Friday, August 01, 2008

Game 109: Pirates at Cubs

Jeff Karstens will make his debut this afternoon at Wrigley. Jason Marquis will start for the Cubs. Game on at 2.

So ... guess today's lineup. I'm not sure I'd start all those new guys in a day game after moving at the trade deadline, but maybe John Russell will.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Bay traded

Kovacevic, from his blog, which still is hard to load:

UPDATE 4:56 p.m.: No updates for a while. I am heading to the ballpark for Neal Huntington's gathering. Look up something about these four players on your own, and place them in the comments. Already have three texts from people with other teams saying, essentially, "Wow," at the Pirates' return. And in a positive way. I have no opinion. The only one of these prospects I know is LaRoche's brother. Hansen throws 97 mph. I hear the ESPN guys gushing about it hear in the background, too.

He asks that you post whatever info/dirt you have on these guys in the comments over there.

. . . (earlier) . . .

By Dejan Kovacevic | 4:30 p.m. Thursday

The Pirates traded All-Star left fielder Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox as part of a three-team deal in their only move before Major League Baseball's 4 p.m. deadline.

Boston sent outfielder Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of the deal. The Pirates will receive Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen, Andy LaRoche and Avery Morris.

Video here: Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen, Andy Laroche, and Avery Morris, who is a little younger than I expected.

. . . more news from DK:

The Pirates will receive third baseman Andy LaRoche - Adam's brother - outfielder Brandon Moss, and right-handed pitchers Craig Hansen and Bryan Morris. LaRoche, Moss and Hansen will join the Pirates' 25-man roster for the game tomorrow in Chicago. Morris will be assigned to Class A Hickory.

Three of these guys will be in Chicago tomorrow. Brandon Moss is a 1B/OF and could start in left. Hansen is this relief pitcher, I guess. Avery Bryan Morris (no relation to Matt, Bones tells me) must be this low-A starter.

Afternoon of July 31st

Trade deadline in 90 minutes.

Here are some links to jam on:

Dejan Kovacevic's PBC Blog. Kovacevic, the beat writer for the Post-Gazette, has much better access and information than most. Unfortunately, the Post-Gazette was not prepared to handle a high level of traffic this afternoon, so it often stalls out and does not load right now.

Jim Furtado's last-minute trade news thread. Baseball Primer is a gang forum with hundreds of outstanding posters who are fans of all the big-league teams. If someone delivers a scoop on the ratio or on TV, a Primate will probably share this here. You will also get a mixture of mainly amusing and very good analysis from a group of people who are, on the whole, unusually well-informed.

Ken Rosenthal's blog for Fox Sports always delivers some inside dope.

Jayson Stark reports trade deadline news here for ESPN.

Will Carroll might have news on the Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered blog.

A Pirates-fan-only version of Primer is the OnlyBucs.org forum. Look for the most recent posts in the "OnlyBucs Fan Forum" -- the threads are sorted by most recent post, which you will see if you peruse the right column of the fan forum's home page.

You might also check the comments to this post, if haloscan holds up and can deliver them on this, a very busy day (I imagine) for haloscan-powered blogs.

Enjoy the day. I expect little to no trading to happen this afternoon, so I will kick back, put my boots on the table, savor a beer or two, and listen to the bugs hum.

No game tonight. Karstens will get a chance to go all Drabek on the Cubs tomorrow at two.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Trade time

Ground is shaking.

. . . Peter Gammons says you can go to bed.

. . . good morning. Jayson Stark says Manny deal is 50-50.

Game 108: Rockies at Pirates

Cook for the hapless Rockies. Duke for the Pirates. Game starts at seven.

Dejan Kovacevic is providing frequent updates on his new blog. There is no better source for bloggy information.

the 30th

Good game last night.

Today is a trade rumor day. All kinds of trades may or may not happen today or tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Monday, July 28, 2008

Game 106: Rockies at Pirates

Your 2007 NL Champions, who have won 9 of 10 and just swept the Reds, will scrounge up a starter to face Ian Snell tonight. The Rockies are ten games under .500; the Pirates are nine games under .500.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Beer

DFH 60 min for me. This is a beer that you really must pour out into a pint glass to drink. I tried to drink one straight from the bottle and did not like it. There seems to be a syrupy thing straight from the bottle that I don't taste from a frosty pint glass. Am I nuts or what.

I've had enough of these Pirates for the weekend. What are you drinking?

Game 105: Padres at Pirates

Jake Peavy and Paul Maholm at 1:30.

As you wait for the game, read Wilbur. He's persuasive.