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| | Wednesday, April 19 Pittsburgh Pirates | ||||||||||
| By John Sickels Special to ESPN.com
Record: 78-83, 14th overall (tie) Payroll: $23.7 million, 26th overall Runs scored: 775, 13th in NL Runs allowed: 782, 7th in NL What went right? Brian Giles made Cam Bonifay look like a genius, hitting 39 homers and driving in 119 runs. Kevin Young hit 41 doubles and drove in 106. Rookie second baseman Warren Morris hit .288, with surprisingly good defense, while catcher Jason Kendall was brilliant before getting hurt. Todd Ritchie came out of nowhere to win 15 games, while rookie starter Kris Benson had a decent debut season with a 4.07 ERA. What went wrong? The injury to Kendall was devastating, with stop-gap Joe Oliver hitting a pathetic .201. Brant Brown was a major disappointment with both bat and glove, as was Jose Guillen. Both have been traded. Pat Meares was hurt all year, making shortstop a black hole and contributing greatly to the hitting problems. Pitchers Pete Schourek, Jose Silva, and Chris Peters were ineffective, and the Pirates had trouble finding a reliable closer. In retrospect, the critical decisions were: 1. Letting Warren Morris play second base. Scouts were concerned that Morris would not hold up defensively, but he did just fine at the keystone, while hitting as well as everyone expected. 2. Giving Brian Giles a full-time job. While the Pirates are very "tool"-oriented when it comes to signing amateur talent, they didn't let the fact that Giles isn't a superb athlete keep him out of the lineup. The man is a terrific hitter, and they let him do his job. 3. Putting Kris Benson and Todd Ritchie in the rotation. Benson was a heralded prospect, but his minor league track record was mixed. The Pirates kept faith in him and were rewarded. Ritchie was a mediocre middle reliever in Minnesota, but turned into a winner for the Pirates, though it remains to be seen if he can do it again. 4. The inability to fill holes at shortstop and catcher. After Pat Meares went down, the Pirates used Mike Benjamin and Abraham Nunez at shortstop. Both are awful hitters. When Kendall got hurt, the Pirates weren't able to come up with an adequate replacement, trading instead for Joe Oliver. This was a poor decision, given the fact that there are lots of catchers available in the minor leagues who are better than Joe Oliver. They didn't need to trade Jose Guillen to get him. Looking ahead to 2000 Three key questions 1. Can Jason Kendall hit and field with the same authority he had before the ankle injury? 2. Who will close? 3. Are the Pirates serious about building a youthful talent base, or will they continue to dump money on people like Wil Cordero, Ed Sprague, and Pat Meares? Can expect to play better Francisco Cordova suffered through injuries, and could cut a run off his 4.40 ERA if healthy. Jason Schmidt continues to tease with his ability. He'll break through one of these years, why not 2000? It's hard to see any of the hitters doing better than what they did last year, which is not good news since the Pirates need to score more runs. Can expect to play worse Todd Ritchie. He went from a discarded mop-up man to a 15-game winner in Pittsburgh. A decline of some degree has to be expected. Giles could come back to earth somewhat, though he will remain a productive hitter. Anyone who expects Pat Meares to hit .308 in a full season is delusional. Kevin Young is entering the decline phase of his career.
Projected lineup C Jason Kendall 2B Warren Morris RF Brian Giles 1B Kevin Young LF Wil Cordero/Bruce Aven CF Chad Hermansen 3B Aramis Ramirez SS Pat Meares Rotation/Closer Jason Schmidt Kris Benson Francisco Cordova Todd Ritchie Pete Schourek? Mike Williams? Rich Loiselle? Jose Silva? A closer look The projected lineup listed above is highly tentative and could bear little relation to what actually happens on Opening Day. Rumors about trades are floating around Pittsburgh, including a vague blockbuster involving three other teams. A more concrete rumor has Moises Alou leaving Houston in exchange for Jason Schmidt or Francisco Cordova. Trade rumors come and go, but it is a good bet that something will happen in Pittsburgh before the beginning of April. The Pirates have a strange configuration of talent. They have a decent, if overpaid, first baseman in Kevin Young. Second baseman Warren Morris is very good and getting better. Catching is fine assuming Jason Kendall is healthy. There is outfield talent available in Chad Hermansen, Brian Giles and the recently-acquired Bruce Aven. Al Martin is still on the roster, although the Pirates have decided that they don't like him, and are desperate to trade him. Schmidt and Kris Benson are fine young pitchers, while Cordova is good if healthy. Where are the holes, and what should the Pirates do to fill them? There are two big problems positionally: shortstop and third base. The latter shouldn't be an issue, if the Pirates would just let Aramis Ramirez play. Ed Sprague was his mediocre self last year, and while the Pirates have cut him loose, they seem curiously reluctant to give the job to Ramirez. Word from Pittsburgh is that free agent signee Wil Cordero may get a chance to win the third base job. This is either a motivational tool for Ramirez, or a colossal blunder. What makes the Pirates think Cordero can play third base? He can't even field decently at first, and his bat, while adequate, isn't something to force into the lineup at the expense of defense. Cordero belongs in left field, which is not a position that the Pirates need to fill. What does Cordero offer that Al Martin doesn't? More errors? A worse attitude? Check out these numbers: Career OBP SLG Wil Cordero .333 .433 Al Martin .342 .455Adding Cordero does nothing to help the Pirates. He won't be an improvement over Martin in left, and playing him at third base blocks the younger, cheaper, and better Ramirez. Shortstop is also a problem. Pat Meares is the personification of average. He is an average hitter and an average fielder. He neither helps your team nor hurts it. But the Pirates gave him a big contract last winter, and while he will be an improvement over Mike Benjamin and Abraham Nunez, he isn't the player the Pirates need to put them over the top. Starting pitching is the strength of this team, and the Pirates seem willing to deal from strength. They traded Jon Lieber last year, and rumor has Schmidt on the block this season, perhaps in exchange for Alou. I don't get that one, either. Jason Schmidt is a fine young pitcher. He hasn't turned into John Smoltz yet, but he has proven he can handle a 200-inning workload, and can dominate at times. Schmidt is certainly likely to have more value than Moises Alou down the road. I'd be more willing to part with Francisco Cordova, but even a Cordova/Alou trade is questionable. As good as Alou can be, he turns 34 in July, and isn't exactly durable. Trading a talented 28-year old pitcher for an old outfielder is the kind of move that can backfire easily. If the Pirates really want to trade Schmidt or Cordova, they should look at picking up someone to bolster the bullpen. The Pirates are at a very delicate phase of the rebuilding process. They can taste success on the tips of their tongues. The pitching staff is promising, but they need to reinforce the hitting attack. Unfortunately, the moves they have made so far have done little to improve the club, and some of the rumored transactions may actually hurt. John Sickels is the author of the 2000 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook. You can email your questions to him at JASickels@AOL.com. | ALSO SEE Pirates minor-league report ESPN.com's Hot Stove Heaters  | ||||||||||
