Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic
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A quick shout, before we get started, to regular reader Brian Kane of Pleasant Hills.
He sent this email a few minutes before the game Tuesday ...
"I will not be watching tonight's game to protest the mule-headed decision by Jim Tracy not to start Ryan Doumit. I don't care if you tell me Doumit hit .150 against lefties in Indy. I don't care if Xavier Nady hits three home runs. There is just no good reason to sit the only productive hitter on the team. Tracy has consistently proven that his mentality does not fit the needs of the Pirates. He manages as if the Pirates have 25 legit big-leaguers. Ugh. ... Shoot me an email when Doumit rejoins the starting lineup."
I lost Brian's email so, if you see him kicking cans along Route 51 in search of something to do this afternoon, please let him know Doumit was back out there last night.
Oh, and tell him that all he missed was that it now has reached the tragic point where games are over with the opponent's first at-bat.
We have Qs ...
Q: Come on, we only give up a leadoff homer ... the pitching can't get much better. There has to be a way to buy some offense. Do we have some hope? This is so frustrating.
Steve McCullough of Atlanta
KOVACEVIC: Did you see cause for hope for the offense last night, Steve? Or, really, in any game all season?
I have run out of descriptive terms for it. Seriously. Even the worst teams in the history of baseball broke out at least once in a blue moon. This one just seems to be getting worse and worse at the plate. And the individual pedigree of at least some of the players in the lineup makes that ... well, difficult to describe.
Q: Hi, Dejan! It seems to me that the Bucs have eight or nine -- if you include Tony Armas -- serviceable starting pitchers between the parent club and Indy. Has there ever been a better time than now to use or two of these guys to get a hitter or two?
Do you think Dave Littlefield will ever trade one of his treasured starters for some offense?
Brian Young of Penn Hills
KOVACEVIC: Did you just propose a ... dare I even speak the blasphemous term?
Let us assume you did not and take the main question, anyway ...
By my count, the Pirates' starting pitching -- as it might be legitimately viewed that way by other teams -- runs 10 deep: Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Tony Armas, Shawn Chacon, Bryan Bullington, John Van Benschoten, Shane Youman and Sean Burnett. Now, there are all kinds of asterisks in there and all varying degrees of value, particularly with the three guys coming off major surgeries, but the one I never hear anyone mention is Chacon. With the way he is throwing this year, the strikeouts he is getting and the durability he is showing in long relief, it would seem to me he could be as attractive an option as any of the pitchers one might reasonably deem available.
Do I think that the Pirates will make a trade to address an immediate need?
No.
And the reason for that, quite simply, is that there is no precedent for Littlefield making a move that proactively and promptly addresses something of this nature, meaning a short-term deficiency. His moves almost always are made in the offseason or, in the case of moving veteran contracts, at the trading deadline in July.
Could the Pirates use some help right away, either in terms of better players or better instruction?
Ask seven-time Cy Young winner Jason Marquis.
Q: Hey Dejan, I was just thinking, wouldn't it be a good idea to consider signing Adam LaRoche to a longer-term contract right now? His batting average and confidence are at an all-time low right now, so wouldn't it make sense to buy low? Doing this might also help his confidence as the organization would be showing support for him even in these frustrating times. What do you think?
Noah Ketterman of Upper St. Clair
KOVACEVIC: Now, that is some neat outside-the-box thinking, Noah, though I am not sure how many would agree with you.
All too often, people make erroneous references to the "Moneyball" brand of baseball as being about on-base percentage or walks or computer analysis or simply doing business on the cheap. In fact, the general theme was finding value where others might have seen little, which is the law of the land in the business world. Although it is far more glamorous to cite Oakland's famous rule about needing to walk once every 10 plate appearances to get promoted in the minors, the truth is that Billy Beane's mindset for finding value is not nearly so easily pigeonholed. Witness the signing of Frank Thomas at a bargain-basement rate last year. Or even the riskier moves of adding Esteban Loaiza and Jason Kendall. Neither of the latter two might have worked out as well as hoped, but the point is that neither fits the common perception of what Moneyball is. Plain and simple, Beane thought he was getting good value where others might have seen little.
I do not advocate that specific players get signed, extended, traded, released or whatever. That falls well out of the parameters of a beat reporter's duty. But I can say, as per your suggestion, that the Pirates as an organization would benefit immensely from taking much more of the buy-low approach.
Here is an example ...
In Cleveland -- which, in my opinion, has offered a superior model to Oakland's for a few years now -- the Indians' excellent GM, Mark Shapiro, has taken to identifying players early in their first three years of experience and extending their contracts all the way through arbitration, meaning all six years before they can become free agents. And he does it pretty much across the board, at least once he and his staff are confident that player will contribute -- at the least -- to being a regular contributor.
Sure, you wind up paying a little more to a guy here or there. But the overall savings in terms of arbitration payouts creates real and meaningful payroll savings.
The Pirates, in stark contrast, tend to wait until a player has achieved his peak level, seeking on-paper and in-your-face proof rather than -- as the Indians do -- trusting less tangible methods of evaluation. As a result, they might end up paying quite a bit more to their players through arbitration than the Indians do. (No firm comparison can be made because, unlike in Cleveland, no one can say right now what LaRoche or Freddy Sanchez or any number of these young starting pitchers will end up making.)
Q: Dejan, when are the Pirates going to wise up and find a full-time position for Ryan Doumit?
Paul Morris of Cleveland, Ohio
KOVACEVIC: Hard to say, Paul, after seeing him benched again Tuesday night. But one must remember we have yet to hit the one-year anniversary of this mess sorting itself out last year.
Until tomorrow ...
First Published May 9, 2007 5:31 pm
