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
Clint Hurdle wins Sporting News NL Manager of the Year
From 57 wins in 2010, to 97 total wins in 2013, the baseball world has taken notice of the Pittsburgh Pirates. One day after three Pirates finished Nos. 1, 2 and 3 respectively in the Comeback Player of the Year voting, the Pirates have another award under their belt. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was named the 2013 Sporting News NL 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 ... Read More
Liriano Named Sporting News NL Comeback POY
Follow @TBerardi_OVA Francisco Liriano has been named the Sporting News NL Comeback Player of the Year as voted by the NL players. Liriano posted a 16 - 8 record with a 3.02 ERA in 26 starts for the Pirates while striking out 163 batters and walking 63. He was signed in the offseason to a two-year, seven million dollar deal which had been reworked down from a larger amount after he suffered a broken non-throwing arm on Christmas Day of last year while playing with his children. The injury ... Read More
Cup of Joe: Which free agents can the Pirates bring back
With the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox both within one game of the World Series, it's just about that time to start discussing offseason moves for your favorite team. With the Pirates 97-win season (including playoffs), they have some interesting decisions to make in the coming months. Now, we don't know how much money each team will be allocated for the national TV deal, but for arguments sake and inflation, let's say that the Pirates enter the 2014 season with a middle of the ... Read More
Andrew McCutchen announced as finalist for 49th annual Hutch Award
PITTSBURGH — Ten Major League players on Tuesday were named nominees for the 49th annual Hutch Award, given yearly in honor of former Major League player and manager Fred Hutchinson. The award, bestowed annually upon a Major Leaguer who demonstrates the honor, courage and dedication exemplified by Hutchinson, will be handed out on Jan. 30 at Safeco Field. This year's 10 nominees are: Jeremy Affeldt (Giants), Craig Breslow (Red Sox), Neal Cotts (Rangers), John Danks (White Sox), Sean ... Read More
Cup of Joe: Pirates could (should) take home four awards
So now that it's going on a week after the Pittsburgh Pirates were eliminated from the playoffs, it's time to put it all into perspective. Man, what a season. As Pittsburgh Sporting News announced yesterday, Clint Hurdle will receive the Chuck Tanner MLB Manager of the Year award in Nov. What an honor. However, don't expect that to be the only hardware for Hurdle or the Pirates this year. The Pirates have a shot to win four major awards in the next few weeks. 2013 NL Manager of the Year ... Read More