Pirates OF prospect Evan Chambers has passed away at the age of 24. It has been reported that he passed in his sleep over the holiday weekend. Chambers was the Pirates third round pick in the 2009 draft where he worked his way up to AA Altoona during the 2012 season and established himself as one of the Pirates top prospects in the organization. He missed most of the 2013 season with a broken foot. News of Chambers passing has hit the Pirates organization hard as his former teammates went to ... Read More
Reports: Pirates to Tender Morton
According to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pirates will tender Morton by tonight's midnight deadline, per sources. Morton was 7 - 4 last season with a 3.26 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 36 walks. He started game four of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals where he received the loss after allowing 2 runs (both earned) over 5 2/3rds in a Pirates 2 - 1 defeat. Morton was tendered last year with a contract of $2 million. He missed the first two and a half months of the 2013 regular ... Read More
Pirates to acquire Stewart from Yankees, DFA McKenry
As first reported by Buster Olney of ESPN, the Yankees and the Pirates are on the verge of yet another transaction. The Pirates will acquire catcher Chris Stewart from the Yankees for cash or a player to be named later, according to Jon Heyman. This isn't the first time that former Yankees have been Pirates, as A.J. Burnett, Russell Martin, Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens, etc. were all in New York prior to Pittsburgh. Stewart is a career .214 hitter, and had a slash line of .211/.293/.272 with ... Read More
What I’m thankful for as a Pittsburgh fan
Pittsburgh fans had plenty to be thankful for up to this point in 2013 and in some instances, things might be brighter heading into 2014. Let's take a look at the thankful list: Mike Tomlin — Yes, many thought he was on the hot seat up until merely weeks ago, and some still think he is. He might be a player's coach, but he's also a coach that players play for. This team has not quit after starting 0-4, and Tomlin should get a good deal of credit for this. Sidney Crosby — Just the fact ... Read More
Pirates Make Trade With Padres, DFA Jones, McPherson
The Pittsburgh Pirates today acquired outfielder Jaff Decker (first name pronounced Jeff) and right-handed pitcher Miles Mikolas from the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor league outfielder Alex Dickerson. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington. Decker, who was San Diego’s supplemental first round selection (42nd pick overall) in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, hit .286 (100-for-350) with 23 doubles, 10 home runs and 40 RBI in 105 ... Read More
Pirates Name Jeff Branson as New Hitting Coach, Make Trade With Twins
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