The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced that Jeff Branson has been named Hitting Coach. The 46-year-old Branson joined the Major League staff on December 13, 2012 and spent the 2013 season implementing the club’s hitting program along with Hitting Coach Jay Bell. Branson has spent the past 12 years with the Pittsburgh organization. He served Triple-A Indianapolis as its Hitting Coach for four years (2009-2012) after managing at three different levels of the minor league system for five ... Read More
Looking at potential pitching targets for Pirates
A few days ago, we took a peek at the possible free agents available to the Pittsburgh Pirates on the position end of the spectrum. Today, we will look at the potential pitching options that could be had for a team that may be looking to upgrade their rotation – with or without A.J. Burnett in tow. The Burnett saga is ongoing. As it has been widely reported, Burnett is deciding between returning to the Pirates for one more season or retirement. He has no desire to test the free agent ... Read More
Position players are available for Pirates this offseason
The major league baseball off season is just starting to heat up, and the Pittsburgh Pirates intend to be right in the middle of the action. The Bucs have already seen late-summer pickup Marlon Byrd leave town, parlaying his tremendous comeback season into a two-year contract from the Philadelphia Phillies worth $16 million. Whether the Pirates had planned on keeping Byrd around or not, the organization was not going to be anywhere near that level of contract for the outfielder. The Pirates ... Read More
Andrew McCutchen named National League MVP
For the past two seasons, you've heard the MVP chants ring out for Andrew McCutchen around PNC Park. After finishing third last year in the MVP voting, pundits questioned whether or not he would be able to sustain his success this year. Not only did he sustain it, but he outdid himself, as McCutchen was named the National League MVP. McCutchen beat Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals and Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the award. McCutchen wins the award two days ... Read More
Clint Hurdle NL Manager of the Year
Just a few short weeks ago, Clint Hurdle was named the Sporting News NL Manager of the Year. Now, Hurdle took down Fredi Gonzalez and Don Mattingly to win the National League Manager of the Year. Hurdle led his team to three straight improved seasons, including snapping a 20-year losing streak, taking his Pirates to the second round of the playoffs. Hurdle wins the award a day after general manager Neal Huntington finished second in Executive of the Year voting. Hurdle is the first Pirates ... Read More
Reds to hire Jay Bell as bench coach
Ken Rosenthal has reported that the Cincinnati Reds are close to hiring Pirates hitting coach Jay Bell as bench coach. Sources: #Reds to hire #Pirates hitting coach Jay Bell as bench coach. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 12, 2013 In Bell's one season as Pirates hitting coach, the Bucco offense posted a .245 BA (11th NL)/.396 SLG (9th NL)/.709 OPS (8th NL) while hitting 161 home runs (T-3rd NL) and recording 603 RBI's (9th NL). The team struck out 1330 times which was third in the ... Read More
Former Pirates skipper takes managerial job in Seattle
The Seattle Mariners were looking for a new face to guide their young, rebuilding team. In a MLB offseason that has already four franchises hire new managers, the Mariners chose to hire a man with over 780 games under his belt as the skipper of teams in the midst of a “rebuilding” mode. The Washington Nationals replaced the retiring Davey Johnson with former All-Star third baseman Matt Williams, the Cincinnati Reds went with an in-house option by promoting pitching coach Bryan Price, and the ... Read More
Francisco Liriano has been named the MLB NL Comeback Player of the Year
Francisco has been named the MLB NL Comeback Player of the Year as well as the Players Choice NL Comeback Player of the Year. The Comeback Player of the Year Awards are officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and presented annually to one player in each League who has re-emerged on the field during the season. The 30 Club beat reporters from MLB.com, the official web site of Major League Baseball, selected the winners from an original list of 30 candidates (one per MLB Club). Liriano, ... Read More
Three Pirates Fall Short of Rawlings Gold Glove Award
Andrew McCutchen, Russell Martin and Starling Marte were shut out on Tuesday night for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Carlos Gomez defeated Andrew McCutchen for the NL Gold Glove in CF. Cutch recorded 321 put-outs (5th among NL CF's) while assisting on 11 plays (3rd among NL CF's) and recording 3 double plays (1st among NL CF's). His wins over replacement was an 8.2 which is 3rd for all NL players in 2013. Russell Martin fell to Yadier Molina for the catchers award. Martins 103 assists at ... Read More
Cup of Joe: Pirates have three finalists for NL Gold Gloves
On Friday morning, Rawlings announced the finalists for the American League and National League Gold Gloves. Three of your Pittsburgh Pirates were nominated as a top-three finalist for their respective position. At catcher, Russell Martin joined A.J. Ellis and Yadier Molina as finalists. Martin leads by a wide margin at throwing runners out, but he'll have to compete with Molina's reputation. In left field, Starling Marte is nominated for his first Gold Glove, as he'll join Carlos Gonzalez ... Read More