Lots of stuff to cover

- First off, something I have not mentioned yet: the Pirates offered Matt Capps to Milwaukee for SS J.J. Hardy. The Brewers obviously declined as they traded Hardy to the Twins for Carlos Gomez. If the Pirates would have been able to pull off that deal, it would have been great, but I can definitely see why the Brewers took Gomez over Capps.

- Also, from that same article, reliever Evan Meek vowed to Dejan Kovacevic that we will see a 100 mph fastball from him next year. Meek's oblique, which caused him to miss the end of the season is fully healed.

- The Pirates announced their Spring Training schedule for all those who like taking the trip to Bradenton. After going last year, I think it is a must for all Pirates fans. It really is a cool experience. Brian over at Raise the Jolly Roger has the schedule listed.

- The Pirates released many struggling minor leaguers including Cuban bonus baby Yoslan Herrera. Tim over at BuccoFans.com has a complete list of the players released and a little on each guy.

- It sounds like Jeff Clement really wants to be a catcher. Clement has surgically repaired his left knee twice already so I really do not see that happening. Nonetheless, he is preparing to go into Spring Training as both a catcher and a first baseman. He even went as far as to say he really wants to catch, even if it as a backup. Hey, we'll see.

- Also, from that same article, Andy LaRoche points out that he is ready to make a position move to second base whenever Pedro Alvarez is ready to take over third base. LaRoche has spent the last month with Alvarez in Bradenton and pulled him aside one day to tell him that he should not be uncomfortable around him because he is "forcing" him to move.

Danny Murtaugh named finalist for Hall of Fame

Danny Murtaugh, who coached the Pirates for parts of 15 seasons throughout the 50's, 60's, and 70's, was named among ten finalists eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame. The voting will take place December 7th.

Murtaugh, who died in 1976 just three months after leading the Pirates to a 92-70 season, deserves to be in the Hall. As I said, he coached the Pirates for parts of 15 seasons and only three times did he fail to field a team that was below .500. Yeah, I know, hard to imagine now, isn't it?

Murtaugh also was at the helm when the Pirates won both the 1960 World Series and 1971 World Series. In all, he won two championships, and led the team to three more NLCS. He never managed a team other than the Pirates and compiled a 1115-950 record between four different stints as team manager.

Murtaugh also played nine seasons in the Majors, four of them with the Pirates as a second baseman between 1948-1951.

Winter League Update

One thing that I must bring up is the pitching of Donald Veal. The guy has been an absolute freak of nature so far in the Arizona Fall League and is putting up numbers like he never has before. He leads the AFL in ERA with a 0.54 mark and is 3-0 in 5 starts that cover 16.2 innings. And remember that control issue? Well, he has 17 strikeouts and 2 walks. Also, Baseball America recently did a feature on Veal about how different he looks that is definitely worth a read.

Ronny Cedeno has gotten off to a rough start down in Venezuela as he has a line of .189/.189/.324 through nine games. It is looking more and more like Cedeno is going to be the starting SS heading into 2010 so it would be nice to see him start hitting above the Mendoza Line.

Among all the hitters this winter, the one playing the best so far has been Robinzon Diaz. He leads all Pirate hitters this winter in BA (.400), SLG (.580), and OPS (1.003). He has struck out just twice so far in 50 AB. However, he also has only registered 2 walks so far.

Jose Tabata should also be mentioned as he continues to impress in the Arizona Fall League with a .366/.418/.500 line through 19 games. He also leads his team in RBI (16) despite hitting 1st or 2nd in the lineup most days.

Neil Walker continues to produce good numbers in Mexico as he has a line of .268/.368/.512. It would be nice to see Neil raise that average a bit, but you really can't complain about the OBP and the SLG. He has four homers and eight doubles in 82 AB and his walk rate is better than it has ever been at any point in his career.

There is one more guy who I have rarely ever talked about on this site that I would like to point out. That would be 20-year old Rogelios Noris. After leading the GCL Pirates this season with six HR, he has looked very good thus far in the Mexican Winter League against older competition. Through 12 games, he is hitting .353/.421/.500. He should be someone on your radar screen next year whether he starts at State College or West Virginia.

As far as other pitchers go, the majority of the guys throwing this winter worth talking about haven't really racked up many innings so far. Also, Danny Moskos has looked awful through 10.1 innings and looked even worse in his appearance in the AFL's Rising Stars Game where he gave up four runs while getting two outs.

For a list of all the Pirates playing this winter and their stats, check this out.

Pirates drop 3 from 40-man roster

The Pirates outrighted right handed pitchers Virgil Vasquez and Eric Hacker to AAA-Indianapolis today along with outrighting C Steve Lerud to AA-Altoona.

This means the Pirates now have 36 people on their 40-man roster. Evan Meek and Jose Ascanio both remain on the 40-day DL.

Vasquez, 27, pitched in 14 games for the Pirates last season, including 7 starts. In 44.2 innings, he posted a 5.84 ERA and struck out 29 batters while walking 18.

Hacker, 26, pitched in just 3 games for the Bucs and gave up 2 ER in 3 innings. He was acquired early in the year for reliever Romulo Sanchez and made 24 starts for AAA-Indianapolis where he went 5-6 with a 4.49 ERA.

Lerud, 25, was an obvious candidate to get taken off the 40-man roster. In his 2nd go around at AA-Altoona, he was only able to post a line of .240/.339/.336, which is quite awful. Lerud is still considered a good defensive catcher, and still has a shot to make the bigs because of that quality alone. However, he just isn't worth keeping on the roster.

Vasquez and Hacker are both eligible to become free agents if they choose.

A missed opportunity

Earlier today, Marlins OF Jeremy Hermida was traded to Boston for 2 minor league relievers. The Marlins were obviously just trying to get something for Hermida as they expressed interest in non-tendering him this off season instead of going to arbitration.

After seeing this trade, I am not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed. I have been talking about how the Bucs should go after Hermida for months and upon seeing what was given up, I am pretty surprised that GM Neal Huntington did not try to grab him. Imagine, we probably could have gotten a 26 year old OF who was ranked the #4 prospect in baseball a couple years ago, has already put up solid numbers in the majors, and has loads of potential for very little.

The move just made a lot of sense to me because it would be the type of acquisition Huntington would go for: a young, former top prospect, who has loads of potential, in which their team gave up on them. Delwyn Young, Andy LaRoche, Lastings Milledge, and even Garrett Jones are all players who relatively fit the same mold as Hermida.

I really think Hermida has a solid shot at returning back to his form from 2007 and become the player scouts salivated over for years. And even if he doesn't, we would not have given up anything of value. So why not take the chance?

A team like the Pirates simply just needs to add as much talent as possible, and there's no denying the fact Hermida has talent. I just hope that we did not just miss out on as big an opportunity as I think we did.

Pirates trade Jesse Chavez to Rays for Akinori Iwamura

The Pirates have traded for 2B Akinori Iwamura, thus solving the problem of needing a second baseman. In return for Iwamura, the Rays will receive reliever Jesse Chavez

Iwamura, 30, is a career .281 hitter in 3 seasons with the Rays. He also has a career OPS of .747, which is just about average. His best season came his rookie year in '07 when he posted a .790 OPS. He played in just 69 games last year due to an ACL injury, but was having a solid season up to that point.

Iwamura is also an adequate defender with a career UZR/150 of 1.1, which is way better than Delwyn Young (-14.0).

Now to Iwamura's contract. He has just one year left (an option, actually), that would pay him $4.85 million in 2010. That is very reasonable for a 2.5 WAR-type player like Iwamura and is cheaper than it would be if the Bucs were to sign a comparable free agent.

Jesse Chavez leaves the Pirates bullpen after a pretty successful rookie campaign. The 26 year old righty was 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 67.1 innings in '09.

Chavez, in my opinion, will be a pretty solid reliever. But to be honest, solid right handed relievers aren't exactly hard to come by. I like this deal, even though the Pirates would have controlled Chavez through 2014. Plus, the Pirates right handed relief options are still pretty solid with Matt Capps, Joel Hanrahan, and Evan Meek. Those are 3 guys who are all capable of pitching in stressful situations.

Another reason I like this deal is Iwamura himself. At just $4.85 million, he provides nice value for a team needing a 2B. Also, Iwamura can be used as trade bait in July for teams desperate for a late season acquisition. And at his price, if Iwamura can continue his consistent play, he should be able to net a decent return.

At least no one can spin this trade into "the Pirates being cheap" as it increases their payroll by almost $4 million. In fact, he will be the highest paid Pirate in 2010.

[photo: MLB.com]

UPDATE - 6:06 PM:

Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazette says the Pirates "probably will get one more player." So that's cool. I'll update this post when that news comes out.

UPDATE - 7:15 PM:

Jen Langosch from MLB.com says that there are no other players involved in the deal. So there you go.

Finally! Something worth writing about!

Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazette just tweeted that the Pirates are in talks about a trade that would send 2B Akinori Iwamura to the Bucs from Tampa Bay.

Iwamura, 30, played just 69 games in '09 due to injury, but has been a pretty consistent and solid performer for the Rays since his rookie season in 2007. He is a career .281 hitter and has a career OPS of .752.

He has one option year left on his contract that would pay him $4.25 million.

What the Pirates would have to give up for Iwamura? Hopefully not much, considering there is just 1 year left on his contract. So I am going to save all my opinions on this possible trade until I know just what we are sending to Tampa.

Also, kudos to UtesFan89, who named Iwamura as someone the Pirates would be interested in just last week.

UPDATE - 4:39 PM:
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times is basically saying a deal is done, but we won't know what it is until later tonight when it will be tomorrow morning in Japan, where Iwamura is. That way, the Rays can let him know he's been traded before everyone else does.

UPDATE - 4:47 PM:
Deal is definitely done. As soon as we find out what it is, I will make a new post.