The Pirates released Erik Bedard earlier today, and manager Clint Hurdle told Michael Sanserino of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the club is not looking to add a veteran pitcher through waivers (Twitter link). The team's primary focus right now is internal options.
After posting a solid 3.94 ERA before the All-Star break, the Pirates' rotation has pitched to a 4.72 ERA in the second half as A.J. Burnett (5.18 ERA) and James McDonald (5.91 ERA) have struggled in August. Deadline pickup Wandy Rodriguez owns a 4.86 ERA with Pittsburgh. The Pirates remain three games back of the two NL Wild Card spots but must only win 14 of their last 34 games to finish with the franchise's first winning season since 1992.
if not a pitcher, how about bottle of rum… ” yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.” silly pirates.
Hey now.. U been watching too much “Treasure Island” with urs truly in it :-)
Really rooting for the pirates
The Pirates are unfortuate. I like Clint Hurdle but he has problem getting teams to the next level. A great fit would be Red Soxs Ex-Manager Terrt Francona.
The Mets should be able to help them out with that. They have a lot of guys in their bullpen that can’t pitch.
roy oswalt cleared waivers
Huntington threw the fanbase a bone with the Wandy Rodriguez deal. So far, it hasn’t worked out. I can’t see him digging into the farm and acquiring another veteran arm this late in the game. It’s been painfully obvious to fans who have followed this team that the Bucs are going to be tickled three shades of pink with an above .500 record in 2012. Back in April, 99.9% of real Pirates fans would have been THRILLED with 82 wins. The current team is going to give us at least that, and overall this organization is a full year ahead of their timeline. Play it out with who we have, give Jeff Locke or Justin Wilson a chance to start in September, and start warming up for the Gerrit Cole/Jameson Taillon revolution in April.
I’ve always been a fan of Wandy but he looks horrible this year. His stuff is bad and he just looks weak. K rate is very low and he’s battling control issues in his rare ok outings in Pittsburgh.
I hope he gets things straightened out very soon because a vintage Wandy can be the extra boost we can use to make the playoffs this season. I also hope he can play well next year with the club obviously.
“Pirates Not Focused” would be a more accurate headline – though they did pound the Cards tonight.
This is what should have happened as soon as they acquired Wandy. But then again, he himself hasn’t had a solid WAEB (Wins Above Erik Bedard)…
Hopefully they change that attitude with Shawn Marcum available. For one thing, claiming him prevents LAD from picking him up (which I assume they would) because the Pirates were 0.5 behind LA when Marcum was placed on waivers. If the Brewers don’t ask for much, which is possible considering we’re only talking about getting him for 5-6 starts, he’d be a great addition to the rotation for the stretch run. If they want a ton, then just go with Jeff Locke and keep him from being another LA acquisition.
Why didn’t the Pirates go after Felix Dubront from boston? He’s a young good throwing left hander i’d love to see Ray Searage get a chance to work with. and even have Burnett help him out a little bit like he did with McDonald.