-P- The Post-Gazette has a piece on Pirates prospects in the Hawaiian Winter League:
Players in the Hawaiian Winter League have the option of staying in hotels or dormitories used by college students.
[Shortstop Brian] Bixler shares a dorm room with Lerud and Vaclavik.
"It's not too bad," Bixler said, laughing.
Wow. Welcome to the minor leagues, huh? It's amazing that someone like Bixler can go from getting a $670,000 signing bonus in 2003 to sharing a dorm room with two other guys now, even though he's still a prospect. Speaking of which:
That's funny, because perhaps the biggest difference between Bixler in 2005 and in 2006 is that he started drawing more walks.
-P- Pat has a roundup of various Pirates involved in winter leagues.
-P- Here's an article on the changes the Astros are going through. Houston is probably not going to have a strong team in the coming years.
-P- Former Altoona Curve manager Tony Beasley will return to the Pirates organization in 2007 after spending 2006 as the Nationals' third-base coach. He'll be the Pirates' minor league infield coordinator.