Pirates Dump Denny Bautista, Craig Hansen, Chris Bootcheck

by Charlie on Oct 20, 2009 5:22 PM EDT Comment 27 comments

Sorry there's no picture for this post; the only photos that come up in SB Nation's widget when you search for these players' names are shots of hitters homering off them.

Bautista and Bootcheck are no surprise. The big news here is the removal of Hansen, who was one of four players acquired in the Jason Bay deal. Hansen has a nerve disorder that could take years to heal, which is bad enough, but there's also the fact that he was hardly a reliably great pitcher even before that was diagnosed. Perhaps he'll wind up back in the Pirates' minor league system, but they were probably wise to take him off the roster.

These moves should allow the Pirates to move Jose Ascanio and Evan Meek from the 60-day DL back to the 40-man roster. (Hansen was already on the 60-day DL and was not occupying a roster spot; the same is true for Tyler Yates, though I can't imagine he'll be protected.)

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bootcheck decided on free agency

good luck with that!

by BurgherKing on Oct 20, 2009 6:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is off-topic but...

apparently Charlie Morton has an album coming out. He sings and plays guitar.

http://rumbunter.com/2009/10/16/will-charlie-morton-leave-the-pirates/

http://www.myspace.com/charliemortonmusic

by phil79 on Oct 20, 2009 6:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

tsk tsk

and Milledge isn’t allowed to make his music? j/k

by BlindSquirrel on Oct 20, 2009 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh dear...

I just hope he doesn’t end up with carpal tunnel syndrome like Bronson Arroyo.

by maguro on Oct 20, 2009 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

or a guitar hero injury like joel zumaya

by johnnycuff on Oct 21, 2009 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This should allow us to add

Doug Mientikowitz if the Dodgers release him. Can never have enough of that veteran presence to leaven the rising stars…..

by Trogluddite on Oct 20, 2009 9:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mientkiewicz

Hard to spell but a great bench player. I would love to have him back in Pittsburgh. Maybe even take a coaching job on of these days

by Sage18 on Oct 21, 2009 2:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Hansen move...

outrighted to Indy (as was Bautista)…keeps him in the system…unless someone goes way out on a limb and drafts him in the Rule V. That gives the Pirates a chance to see what…if any…improvement is there come February.

by Thunder on Oct 21, 2009 8:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It also lets him...

…stay on the team’s medical plan while he rehabs, which is classy of them.

by Vlad on Oct 21, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully Bautista will opt for free agency. I don’t think Hansen has that option.

by WTM on Oct 21, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hansen has a nerve disorder?

Yet another “forward looking move” by Huntington and Co., baseball’s leading incompetents. We got rid of Bay for this guy? And now they’re cutting him? Didn’t they know he had a nerve disorder? Do players have to take a physical before the Pirates sign them? Isn’t that baseball 101? Ridiculous.

Next season it will be 50 years since a young Roberto Clemente, Mazeroski and Co. shocked the baseball world and beat the M & M Yankees in the 1960 World Series. Think about that! Mantle Maris Howard Ford Kubek Richardson Berra Boyer And our Pirates beat ‘em in 7 games, with Maz’s amazing walk-off homer! Think the Yankees had a bigger payroll than The Pirates back then?

by dougalmac on Oct 21, 2009 12:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ha

Oh man, I really enjoyed that laugh — thanks for that.

Oh wait, you’re being serious — even better!

by Slizeezyc on Oct 21, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

YAWN

I know you’re probably a newbie on this site, but you gotta realize that most regulars on this site are actual fans of the team. If you’re into Bucco bashing, take a number on one of the other Bucs sites.

ps theres no way the Bucs could have known about a nonprexisting injury at the time of the trade.

by Danatural08 on Oct 21, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, given that the Pirates owners

are obviously hogging all the money instead of spending it to resign Jason Bay or what-not, maybe they could work on inventing a time machine to go into the future and see who’s going to develop an injury.

/sarcasm

True Blue Jazz
I'm on Twitter
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09

by UtesFan89 on Oct 21, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Shame on Huntington for not being able to erase Littlefield’s mistakes with time machine, as well.

by Adam Reynolds on Oct 21, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not Huntington's fault . . .

He wanted a time machine, but Nutting was too cheap to buy one!!!

by biggyv on Oct 21, 2009 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

theres no way the Bucs could have known about a nonprexisting injury at the time of the trade.

That’s not true! They could have known if they hadn’t been too cheap to pay this guy!

by WTM on Oct 21, 2009 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe they tried,

but according to this, the waiting list is closed.

For those of you who are interested in PRIVATE READINGS with me, I am only working from my existing waiting list. If you are on the list, we will contact you in the order you called in over the last few years.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Oct 21, 2009 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Question: Why do you have to call a psychic?

by WTM on Oct 21, 2009 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe they're psychic enough...

…to know that you’d be freaked out if a psychic showed up uninvited?

by Vlad on Oct 21, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep...

we traded Jason Bay for Hansen, straight up. At the time it seemed like a great deal. Hansen was a flamethrower with a killer slider who zipped through the Red Sox system. He had even be used as a starter at the time. Now, everyone knows the Red Sox had one of the best stocked systems in terms of pitching talent and the Pirates were looking for an Ace. Hansen had Ace stuff but couldn’t control it. Now, I believe Hunitgton knew all along he was going to hire Kerrigan. Knowing he was getting this talented coach, with Red Sox, connections, he believed he would get the most out of Hansen and we would get at minimum an elite closer with a potential Ace. Looks like a great deal on paper for an aging OF in decline and plays bad defense.

As far as the injury, every team evaluates medical records. You are aware that our medical and training staffs are among the best in baseball. I believe they won an award last year. Hunitgton, I’m sure, had full confidence that we could rehabilitate Hansen if that pre-existing medical condition would ever come back to bite us. Hansen has only been on the shelf for one season. He most likely will remain in the organization so let’s give Hunitington the benefit of the doubt because I’ll bet Hansen makes a full recovery some time next season or the year after…at the latest!

As far as the 1960’s Yankees, they were a highly over rated club back then. They were no where near as good as some other World Series winners. And some of those world champions had payrolls lower than the 1960 Yankees. In contrast, some of the better world champion teams also had payrolls that were higher. So, do you see where I’m going with this? Your right, we did beat the 1960 Yankees (who were over rated), but our payroll in that year was lower than some world champions but higher than others. I think Huntington knows this, so we should all be patient…he will increase the payroll soon. And when he finally does, our team might be as good as the 1960 Pirates and possibly the 1960 Yankees. I hope this answers your questions.

by Slick1 on Oct 21, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

60 yankees overrated?

Not sure about that. They won the next two WS with a lot of the same faces.

Meanwhile, the pirates that year were a collection of guys who played out of their mind from wire to wire. There was one great player on that team but in 1960, he was just on the cusp of greatness (Roberto). Two others, Law and Groat, had award-winning career years, but look at that lineup – top to bottom, no one real scary. They just found a way to win. One of my faves was their coming back from something like 8 runs down when Bob Skinner hit a grand slam inside the park HR in Crosley Field.

Next year, everyone came pretty much down to earth and they finished 6th IIRC.

by mocasdad on Oct 21, 2009 1:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not sure what game you are talking about with Skinner...

but it wasn’t in 1960…at least…if you are talking about coming back from 8 runs down. Skinner had 2 GS in 60…one was against the Giants in a 10-7 win on June 16th…where the Pirates almost blew a 10-2 lead. The other was in Crosley Field…and was inside the park…but it came in the 8th inning of a 5-2 win on July 6th.

by Thunder on Oct 21, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

conflating games after 49 years

There were a number of exciting of comebacks that year. I obviously mixed a few up in the memory bank. I recall that game as incredibly dramatic, however. Clearly my mind remembered it as a little more dramatic than it actually was. Thanks for checking.

by mocasdad on Oct 21, 2009 8:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bootcheck and Bautista had decent tRA numbers this year.

I’m not taking too much stock in tRA until Hit f/x standardizes what is actually a line drive or fly ball, etc. Still, it will be interesting to watch and see if they turn out to be better than they showed this year.

by MarkInDallas on Oct 21, 2009 1:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bautista only pitched 13 innings for the Pirates. His career tRA in 189.2 MLB innings is a crappy 5.24, which to me is more indicative. Bootcheck’s is 5.39. Meh. 13-15 innings of good tRA doesn’t do much for me because of small sample size and their terrible career track records.

by Adam Reynolds on Oct 21, 2009 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You could do worse than a low-5s ERA...

…but there are eleventy hojillion righty relievers available every offseason. No reason to protect a pedestrian guy on the 40-man, when you can get the same general player as a NRI instead.

by Vlad on Oct 21, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs