Patel and Singh have a Blog!

by Charlie on Nov 24, 2008 10:47 PM EST Comment 21 comments

Emma mentioned this in the comments, but it really deserves its own post. The blog by recent Pirates signees Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh is so fascinating and surreal that it almost reads like a work of fiction, like a Walter Kirn novel or something. These guys are both obviously very bright, and not only are they in a foreign country, they're in an absolutely insane part of that foreign country (Los Angeles, with at least one brief stop in Arizona, which is also a pretty crazy place, for different reasons), and on top of that, they're involved in the rather insane process of trying out to become professional athletes in a sport they don't know very well. Oh, and also, they have cameras following them around all the time. And they take it all in stride. This is just a fantastic blog. I love these guys.

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Is This Going To Be The Sequek ...

to the Harold and Kumar movies?

by thegunner on Nov 25, 2008 12:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sequel

by thegunner on Nov 25, 2008 12:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Wow

This blog is fantastic. I hope these guys do well, it would be tremendous to see them actually get a chance in the big leagues, however improbable it is.

This is most definitely movie material.

by Dignan on Nov 25, 2008 2:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Just read their blog...

If they were blown away by Halloween, I can’t imagine what they’re going to do when they first see a Perogi race.
I’m totally rooting for these guys too. It’s refreshing to see two guys excited about the whole experience, especially after the Pedro Alvarez drama.

by Ketcham Bruce on Nov 25, 2008 5:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pirate Plans

The next step in this Indian experiment is that the Pirates are going to farm out their telephone ticket sales to Bangladesh to save some overhead, much like mlb.com farms out their TV package telephone service to the Phillipines.

While I applaud the Pirates for their creativity in searching out new areas, you need to remember that 29 other teams, many with a lot more money, passed on these “prospects”. What does that tell you?

I know that Huntington was formerly with the Indians, but maybe this is carrying that association a little too far.

Imagine mature young men who have NEVER played cricket trying to learn that game and, hopefully some day, play it at its highest level.

by thegunner on Nov 25, 2008 10:32 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

It’s a no-win game to defend an amateur signing, because even number 1 picks have a high attrition rate. It seems clear, though, that most of the amateur free agents the Pirates sign will have been “passed on” by richer teams.

by Arnold Rothstein on Nov 25, 2008 12:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It’s pretty silly to be concerned about money here, so the question of what “richer” teams did is a red herring. These guys got minimal bonuses—the Trib said $1000 and the PG said $15-20K. Nobody in their right mind would consider these guys real prospects right now. It was probably just a question of which team was willing to go to the trouble of coaching and trying to develop these guys in the hope that someday it might help get some talent out of a new area. Anybody who’s judging this on the same scale as, say, who’s willing to bid the most for a guy like that young Japanese pitcher is missing the point.

by WTM on Nov 25, 2008 12:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

True, but still...

…you can spend things other than money. Brainpower and time and energy are resources, and all time that was spent on these two guys is time that could have been spent on something else. Figuring out who to take in the Rule 5 draft, considering minor league free agents, reviewing the work of what prospects we have, re-reading Moneyball… It’s at least arguable that any of those things would have had more value, short- and long-term, than spending time evaluating Singh and Patel, even if it’s for purposes of establishing a foothold in India (whose baseball tradition I am unaware of).

I think it’s a cop-out to bash the move unequivocally, so I won’t, but this smacks of Huntington being too clever by half. I think if you think about it for a while, you can come up with some ways the time and emergy and brainpower could have been better spent than on this endeavor, such as observing guys who have played baseball before.

by KPatrick on Nov 25, 2008 8:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

28 teams had 38 scouts watching these guys, so the Pirates weren’t exactly out on the fringe. Beyond scout time (not exactly a major distraction since there’s little baseball to watch anywhere now), given the minimal financial layout, I doubt this involved more of a commitment of front office time than maybe item #5 on the agenda at the daily staff meeting. It’s unlikely the commitment was out of proportion to the speculative proposition that this represents.

by WTM on Nov 25, 2008 9:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

WTM

This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. I was checking to see if it was April 1 and a repeat of George Plimpton’s Sidd Finch article of many years back in SI.

I don’t think Yoslan Herrera (wherever he is) has anything to worry about.

Of course, nearly everyday is April Fools Day in the PBC offices, although I must say that the new regime is an improvement.

But the jury is still out …. way out.

by thegunner on Nov 25, 2008 11:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Even if it is, it doesn’t hold a candle to Yoslan. Spending a few thousand on these guys at a time when they’re finally making a real effort in Latin America is a far cry from blowing $4M on Yoslan to cover up the fact that they were making no effort whatsoever to find Latin prospects. They’re welcome to indulge in all the publicity stunts they want as long as they’re also making a real effort to build up the farm system.

by WTM on Nov 25, 2008 11:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

There are a hell of a lot of people in India.

If establishing a presence now helps us find one or two who can play in the future, that’s good.

If establishing a presence now helps us build an international fan base that will raise our revenue, that’s also good.

And of course, there’s always the chance that one or both of these guys might actually pan out…

by Vlad on Nov 26, 2008 1:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And That Chance Would Be....???

About 1% that either of them ever sees AA.

by thegunner on Nov 26, 2008 2:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They both already throw harder than YoHer

Is 1% higher or lower than the average 50th round draft pick making it. A publicity stunt would be starting one of them on opening day. Or dropping live turkeys out of a helicopter. This is like putting $20 down on a 100,000-slot roulette wheel. Most people wouldn’t waste the $20, but if the number comes in, everyone in the room applauds and remembers it.

by azibuck on Nov 26, 2008 4:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just to keep the record straight, while domesticated turkeys usually can’t fly, wild turkeys fly just fine.

by WTM on Nov 26, 2008 7:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

High school kids with that velo...

…get drafted all the time. And these two potentially have more upside, since they’re so raw (and therefore have potentially optimizable flaws in their mechanics).

Our 15th round pick last year, Chris Aure, is a good comp. He’s an 18-year-old who throws high 80s and is a little raw because he’s from Alaska, where the level of competition is poor and the playing season is very short. I didn’t hear you bitching about the team drafting and signing Aure – why are you complaining now?

by Vlad on Dec 1, 2008 9:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This is the best quote ever:

The American Football players are so big and have such huge muscles you would not even believe it. Each time they hit each other we are told it is like being in a car accident. These men hit each other many times per match. praise Allah that we have won a baseball contest and a not a football one. i don’t think we could even take a hitting once.

by camoseven on Nov 25, 2008 12:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'll see it and raise you

“We first got our hair cut today. I am not very happy with this result.”

Godspeed, fellas.

by KPatrick on Nov 25, 2008 8:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hope

these guys are on the caravan.

Maybe this is why Lanny got out?

by bucdaddy on Nov 26, 2008 9:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Actually,

this makes perfect sense in NH’s universe. I think it’s quite apparent that NH is operating on a theory: That pitchers can’t be taught to throw hard, but hard throwers can be taught to pitch, and if you collect enough of them you’ll find 4-5 who can pitch in a major-league rotation. These two guys are an extreme experiment to see just how far that theory applies, but really: What the hell?

Think about it, hard-throwing, high-strikeout guys can help mitigate the damage a poor defense can do (fewer balls in play). It’s clear the Pirates have a poor defense, and that they will for some time. An eventual offensive upgrade will not necessarily bring with it a defensive improvement. Or maybe the idea is that the Pirates cannot afford any defense-first black holes in the lineup, because they’re also never going to get top of the line free agent hitters. They’ll have to settle for trying to put competent hitters in every slot, and defense will be a luxury. So, find pitchers who don’t let as many balls in play.

And maybe that’s all hogwash, but the evidence so far fits my theory.

by bucdaddy on Nov 26, 2008 1:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’m not sure if the defense will be so bad for so long. Their basic problem last year was that everyone on the field was barely average to very slow for their positions. Adding a center fielder and a middle infielder who can really run would go a long way to solving that problem.

At heart, the Pirate teams of the last couple years just haven’t been good athletes compared to the other teams we see. They’ve already turned over more than half the lineup since DL left, and as the athletes improve the defense should improve. If the athletes don’t improve….

by Arnold Rothstein on Nov 26, 2008 3:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs