Francisco Liriano has rejected the Pirates qualifying offer of $15.3 million as reported by Robert Murray. Francisco Liriano will reject the $15.3 million qualifying offer from the #Pirates, per league source. — Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayMLB) November 10, 2014 The #Pirates have not been informed on Liriano's decision, but he will reject the qualifying offer, I'm told. — Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayMLB) November 10, 2014 Liriano — who had until 5 p.m. Monday to ... Read More
Martin rejects qualifying offer
As expected, Russell Martin has rejected the Pirates $15.3 million qualifying offer as reported by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. no surprise, martin, who has very strong market, will reject qualifying offer. #cubs #bucs #la http://t.co/5yEON4CFYD— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 10, 2014 Martin — who is the biggest free agent at catcher — is expected to get a large multi-year offer which could be as high as $13-$15 million per year over a 4-5 year contract. Martin ... Read More
Steelers in first with win Sunday
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be in first place in the AFC North with a win against the Jets on Sunday afternoon. No, that is not a typo. With a phenomenal effort the past three weeks and an AFC North division that has beaten each other up, the Steelers can complete a worst-to-first effort in only three weeks time. Pittsburgh would now control their own destiny with a favorable schedule the rest of the way as they go to New York, Tennessee, Cincinnati and Atlanta. They host New Orleans ... Read More
McCutchen, Walker win Silver Slugger Award
Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker were announced as NL Silver Slugger Award winners on Thursday night presented by Louisville Slugger. The award goes to the best offensive player per position in both the National and American leagues. McCutchen won his third consecutive award after posting a slash line of .314/.410/.542 and an OPS of .952 with 25 home runs, 38 doubles, six triples and 83 RBI in 146 games this season. McCutchen is the first Pirate to post three straight seasons batting ... Read More
Martin named Wilson Defensive Catcher of the Year
Wilson named their Defensive Players of the Year on Wednesday, an award given to the best defensive player at each position among the MLB. They named Pirates catcher Russell Martin the Defensive Catcher of the Year a day after Martin finished behind Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina for the NL Rawlings Gold Glove Award at the position. Martin finished in the top five in four of the major defensive categories among Major League catchers placing fifth in runs added (19.3) — a pitch framing ... Read More
Martin, Marte fall short of Gold Glove Award
Russell Martin and Starling Marte — finalists at their positions for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for the second consecutive year — finished behind Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich. Martin posted a .994 fielding percentage with five errors in 880 chances behind the plate along with three passed balls. Molina — who played in the same amount of games — finished with a .998 fielding percentage with two errors in 868 chances while allowing three passed ... Read More
Many questions in free agency for the Pirates
The Major League Baseball free agency period has officially begun and while Pirates fans keep their eyes on what Russell Martin will do, other questions remain. Will Francisco Liriano accept the qualifying offer and come back for another season? If Liriano accepts the offer, the Pirates will have two starting spots solidified. Charlie Morton is likely to miss the beginning of the 2015 season and the status of Volquez is unknown. That leaves Vance Worley and Jeff Locke as possible pieces ... Read More
Pirates give Martin, Liriano qualifying offers
The Pittsburgh Pirates have given qualifying offers of $15.3 million each to Russell Martin and Francisco Liriano. Martin — who is the best catcher on the free agent market — posted a slash line of .290/.430/.832 with 11 home runs, 20 doubles and 67 RBI in 460 plate appearances. He struck out only 78 times which is second-lowest in his nine year career. Martin is a finalist for a gold glove award at catcher thanks to another solid season behind the plate posting a .994 fielding percentage ... Read More
Bumgarner, Giants win World Series
In a remarkable run that begun at 8:07 p.m. on October 1st in Pittsburgh, the San Francisco Giants took down the Pirates (WC), Nationals (3-1), Cardinals (4-1) and now the Royals in seven games to win their third World Series championship in five years. Madison Bumgarner — who started things off at the Wild Card game with a complete-game shutout in Pittsburgh — rolled through the month of October to the tune of 4-1 — along with one save — with a 1.03 ERA in 52 2/3 innings while ... Read More
Three prospects named to Arizona Fall League All-Star team
Three prospects from the Pirates organization have been selected for the Arizona Fall League's Fall Stars game on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET on MLB Network and MLB.com). Catcher Elias Diaz, first baseman Josh Bell and RHP Adrian Sampson were selected to the East Division squad. Diaz — who spent time between AA Altoona and AAA Indianapolis this season — has posted a .267/.371/.771 slash line with two doubles, a triple and three RBI in nine games. Bell — who is considered as the Pirates ... Read More