By Wilbur Miller

Most of the interest in the Pirates’ farm system in 2008 will be focused on Indianapolis due to the presence of the team’s top three prospects, Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Steve Pearce. Beyond those three, however, the team has little to offer on the offensive end, especially in the power department. The team will be loaded with speedy centerfielders and veteran infielders. With the Pirates experimenting heavily in the bullpen, the pitching staff may be shuttling players to and from the majors all year.

By Jim Sullivan

Another warm and windy day today, which did not affect the last Major League workout at Pirate City this Spring.
The weather is supposed to take a significant downturn tonight with heavy thunderstorms, and high's the next couple days only in the low sixties. The weekend is supposed to return to the mid to upper seventy's though.

And when I say "It rains it pours" not only pertains to the weather, but in this instance, it also refers to the baseball drills.

By Jim Sullivan

Another cloudy beginning until mid-morning when the bright sun opened up the skies.

Today's workout was the shortest in duration, wrapping up by noon. Upon going over the planned schedule, there were only 24 entries for the complete squad.

By Jim Sullivan

Another warm summer day which began cloudy and humid until the bright sun broke through in late morning.

At the beginning of practice today the media was called to meet with General Manager Neal Huntington for an impromptu news conference by Pirate Media Relations Manager Dan Hart.

By Jim Sullivan

Greetings,

Saturday's weather was warm and windy, with threatening skies, but the rain held off until the scheduled completion at 1:30 PM.

I've been able to collect the work schedule of each session, which has been posted in the common area of Pirate City each day. It is quite detailed, one page for the position players, and a separate page for the pitchers.

For example, today's pitchers schedule included 27 separate entries, while the position player's schedule consisted of 39 entries, some activities of only 15 minutes apart. The schedule has concurrent entries for infielders, outfielders, and catchers.

By Jim Sullivan

Greetings,

Another perfect summer day in the middle of February. It almost doesn't seem fair.

Today was quite similar to yesterday, in that the activities were common, and there was little hard news to report.

By Jim Sullivan

Though the morning started off cloudy with a 60% chance of rain, the baseball gods were kind to us fans once again, and by late morning the sun was as bright as ever.

The first drill of the morning turned out to be, undoubtedly, the most entertaining aspect of the complete workout session, though not for the proper reason.

By Jim Sullivan

Today was a little cool by Florida standards, mid to upper sixties with a strong breeze, but it was a super day for baseball fans, with the position players not only participating in the on-field activities, but actually facing live pitching for the first time today.

By Jim Sullivan

Another super day for baseball, though there is not an awful lot new to report on, in advance of Wednesday's first full workout.

Today's crowd more than doubled the previous days, though the school kids being off (plus Parents) due to President's Day may have been a contributing factor.
Stan Savran visited Pirate City, in order to do a couple interviews with the Pirate Manager and General Manager.
He flew in Sunday night, and was scheduled to fly out Monday night.
So much for being an indispensable TV anchor.

By Jim Sullivan

Another great day for baseball in central Florida, though tomorrow's forecast is for 60% rain, and when the rain is coming off the gulf, it tends to pour.

But we're here to talk baseball, so let's get started.