OnlyBucs

With that group of former Bucs on the Jays we better not forget Reese Mcquire as well. That is quite a group of former Pirate players.

Jon Niese signs w Yankees.

002F38392F3321294A0 wrote: North Pittsburgh = Toronto?



Happ

Liriano

Grilli

Martin

Pearce

Bautista

Ramirez




Former Pirate draftee Matt Dermody stands a good chance to win a spot in Toronto's bullpen out of ST.

Pedro Alvarez resigns with to Orioles. (Minor league deal.)



And they plan to switch him to the outfield.

23040F2C610 wrote: Pedro Alvarez resigns with to Orioles. (Minor league deal.)



And they plan to switch him to the outfield.
This just shows how reluctant even AL teams are to sign a player who can't play in the field. Here we are in the middle of ST and no one had signed him-even as a DH-despite his power. And now the Orioles at least want him to be able to play OF. And are only willing to give a minor league contract. Which he accepted. Not a good time in MLB for a guy who can't catch or throw. Should be some interesting throws coming in from the OF!

7A575A4B4C5D4A0A09380 wrote: Pedro Alvarez resigns with to Orioles. (Minor league deal.)



And they plan to switch him to the outfield.
This just shows how reluctant even AL teams are to sign a player who can't play in the field. Here we are in the middle of ST and no one had signed him-even as a DH-despite his power. And now the Orioles at least want him to be able to play OF. And are only willing to give a minor league contract. Which he accepted. Not a good time in MLB for a guy who can't catch or throw. Should be some interesting throws coming in from the OF!
What a disaster this guy was and his agent they both were jerks. Should have dumped him after his hold out after being drafted. So many years wasted, how can supposed baseball scouts have been this wrong.

7A626067677061667B7A6C090 wrote: Pedro Alvarez resigns with to Orioles. (Minor league deal.)



And they plan to switch him to the outfield.
This just shows how reluctant even AL teams are to sign a player who can't play in the field. Here we are in the middle of ST and no one had signed him-even as a DH-despite his power. And now the Orioles at least want him to be able to play OF. And are only willing to give a minor league contract. Which he accepted. Not a good time in MLB for a guy who can't catch or throw. Should be some interesting throws coming in from the OF!
What a disaster this guy was and his agent they both were jerks.  Should have dumped him after his hold out after being drafted.   So many years wasted, how can supposed baseball scouts have been this wrong.


I guess I'm missing something here. He has been a .230-240 hitter his entire career. He has led the league in HRs once, made an all star team and has a silver slugger. His playing time was cut considerably when he had trouble throwing to first sometimes. Then he struggled catching catchable balls at first. IMO, the fielding issues clearly come from a mental obstacle that no one could have foreseen. He is absolutely not the first to struggle with something along those lines.



If he continued to be the fairly solid 3rd baseman that he was his first couple seasons and continued OPSing over .800 with tons of power and strikeouts, we'd all have been really thankful for his time with the Pirates.



He was never a bad attitude. He hustled and seemed to play the game the right way. I don't think anyone missed on him. He never reached his potential offensively, but he didn't embarrass himself there. The defense downfall was a surprise and sad for all.

Well this is strange. Sean Burnett tried to tear his UCL so he could get another Tommy John surgery.



http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sean-bur ... aze-trail/

1B0622202E4B0 wrote: Pedro Alvarez resigns with to Orioles. (Minor league deal.)



And they plan to switch him to the outfield.
This just shows how reluctant even AL teams are to sign a player who can't play in the field. Here we are in the middle of ST and no one had signed him-even as a DH-despite his power. And now the Orioles at least want him to be able to play OF. And are only willing to give a minor league contract. Which he accepted. Not a good time in MLB for a guy who can't catch or throw. Should be some interesting throws coming in from the OF!
What a disaster this guy was and his agent they both were jerks.  Should have dumped him after his hold out after being drafted.   So many years wasted, how can supposed baseball scouts have been this wrong.


I guess I'm missing something here.  He has been a .230-240 hitter his entire career.  He has led the league in HRs once, made an all star team and has a silver slugger.  His playing time was cut considerably when he had trouble throwing to first sometimes.  Then he struggled catching catchable balls at first.  IMO, the fielding issues clearly come from a mental obstacle that no one could have foreseen.  He is absolutely not the first to struggle with something along those lines.



If he continued to be the fairly solid 3rd baseman that he was his first couple seasons and continued OPSing over .800 with tons of power and strikeouts, we'd all have been really thankful for his time with the Pirates.



He was never a bad attitude.  He hustled and seemed to play the game the right way.  I don't think anyone missed on him.  He never reached his potential offensively, but he didn't embarrass himself there.  The defense downfall was a surprise and sad for all.
Great attitude huh, the guy held out immediately after being drafted by the Pirates. I clearly remember the Pirates were stunned and his professional career was delayed because he and his agent thought he was worth more than the millions they offered him. That doesn't sound like a great attitude to me especally starting your MLB career. After you prove yourself then you might pull a stunt like that but come on man. I watch him play all his career with the Pirates and never saw anything ever that impressed me, seemed to always choke in big situations. Obviously I didn't know him but no matter what he was a big flop, and no way could the Pirates justify paying him anywhere what he thought he was worth.

You had to go all the back to 2008 to find that bad attitude. And you know his agent was all behind that. The Pirates did sign him at $6 million at the deadline but then were granted more time (along with two other teams) to renegotiate.



Not once have you heard of him being a bad teammate or a bad attitude after that. He was never an issue. His teammates even spoke up about him when he was being boo-ed by the fans.



I guess you missed his 2013 season? The season he was an All Star, won the Silver Slugger Award, and led the league in HRs. He actually led the Pirates in HRs three times in his six years in Pittsburgh. Did you miss his 2013 post season too? You know, when he led the Pirates in average, hits, HRs, RBIs, Runs, OBP, SLG, and OPS?



So yes, your analysis about Alvarez's time in Pittsburgh is way off.