-P- Van Slyke lists some reasons to keep watching in the second half.
-P- ESPN lists Jeromy Burnitz as the eighth-biggest free agent bust of the year. John Perrotto gives Burnitz a passing grade, noting that he has done what he usually does, which is to "hit for decent power with a low batting average and a lot of strikeouts." Does. Not. Compute.
Burnitz hasn't hit for nearly enough power or drawn nearly enough walks to offset his batting average. It's pretty much impossible, in this age, for a corner outfielder to be an asset to his team without at least a .300 on-base percentage, and Burnitz would have to make amazing improvements in the second half to even get to that meager goal.
-P- The Bucs removed Victor Santos from the DL and sent Jonah Bayliss back to Indianapolis. Too bad; I enjoyed watching Bayliss. He may not know where his pitches are going, but he's got nasty stuff. Nine strikeouts in five innings? I'll take it.
-P- The Sports Network thinks the Pirates will play slightly better in the second half.