I was thinking the same thing. I’ve been trying to get a read on what NH has been thinking all off season and I still have no clue. I know alot of people feel NH does’nt need to answer to the fans, etc..I feel he needs to issue some sort of statement to the fans on why payroll is down from last year even though the team contended until the all star break…I would really like to know his reasoning for not pursueing a select number of players?

are gonna land E-Jax it won’t be on a 1-year deal. For one year, he’d go to a contender like the BoSox. The only way the Pirates will get him is by being the team to step and give him a long term deal that is close to his demands (probably at least 4/40 since there are apparently multiple teams offering 3 years).

saying that Jackson ideally wants a longterm deal from a contender. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards this year which is apparently why he’s considering one year deals. As I said above, though, there is a huge risk in packing it in when you’re the best FA remaining and trying to re-enter the market next year with Cain, Greinke, Marcum, Shields, Floyd, Haren, Anibal Sanchez, Colby Lewis, and Brandon McCarthey. Not only will he have a lot of other players to compete with but just staying the course – 3.75 ERA, 7 K/9, 3 BB/9, 200 IP – won’t be enough to get the big raise he’s looking for. It would absolutely make him worth the contract and might make him an attractive trade piece if his team is struggling but it’s not going to get him the AJ Burnett money from a contender that Boras wanted.

Why can’t that ever be us??

What pitcher doesnt want that? Even if a pitcher doesnt say it on the record im sure little leaguers say that as well.Great stuff as always David thanks for taking my question I see why u r highly regarded member of the media

the Sox are out. I know that this doesn’t mean all contenders are out of the picture but I know the Orioles were in on it before with a 3 year deal. I am going to continue to beat this dead horse (until Jackson signs some inexplicable 3 year/$11M deal with the Nats or something ridiculous like that) but the Pirates should step up and offer him the 4 year deal that other teams apparently won’t. BAAAHHH!

that the team looks worse. The players the Pirates signed are all upgrades over what they lost (although you could make a case they are somewhat riskier). I’ve said this before but, to this point, the team is rolling the dice and saying that if the team is going to improve in 2012 it’s gonna be because the young guys progress and not because of any offseason pickups. I’d like Edwin Jackson at this point but I don’t necessarily believe he needs to do any ‘splainin’…

i actually disagree also. barmes is a better hitter AND definitely better defensively than Cedeno, he’ll be more consistent and not make those mental errors cedeno is well-known for. barajas is better defensively than doumit and maybe even better than a fully healthy snyder behind the plate. barajas is extremely underrated when it comes to hitting abilities of catchers. albeit, not for average, but for much needed power the pirates need. barajas was 4th in the NL amongst catchers in home runs this past season and he was 3rd in the NL in 2010 amongst catchers for home runs in 2010. to give ya a perspective on this, joe mauer, who is probably the best hitting catcher in the bigs next to brian mccann, has only hit double digit HRs two times in hiseight year career. barajas on the other hand has hit double digit amount of home runs SEVEN OF THE LAST EIGHT SEASONS!!! take that how you want, but people have been ripping on the acquisition left and right of barajas just because of his age, but i see nothing wrong with the pirates signing the best free agent catcher on the market that was available

the pitching part also, they only replaced maholm with bedard. and when healthy, bedard is HANDS DOWN a better pitcher than maholm and can generate more strikeouts that we are used to see from lefites over the years like duke and maholm. rest of the rotation will be the same as last year and i dont consider that rotation being margina. considering the fact up until like mid august they were one of the better rotations in the entire MLB. you have the remember what people were predicting at the beginning of the year for the rotation, for it to be the absolute WORST in the mlb by a longshot. they exceeded those expectations by far!! and at the all star break i remember that they had a better team ERA that the almighty phillies rotation too