Bucs full squad workouts begin; Hope springs eternal...

The Buccos took the field today for their first full squad workouts of the year.

Of course, during the 40 day or so adventure commonly known as spring training, you're gonna see a lot of different combinations of players, playing all kinds of positions.

Most of which you don't give a second thought to, until at least mid-March anyways.

But perhaps it was a little more than interesting to see that for the entire day Jose Castillo was taking ground balls at third base as opposed to second base, which was where Freddy Sanchez was parked.

Should anyone read anything into it ?? Well, in my opinion, the only way you should read anything into it is if you're looking at the positioning of Castillo at third strictly as a psychological move on Jim Tracy's part.

And nothing more.

Hey, it couldn't hurt, ya know ?

In the past 45 days or so, Castillo has been called out by his double play partner and has been told by his manager that he must beat out Jose Bautista to keep his starting job.

Maybe a little more motivation is gained by sticking him at third base on the first day of practice.

Besides that, I sure hope all of the soap opera bullshit between Laverne and Shirley is put to rest.

Bucs Spring Training; Must be baseball season, another pitcher hurt

• Here we go again. The Bucs didn't even make it to the first workout of the season before they had their first pitcher injury of the season. Brad Lincoln, the Bucs' 2006 1st round draft pick, has what the Bucs are calling "irritation" in his right elbow, and although they don't believe it to be too serious, it could force Lincoln to miss all of spring training. Great, just great.
• As probably should've been expected, Japanese pitcher Masumi Kuwata, he of the whopping 83 MPH fastball, has made Bradenton look like they kidnapped Ichiro in the offseason. The Bucs' PR people have stated that they have issued 50 credentials for the Japanese press contingent. Kuwata is expected to be headed for AAA Indianapolis.
• We'll see if the weight that Jose Castillo is rumored to have lost in the offseason will relate to any reduction in bonehead plays he's made in the last couple of years.
• Call me crazy, but don't the same visa delays happen EVERY year with the Central American players ?? Couldn't one time, for a change, the management and the players actually be proactive, and start these visa proceedings more in advance so that by the time they're resolved, they can actually report ON TIME ??
• Neil Walker is permanently moving from catcher to third base. I'm sure Neil is a great athlete, but I have to admit I'm not very thrilled about this. As is the case with Ryan Doumit, the Bucs are too happy with Walker's defensive liabilites behind the plate, so they felt moving him to third gives him a better shot to get to the big club in a quicker timeframe. I'll believe that when I see it.
• The Bucs start their spring training schedule on March 1st vs. Cincinnati, unless you count the annual slaughter vs. Manatee CC on Feb. 28th.

Bucs sign Kolb, avoid arbitration with Freddy...

The Bucs added some more insurance to their bullpen after the trading away of Mike Gonzalez by signing Dan Kolb to a minor league deal.

If he makes the team, he'll earn 1.25 million, plus the possibility of earning an additional 1.3 million in performance bonuses.

Also, the Bucs avoided arbitration with Freddy Sanchez by signing him to a one year, 2.75 million clam contract.

It appears that the Bucs and Sanchez's agent were close to a 2 year contract, but couldn't finalize it.

I'm not a big fan of this one year deal, but also not a huge 5 or 6 year deal at the same time. I would have thought that a 2 year deal would have been perfect. Freddy obviously had a great year last year, but I believe it's fair to see if that performance is going to be the norm for Freddy, or a one year wonder.

Pitchers and catchers report in 12 days.

Buccos negotiating with Dan Kolb

Hey, it can't hurt.

The Bucs have been talking for a few days with Kolb's agent.

Kolb's a hard throwing righty reliever, previously an All-Star closer with Milwaukee, and recently has bounced between Atlanta and back to the Brewers.

And while his numbers have not been as good as compared to previous years, his signing can do nothing more than fuel more competition with an already good bullpen.

Let's see if Littlefield can actually get Kolb to sign on the dotted line.

Bucs sign Armas Jr., avoid arbitration with LaRoche + Grabow

You'll have to forgive me if I'm not making plans to grab playoff tickets just yet.

The Pirates signed that elusive contender for the 5th starters job, that would be Tony Armas Jr., signed for about 3 million clams, with a 2008 option for $5 million.

Uh, hooray.

I guess this is the horrendous state of MLB economics nowadays, that a sub .500 pitcher with a history of arm trouble still gets 3 million a year.

In more positive Bucs news, they did avoid arbitration today with both Adam LaRoche ($3.2 million) and John Grabow ($832,500). That only leaves Freddy Sanchez and Jose Castillo as being arbitration-eligible.

Pitchers and catchers report in 13 days.

Wilson throws Castillo under the Bucs' bus; Will signing Armas actually be an asset ??

Do as I say, not as I do.

Give Jack Wilson credit, he's got some major-league cojones.

Jack appeared on Sportsbeat with Stan last night, along with LaRoche, Snell, and Jim Tracy.

Wilson, he of his whopping 35 RBI's and a career-high 18 errors at shortstop last year, completely bitch-slapped Jose Castillo while talking with Stan. Jack boldly said, "Right now, Freddy is my second baseman, in my mind. He's the guy I can trust to go 100 percent and get the job done. Castillo's got to show me something. You're going to see it in spring training. If he's slimmed down and ready to work, he's going to have a good year. But, if it's the other way around, we're going to have some problems".

Now, let me say this; You won't see me defend Castillo too much at all. I concur with Jack's statements for the most part. He's been inconsistent far too much, his mind wandering off and missing defensive assignments. I would not disagree at all if, as Jack desires, Freddy Sanchez started the season as the starting second baseman.

But Jack Wilson needs to clean up his own house before worrying about Jose Castillo's.

When Jack gets back to playing his game, both offensively and defensively, then he can start making these bold statements to the media. That includes moving runners into scoring position, something he hasn't done as well as he used. In addition, cutting down on those 18 errors would be appeciated.

To his credit, Jack stated last night that he's dropped about 10 pounds, so hopefully that means he'll be a little more mobile out there at shortstop this year.

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As most Bucs fans could've predicted, they quickly fell out of the Jeff Weaver sweepstakes, as Weaver signed with the Mariners for 1 year, 8.325 million clams. Forgive me if I'm not too upset over that.

So that reportedly has the Bucs focusing in on Tony Armas Jr. It's not like Armas' numbers are earthshattering, to say the least. Last year, he was was 9-12 with a 5.03 ERA, and he's been quite injury prone.

But the question really becomes, would the signing of Armas actually be an improvement to the pitching staff, or will it turn out to be a liability ?

The alternatives ?? Chacon ?? Burnett ?? VanBenschoten ?? Bullington ??

Part of me just says to pocket that money, and use it to aid in more constructive means, like locking up either Sanchez or LaRoche to long-term contracts.

Freddy close to 2-year deal, and "Bob Walk Bobblehead Night" ???

I still something's in the water at PNC Park, but at least they're making strides in the right direction.

First was the Laroche trade a couple of weeks ago, now they're reporting that
they're close to a two year deal with NL batting champ Freddy Sanchez.

Of course, they still need to go to arbitration with LaRoche, by the way, but if they're smart, they'll lock him up as well for a few years.

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Will the Bucs sign Jeff Weaver ?? Looks like the Bucs are among the finalists for a two year deal with him. As is the case with just about every other pitcher out there, Weaver had a losing record last year at 8-14, but he surprised everyone during the playoffs, and was the winning pitcher in Game 5 for the Cards.

Gonna take some dinero, so I'd still be surprised if he signed in the 'Burgh, but we'll see if 'ol Bobby Nutting releases some of the cash strings.

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Oh boy, those promotional folks who work for the Pirates are really something, aren't they ??

No less than five bobblehead nights.

Including the much-heralded BOB WALK BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT.

Bob, I love ya, but come on.

And another bobblehead night for that crusty veteran Ronny Paulino.

Just enough bobblehead and firework nights to show everyone in MLB that the Pirates have GREAT attendance, eh ??

Well, let's just see how great the attendance is on that Wednesday night in May against Milwaukee.

The Confluence's Blurbs from the Burgh

• You have to forgive the Buccos for continuing to be absolute giddy after the announcement of the LaRoche trade. I'll admit it, I was pretty damn excited myself. But let's not kid ourselves; This trade simply makes the Bucs a closer bet to finish .500 or better, and that's about it. At the very best scenario, it may give the Bucs an outside shot at a wild card spot. Come on people, after 14 years of futility, let's not get carried away.
• Seems that as soon as the 'Burgh press started mentioning the renewed possibility of signing Trot Nixon, the Indians signed him. Coincidence ??
• Speaking of coincidence, isn't it a small MLB when immediately after the LaRoche trade was announced, the Braves signed Craig Wilson. Decent signing for the Braves, I just hope they realize he hasn't hit a curve ball since his wiffleball days.
• Bucs also signed Shawn Chacon to a ridiculous 1 year, 3.825 million dollar contract today. Ya know, I knew when I joined the Navy in '83 at the age of 19 I was going into the wrong line of business. I wish I would've known how much they were looking for left-handed junk pitchers, 'cause I would have stuck with it.
• Still no news from Steelers HQ after the Round 2 interviews of Tomlin and Grimm. Who knows, maybe the Steelers will be waiting until after Ron Rivera and the Bears are eliminated (which I really hope is Sunday). As I told my buddy Pojo Risin the other day, something seems fishy to me about Grimm. Russ has had several interviews over the last few years, and not only hasn't he gotten a head coach job, he hasn't gotten a 2nd interview yet. That isn't adding up to me, and makes me think that maybe Grimm isn't the #1 choice. I could very well be wrong, we'll see.
• Looks like new Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt will grab Steelers special teams coach Kevin Spencer. Two words; Good Riddance.
• How about that Michael Vick. What an idiot. Enough said.
• I've read a lot of the comments concerning the Pens inability to win shootouts. There's one common theme I agree with, especially thinking back to the Pens' recent shootouts; Get the Puck up. Really seems like the Pens shooters are deking the goalies well enough that the goalies must sprawl, but the shots are simply not high enough. Take a look at Christensen's goals, top shelf. Remember Malkin's successful shootout goal; deke, then roof it. Even Sid's jock drop on Theodore last year; deke, then backhand top shelf.
• Shero poo-poo'd the trade rumors for Malone going to the Rangers recently. I'm not buying it just yet. I agree with some of the other bloggers recently who say that Malone was propped on the 1st line to boost his trade value, and even that the trade rumors may have been put out there on purpose as a motivation tool, although I feel that eventually he's going to pull the trigger on the deal.
• I was probably a little harsh on MAF last night, trust me it was only 'cause I was pissed off. MAF stood on his French-Canadian head last night.
• I continue to love that 2nd line of Staal/Malkin/Ouellet.
• Part of me wants to see Petrovicky given more of a shot. It's not like Ruutu is really doing anything recently.
• The Pens not cashing in on that 5 on 3 for 1:50 last night absolutely lost them the game. Once again, they're way too reliant on Gonchar on the PP.
• More negotiations last night on the new arena deal between the Governor, city officials, and the Pens. More progress, but no new deal just yet. Getting some impatient fans out there, but everyone needs to realize, there's dozens of details that need to be negotiated, one by one. The deal's gonna get done, just be patient.
• And when the deal's done, I'm gonna be firing off some emails to some "experts" who were so sure the Pens were gone. I can't wait for that.

Buccos FINALLY make the deal for LaRoche

Better late than never, I guess.

The Pirates finally made the deal, tentatively, to land Adam LaRoche, while dealing away closer Mike Gonzalez. According to our colleagues at Bucs Dugout, the complete deal is Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge for LaRoche and outfielder Jamie Romak. I'll give Littlefield credit (if true) for not giving up players that were reported to be included such as Duffy, Maholm, or Castillo.

Several different stories spawn out of the deal finally being made;

• Tough to see Mike go. Good guy, reportedly a good teammate and clubhouse guy. Not a Mariano Rivera-like shutdown closer, but pretty damn close. 24 for 24 last year, obviously perfect, although many of those were pretty hairy during those 9th innings.
• Tough to lose a closer like that. However, the Bucs were going absolutely nowhere unless they at least pulled the trigger on this trade. Shit, they still might not be going anywhere. Personally, my goal for the team is just to finish over .500 for a change.
• So does this annoint Solomon Torres as the defacto Bucs' closer. Not a bad selection at all. Torres won't be your typical 98 MPH closer, but I love his sinker, that in itself gives the job to him.
• LaRoche is the perfect PNC Park hitter. I used to think Brian Giles was that type of player, but in retrospect I don't think he took advantage of it as much as I expected. LaRoche has a little bit more of a golf swing for a lefty, perfect for the short porch in right and the Clemente wall.
• I would imagine that puts LaRoche in the cleanup position, with Bay 3rd and Nady 5th. Now if we can only get Jason to cut down on the K's this year....
• I continue to wonder if this was spawned by the "Bob Nutting coming out of hibernation party".
• Come on McClatchy, quit stalling, when's Adam's bobblehead night, you need another sellout.

Sunday tidbits at The Confluence

• Let me just say first of all that today is a little brighter after a day in which the Ravens, Flyers, and Eagles all lost. Not to mention the opportunity to shut Ray Lewis the hell up for another 9 months.
• The Colts impressive but surprising defense has me thinking that they just might make it to the SB this year. Well, maybe. Let me say this; If the Chargers win today, the Colts will go to the Dance, if the Pats win, then those bastards will go again.
• Speaking of the Pats/Chargers game, I'm just not following the coaches' record angle that so many are. Rather, I'd say the ability to stop LT, and therefore the ability of Rivers to throw the ball will be the determining factor. I think the Chargers' run defense will slow down Dillon/Maroney at home, but give me the Pats by a TD.
• I have to admit that I was dead wrong on Deuce McCallister. That guy has done some impressive power running all year, and the Cinderella Saints are one game from the Big Dance.
• That early game hit on Reggie Bush may have been the hit of the year. Just brutal, clean but brutal.
• Give Jeff Garcia and the Eagles credit, most people didn't think they'd get anywhere close to this point in the season. By the way, I wonder if Jeff is still boinking former Playmate Carmella Decesare. Yeah, he's gay alright, just ask T.O.
• Will ANYONE out there be surprised if/when the Bears choke at home today ?? Weather looks to definitely be a factor though, but we'll see if Grossman can "not lose" vs. the Seahawks today.
• Some in the Pirates blogoshere are predicting that the coming out of Bob Nutting may preclude the pulling of the trigger of the LaRoche trade. While I'd welcome that, I'll believe it when I see it.
• The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Cubs are considering trading Jacque Jones to the Bucs for either Duffy or McLouth. So let me get this straight, Littlefield won't include Duffy in the LaRoche trade, but he may trade Duffy to the Cubs for Jones ?? Geezus, just do something for Christ sakes.
• The trade winds are also a-brewing in the hockey world, if you believe the NY Post's Larry Brooks, anyways. Brooks is reporting this morning that the Rangers are talking to the Pens on a trade that would trade Malone, and possibly Orpik, to the Rangers for Prucha and possibly another player. Also, Brooks reports that GM Ray Shero himself was in NY on Thursday scouting the Rangers/Sens game. This might very well be the reason that the underperforming Malone has remained on the 1st line with Crosby, when he really hasn't deserved it. My view, if I'm Shero, and I'm not, I do this trade in a NY heartbeat. Prucha is a young sniper, a 30 goal scorer last year, and RIGHT-HANDED. He would be an outstanding replacement on the 1st line.
• Mark Eaton looks due to come back after the All-Star Game, when the Pens make their 2nd trip out West to Dallas and Phoenix. The sooner, the better. If anyone needs a reminder, the Pens were 7-3 when Eaton got hurt, he would really shore up the Pens inconsistent defense.
• The NHL announced the All-Star reserves and the participants in the YoungStars game. Kinda surprisingly, the Pens got no other players besides Crosby to represent them in the big boys' game, but are well represented in the YoungStars game, with Malkin, Staal, and Whitney selected.
• I'm really looking forward to seeing Sid and Ovechkin on the same line in Dallas.

Until next week.....

Confluence Soapbox; Hey Bob, open the books....

I just continue to be furious over the sham of a press conference the Pirates pulled on the fans yesterday.

And as I suspected, I'm not alone.

All over the Pirates blogosphere, the same feelings are portrayed, albeit written in bloggers' respective styles.

But it's just the outlandish and completely ridiculous comments that they made that are an insult to me and all other Pirate fans that have put up with this nonsense for so many years.

"I will say this: I am absolutely committed to having the team win,"

"It's a plan that absolutely can work, and I expect it to work,"

Give me a frickin' break.

But here's the one that's got me steamed;

"Ownership is not taking money out of the team and putting it in their pockets. It is going right back into the team."

You want to earn some brownie points with Pirate fans now that you've come out of hibernation with your Daddy, Bob ??

PROVE IT.

Do like your divisional rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, did when they were pressured to do so by their fans.

If you're so confident that your team is doing the right thing, and not spending that money against the regulations that MLB has set forth, open up the books and PROVE IT.

Kevin McClatchy said as much a couple of years ago in an interview with FSN 'Burgh. He admitted that the money that they received from MLB's revenue sharing was going toward paying off debt, completely against the "spirit" of the rules of revenue sharing.

I would love to see fans continue to pressure Pirate ownership to open up the books, and show us where the hundreds of millions have gone over the past 14 years.

But I'm also realistic enough to realize that that day probably will never come.

Bucs ownership changes; Big Frickin' Deal

I was like most Pirate fans today.

I saw the headline, Nutting To Replace McClatchy As Controlling Owner, and of course, I completely misunderstood what it really meant.

Because, of course, it means absolutely nothing to Pirate fans.

Why would I give a shit if the Nuttings own more of the Pirates than they used to ??

Bob Nutting showed his face today, let's all run out and buy season tickets !!!

McClatchy still runs the day-to-day operations, so what's the difference ??

Will they all of a sudden produce an influx of money ??

No ?? Then it doesn't mean a f#$king thing !!!!

Littlefield hasn't done a damn thing. If fact, if you count the signing of Jose Hernandez for the 37th time, they've gotten worse.

The ownership does some completely cosmetic crap today, thinking that fans will be gullable enough to really think it's going to make any difference.

I'm so tired of this spew coming from this group of malcontents, and I hope everyone else is as well.

I'll tell everyone this right now, if Littlefield does relatively nothing before the season starts, my Pirate coverage will be maybe once a week.

Lots of folks have given some nice compliments in relation to my Pens coverage, and I had intended of doing the same for the Bucs upcoming season, but not the way they're going now. I've got enough gray hairs as it is, I don't need any more.

If they make the trade for LaRoche, or maybe Chad Tracy, I'll reconsider it. But not with the status quo.

I'll resume my Steelers coverage as well. After all, it's time for draft talk for us non-playoff teams, right ??

Bucs Winter Meeting report; Head to The Roundtable

I hate duplicating effort as much as the next guy.

So rather than forcing my brain to regurgitate all of my negative thoughts towards the boneheads known as the Pirates' management, please head on over to the Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable, a great idea started up by Cory, also the owner of A New Pirates Generation.

So what Cory has done is gather together 14 of the biggest Pirate windbags, er, I mean bloggers, onto one site to get up on our collective soapboxes and discuss the various topics of day concerning the Buccos.

As you can see on the site, so far we've just started up by discussing our expectations heading into the winter meetings, the Pirates' current situation in the NL Central, and what we'd do if we were the GM.

Now that the winter meetings are over (and why did Littlefield even go down there), Cory will have a new series of questions that the group will input our comments on, and I believe Cory will be posting that onto the site on Monday, Dec. 11th.

This should be an excellent forum for those of us interested in the Pirates in the blogosphere, so come on over and join us.

Post-Gazette: LaRoche/Gonzalez deal pending Gonzo's physical

Well, it appears that Dave has blinked.

According to the Post-Gazette, the deal to send Adam LaRoche to the Bucs for Mike Gonzalez ispotentially a done deal, pending the Braves' physical of Gonzo's left elbow.

The Bucs shut Gonzo down in late August because of tendinitis in that elbow, and although interviews with him late in the season indicated that he felt good, the Bucs erred on the side of caution and did not pitch him for the remainder of the year. In fact, again per the PG, Gonzo was pitching in side sessions by late September.

There is no further word on the possible inclusion of Kyle Davies and Jose Castillo to the deal. If you ask me, they can have him too.

Besides the LaRoche/Gonzalez deal, we continue to hear about Ryan Church from the Nats, and new today is unconfirmed reports about the Bucs pursuing Adrian Beltre from Seattle. Beltre makes 12 million clams a year, not so sure about that rumor.

Winter Meetings Update: Might as well go to Epcot, Dave

That's right, fellow Bucco faithful. You ain't missed a damn thing.

[[ By the way, thanks to the Bucco Blog for the pic, couldn't resist. ]]

And judging by the ranting of the thousands of self-appointed experts around the baseball blogosphere, ain't much going to be happening when these guys go back home later this week.

I will admit this right up front, if all of this "no trading" banter that's been reportedly coming out of the Bucs' camp is some type of reverse psychological B.S. and actually leads to a decent trade for the Bucs, I'll be the first one to raise my hand and give all the props in the world to Dave and the boys.

But until that actually happens, just what the hell is their mindset in these negotiations ??

You've been saying for a few months that you covet a power hitting 1B and RF, and a RHP.

OK, how do you expect to get ANYTHING decent if you supposedly WON'T trade any of your four starting pitchers, nor your closer ??

Has Humberto Cota suddenly become a hot trade commodity that we weren't aware of ??

I've really been trying to take all of these rumors and their supposed comments from the GM's with a grain of salt, but the more you hear of the same old song and dance, the more it ticks you off.

So anyway, I've heard about;

• Hawpe for Maholm straight up (as part of a 3 way with the Cubs as well)
• Hawpe for Maholm AND Gorzy (yeah, right)
• LaRoche for Gonzo
• LaRoche for Gonzo and Castillo
• Negotiations with FA Trot Nixon
• Gonzo or Torres to the Sox for ???

Sorry folks, the pessimism just continues for me.

Sunday tidbits at The Confluence

Didn't ya just love the 180 degree turn that Michael Strahan did this week ?? First he publically calls out Plaxico Burress (which I totally concurred with, any Steeler fan could've told you that). Then he tries to cover his ass and do what all big-mouth overpaid athletes do, BLAME THE MEDIA !! Yeah, that's it, I'll blame the media, it's all their fault. Give me a frickin' break.

Speaking of things I loved to see, wasn't it lovely seeing USC look past UCLA, thereby ruining their national championship shot. You guys made a helluva run, but perhaps you need to finally get off of your high (Trojan) horse.

Even though I don't agree with it, I'm starting to get a sneaking suspicion that the human voters are going to have Florida play OSU for the championship. The "no rematch" philosophy, plus having a 12-1 SEC Champion play OSU, rather than a runner-up Big 10 team, seems to be will be a common theme.

Baseball's winter meetings begin today in Orlando. Still quite a few marquee free agents out there, but I'll be on the lookout for the trade discussions, and just how ridiculous Dave Littlefield's demands are this time why they won't happen for the Pirates.

Bud Selig's going to retire in 3 years when his contract expires. Doesn't really matter, they'll just select whatever knucklehead that will keep the ridiculous MLB economic environment as is.

Ridiculous signing of the week; Randy Wolf, he of the 69-60 career record, signs with the Dodgers for one year, 8 million clams.

Alex Ovechkin rammed Daniel Briere into the boards face first last night at the Cap Centre/USAir Arena/MCI Center/Verizon Center. He was tossed out with a game misconduct last night. Very interested to see if and how games he'll be suspended. I've read a couple of comparisons on the hit to Brooks Orpik's hit on Erik Cole last year. We'll just see if the NHL has the cojones to suspend one of it's golden boys.

Johnny Vermont (Leclair) is now on re-entry waivers, meaning that any team that claims him now only is on the hook for half of his remaining salary. I've been reading that the Blackhawks may claim him, as well as Dallas. I hope he'll go to a situation that fits him, he's a consummate pro.

Andre Roy was claimed by Tampa Bay. Whatever. File this one under the "no impact at all" section. You just can't have guys like Andre filling up roster spots nowadays.

Anyone else tired of hearing how much tape Ron Jaworski is looking at ??

Steelers play Tampa Bay at 4:15 today, talk about an anti-climatic atmosphere. I can just imagine the scalpers up and down General Robinson. Can't imagine them getting much for those tickets.

I wouldn't have imagined this earlier in the year, but is it just me, or is Coach Cowher's body language saying "get me the hell out of here" ??

Nice to see that Shaun Alexander is back up and running, now that I'm frickin' eliminated from my fantasy football league.

Bucs at the Winter Meetings; Yawn....

Sometimes I'm amazed that I have become so jaded as a Pirates fan.

I mean, baseball has been a major part of my life since I was about five years old (that was 1969, for those of you scoring at home). I've played baseball or softball every year since then, including my 20 years in the Navy, up until about four years ago, when I hung up my spikes for good.

That's why it irritates the hell out of me having to endure the incompetence and outright ignorance of the Pirates ownership group and management.

I have to give some credit here where it's due. My anger for years now has been directed at MLB itself, as well as the evil empires of New York, Boston, and the other big spender teams. Granted, certainly, the economics of MLB does indeed give relatively little hope for small market teams every year. However, my good buddy Pojo Risin has been telling me for years now that I shouldn't be angry at the Yankees, per se, but rather at the dipshit-edness of the Pirates' leadership. Poj, I'm here to fall on my sword and finally admit that you are 100% correct.

The Pirates have received tens of millions of dollars by the big spenders of MLB, in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreements' luxury tax and revenue sharing. It has been widely speculated, if not admitted by Kevin McClatchy, that the Pirates did NOT spend those millions of dollars on improving the product on the field, as they are supposed to be doing, per the CBA, but rather they've been using those millions on paying off debt.

If that were not bad enough, a General Manager worth a crap could at least swing a decent trade or two each year and/or sign a decent free agent to fill the team's needs every year. Is that too much to ask, I should think not. Well, not in Pittsburgh, my friends. GM Dave Littlefield is now at the unenviable position that he is now the laughing stock of all aspects of the baseball world, that being the press (check out this blistering assessment from CBS Sportsline's Larry Dobrow), the Pirate fans, and most importantly, his peers around MLB.

It has been common knowledge that Littlefield notoriously expects WAY too much during trade discussions, so much so that it has gotten to the point that GM's simply don't waste their time attempting to make a deal with Pittsburgh.

And what of the free agents ?? If you're a decent MLB player, probably making between 5 and 10 million per year in this inflated MLB market, why would you possibly want to sign with a team whose ownership doesn't spend it's money on the on-field product (unless you count bobbleheads and fireworks) ??

That leaves the fans. The Bucs got a gift from good 'ol Bud Selig when they awarded the '06 All-Star Game to the Bucs in PNC Park, even though Pittsburgh had just hosted the game 12 years earlier in '94 at Three Rivers. But let's not be naive. Everyone who has an ounce of common sense knows exactly what that was all about. McClatchy and his cohorts desperately needed a fanbase boost as their streak of losing seasons hit the decade mark. Of course, the Pirates parlayed the awarding of the All-Star Game into a much-needed marketing ploy for the purchasing of season tickets. You want All-Star tickets ?? You give us your money for season tickets. And of course, season tickets are those seats that are previously paid for, and always counted as attendance, even when those people don't actually go to the game.

The '06 All-Star game was lauded as a great success, which I have to say, I have no reason to disagree with that, it looked as much. And the Pirates reap the rewards of not only the millions of dollars that come along with the hosting of the All-Star Game, but the thousands of season tickets that were bought to garner those All-Star Game tickets, tickets that probably would not have been sold otherwise.

But now we're preparing for the '07 season. The '06 All-Star game is history. The season ticket purchase requirements have been fulfilled. No longer does Pirates ownership have the All-Star Game to use as a crutch for season tickets.

So where does that leave them ??

At the turnstile, I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes that the season attendance for the Bucs is definitely going to take a hit. There simply aren't enough bobblehead and firework nights, combined with the snowballing effect of now 14 straight losing years, to justify 30,000 fans coming to the ballpark night after night.

Trades ?? Littlefield as recently said that "it's likely that we won't talk trade for any of those four starters", in reference to Duke/Snell/Maholm/Gorzelanny. So most likely you'll see a trade made to garner talent to the level of, oh I don't know, Tony Graffanino.

Free agents ?? We've already beat that dead horse. All you need to do is look at the FA's that the Bucs signed last year (Randa, Burnitz) to get a snippet of what's to be expected this year. As was already stated, don't expect anyone that's going to make a difference to sign on the dotted line.

You know what ?? After typing all of this, not I'm not so amazed that I'm so jaded.

But you go get 'em in Orlando anyway, Dave. Bring back some Mickey Mouse ears.

Slow 'Burgh news day - Hey, it happens

• The Buccos are hot on the trail of a free agent pitcher. Jason Schmidt ?? Yeah, right. Barry Zito ?? Don't even try it. Uh, try Tomo Ohka. Excuse me if don't show the least bit of interest in that one.
• There are whispers that the Buccos are talking with Jeff Suppan again. After his postseason performance last year ?? I mean, why would they even try ?? Do they enjoy the rejection ??
• Pretty harsh (but justified) article about Dave Littlefield on CBS Sportsline. Wow, the first sentence says it all; "The Pittsburgh Pirates might be one of baseball's two or three franchises truly beyond resuscitation, and I can tell you why in three words: Dave Motherbleepin' Littlefield."
• Am I the only one that is completely skipping reading articles on what's wrong with the Steelers ??
• Isn't it freakin' amazing, at game 12, that there are already articles talking about who the Super Bowl Champion Steelers should take in next year's NFL Draft??
• Condolences to the Bettis family, as Jerome's father passed away after suffering a heart attack yesterday.
• 3 weeks from today, for the City of Pittsburgh slots license decision by the PA Gaming Board. Let the mudslinging begin, I fully expect this to get nasty, LOTS of cash at stake.
• Good commentary by KDKA's John Steigerwald on Sidney Crosby, and his feeling that Crosby could be the best player in the world, even at age 19.
• Might have been just me, but damn if that Fleury bobblehead wasn't a dead ringer.
• Gary Bettman estimated that the Pens sale to Jim Balsillie should be final in 2-3 weeks. Blackberry's for everyone !! [[ Trust me fellas, I work with Blackberry's for a living, they're frickin' addicting, they don't call them Crackberry's for nothin'. ]]

Sunday tidbits at The Confluence

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. However, perhaps it's time to stop one of those Thanksgiving traditions, that being the Lions playing on it. Although a lot of times the Lions play better on Thanksgiving than on other gamedays, it's getting a little ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, rumors are flying that Matt Millen may be finally out of a job. Better late than never, I always say.

So not only did 70 million homes not receive the Broncos/Chiefs game on Thursday night, due to their cable system not carrying the NFL Network, now we find out that even some of those that do have the channel did not show the game, due to the fact that the NFL added on another surcharge for showing live NFL games. Thanks to ProFootballTalk.com for the link. Are we that far away from Pay-per-view NFL games ??

If you want to watch what's known as a "slobberknocker", watch Steelers/Ravens today. The Steelers rivalry with the Ravens has easily supplanted the Browns rivalry in recent years, and today's matchup looks to be no different.

With six weeks still left to go before the NFL playoffs, it's still way too early to speculate on teams that are in and those that are out. We are at the point, however, that those who are on the outside looking in, have little to no room for error (you listening, Pittsburgh ??)

USC sure as hell made a big statement that they deserve a shot at the title after their convincing win vs. Notre Dame yesterday. I still think that Michigan is the better of the two teams, but who knows, the computer rankings may just boost USC up to #2.

Let's just see how good the Bears really are today, and if they can beat New England, they've gone up a rung on my ladder.

So much for discipline when it comes to MLB free agents. Carlos Lee gets 100 million for 6 years. Slap hitter Juan Pierre gets 45 million for 5 years, 14 million for 3 years for Alex Gonzalez, 18 million for 4 years for Justin Speier.

So where does that leave the Buccos ?? Absolutely nowhere, apparently. When the offseason started, the Bucs priorities were a left-handed power bat, a right-handed starter, and a couple other ham-n-eggers. Naturally, those commodities aren't going to fall in Dave Littlefield's lap. So, the general consensus was that he'd have to part with one of his 4 young starting pitchers (most likely Gorzelanny or Maholm) or one of the closers. However, now we're reading from Dejan's column today that apparently good 'ol Dave feels it's unlikely that he'll trade any of the starters. Just what the hell do you plan on doing Dave, do a "Malkin" and hold prospective free agents hostage in your office until they sign a contract ?? Aw, that's OK, just keep the bobbleheads and fireworks coming, it's all good on the bottom line, isn't it.

Had to love the thugery at the end of the Caps/Thrashers game the other night. They wanted rivalries, they got it. But even if they don't modify the schedule to have all NHL teams play each other every year, they've got to do something about teams playing each other 3 times in two weeks. Talk about overkill.

You'd have to consider the Maple Leafs as overachievers so far this season, although they did open their Canadian wallets up some more in the offseason. But that's OK, I'm sure when the springtime comes, they'll fold like they've always done. Don't feel bad, Leafs fans, I'm sure that 40th anniversary party for not winning the Stanley Cup will be a doozy.

Don't look now, but those teams that were getting snickered at early in the year, like Ottawa, Boston, and Philly, are quickly playing much better.

Early NHL voting shows Crosby and Ovechkin #1 and #2 among Eastern Conference forwards, with Malkin at #7 right now. Count me as among those who'd love to see a line with those 3 guys on it.

Isles 3, Pens 1; No Sid again, Power Play remains putrid, Malkin possibly reinjured

In all sports, statistics can sometimes be very deceiving.

Such was the case today on Long Island, where the Pens, despite getting 37 shots on goal, played very mediocre offensively in losing to the Islanders 3-1.

37 shots to a team that quite often struggles getting pucks on net, when looking at the stat sheet at face value, looks to be a decent offensive effort.

Not so fast.

Much like shooting 3o footers on the basketball court, the vast majority of shots that the Pens even got credit for were quite the low-percentage variety.

Even the goal scored by Geno in the 3rd period was one that DiPietro probably should have had.

It could be argued that the best shot on goal was the one that Geno threw in. By the way, rumor has it that Malkin will join the Pirates after the Penguins' season ends, only to be traded at the deadline by Dave Littlefield for Bobby Hill and a player to be named later.

However, Geno went directly to the locker room after getting nailed on a clean hit by Brendan Witt directly on his left (previously injured) shoulder. However, it didn't appear that his shoulder was hanging down much at all, so let's just hope that he'll be alright for tomorrow night's game.

But surely, his Penguins teammates stuck up for him. Uh, disregard that, absolutely no one came to his defense. Great comraderie boys, just great.

And how about that power play, huh ?? Zero for nine, well you guys are consistent, I'll give ya that much. But are you guys actually aiming for the D-men's feet ???

We all know that Sid is an amazing playmaker, that's a given. But the inability to even get the puck in the opponent's end on a man advantage is getting ridiculous.

The Pens had a frickin' 6-on-3 power play in the 3rd period, let me repeat that, a 6-on-3 power play, and got off absolutely zero shots.

I also attribute that to the Pens, once again, trying to make the perfect pass, rather than getting the pucks on net and pouncing on the rebounds.

Well, no rest for the weary. The Rangers come to town on Saturday night, surely still remembering the loss they took to the Pens one week ago. I'm sure they'll have absolutely no sympathy if Sid or Geno, or both, are not able to go.