I guess the official offseason tally will be as follows (only counting moves likely to affect 25 man roster):

Starters: In- Burnett, Bedard
Out- Maholm

Relievers: Out- Veras

Catcher: In- Barajas
Out- Doumit, Snyder

1B: In- Magahee
Out- Lee

SS: In- Barmes
Out- Cedeno

I may be missing some, but I think that’s it.

I would say there is a small loss with regard to position players. Lee wasn’t as good as he looked with us last year, but a Lee/Jones combination probably outproduces a Jones/Magahee platoon by a recognizable margin. I think SS is probably a push. At catcher, If Doumit/Snyder were able to stay healthy, there is a clear advantage over Barajas/McHenry. But, their injury history is legit, so it’s probably just a small downgrade.

I would say there is a small upgrade with the pitching staff. Burnett/Bedard (and whoever fills in when Bedard gets injured) is a small upgrade over Maholm/Correia, with the potential to be a legit upgrade if Bedard stays healthy and Burnett bounces back like may of us believe he will. This more than makes up for the downgrade from Veras to whoever.

All in all, I would say the Pirates held serve this offseason, which, of course, isn’t a good thing when you won 72 games the year before. I think this is a 74 win team. However, the fate of this team is the same now as it was before the offseason started: In the end, how this team does is more dependent on the progression (Tababta, McDonald, Alvarez, Walker)/legitness (Morton, Karstens, Presely) of the guys alreadyon the roster at the end of the year. Obviously, Alvarez is the key, if he can somehow play at a 2-3 WAR and we got a few other small, reasonable breaks, I could see the streak ending.

Post Script: If I spelled MaGahee wrong throughout this post, I apologize for being too lazy to mopen another browser once I started.

The more I think about it, the more I like this. Replacing Correia with Burnett for around 30 starts will make the Pirates two or three wins better next year, and there should be a fair upgrade in 2013, too, if Burnett is still around.

Morton-Bedard-McDonald-Karstens-Burnett is, at best, a paradigm of mediocrity. But there’s nobody in that rotation that takes the mound and makes you think, “Wow, there’s not a chance in Hell we’re winning this ballgame.” It’s an improvement.

can’t all have great seasons. Remember when the Orioles had 4 20 game winners? Who predicted that?

Morton for McClouth
Bedard for $$$
McDonald for Dotel
Karstens for Nady?
Burnett for $$$

I’m willing to bet $100 to anyone here. I say the Bucs will not only finish .500 this year but they will be within 5 games of first Sept1st. Charlie picks the charity of choice who will recieve the money. It’s a win-win situation. If I lose some charity gets $100. If I win everyone here has to give $100 to the charity which I’m sure you will all be fine with. Come on! Bring it on! I’m taking names! Who is in!

BUC BUC BUC BUC

As long as we don’t give up a great prospect, I’m perfectly fine with replacing Corriea with burnett. I do wonder if this deal is not to replace Corriea but a hedge against Bedard. I guess it is both. I can see either Burnett thriving once leaving the negativity in new york, or just self destructing if things don’t turn out so good.

I do not lose bets. This is your best chance of ending the streak!

WHO?

Whose got the guts to step up to the plate and take the bet?

gets the bet named after them for the entire season.!

I heard Brandon Webb has began throwing the other day.