Young and Hungry

by zogger on Mar 22, 2011 7:38 PM EDT

We don’t see articles about the Pirates that emphasize the young stars they have and how the team has more on the way. So here is the article I would write:

They are young and hungry. The Pirate’s 4 young stars of Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pedro Alverez, and Jose Tabata range in age from 22 to 25. Three made their MLB debuts over the last year and one the year before. Together they form the nucleus for the Pirates to build on. They are talented and only need experience to grow into stars. They have the desire to bring a winner to Pittsburgh and the talent to deliver one.

Joining this foursome will be 1st round pick Tony Sanchez in mid-2012. With the top pick in the draft in 2011, the Pirates will pick up another impact player than could make his debut in 2013. Combine these with other rising stars such as Alex Presley, Starling Marte, and Andrew Lambo; the Pirates seem to have a flow of talent on the way.

Pitching though is really the strength of the Pirate’s farm system. Right now the ML staff has developing pitchers in Russ Ohlendorf, James McDonald, and Charlie Morton who are backed up by two young bullpen stoppers in Evan Meek and Joey Hanrahan. But from AAA down the pitching talent is just beginning to show itself. Rudy Owens and Bryan Morris should join the big club this year, Jeff Locke next year, and then the real talent arrives. Two high school stars in Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie could arrive as soon as 2013, then Luis Heredia, Zack Von Rosenberg, and Cotton Cain in 2014.

The Pirates now appear to be stocked for the future. Just when youth will be served depends on many factors, but they will be served. They are young and they are hungry.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

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Comments

I am with you with two exceptions....

A) Alex Pressley should not be in the same article as the others you mentioned….

and

B) It’s Joel Hanrahan, not Joey.

There is talent, but that talent still needs to develop into ML stars, only one of which (Andrew) has done so already. I think the future is bright as well, but we are still quite aways from realizing that future, probably 2013, perhaps sooner if everything goes our way (which is highly suspect that it will).

by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Mar 22, 2011 8:06 PM EDT reply actions

and Russ Ohlendorf

must be some darkhorse bullpen arm candidate i never heard of

by theatrain on Mar 22, 2011 8:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Yep - I was thinking the same thing....

If anyone is ripe for a bad year, unfortunately, I think it is Russ (or Ross).

by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Mar 22, 2011 9:10 PM EDT up reply actions

How does one get Ohlendorf right but Ross wrong?

TravBlog

And on Twitter

by TravisDW on Mar 22, 2011 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions

you spell Ohlendorf like it sounds

and at least he got 3/4 of the letters right

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"Any statement beginning with the words 'In truth' is almost always a lie." Mordred Deschain
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by WVPiratesfan on Mar 22, 2011 10:01 PM EDT up reply actions

the future is here and the next wave will be here soon.

by bradshaw06 on Mar 22, 2011 10:18 PM EDT reply actions

of course they're hungry

nutting is too cheap to feed them

by johnnycuff on Mar 22, 2011 10:55 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 7 recs

Somehow

That joke just keeps finding legs. Well played.

by Slizeezyc on Mar 22, 2011 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess “Cotton” Cain is one of our best candy prospects? He’ll never be better than Snack Von Rosenberg, anyway.

by Suffering Buc on Mar 22, 2011 11:35 PM EDT reply actions

It is an article about being Hungry

Can you blame him for that typo?

Da'Sean Butler - A Mountaineer Legend

by McCutchenIsTheTruth on Mar 22, 2011 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Damn....I missed that one

I am starting to think the OP meant to have ‘tough-to-find’ typos…..as he did an admirable job in doing so.

by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Mar 23, 2011 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks!

I want to thank you all for focusing on the crux of the article, i.e. that the Bucs are team on the upswing and not on trivial things like like first names

by zogger on Mar 23, 2011 7:16 AM EDT reply actions

Trivial? I’ve had enough people call me Brian to know the pain of a name mispronounced :-(

Thank you Ned Colletti.

by ryebr3ad on Mar 23, 2011 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Aw, c'mon, zogger -

we kid because we love.

And CDeath did comment on it.

Personally, I’m just glad you’re not nernous any more. ;-)

Also, I’m REALLY surprised that nobody caught Pedro “Alverez.”

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Mar 23, 2011 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions

And another thing

It’s “Pirates’ 4 young stars…” not “PIrate’s.” Unless you’re only talking about one.

by azibuck on Mar 23, 2011 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Forgot Sarcasm FIlter

Sorry I did not turn the sarcasm filter on/off for my comment.

I love you guys too! In a manly way of course!

I am over being nernous-at least for now.

by zogger on Mar 23, 2011 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

dude, the "manly way" is probably not the way you wanted to word it...

not that theres anything wrong with it, of course

by white angus on Mar 23, 2011 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

young and hungry

but besides Cutch, unproven.

This team looks destined for another top 2 or 3 draft pick in 2012.

And with the great free agent signings, they will probably be drafting there for the next 3 years minimum.

Was out in LA for seminar, they sure love Giminez from our system last year, it’s a good thing Huntington can judge talent, it’s just so odd that other teams make something out of what he says is not major league worthy. Jarimillo held him back.

by jackiegleason on Mar 25, 2011 12:04 PM EDT reply actions

You mean Hector Gimenez, the 28-year-old AA catcher? Pardon me if I laugh in your face.

Oh, and you also mean that signing Lyle Overbay and Kevin Correia this year solidifies us being terrible in two years, despite that being when Cutch, Pedro and Walker are hitting their primes, and Owens/Morris should be on the rotation? Pardon me if I spray spit when I laugh.

Look, if you want to be taken seriously on this site, you should probably stop trying to be a contrarian in every instance and, you know, actually post stuff that is relevant.

Thank you Ned Colletti.

by ryebr3ad on Mar 25, 2011 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Huntington's reputation is written on the wall

His free agent pick ups over 3 years and the solid improvements with the major league team prove he knows how to judge talent.

Jaramillo is a joke, no team would even pick that bum up.

There’s only 1 city in the world and approximately 10% of that city that huntington has an idea of what he is doing. That the team gets worse yearly means nothing to those 10%.

It’s one thing to give credit for improved drafting but to claim this guy has shown any competence as a GM is another.

by jackiegleason on Mar 25, 2011 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Considering his first two years he only picked up bench and role players, I can feel confident that he did well with that.

He’s traded well and drafted well. Those are two major parts of being a GM.

Now, I guess we’ll see how bad Huntington actually is with free agent talent after this year. Can’t say Corria or Overbay will do anything good to that reputation, and they were both brought in for meaningful roles.

Oh, and for the record — a lot more people are on board for the rebuild than you apparently assume. And if the people that aren’t on board only think so because the Pirates let a 28 year old minor league catcher go, or because some major league bench players
sucked…well, that’s there problem, I guess.

Thank you Ned Colletti.

by ryebr3ad on Mar 25, 2011 9:04 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions