]

Locke's ERA is under 3 since the beginning June, Morton has been more of a worry lately.

[CoachSmith]

Yeah abpk, I'm frothing at the mouth, ready to bite Nutting as soon as he enters my kennel....

[knowitall]

I don't think the Pirates have the prospects needed to swing a bigger deal. Bob Nutting's money is not a factor.

[Crimson's Ghost]

The Pirates have 6-7 top 100 prospects currently, which is pretty high. Tyler Glasnow is as untouchable as you possibly can be. But Neal Huntington doesn't seem willing to be willing other guys either.

I'm fine with it, the only way the Pirates ever get controllable elite talent is through their farm system.

[Manfred]

They picked up Joe Blanton from KC for chump change, and Worley is history, DFA. Gave up prospect JaCoby Jones for Joachim Soria from Detroit. I'd say the pitching from start to finish just became "more" solid. Burnett worries me more than Morton.