NOW, where are the critics? Pirates get out of the cellar - play .500 ball 2nd half

#11

10-03-2006, 02:13 PM

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Posts: n/a

NOW, where are the critics? Pirates get out of the cellar - play .500 ball 2nd half -

jmpgh2002 wrote:

Quote:

If people expect ANY player to hit .343, they will be disappointed. I doubt that anyone expects Sanchez to attain that bA again...ever. That said, he can play SS or 2B and hit better than your typical MI. If they put him at one of those positions, it would be a step in the right direction.

This is true, but only to a certain extent. Often overlooked in the
discussion of Sanchez is the fact that he is NOT one of the young
players. He turns 29 in December and just had his career year... so
while they would be wise to play him in the MI and would get decent
production out of him for a couple years...

If they throw a ton of cash at him and make a long term commitment
they'll be making the same mistake they make with Jack Wilson and Kevin
Young - overpaying for a replaceable talent based on one season's
output.

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Yeah, they WERE bad, until after the ALL-Star game. They then attained mediocrity, which may be enough in their division.

That assumes the rest of the division stands pat and does nothing to
improve, which is highly unlikely.

Quote:

It made me feel better that they played above .500 after the All-Star game. That wasn't random...they made changes like playing Nady and NOT playing Burnitz. Duffy came back and turned his season and perhaps his career around.

The expression damning with faint praise pops to mind. Sure he came
back and played better in September, how could he not have? At the end
though he still finished with a .317 on base percentage and exhibited
the same weakness he always has. Even during his best stretch he was
still an undisciplined hitter, walking fewer than once ever ten plate
appearances, striking out three times as often as he walked and
deriving nearly all his value from batting average.

If the Pirates start 2007 with Duffy or McLouth in center field and the
lead off spot, they've already dug themselves a big hole.

Quote:

The piching rotation changed. The bullpen was solid.

The 4.07 staff ERA they posted after the ASB was certainly better, but
even if they could keep that up over a season (which is unlikely) it's
still not going to get them closer to being competitive if it's
supported by the major's worst offense that was present during the same
period.

There are teams in the playoffs this year with higher ERA than the
Pirates' and ones with lower number than the Pirates' second half
effort that didn't make it ... offense continues to be the biggest
shortcoming of the team.

#12

10-03-2006, 03:39 PM

20 Car

Junior Member

Join Date: Oct 2004

Posts: 458

NOW, where are the critics? Pirates get out of the cellar - play .500 ball 2nd half

If you insist on taking favorable portions of a season to make your point,
then how about losing 8 games in a row towards the end of the season? Their
best stretch over a long period is .500!

"CandyFan" <candyfan@earthlink.com> wrote in message
news:au11i2tor6dr3stolot3cnr8pncolmlg62@4ax.com...

Quote:

Maybe the critics were right, these young Pirates aren't major league material. They were too old - played too long in the minors and They weren't the right kind of players and They couldn't do this and couldn't do that and They would never win with this team and, and and, ad

nausem............................................ ..........................
............

Quote:

Geeze, maybe they were wrong and maybe they'll continue to be wrong? Nah, go back to sleep. CF-

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