No one expects much out of the Pittsburgh Pirates this year; that’s what 18 consecutive years with a losing record (the longest such streak in North American professional sports) will do to the expectations of a fan base. But the Pirates have won 10 of their first 22 games, which is as good a start as you would think they would have. However, they may not be able to keep their head above water for much longer.

The Pirates are 10th in the National League in ERA, 11th in quality starts, and ninth in opposition batting average, and that’s not good enough given the dire state of their offense. Charlie Morton, Kevin Correia and Paul Maholm are the lynchpins of the rotation, but the Pirates are still looking for a couple of pitchers to step up and fill it out to boost their MLB odds. Jose Veras and Even Meek are decent in middle relief, while Joel Hanrahan has been good when he has the opportunity to save a game. Those opportunities may be few and far between, so Hanrahan has to make his chances count.

Offensively, the Pirates are 15th in runs scored, 12th in average, 14th in homers, and they’re also third in the league in strikeouts. Four players have three homers apiece, so at least there’s balance, but there’s not enough power to go around in the Pittsburgh lineup. Andrew McCutchen is off to a poor start this season, especially on the base paths where he has stolen three bases, but he has been caught three times as well.

But where Pittsburgh really hurts their chances is in the field, because they’re not good enough offensively or when it comes to pitching to make mistakes with the glove. The Pirates are 13th in the National League in fielding percentage and errors, and Pedro Alvarez has been the biggest culprit at third base with five errors. In a division with Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukee and even the Chicago Cubs, the Pirates can’t afford to put themselves in situations where they can get out of an inning, but an error extends it, and bad things happen. Until they sort this out, it’ll be a battle with Houston to stay out of the Central basement.

With the Pirates’ Spring Training underway, it begins yet another baseball season and the hopes of a winning season for the Bucco Faithful. However, with virtually the same roster as the team they finished with last year, there is little hope for a different showing. Pirates’ management has expressed that in order for the team to play well, the younger players such as Andy LaRoche, Brandon Moss and the starting rotation need to show they belong.

Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny are both players coming off a pretty bad year, but the potential they showed in 2007 is what the Pirates hope to see this year. Paul Maholm is coming off a great season which earned him the “ace” title for the Pirates after securing a 3.71 ERA. Paul Maholm has been named the only player in the Pirates’ rotation with a guranteed spot while the other four spots will be duked out between Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, Daniel Mccutchen, and perhaps Phil Dumatrait when he becomes healthy enough.

The Pirates starting lineup for the 2009 season will likely look like this…

• LF Nyjer Morgan
• CF Nate Mclouth
• RF Brandon Moss
• 3B Andy LaRoche
• SS Jack Wilson
• 2B Freddy Sanchez
• 1B Adam LaRoche
• C Ryan Doumit

but depending on the players’ Grapefruit League showings, anything is up for grabs.

Spring Training begins with the biggest additions of Eric Hinske, Ramon Vasquez, Craig Monroe, Donald Veal, and Virgil Vasquez. Donald Veal and Virgil Vasquez will both be competing for a place in the bullpen while Monroe, Hinske, and Vasquez will be fighting for positions on the Pirates’ bench.

The Pirates play the Phillies tomorrow which opens up the Grapefruit League Schedule. The games is set to begin at 1:05 P.M. ET and is a home game at Mckechnie Field. Slated to pitch in the game will be Chris Bootcheck for the first inning and followed by Matt Capps, Donald Veal, Romulo Sanchez, Ronald Uviedo, Juan Mateo, Craig Hansen, Evan Meek and Jesse Chavez. Lefty Jamie Moyer will make the start for the Phillies. Pirate broadcaster Tim Neverett will be on the air for the first time as the Bucco announcer.

The Pittsburgh Pirates inked pitcher Paul Maholm to a three-year deal that includes an club option for a fourth year on Thursday. There are some easy cash advances on the way for Maholm as he will be guaranteed $14.5 million: $3.5 million this season, $4.5 million next season and $5.75 million in 2011. He also has a $9.75 million club option for 2012, which could be his first free agency year. The buyout for that option is $750,000.

Pretty decent salary for Maholm as long as he stays injury free and can get over 10 wins for the club.

The team also finalized the contract with Eric Hinske that we blogged about yesterday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a new guy ont he roster as Eric Hinske has agreed on a one-year contract for the 2009 season. Hinske will be making $1.5 million for the year. Hinske will still have to pass a physical before the contract is final but all points point to him being the newest member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Many were expecting the deal to be announced on Friday but it looks like they got it done a day early pending the physical. I like the signing for the Bucs as Hinske can be a pretty decent hitter from the left side.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed Adam LaRoche to a $7 million dollar contract for the 2009 season as both parties avoided salary arbitation. Excuse me, I think $7 million for LaRoche is way more then he should be making. LaRoche in my opinions should be more in the $4-$5 million per year range. No wonder why the Pirates can’t compete, they are wasting a ton of money on players like LaRoche.

We will have an update when the Pirates hopefully sign the other guys that filed for salary arbitration.

Pirates Blog

Finally the Pittsburgh Pirates have done something this off season! On Sunday they announced that they reached a three year extension with Ryan Doumit. The deal will buy out Doumit’s arbitration years so in the end it should be a very good deal for the Pirates.

The deal is calling for three years and an option on a fourth year. Terms were not disclosed but it is expected to be around $20 million for the four years.

Doumit, hit .318/.357/.501 in 465 plate appearances in 2008. His .858 OPS ranks him alongside catchers such as Joe Mauer and Geovany Soto.

Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers played 13 innings on Thursday afternoon and the Pirates came out on the losing end by the score of 4-3. They Pirates just couldn’t get that big hit late in the game to score the winning run and dropped to 64-89 on the season.

T.J. Beam allowed a rbi single in the top of the 13th to James Loney which proved to be the game winning hit for the Dodgers. Craig Hansen ended up with loss as he was responsible for the winning run that was on base. Paul Maholm was the starting pitcher and he only gave up three hits but did allow three runs to score in seven innings of action. It was an up and down game for Maholm as he shouldn’t have allowed three runs to score on only three hits.

Nate McLouth had the first rbi for the Pirates when he hit a rbi sac fly that scored Nyjer Morgan in the first inning. Andy LaRoche then added a rbi single in the sixth inning which was followed by a rbi single in the seventh inning from Luis Cruz.

It was a tough loss for the Pirates but they don’t have much time to think about it as the Houston Astros will be in down for a weekend series starting Friday night.

Pirates Baseball Blog

It was another terrible game for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. They lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2 as they two teams opened up a four game series. At this point in the season the Pirates and their fans just want to have this season over with.

Russ Ohlendorf took the loss and is now 0-2 since joining the Pirates. He only lasted three innings as he gave up five hits and three runs. Marino Salas pitched three innings after Ohlendorf exited but he gave up four hits and three runs. Romulo Sanchez also sucked it up as he gave up three hits and two runs in two innings of action. The bullpen sucked it up that is for sure, but the offense was just about as bad.

The only runs that Pirates scored came in the bottom of the ninth inning on a Adam LaRoche two-run home run. Yep those were the only two runs for the Pirates.

Let’s just get this season over with already. Pirates Blog

For the third straight night, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Houston Astros. The Astros got the best of the Pirates by the score of 7-4 as the continue to play very good baseball. It’s too bad the Pirates couldn’t learn something from the hot playing Astros.

Tom Gorzelanny got the start for the Pirates but he didn’t last too long as he injured his middle finger. He had given up two hits and two home runs before the injury. Denny Bautista was absolutely terrible as he gave up three hits and five runs. Four of those five runs came via a grand slam off the bat of Miguel Tejada.

Adam LaRoche finished the game with two rbi on a solo home run and a rbi double. Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan both added a rbi each for the Pirats as well, they just couldn’t keep up with the Astros and that grand slam by Tejada was the difference in the game.

Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a close game on Monday night to the Houston Astros as the two teams opened up a series. The Pirates scored two runs in the sixth inning but were unable to push across one more run to tie the game late. The Pirates are now 60-83 on the season after dropping the game to the Astros.

The Pirates were out hit in the game 8-6 by the Astros. The Pirates just couldn’t come up with the big hit late in the game to tie it up or take the lead. Adam LaRoche and Brandon Moss both had rbi singles in the sixth inning for both of the Pirates runs.

Ian Snell took the loss as he gave up all three runs in six innings of action. Snell didn’t throw the ball too badly as he gave up a solo home run and two rbi singles in the fifth inning. Just one bad inning but it was enough to beat the Pirates.

Pirates Blog