-P- There's a new Pirates blog in the house - it's called Bucco Wire. As with so many new Pirates blogs, this one has a lot of promise - let's hope the insanity of following this team doesn't drive these guys crazy.
-P- CBS Sportsline has a good article about the Pirates up. I don't agree with all of it - certainly not with the part where Jim Tracy is described as the right manager for this team - but it's fun to read and, for a writer who doesn't follow the Pirates, even pretty insightful. Funny passage:
Asked about then manager Lloyd McClendon's strengths as a skipper, he noted how well McClendon worked with young players. When I wondered why, then, the Pirates were so keen on signing fork-in-back retreads like [Benito] Santiago, Bay mumbled something about "veteran leadership." His words said one thing; the look on his face said, "Yeah, I'm screwed." That a budding star exhibited considerably more enthusiasm when talking about his fantasy football team (Matt Hasselbeck had done quite well by him in 2004) than when discussing his real-world team ... well, that tells you everything you need to know about toiling away for the Pirates of Pittsburgh.
-P- Here's a profile of new State College Spikes manager Turner Ward. Former White Sox, Dodgers and Devil Rays pitcher Wilson Alvarez will be the team's pitching coach.
-P- I'm a little bit late on this, but the Yankees paid $26 million to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa. Igawa is impressive statistically, but, from the article, David Wright doesn't think too highly of him:
-P- The Brewers have signed Craig Counsell to a two-year deal for $6 million.