The fact that the Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992 isn't stopping new manager Clint Hurdle from aiming high in 2011. Speaking to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Hurdle said that "people can laugh," but Pittsburgh will head into the season with the goal of winning the NL Central. Here are the latest updates on the Pirates and the rest of the division they hope to win:
- Hurdle was a major factor in Lyle Overbay's decision to sign with the Pirates, as Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains.
- As ESPN's Buster Olney hinted yesterday on Twitter, Albert Pujols is serious about his Spring Training negotiating deadline. In Olney's Insider-only blog, he says that if the deadline passes without an extension in place, "all bets are off. Because the talks will shift from a nice one-on-one conversation between the Cardinals and their star player to being a straight bidding war."
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that trade rumors surrounding Colby Rasmus were blown out of proportion. According to Mozelieak, most of the calls he received on Rasmus were from teams who were "bottom-fishing," thinking the Cards might part with the 24-year-old at a reduced price.
- The Astros will face a tough decision this year regarding the future of Wandy Rodriguez, writes Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle. Justice expects the team to try to extend the left-hander, a possibility the Astros and Rodriguez have already discussed, but cautions that "the money can't get crazy."
As long as this Pujols madness continues, Prince Fielder remains in a perfect situation.
I have never seen a front office in such disarray as the Cards’! I tall ya, Pujols (the real PRINCE) is as good as gone and the Cards front office is frozen into inaction. They don’t know what to do.
And you know this how? Mo said he isn’t going to make the negotiations public. I take Olneys words with a grain of salt. The guy likes to create stories.
bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-16/cards-pujols-sheds-n…
Pujols’ agents have apparently said the same thing. At least according to this semi-article. I take his agent’s word over yours.
This is no news at all… I live in StL and Pujols not wanting to discuss a deal during the season has been known here since they talked a bit LAST offseason. Maybe this is new to people not in the local market, but I don’t know why this is getting so much hype…
Only this is what has been said for months on end, Olney isnt as much of a bag of gas as Heyman so if i was a Cardinals fan I would be worried.
Yea, I think you’re overreacting a bit. If it comes to ST and they don’t have a contract in place, I’ll say the front office failed. If it comes out that they offered Pujols a fair deal and he rejected it, then I’ll say Pujols put himself above the team and can take his leave if he desires. But seeing as how the Cards have gone about their business quietly up to this point, I’m thinking Mo is doing a stand up job on this one.
Yea, I think you’re overreacting a bit. If it comes to ST and they don’t have a contract in place, I’ll say the front office failed. If it comes out that they offered Pujols a fair deal and he rejected it, then I’ll say Pujols put himself above the team and can take his leave if he desires. But seeing as how the Cards have gone about their business quietly up to this point, I’m thinking Mo is doing a stand up job on this one.
Yea, I think you’re overreacting a bit. If it comes to ST and they don’t have a contract in place, I’ll say the front office failed. If it comes out that they offered Pujols a fair deal and he rejected it, then I’ll say Pujols put himself above the team and can take his leave if he desires. But seeing as how the Cards have gone about their business quietly up to this point, I’m thinking Mo is doing a stand up job on this one.
If Pujols, by some miracle, actually does leave couldn`t the Cardinals hypothetically sign fielder?
What if the Brewers sign Prince Fielder?
They won`t because of the money, so its well assumed that he won`t be resigned.
Because of money? the Brewers have money, just like the Nationals, who are projected as a less of a team than them had money for Werth, they are just letting things shake out, why sign Prince when the Cardinals are fumbling with Pujols?
He’s already turned down a contract offer of over $100 million from the Brewers. He doesn’t intend to stay in Milwaukee past this season.
Yeah, speaking as a Brewers fan and a Fielder fan, I don’t even want that contract. So I hope to heck that the Brewers just say goodbye and thanks for the (somewhat) cheap production. Maybe he’ll be worth it, maybe not, but he has been Pujols once and otherwise he’s just been very good, but with no range at 1B. Not that range is the most important thing for a firstbaseman, but it’s laughable that he even tries to dive anymore.
screw it, i’d wait til midseason and if the cards aren’t in it, i’d deal pujols. then i’d go for fielder in the offseason, and use the dozens upon dozens of saved millions to fill the other holes in the cards line-up.
Or deal Pujols for prospects and sign him in the offseason. I’d pass on Fielder. I don’t think his antics would go over very well in the Cards organization (from the clubhouse to the fans). For an organization that’s looking to fix the clubhouse environment, taking on Fielder would be a step in the wrong direction, in my opinion.
I think my previous message got banned because of language, so I’ll get to the gist of it: Your manager is the problem. Do you understand this?
Yeah, HOF managers are horrible to have around………..
I believe TLR’s time in St. Louis is about over, and it is probably time to move on. But the TLR not getting along with players is so overblown by the national media.
Even if the Cardinals wanted to trade Pujols at midseason (which they never would, even if they’re out of contention), they couldn’t due to Pujols’s 10 & 5 no trade rights (and he’d never agree to a trade). If they can’t get an extention done this offseason, they’ll simply enter the bidding at the end of the season (plus they get a couple of weeks of exclusive negotiations right after the World Series, too). The only way Pujols possibly leaves is by free agency with a couple of compensation draft picks attached. This is all probably moot anyway, as an extension will probably be announced within the next few weeks.
Or deal Pujols for prospects and sign him in the offseason. I’d pass on Fielder. I don’t think his antics would go over very well in the Cards organization (from the clubhouse to the fans). For an organization that’s looking to fix the clubhouse environment, taking on Fielder would be a step in the wrong direction, in my opinion.
if they dont have the money for pujols they wont have it for fielder
Pujols is probably looking for something like 8/$225 or could even conceivably demand a contract that matches A-Rods. Fielder is probably more in line for something like 6/$120.
I’m not saying they’d be better off with Fielder (I’d rather see Pujols on the Cardinals than anywhere else.) Or that they’d even be willing to spend that kind of money on any non-pujols player. Just saying that if Pujols is in fact out of their range, that wouldn’t necessarily mean Fielder as. The contracts they end up with will probably have at least a $100m gap.
huh?
Fielder is going to get half of what Pujols gets, take Fielder as a 50% off coupon, Pujols can get in the 200 million and Fielder in the 100 million range depending on years, Fielder will get a Werth like deal as Pujols will get an A-Rod like deal.
If this deal gets done, I could see Pujols simply asking for double his last deal. 7 years/$200MM. Give the team a “slight hometown discount” on that last $10MM to keep the annual average below $30MM. But then I think they’d have their hands tied financially for at least a few years, plus the longevity of the deal would give people pause…Seems best to trade him to a larger market club for a King’s Ransom and let them spend their money on an aging future-HOFer.
And which “larger market” would that be? Who has the tons of prospects to trade for him?
The “Larger market” playoff bound team that needs the best hitter in the game and is willing to mortgage a bit of their future for a better shot at a 2011 WS win. A front-runner would depend so heavily on injuries during the season, it doesn’t make sense to even get into specifics.
Fair value for Pujols at the deadline should cost a little more than 2 blue-chip prospects, but not much more. Slightly better than the 1st rounder and sandwich pick value they’d get if he left via FA. But I think the Cards would take such a hit in ticket sales they wouldn’t pull the trigger unless someone was willing to really overpay.
The “Larger market” playoff bound team that needs the best hitter in the game and is willing to mortgage a bit of their future for a better shot at a 2011 WS win. A front-runner would depend so heavily on injuries during the season, it doesn’t make sense to even get into specifics.
Fair value for Pujols at the deadline should cost a little more than 2 blue-chip prospects, but not much more. Slightly better than the 1st rounder and sandwich pick value they’d get if he left via FA. But I think the Cards would take such a hit in ticket sales they wouldn’t pull the trigger unless someone was willing to really overpay.
I agree there is really not a large market out there persay. You might as well take Red Sox because they would probably prefer to sign the cheaper/younger newly aquired Gonzales. The Yanks have Texeria locked up at first. Who knows is the Angels would go that high. The dodgers are spenders but I doubt they would spend 30 million per player. Cubs might be willing since Pena is only on a 1 year deal. The only team that might would be the Mets. I honestly feel like the Cards would be betting against themselves just like they were for Holiday. I say do not overreact.
People need to stop discrediting players for signing with the Pirates. We’re turning the corner, we have a great ballpark with great young players, and if there is a great free agent SP on the market, we’ll get him!!
I like your sense of humor
The Pirates will trade those players for next to nothing over the next couple of seasons.
oh look a dumb poster
I think your comment would also classify as a dumb post. I was being facetious and just stating that history will repeat itself self once again.
Yeah, I hear they fell just $118M short of landing Cliff Lee.
I kid, but I agree with your “turning the corner” statement and they do have some good young players. They aren’t really ready to contend just yet, though.
Heh Heh.
Aren’t you Pirate fans just the cutest things.
Yet they’ve managed to win a title in the past 102 years…
Yet they’ve managed to win a title in the past 102 years…
Touche.
Touche.
More than the Cubs can say.
Yet they’ve managed to win a title in the past 102 years…
While I like Overbay and wish him well, I very much doubt there was much more to him choosing the pirates than the fact that he probably didn’t have a whole lot of suitors knocking on his door with five million dollar offers.
The pirates could easily be the dark hosre team in the central. Yes, we dont have a bunch of allstars, but we have alot of young, solid players in the mLB.
I very much like the direction your team is heading in. I also very much do not like their chances to be non-terrible in 2011. However they might win 70+ games. Baby steps.
I grew up a Pirates fan so I root for them to do well. The hiring of Hurdle was a positive step for the organization. PNC Park is beautiful. It deserves to be the home of a winning team. “We are Family,…….”
Exactly, the Pirates can’t ever be counted out. Never underestimate the team who controls Ryan Doumit 😉
The Pirates are realistically a couple years away from seriously threatening the Reds, Cards, and Brewers in the Central.
The understatement of the century.
The Pirates are realistically a couple years away from seriously threatening the Reds, Cards, and Brewers in the Central.
The Pirates are realistically a couple years away from seriously threatening the Reds, Cards, and Brewers in the Central.
Darkhorse because of their colors? Certainly not because of their ML talent.
Darkhorse because of their colors? Certainly not because of their ML talent.
Darkhorse because of their colors? Certainly not because of their ML talent.
I would like to see the Yankees go after Wandy!!! The astros and Yanklees have made several moves together and I think they will get it done>>
He des seem like the kind of pitcher that would fit well in New York. Lefthanded with a lot of groundballs and strikeouts. That seems to be the profile for succes in New York. E.g. Sabathia and Pettitte. What would the Astros be after? Joba plus prospects?
I think the Astros would just look for overall talent in such a deal, not necessarily position-specific. I’d think they’d take the Yanks best offer.
I think Bourn and Wandy should be traded if the Astros can get full value back. The club doesn’t have to trade them, but if your club is selling, you might as well sell. Think Marlins/Padres style, except that Houston has a nice stadium, large market, and should get a wealthy new owner in the next couple years who wouldn’t be afraid to go out and land a big FA to complete the team. Given the market in Houston, once the team is in position to compete, they’ll likely be there for several years.
Sorry I don’t know the Yankees’ minors well enough to give you specifics. But I’d say one blue-chip prospect, a polished AAA guy and two high-ceiling guys in the low minors. On the pitching side, the Astros should be looking for starters more so than relievers I think.
I think Wandy would win 20 games for the Yank’s.. this is the guy that will make them a really good rotation… they really need this trade. I think the Yanks and Astros are just waiting to see what kind of money he wants in arbitration..
He was only payed $5M last year so i can’t see him getting more than $10M. That’s still less than what they would have payed Pettitte.
He des seem like the kind of pitcher that would fit well in New York. Lefthanded with a lot of groundballs and strikeouts. That seems to be the profile for succes in New York. E.g. Sabathia and Pettitte. What would the Astros be after? Joba plus prospects?
He will go to the Yankees… He will play some LF like he did back and the day and him and TEX will spilt time at 1st and DH.. Hell if Lance Berkman can go back and play LF at like age 38 I know Puljos can.. watch and see, it will happen
He will go to the Yankees… He will play some LF like he did back and the day and him and TEX will spilt time at 1st and DH.. Hell if Lance Berkman can go back and play LF at like age 38 I know Puljos can.. watch and see, it will happen
I’m not a Pirates fan, but i would love to see them field a competitive team. Tampa drafted well and traded wisely and was able to build a revolving system of very good players. Maybe the Pirates should invest heavily in a front office that specializes in player development. Now listen, I know he went out on a bad note in New York and mad some crappy moves, but Omar Minaya would be a great asset to an organization like Pittsburgh. If you’re not gonna spend a lot of money signing players, maybe you should spend money on people who can find you the best young/cheap talent. Just an idea.
I’m not a Pirates fan, but i would love to see them field a competitive team. Tampa drafted well and traded wisely and was able to build a revolving system of very good players. Maybe the Pirates should invest heavily in a front office that specializes in player development. Now listen, I know he went out on a bad note in New York and mad some crappy moves, but Omar Minaya would be a great asset to an organization like Pittsburgh. If you’re not gonna spend a lot of money signing players, maybe you should spend money on people who can find you the best young/cheap talent. Just an idea.
I really hope that St Louis gets something for Pujols if they cant extend him, it would be the ultimate horror to get 2 draft picks as compensation for the best player in the game, only team I can remember doing that was the Mariner’s fumble of the A-Rod negotiations, they allowed him to be a FA and Texas went insane and as a result, all they ended up with was draft picks, disgusting.
Those compensation picks are better than giving up and actually trading the guy (which Pujols would never allow with his full trade protection, anyway), especially since they should still be contending at the trade deadline. If an extension can’t be reached this offseason, they’ll try again next offseason.
I predict Pujols goes FA, Angels bid $350 million and sign him, move Morales to 3B, I fill the cup.
Yeah, and the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Royals, and Orioles will all win their divisions this year.