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These Baseball Previews Go To 11 - Pittsburgh Pirates

Most of your baseball previews are playing their hearts out but they stop at 10. Where can these other blokes go? We like to push things over the cliff at The Feed though so you know what we do? That's right. We turn it up to 11. Three things to like, three things to worry about, three questions to answer, one kid on the farm and one predicted finish. That adds up to the most powerful preview you can find. Because it goes to 11 and there’s none more louder, really, than 11. Check 'em all out here.

3 Things To Like

1. There’s an honest to goodness starting rotation. The Pirates drafted six pitchers in the first round between 1998 and 2003 but had more bombs than Kevin Costner. Yet the rotation is still a strength of the team. Paul Maholm is the only first rounder who panned out and he’s been joined by three lower-round picks that exceeded expectations. Zach Duke (the marked man above) and Ian Snell each won in the double-digits, Maholm threw 176 innings and outperformed the league average and Tom Gorzelanny impressed with a 3.79 ERA in 11 starts.
2. Jason Bay. The best Canadian outfielder since Larry Walker, Bay is a fixture in the midsummer classic, a sure bet for 30 homers and 100 RBI and, at 28, is still in his prime.
3. The trade for Adam LaRoche could be the best move GM Dave Littlefield has ever made. Bay was desperate for some pop surrounding him in the lineup and LaRoche, who hit 32 homers and slugged at a .561 clip last season. It was a breakout but given his age and previous production it was hardly without explanation. His presence could push Bay’s numbers even higher and he’s got three years until he’s out of team control.

3 Things To Worry About

1. Signing Tony Armas Jr. as a free agent is a puzzler. The team already had Shawn Chacon to do the veteran chum fifth starter thing and has several other youngsters that would have more to gain for the spot. The LaRoche trade was a positive but the Armas signing is much more indicative of the Littlefield of old who signed mediocre players with money that would be better left for someone useful.
2. Jason Bay’s outfield mates. The Bucs gave Chris Duffy 314 at-bats last year and he rewarded them with a 655 OPS. He did steal 26 bases and will lead off but the team needs something more than a .317 on-base percentage to set up Bay and LaRoche. He’ll get every chance in centerfield while rightfield is a question mark. Xavier Nady struggled after coming from the Mets and has Crohn’s disease, Jose Bautista has power but little plate discipline, Jody Gerut missed last season to injury and Nathan McLouth played like he was injured.
3. Jack Wilson. He’s got a career .306 on-base mark, which is good for a pitcher but well below an acceptable number for anyone batting outside of the eighth slot. He batted second 127 games last season, however, and scored just 70 runs with Freddy Sanchez and Bay behind him. Will Jim Tracy wise up and bat Sanchez second to set up the power bats or will he be content with them never having anyone to drive home?

3 Questions To Answer

1. Is Freddy Sanchez playing second or third? The National League batting champion is slated to start on the hot corner but could slide over to second and give Bautista the job at third. The answer lies with Jose Castillo and his Jack Wilson-esque on-base percentage. If he hits at all, he’ll likely be the starter at second but if a rightfielder other than Bautista emerges the lineup will be much better off with Castillo out of the lineup.
2. Who is the closer? Salomon Torres is the safe choice but I think the team might be better off seeing if Matt Capps has what it takes to finish games. Torres has excelled as a set-up man since coming to town and it could behoove the team to keep him there to hold leads rather than trust Danny Kolb and Damaso Marte.
3. Will anyone care about any of it? The Pirates have a better lineup and a better pitching staff than last year, they’ve got a reasonable chance to win 73 or 74 games and have finally found a nucleus that should lead to even more wins in the future. But the losing seasons have been endless, the Steelers are top dog in town and now the Penguins are good and sexy again. The Pirates are in serious danger of falling totally off the city’s radar.

1 Kid On The Farm (For Now)

Yoslan Herrera may end up meaning more for what he represents than for what he actually accomplishes with the Bucs. It’s been years since the team has been a player in the International marketplace but they signed both Herrera and Masumi Kuwata of Japan this season. Kuwata is 39 and probably won’t be much more than a signal that the team will go after Japanese players. Herrera, on the other hand, is purported to have excellent stuff and could be a contender for a rotation or bullpen spot at some point this season.

1 Prediction About Their Finish

It’s hard to envision anything but last place for the Pirates. They’re awfully young and awfully thin but there’s real talent on the field and the team should win more than 67 games. It’s hard to see them winning more games than anyone else in the division, however, and that’s what they need more than anything else.

I Hope Elvis Likes A Rainy Night

It's been way too long since a crazy Southern man in black patrolled the sidelines as head coach of a football team but if reports from Hawaii and Oregon are to be believed it may not be much longer. Jerry Glanville appears to be the odds-on favorite to take the reins of the Portland State Viking football program. Glanville is currently the defensive coordinator for June Jones with the Hawaii Rainbows and while the Viking job would be a step down to Division I-AA it would be worth it to have the colorful one back on the sidelines. There's a lot of connections between Glanville and PSU. His boss, Jones, was their quarterback in the '70's playing in the run-and-shoot system that Glanville ran in the NFL with fellow Hawaii assistant Mouse Davis. He'd bring Davis with him to Portland, say the reports.

There's also this connection uncovered by Ian Ruder who runs the Viking Blog - Jerry Glanville's Genesis football game was chockful of Vikings. Truly a match made in heaven.

Drinking The Grapefruit And Cactus Kool-Aid, Part Six

The whole will he or won't he thing with Roger Clemens has grown pretty stale in his second year. He won't decide if he's going to play until May, which could be too late for the Astros, and will only grace a handful of teams with his presence. Until then he and his agents will just try to push up the price for a handful of starts and he'll continue to pitch batting practice to his kids in between telling people that he just doesn't know if he's got another season in him. As Murray Chass wrote in yesterday's Times, he should do whatever he wants "but let him remain quiet on the subject of his major league future."

The uncertainty, the exorbinant price tag and the closed bidding won't stop teams from dreaming, though, and should Clemens look outside the Sox, Yanks and 'Stros, Cardinal GM Walt Jocketty would be happy to have him.

"I guess you would always have interest in a guy like that," Jocketty said. "He's someone we've expressed interest in before. I'm not sure it would be mutual, though. There are so many factors involved it would be pretty tough to do any deal with them. You never know."

The Cards who, to their credit, didn't get involved in the inflationary starting pitching market this winter have some money to spend and several rotation holes to fill. How many holes?

Non-roster lefthander Randy Kiesler also has left a strong first impression, said Duncan, who challenged the notion that he is working with little safety net should someone falter this spring.

So many holes that Randy Kiesler has a shot to make your team, I guess, which is however many starters they're going to use other than Chris Carpenter.

• "Manny is at peace with his situation in Boston," said Gene Mato, one of Ramirez’ representatives, yesterday. "He has indicated to me that he would look forward to the opportunity to retire in a Boston uniform." I'll take under June 15 before the first Boston paper reports Manny's requested a trade.
• "Rudy is one of the great hitting coaches for many, many years," Sammy Sosa said. "All the mechanics that I didn't correct in 2005 are going to be corrected." Old dogs and new tricks have never been fast friends.
• "I think I can," Shawn Chacon said. "Obviously, getting the velocity was the big thing. It had been a couple years, actually, since I threw as hard as I did that night in L.A. But that's why Colby's good. I can't attribute it to anything but the work he did with me on my mechanics. He maximized my power."
• The Kansas City Star likes to give a positive rub to the local ballers. "Royals left-hander Odalis Perez sure looks primed to reclaim his status as a dependable starting pitcher as he enters the last season of a three-year contract."
• "If he needed a PR guy, I might be it," Scott Hatteberg said of Kirk Saarloos. "I'm a huge fan of his. He's just one of those guys that make a team better silently, is undervalued and under-appreciated." It's amazing how little appreciation the public has for pitchers with a 4.79 career ERA.
• Lou Piniella's got a new approach to try with the Cub pitching staff. They're going to try not to walk people this season. "We've talked to our catchers about getting them out on three, four pitches, as opposed to working the count. Not too many good things can come from long counts. First of all you're letting the hitters see all of your pitches. Second of all your infielders aren't going to be as attentive so they aren't going to make as many good plays behind you. Third of all you have pitch counts and there are guys who will be out of games sooner than you would like. Fourth of all you're in running counts all the time, so you're opening up holes for the hitters to hit the ball through. And finally the manager is not going to be very pleased."
• "I love Buddy Bell like he’s my dad,” Mike Sweeney said. “This move, I understand it from his point of view. I just don’t agree with it because I’ve come here in great shape and I want to play." His great shape made it all the more shocking when that elephant trampled him. It's the third trampling of Sweeney's career.

• "I'm not getting on the mound till I can help the team," he said. And then Mike Hampton walked away for good.

And The Vomiting Begins In 3-2-1

If you're a reader of the L.A. Times then you know that Hollywood madam Jody "Babydoll" Gibson has a book coming out and that she's naming names of her clients. Degenerate film producer Don Simpson, Bruce Willis, a rock star or two; these aren't names that are going to shock anyone. What self-respecting Hollywood madam wouldn't have names like that in their little black book. What comes as a bigger surprise is that Tommy Lasorda's name was in there as well.

For those of us who thought that the only black book Lasorda's name ever appeared in was the reservation book at Dan Tana's, this comes as a shock to the system. So you can imagine what the excerpt from Gibson's book that appeared on Sports by Brooks and Deadspin has done to an already fragile person like myself.

CHAPTER 12: Gibson, who referes to herself as "Sasha", writes that she got a call from client "Jim in Chicago," who recommends Lasorda (Lasorda, "Sasha" (Gibson) and "Nanna" quotes are in italic).

Lasorda: "I’m interested in spending some time with someone."

Sasha/Gibson: "Sounds fine. Have you had a chance to look at my California Dreamin’ website? Perhaps there’s someone there you like?"

Lasorda: "Actually, I have. There’s a pretty blonde on there I’d like to meet. #6."

Sasha/Gibson: "She’s a sweetie. Her name is Nanna. She’s Swedish, about 5’6’’, nice perky 34b, slim and terrific company. Perhaps you can tell me what you’re looking for? Anything in particular I should know?"

I had to ask the standard question.

Lasorda: "Actually, Sash, I’d like to have some porn for me to watch while she sucks my (expletive). I’m into watching two gals together in a movie. Can she have that there?"

I started a file on Tommy and began to make the pertinent notes.

Yes, Sash, I think that qualifies as something particular you should know. It's much more than I should ever know, of course. I thought the only thing Lasorda liked in his lap while watching pornography was a steaming bowl of Linguine alle vongole. Gibson goes on to share her debriefing of Nanna after all the engagement was finished.

Nanna: "He was super easy and a really nice guy. You were right on all counts, Sasha. First he requested I pop in my girl, girl porn movie. … He just loved watching all that! I noticed though that he wasn’t the aggressive type."

Sasha/Gibson: "Really? What makes you say that?"

Nanna: "Well, here I had this real hot porn movie on. He enjoyed watching the girl, girl bisexual sex scenes best. He started to take his (expletive - penis) out and (expletive - masturbate).

"Then when I saw he was good and hard I started to suck his (expletive - penis). He really liked that! Then I used your ‘swirly’ move and relaxed my throat muscles so I could take him deep into my throat.

"The great (oral sex) skills you (Sasha/Gibson) taught me plus the porn really got him off."

My eyes! My eyes!

I really thought the only things that got Tommy Lasorda off was early-model Pedro Guerrero, Lasagna with a nice bechemel and Steve Garvey's hands on his thigh. You learn something new every day, some of them by choice, things like this...not so much. Lasorda's lawyer told T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times that he anticipates bringing a defamation suit against Gibson and I, for one, would love for all of this to not be true.

That Gary Matthews Jr. Contract Just Gets Better And Better

There was a big hangup in the contract between Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants this season because the Giants demanded a provision that they could terminate the contract if Bonds was found guilty of perjury in the ongoing federal BALCO investigation. It took a while for the deal to be worked out but it was the kind of protection that the Giants deserved while making an investment that could reach $20 million this year based on incentives.

Here's hoping the Angels put the same clause in their contract with Gary Matthews Jr. The Albany Times-Union has reported that Matthews' name appears on the customer list of a Mobile, AL pharmacy that's been indicted by an Albany County grand jury. The case is centered on steroid trafficking via the internet, which is how an upstate New York investigation led to a raid on Signature Pharmacy in Orlando yesterday and the indictment of the Alabama one. Matthews isn't the only athlete caught up in this mess.

• Disgraced former major leaguer Jason Grimsley was a customer of the Orlando outfit as was the team doctor for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• Evander Holyfield and steroid gadfly Jose Canseco join Matthews on the list of customers of Applied Pharmacy Services.

The Angels signed Matthews to a $50 million contract in the offseason largely on the basis of a 2006 season that saw him set career highs in every offensive category. Nothing here has moved beyond the allegedly stage, of course, but what does it say about the level of testing going on in MLB or the NFL if they're truthful. Team doctors aren't buying this stuff for themselves, after all, and if players can still flout the bans so easily there's really no end in sight to the "steroid era" of professional sports.

Another Reason We'll Miss Curtis Martin

In the wake of the Pacman Jones combusiton at a Vegas strip club, there have been many calls (including one of my own) for the NFL to start cracking down on the misbehavior of their players. A group of players recently met with union head Gene Upshaw and commisioner Roger Goodell about instituting a "three strikes, you're out" policy. Curtis Martin wasn't part of the group but he should have been. Martin was honored by the group One Hundred Black Men recently for being a decent human being. So it's not surprising that when he shared his thoughts about what he'd do if he was in charge of the NFL on the NFL network he focused on off-field issues.

"I would probably do something with the discipline in the league because right now we're just having too much going on and we want to keep the league reputable," Martin said. "I would implement more stipulations that would govern how we are off the field."

Something tells me that Martin, who grew up amidst violence and gangs in Pittsburgh and had a gun pointed to his head as a kid, would favor something less than three strikes when it came to the kind of off-field life Pacman finds so enjoyable. Martin also said that he's got no interest in becoming a coach nor does he watch much football. Some might find that strange but after 33 years spent mostly around the gridiron why would you want to spend your free time with it as well.

Even if he doesn't want to be a coach the NFL should do all it can to ensure that he plays a role in the league going forward. He's an ambassador of everything good about pro football and the antithesis of the thugs that have sprouted throughout the league. If Goodell is serious about stemming the off-field proclivities of his players one of his first calls should be to the future Hall of Famer.

(Updated: Brian Bassett of The Jets Blog has more of Martin's comments. I guess he actually gets the channel. Lucky bastard.)

These Baseball Previews Go To 11 - Kansas City Royals

Most of your baseball previews are playing their hearts out but they stop at 10. Where can these other blokes go? We like to push things over the cliff at The Feed though so you know what we do? That's right. We turn it up to 11. Three things to like, three things to worry about, three questions to answer, one kid on the farm and one predicted finish. That adds up to the most powerful preview you can find. Because it goes to 11 and there’s none more louder, really, than 11.

3 Things To Like

1. There’s finally some talent in the organization. Mark Teahen had an outstanding 2006 season, David DeJesus is a capable leadoff man and centerfielder and Ryan Shealy flashed a power stroke after being freed from backing up Todd Helton in Colorado. The Shealy move is an example of the low-key moves that Dayton Moore has made since becoming GM to deepen the overall talent pool. Signing Octavio Dotel and David Riske and picking the intriguing Mexican League standout Joakim Soria in the Rule 5 draft doesn’t bust the budget but makes the team more competitive.
2. Alex Gordon. The #2 overall pick of the 2005 draft should assume the hot corner this spring and for the next decade. He’s the first dividend from their annual high draft spot to reach fruition and he should help erase some unpleasant images from the four 100-loss seasons in the last five years.
3. Moore isn’t afraid to throw some cash around to get the players he wants. We’ll look more at what he did below but Royals fans have to like that the team’s trying to be competitive. Dotel, Riske, Odalis Perez and Gil Meche are all veterans who stabilize a pitching staff that’s been too reliant on greenhorns. They’ll give last year’s first overall pick Luke Hochevar a chance to add polish before making a midseason appearance in the rotation.

3 Things To Worry About

1. Moore’s willingness to spend money led to the signing of Meche for five years and $55 million. Meche isn’t an awful pitcher, he’s right about in the Steven Koren section of the curve, and jumped his strikeout rate by more than two per nine innings last year but this is a hard deal to defend. He walks a lot of batters, gives up the home run ball and even if he turns in the same season he did for Seattle a year ago he’ll be seen as a bust because of his eight figure salary.
2. Moore traded two young pitchers with live arms in Andy Sisco and Ambiorix Burgos for players of limited value. Ross Gload, acquired for Sisco, is useless insurance for Mark Sweeney and Shealy because prospect Justin Huber is already on hand. Brian Bannister, picked up from the Mets in the Burgos deal, is back of the rotation chum that wouldn’t have made the Mets roster and they need starting pitching.
3. Mark Grudzielanek, Angel Berroa, Jason LaRue, Scott Elarton, Luke Hudson. There are still too many placeholders for the team to show much improvement in the 2007 season. Things are changing but most of the roster is still made up of has-beens and never-will-bes.

3 Questions To Answer

1. Can Teahen play the outfield? He’s had shoulder problems that could make the throwing part of his new job a burden but they have to put Gordon in the lineup and let him rake. They have a couple of promising outfield prospects in Mitch Maier and Chris Lubanski so if Teahen can’t hack it he could probably fetch a nice price in a trade with a team looking for a third baseman.
2. Are they headed in the right direction? Guys like Gordon and Hochevar make you say yes but if Meche’s improvement last year disappears and he spits the bit at the head of the rotation he will be an anchor on the club until the aughts are over.
3. What’s the deal with Zack Greinke? Greinke lost almost all of last season because of the effects of what doctors diagnosed as social anxiety disorder. The former first round pick is just 23, though, and still has a live right arm. If he has conquered his demons he could be a boon to the team and a great story for others who have had to deal with depression.

1 Kid On The Farm (For Now)

Billy Butler’s bat is ready for the big leagues as I write this sentence. He doesn’t have a position, though, and that will keep him in Omaha for the start of the season. Scouts have called him the worst infielder they’ve ever seen and a born DH which means he’ll have to wait for the annual Sweeney injury to make his major league debut.

1 Prediction About Their Finish

I’m sad to say that I think there’s another 100 losses on the horizon for the Royals. If Gordon is rookie of the year material and if Meche outperforms expectations and if Hochevar and Butler make an impact when they reach the Show, they may avoid the ignominy of a fourth straight century in the loss column. That’s a lot of ifs though and the talent level simply isn’t high enough to even dream of 70 wins.

Lute Olson Shakes Off Rumor Of Parkinson's Disease

College recruiters are notorious for using anything at their disposal to get a leg up on a hot high school prospect. Earlier this year word spread that Michigan's rivals were telling footballers that Lloyd Carr was retiring after the coming year to try and sway them away from the Big House. That's mild compared to the rumors that have been whispered about Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson.

If you're a high school power forward who has caught Arizona's eye you may have already heard this but it seems that Olson has Parkinson's Disease. Except he doesn't.

"I have gotten some calls about rumors and certain radio stations running some things about me having Parkinson's, which is a complete lie," Olson said. "I have physicals like everyone else does. There is absolutely no medical indication of any type of problem. There is absolutely no truth to that statement. If it has been repeatedly on radio stations then I will take the necessary actions that I need to get this stopped. It is a vicious, vicious rumor. If I need to I will get my physician to make a statement. I don't think anybody deserves that rumor to be circulating. I'm healthy. When you get nervous, you start shaking a little. But most people my age do. This is the kind of thing you get from people you are recruiting against. If the rumor is going around here, it's certainly going to be passed around."

Those involved with college sports are a pretty sorry lot overall so it doesn't come as much surprise that these appalling rumors would spread. I did a little digging, though, and found that these kinds of rumors have hit all kinds of college coaches.

Bobby Knight - Has Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Billy Donovan - Greases his hair with the sweat of illegal day laborers building his pool.

Bruce Pearl - That wasn't paint on his chest.

Mike Krzyzewski - Kills a hooker a month to satisfy his god, a bathroom attendant at the Durham Hilton.

Rick Majerus - Ate ineligible players to avoid probation.

Tubby Smith - Engages in pigplay with his assistant coaches.

Roy Williams - Hated E.T.

John Thompson III - Wears his father's old towel in lieu of underpants.

Jim Calhoun - Is actually Jewish.

Bob Huggins - Trys to control your off-court behavior in draconian ways.

The Clippers Really Wish They'd Traded Shaun Livingston

As I told you yesterday, Shaun Livingston dislocated his left knee during Monday night's game with Charlotte. As you can see it's about the worst looking injury you could ever imagine and after undergoing a full examination the injury is about as bad as it gets as well. Livingston did dislocate the knee but he also suffered a few more injuries.

Livingston had an MRI exam yesterday, which revealed tears in the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus.

He also dislocated his patella, besides the previously diagnosed dislocation of his tibia-femoral.

He's expected to be be out 8-12 months. Livingston's career could become the dictionary definition of star-crossed. The fourth overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft has doubtless physical gifts, makes plays that only the upper echelon of the Association can pull off and just set a career high with 14 assists in the game before this injury. But he's been hurt so often and does so few of the routine things well that he seems to be destined for a tag of never living up to potential.

The D In Dallas Isn't Silent

Say this for the Dallas Mavericks, despite their resounding success they aren't getting cocky.

"Nobody's in here jumping up and down," said Jason Terry, who had 18 points and seven assists. "I can already count in my head about eight mistakes I had individually."

Those would have to be the only eight mistakes the Mavs made all night. They basically scrimmaged against the Timberwolves, holding Minnesota to 65 points and 29.6% shooting to cap off a perfect February with a 91-65 win. They've won 13 in a row now and show no signs of vulnerability. They may even be kicking the tires on bringing in Reggie Miller for the playoffs which would be more of a gift for the ringless Miller than it would be filling a hole for the Mavericks. You know you're a good team when you're building your roster with an eye on charity.

• The Nets playoff chances have gotten two boosts of late. Dwayne Wade's dislocated shoulder and Jamal Crawford's stress fracture severely damages two of their competitors. It doesn't do anything to help them win their own games, of course, but that's what Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and three-point shots are for. Carter had 27 points, Kidd had 26 to go with eight rebounds and nine assists and the Nets hit 16-of-32 from deep to put the Wizards away late for a 113-101 victory. Washington led 86-85 when Eddie House buried a three from the corner with nine minutes to play. Kidd was 6-for-9 from three, not bad for a guy of questionable shooting skills, while House and Bostjan Nachbar had three each off the bench.
• The Bucks are showing signs of life with Michael Redd back in the lineup. At 2-3 in their games since the break it's more bingo at the nursing home than flag football in the park but they're alive, dammit, and it feels good. Redd had 31 points, Andrew Bogut and Mo Williams had double-doubles and the Bucks took the Warriors 122-101. 
• The Pacers had an 18-point lead with five minutes to go in the third quarter against the visiting Suns. The Suns won the game 103-92. You can do the math but I will tell you that the Pacers managed just 13 points over the final 15 minutes and that the Suns are a good team. You probably knew that already though.
• LeBron James hit two threes in the final minute and his team hit four in the last four minutes to hold off the Hornets 97-89 at home. Neither of James' threes was an easy one, but he beat the hand in his face both times and capped his 35-point night with a couple of gold stars. Chris Paul struggled mightily for the NOOCH, seven points and five assists, while his backcourt mate Devin Brown didn't score at all.

(AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)