play a bunch of positions? sure. he isn’t completely worthless as a hitter, but from what I feel I’ve seen, he is that unfortunate combo of a guy who can’t hit well enough or regularly enough to be a starter, but needs regular everyday at-bats to get into any kind of hitting rhythm at all.

the pirates would have to pay him a bare minimum of 1.5 million, but it’s much more likely that his salary goes UP and pushes two million, and he is certainly not worth that kind of money.

it’s a move, but it doesn’t really mean much in the long run.

I agree, Charlie, but he will not be inexpensive in 2009 as a bench player unless you consider $2 million ‘inexpensive’ since he is being paid $1.8 this season.

I very much dount that the PTBNL will be significant. I think that Bautista would have been better utilized as a throw-in a multi-player deal.

That I announce the closing of and my resignation as President of the Jose Bautista “My Boy” Fan Club. :-(

I liked him for some reason but I don’t think this is either a good deal or a bad deal. Sure he would be a fine bench player but no better than Rivas or Gomez in my mind.

Still I feel he was treated a bit harshly by the team but like Charlie said, there may be more to the story.

Minky, Gomez, Bautista…all interchangeable parts…and all expecting 7 figure salaries next year. Pirates had to make a choice. Right or wrong.

Let me start by saying that I dont care that Jose Batista is gone. He was going to be nothing more than a utility man for the Pirates which tells me that there are very few other teams where he could make the 25 man roster. I think that Coonley and Huntington have done an good job as far as getting value for Bay and Marte and they obviously did a nice job with the draft. What bothers me is the illusion that they were able to create that the Nuttings are actually making a bigger financial commitment to the organization when they are actually stuffing more and more money into their pockets.

The opening day payroll this year was just over 48MM. Substract from that Morris (10MM), Bay (6MM), Nady (3.3MM), Marte (2.1MM) and Bautista (1.8MM) and you are down to 24.8MM. Assuming that we will trade Jack for prospects (6.6MM) we are at 18.2MM. The raises for Freddy and Snell put us in the 23-24 range. Even if we assume that they spend another 6MM or so to "fill out the roster" (which they wont) the highest the team payroll will be next year is 30MM.

Sure they spent around 10MM on the draft but they spent 5 last year being cheap and only taking players that would sign for slot money. The way I see it they just put an additional 13MM in their pockets (18 in saved payroll minus the extra 5 spent on the draft) and managed to look like they turned over a new leaf and are concerned about more than just the bottom line.

Once again the Nuttings win and we lose by paying the same ticket prices next season to see a far less talented team.

This was probably a little tough to follow but I am curious to know what you guys think.

Gorzo not starting at Indy tonight, and it’s his turn (Mike Thompson starting), and the game notes for Indy do not have him listed as starting in the next 4 games.

My only question is…does Gorzo start tomorrow in place of Duke…or early next week instead of Davis?

I listen to alot of games on XM and I think the Pirates broadcasting team (except for Wehner) is superior to most.

I an a huge advocate of signing outstanding players, like Longoria or Tulawitzki, to long term contracts. But it is very important that these long-term contracts be given to the players who are consistent in their play as well as consistent and mature in their approach to the game.

I don’t know the Pirate players’ makeup; but, as far as I am concerned, it appears that at this time, Maholm and McLouth MIGHT be deserving. I am not so sure about Doumit. The Pirates need to be very careful. They may have already been duped by Snell.

I was shocked! Looking around, he would have been an upgrade for several teams.
While obviously not gettin’ the job done in Pittsburgh, we should have kept him over Rivas and Gomez, and, I do like Gomez (always have). I’m convinced there was more to this “off the field.”

Likewise, Paulina would be an upgrade at catcher for at least a half dozen other
MLB teams. If traded wisely (upsides in a down year), he could bring more young talent. I do like the Huntington ‘strategy’ of acquiring young player’s in their down
year (Tabata, LaRoche). A year ago, LaRoche would have been extremely costly to acquire.

a full time salary from any team than thinks Bautista should be there starting third baseman and Paulino their starting catcher and they should give up prospects to have that? Not sure how you want to build a team, but put me on the payroll.

When my ship comes in, if I’m not at the beach, I intend to purchase the first expansion
team awarded to the Dominican Republic. If successful, you will be assigned to oversee
the organizations minor league player development, reporting to General Manager Jose
Bautista, and, club President Ronnie Paulino. I would expect you to coordinate closely with Manager Jeremy Burnitz. Pack your bags and make your family arrangements, I’ll call.

I’m in!