This is the Post Where I Tell All of the Yinzers to Suck It.

Today the Pirates traded two 31-year-old guys and a pitcher that the team and the fans didn't want for five prospects. This is the day there was no more kidding yourself. The Pirates are rebuilding. No more half-assed rebuilding effort. Neal Huntington is tearing this house to the ground. No more small trades for the Yankees and Red Sox middle of the road prospects. No more signing washed-up free agents to one-year deals. This thing is getting built from the ground up, and it's beautiful.

Yet, when I logged on to Facebook today I read this,

"The Red Sox do not sell out 500 consecutive home games with joe schmos in their lineup. The Bucs will be amused by there attendance now with Joe Schmo #1-9 in the lineup. For those who say it was a good move, not buying it. Show me what the Bucs farm systems have produced over the last 17 years. If they have produced someone tell me what team they are on now, it is surely not the pirates."

Should I mention that the person who wrote that played Division II ball?

Would you like to hear what some Giants fans have to say about the Sanchez trade on the chat boards on the San Francisco Chronicle?

Okay here we go...

"Management is losing credibility. First they tell us that they are going to rebuild the team by the draft and then they go back to their old ways of trading off the better prospects."

Sound familiar?

Here are some names Neal Huntington has added to the Pirates and it's farm system in the last year.

Garrett Jones- Maybe you've heard of him

Alderson- 20-year-old A- pitching prospect, projected to be top of rotation guy.

Jeff Clement- 25-year-old 1b. Top 5 pick in 2005.

Tabata - hitting .301

Alvarez - has hit 20 home runs so far in the minors this year.

Tony Sanchez - hitting in the .340 range in low single A

Hunter Strickland- combined for a no-hitter in his debut in the Bucs farm system

Already on the big club or have spent time there:

Ross Ohlendorf

Jeff Karstens

Charlie Morton

Andy LaRoche

Brandon Moss

Robinson Diaz

Delwyn Young
...And who can forget those Indian guys they found on a game show.

That's a lot better than what they had last year, which I believe you could sum up as Brad Lincoln, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, who isn't really that good. But, hey he's a local guy.

Well done, Mr. Hungtonton, well done. And to all of you Yinzer complainers... Suck it.

What? Really?

I stand before you, knee deep in the bullshit.

That's a line from Cheats, one of the funniest movies that nobody's really ever seen, I highly recommend you check it out.

Anyway, two things have been chapping my ass for a couple days now since it first came out, so here goes.

1. Terrelle Pryor was named the pre-season pick to be the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten. As my title says, "what, really"? Pryor's good, don't get me wrong, but he wasn't all that fantastic last year. I saw him completely dominate high school football here in Western PA, but his passing has always been suspect, and last years' numbers bear that.

He only completed 60% of his passes with a piddly yards/attempt of 7.95. He dinked and dunked to a veteran receiving corp that deserved better (I think OSU would have done better last year with Boeckman as the starter). His rushing numbers weren't even that great for a player of his talent.

So where's that leave him this year? Sure, he should be mentioned as a top candidate, his talent is ridiculous, but with losing his RB (Wells) to the draft and his goto WR's (Robiskie and Hartline), he's going to be more of the focus of opposing defenses. They'll gear up to stop him and he'll have to show he can beat them with his arm. Can he?

The homer in me says why not Clark for pre-season POY? I mean, he was the offensise POY last year and he's coming back, seems like a no brainer to me.

2. This here though, a "technicality" perhaps, always pisses me off, from the original P-G article:

"...whose Buckeyes also were selected as favorites to capture their fifth consecutive Big Ten championship."

Say what? Why? No, no, no, not that they were selected to win the Big Ten, which they always reload, but I think PSU gets em again this year and wins the Big Ten, but what's with this "consecutive" nonsense? Ohio State was mentioned a few years back as being "Co-Champs of the Big Ten" when PSU won in 2005 too. Why?

Last I checked, PSU beat them last year (and in the 2005 Championship season, that video is still goosebump city for a PSU fan) and finished ahead of them in the Big Ten (due to that head to head win), even getting the automatic BCS birth.

So enough with the "consecutive" and "co-champ" garbage already.

Let's Go Camping

Well, it's that time that yinzers, and otherwise normally sane people, look forward to each summer, Steelers' Training Camp. I'm usually the type that ho-hums it, as I still follow the Pirates very closely, but this year, coming off a Super Bowl and with our team essentially in tact, lends to a distinct and exciting buzz.

Camp officially begins as the players report this Friday, but each of our local papers tripped over themselves with coverage in their Sunday editions.

So a few links to satiate you all:

- Similar to what the Jesus spoke about the other day, the Steelers just can't seem to come into a camp, where they defend a Super Bowl that is, without distractions of some sort. Hopefully they learned from the screwups of 2006, but the Trib details here how 2006 was, and how they plan to avoid that from happening again.

The P-G also hopped on the "distraction wagon" with an article here.

- Tomlin plans to address the distractions and tackle them head on. I like that approach. That's better than the "elephant in the room" approach taken last time.

- Here's the Trib's breakdown of all 32 NFL teams and their issues etc heading into camp. The Steelers are on the top of the list, so that you don't have to waste your time looking at other teams if you don't want.

- The P-G blog has dates and times listed for those of you going out to Latrobe. I think that the archery shoot is during the second week and the craft show, with popsicle stick birdhouses, the following week.

While you're out there, put in a word to get this back to locally brewed, ya know, since their damn slogan contains the word "Latrobe" in it.

Otherwise, now's the time to buckle up. Six months of in depth, interesting, needless and pointless, and sometimes just too damn much Steelers' coverage gets underway.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Now with 50% less LaRoche

Note: I wrote this Wednesday night and forgot to post it.

A great performance by the Pirates got overshadowed by the trade of another starter Wednesday. Brandon Moss hit a walk-off, McCutchen hit his third, Doumit went yard twice, and Garrett Jones hit his 73rd home run of the season.

But the big story was Adam LaRoche getting called up to the GM's office to be told he's joining Jason Bay in Boston. LaRoche's legacy in Pittsburgh will be that he never fulfilled expectations. He spent years in a ballpark custom made for left-handed power hitters and didn't do a whole lot with the opportunity. Even LaRoche said he wished he could have done more.

But, he did come down to the dugout to watch Moss hit his walk-off. Prince Fielder made sure to stoke my hatred of the Brewers by saying if it had been him that was traded he would have been gone. I like how he and the Brewers act like they've won eight-straight world series. Didn't they limp into the playoffs last year only to lose the series? Didn't they just lose two out of three to a team they seem to look down on so much? (By the way the Bucs have just taken two straight series from two playoff contender.)

And let me add this, If I'm a mid-level free agent in the upcoming off season and I'm not getting any bites from contenders I'm having my agent call the Pirates. Because the way Neal Huntington is making deals if you have a decent year, you're ending up on a contender by July. So far only Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett have gotten the shaft by being traded to the Nationals. This season and last the Pirates have sent three players to the Yanks, Two guys to the Red Sox, and one guy to the Braves.

Steeler Nation Snakebitten

I've been waiting for about a week to use that picture and this seemed as appropriate a time as any.

A lot is going on with the Roethlisberger lawsuit, and it was just the first full day it was out.
So to recap.

-Woman says Ben faked some tv troubles then assaulted her.

-TMZ says woman may have some issues, considering co-workers say she once fell in love with a guy that never existed. (Utah already wrapped that one up.)

-She also says her bosses seemed to be a little gay for Roethlisberger which made her afraid to report the assault to police.

-KDKA's Jon Delano says she may have resorted to the civil suit because it's easier to win than a criminal case.

-Lynn Hayes Freeland has yinzer reaction. (I can't quite figure out how to link to it, but if you go to Delano's story you'll see it there.)

Now this is a sports blog so it's time to get way ahead of ourselves. You have to wonder what this does to the team. Just the other day I wrote that you have to think the Steelers have a good chance of repeating. This off season has been smooth sailing up until this point, unlike the summer after Super Bowl XL. How will Goodell react? He seems to take the wait and see approach. Look how he handled the Dante Stallworth business. He waited until the judge had his say, then he leveled his punishment. Does the fact that this is a civil suit and not a criminal one change the way Goodell would handle this if it goes to court and she wins? I don't think so. A black eye is a black eye. Now, if there is a settlement out of court, which some could perceive as an admission of guilt by Roethlisberger that's a different story. How would the commissioner handle that? How would the Steelers handle it? The Rooney's are very protective of the reputation of their golden goose known as the Steelers, but they've sunk a lot of money into Roethlisberger. But could a court win, or a settlement be enough to make them real happy about drafting Dennis Dixon last year? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

ESPN playing favorites?

NBC sports is questioning why ESPN won't report the Roethlisberger story, and came up with something interesting.

Big Ben Update

Well, according to TMZ, this woman may in fact be crazy, and not because of Roethlisberger.

Story here.

More Big Ben Takes

I woke up and saw the news this morning about the lawsuit.

It may get uglier before it gets better.

I saw a blog take on Yahoo that asked a pertinent question, but also raised one for me.

Here's the blog article.

My question is this: according to the lawsuit, Ben is "one of nine defendants listed".

Ok, but how does that jive with the situation described as "The suit alleges that Roethlisberger asked the woman into his room on the pretense that he needed help with the television, and then forced her to have sex with him."?

So there's "nine" involved with that scenario or just one? I don't know. I guess we shall have to see and stay tuned. I'm sure that the Smoking Gun will have the entire complaint up sometime today or tomorrow.

The Yahoo blog author asks a very good question though:

"First, why only file the lawsuit now when the alleged incident happened a year ago? And second, why were there never any criminal charges? Why only a civil suit?"

I'm no expert in sexual assault cases, although I've seen my share of Lifetime movies, but I would assume that in these situations, a criminal complaint should be/would be filed very quickly (as to not lose evidence etc), and a civil complaint is only after a criminal complaint.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but (and I'm thinking of the OJ trial) isn't a civil complaint almost akin to just getting a money settlement in return and no jailtime for the guilty?

Big Ben Sued

A woman from Northern Nevada has sued Roethlisberger. Here's the Associated Press report.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a woman in Nevada.
According to online court records, a defamation lawsuit was filed in Washoe County on Friday. Andrea McNulty is listed as the plaintiff.
Roethlisberger's attorney released a statement to several media outlets Monday night saying the two-time Super Bowl winner was accused of sexual assault in the lawsuit by McNulty. Atlanta-based attorney David Cornwell denied Roethlisberger sexually assaulted McNulty.
Details of the suit were not available late Monday night.
Roethlisberger is one of nine defendants listed in the online court docket report.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Don't worry Pittsburgh, folk. You'll be hearing plenty about this on your local news. I have it on good authority that KDKA is sending Harold Hayes (Harold sent me text tonight asking me where in the hell Washoe county is) to Reno in the morning to get to the bottom of this.

My early and highly uneducated guess is that this suit will bounce off Ben like he bounced off of that windshield in front of the 10th Street Bridge. Does that picture look like a man who would sexually assault a woman?

It's Finally Over

The Pirates finally beat the Brewers. And of course the Brew Crew was very classy about it when they plunked Jeff Karstens. You see Karstens hit Ryan Braun after he hot dogged it after a homer earlier this year. And Braun has been acting like he has sand in his vagina ever since. He even told on the Bucs to the commissioner. Because you see, the Pirates are just a bunch of big bullies and they must be stopped. God, I hate the Brewers. Just reading the PG article made me mad. Look at that picture of Kendall. What a dick! He looks like the scrawny guy at the bar that picks a fight and then has the big guy in his group hold him back, while he pretends like he wants his buddy to let him go, but he doesn't. Kendall was probably afraid that Jack Wilson would bite him with his snaggle tooth. Or that the LaRoche brothers would act like the Rougeau brothers and kick his ass.

My Conspiracy Theory

MLB.com reports that Sanchez and Wilson rejected the Pirates semi-homoerotic offer for them both to sign extensions (although that story has mysteriously disappeared from MLB.com, but trust me it was there earlier). Post Gazette says the Pirates pulled it back because of a lack of counter offers. But, the plot thickens... Wilson now says they were never given a chance to make counter offers, and were told the deals were take it or leave it. And now Huntington says the door is still open. Huh? If this post is confusing it's because I'm confused. And besides I thought the deal was fishy from the start. Why would a team that is looking to add prospects any way it can, want to keep the guy who can get them the most right now in Sanchez? I think the Pirates made the offer and made it public to get the fans off their back. I think they knew damn well Wilson and Sanchez would reject the deal. But now they can say, "See we tried to sign them they turned us down. Now we have to trade them." Plus, the deal would have voided Sanchez's big raise if he had signed it. Besides, who says even if they would have signed either guy would have then been un-tradeable (if that is that a word)?

But of course if I have thought of it, so has Neal Huntington.

Huntington also took umbrage -- again -- at the notion that the Pirates made the offers as a public-relations maneuver.
"There's only one good outcome for us in the PR sense, and that's if both players sign. For us to take a PR beating to make offers that weren't genuine wouldn't be a smart move. We made these offers with the understanding that we wanted these players to stay here. The first offer has expired. But, as long as they're Pirates, we'll be open to considering keeping them."

Taking a Look at the Futures

No, that's not a typo. I stopped at a casino yesterday and picked up some futures sheets. Specifically, college football and NFL. Before we get started I want to be clear that I grabbed them from the Silverton Casino which uses a sports and race book called Leroy's that can be found around Nevada. Kind of like a McDonald's franchised for gambling degenerates' pleasure. If you look around at other casinos you could find different odds. Let's start with college football.

Leroy's has PSU at 25/1. I think that's fair considering if we learned anything from last year's Rose Bowl, it's that the Lions are still a bit behind the big boys. Beating some SEC or Big 12 powerhouses might be out of their range, then again maybe its not. But what raises some questions straight from a football stand point is that Notre Dame is also listed at 25/1. PSU and ND on the same level? Nope, that's where the gambling comes into play. You see, almost any Notre Dame fan that is still waiting for Charlie Weiss' recruiting mastery to kick in will bet on the Irish to win it all anytime they come to Vegas. You know this, I know this, the Vegas odds makers know this. So the key is to place the odds just right so those guys will throw the money down, but the books won't take a bath if somehow Jimmy Claussen turns into Joe Montana this year. Other odds of note: Florida is the favorite at 2/1, Sooners get 4/1, Texas & USC 5/1, Ohio State 10/1, Pitt 50/1, the field 25/1 that's right you can pick Temple and get better odds than picking Pitt.

On to the NFL, no real surprises here. Pats are the favorites at 9/2 followed by the Steelers 6/1, Giants have the same odds, followed by the Colts 8/1 and the Cowboys at 10/1. Never mind that the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in a decade, and just lost their best receiver. Pats are 2/1 to win the AFC, Steelers are 5/2. If you're looking to throw some money at something may I suggest Vikings 2/1 to win the NFC or 5/1 to win the Super Bowl before Favre signs up and those odds shrink.

Personally, I hate that the Pats are the favorite just because Brady is back. I know I shouldn't run my mouth before the season starts, but that defense was looking a little old last year. And the Giants exposed that O-Line in the Super Bowl two years ago, and the Steelers tore it up when they played in New England last year. I know I'm biased, but I think the Steelers have a much better at repeating than they did after Super Bowl XL. Other than that I think it's wide open this year.

So gentleman, place your bets. Or don't.

Jack Hearts Freddy 4 Ever

So this came out of, no pun intended, left field.

The Pirates, who have been in trade-mode all month, have offered multi-year contract extensions to Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez.

"The Pirates have approached shortstop Jack Wilson and second baseman Freddy Sanchez about multiyear contract extensions, putting on hold, for now, the possibility that either will be traded by Major League Baseball's July 31 deadline."

But wait, like that special offer from an infomercial, there's a catch:

"If the parties are to agree on extensions, they will need to do so far enough in advance of the deadline so that, if the Pirates decide no agreement is possible, they still can pursue a trade for one or both. That likely means something must get done within the next week to 10 days."

So where does that leave the situation? Obviously, the Pirates would love to trade both of them and get prospects to continue the rebuild. The problem is that there's nobody in the system to bring up or move around to replace them should they be gone.

There's no dollar amount listed, but I'm sure the Pirates are trying to save a bit of money per year by offering them term, more years on a contract.

Smizik, who's blogging has been excellent lately, has a detailed take here.

Oh, and as far as this post's title, do we have to read garbage like this?:

"Wilson and Sanchez are best friends to the point of being virtually inseparable, on and off the infield dirt."

""I'm very excited to possibly continue my career in Pittsburgh, to finish what I've started, and Freddy is going to be a vital piece of any decision I make," Wilson said last night"

""I want to finish my career turning double plays with Jack in a Pirates uniform," Sanchez said. "If it works out, it would be unbelievable. This is what we've been talking about for a long time.""

Vomit. This could be the biggest unintentional man crush since Rocky beat Apollo in the race on the beach. If only they'd bring back those shorts as a fashion statement.

To sum it up, adding this to the mix of usual July trade deadline rumors and deals, plus the Sano situation, and we've got a busy Pirate month ahead.

Smizik Hearts Paterno

At least for now. The cranky one wrote about Joe in his new blog post(A blog post commenting on another blog post, we might be through the looking glass here, folks). Smizik loves the recruiting resurgence, and why not? Like Smizik says he's pulling a lot of guy's out from underneath Wannstadt's mustache in western PA. And with a recruiting pitch like this who could turn the old man down?

The Second Half is Ready to Roll...

Well, another AL win in the Mid-Summer Classic. Ho-hum. Let's just get on with what looks to be yet another exciting late summer for Pirates baseball. Well, at least for us so-called Roto GMs, anyways. July 31st is one of my favorite days. It's the culmination of all those wild rumors of who's going where for whom. And, as has been SOP in these parts for close to two decades now, the Bucs are sellers. Good. Let's sell. So, who's first up for bids?

Freddy Sanchez: Hollywood is as good as gone. The only questions remaining are where and for whom. Jonathan Sanchez's name has been the most prominent and, no-hitter aside, the Giants would likely do an even swap here. Maybe it's because JS appears to be somewhat similar to another former Pirate southpaw - Oliver Perez. No, not the 2004 version. Well, maybe. Who knows? Sanchez has been as maddeningly frustrating to the Giants as Ollie was here. Neal Huntingdon will likely hold out for an additional prospect here, maybe throw a bit of cash or another player going SF's way. I simply don't see the Twins being serious players for Freddy. The Giants lead the wild-card and a bat like Freddy, even though the Giants are looking for power, would solidify a playoff spot. So, yes, I see some version of this deal getting done with the two Sanchezs' as the centerpieces. I see other players involved as well.

Adam LaRoche: He'll get dealt. However, it's been an unseasonably cool summer in the 'Burgh and that has translated to a similarly cool summer for LaRoche. He's yet to kick in, which simply means he'll fetch far less than anyone's hoping for. Hopefully, he'll go on a maddening tear the last 10-15 days of the month and someone - anyone - gives up a decent prospect for him.

Zach Duke: This would be a classic "sell high" scenario and, if NH is presented with a nice offer, should take it and run. With our $16 million middle infield set to be dismantled, it would also likely dismantle Duke's All-Star season as well. He's a pitch-to-contact guy. Decent control, slightly above-average stuff. Without Sanchez and, possibly JW, behind him, many of Duke's outs become hits. While many of you may disagree, this - like the McLouth deal - is the best time to deal Zach. He's also young and quite affordable, which should net us some intriguing offers.

John Grabow: Some team will pay to get our only decent reliever. A lefty is always a hot commodity and there are a number of teams that can use Grabow's services. The Angels come to mind here. They're in a tight race with surprising Texas (whom also will vie for Grabow's services) and, aside from Brian Fuentes, their bullpen has been one of the least productive in MLB. It wouldn't surprise me to see a bidding war between the Halos and Rangers and that's music to Huntington's ears. Where does that leave us without a quality lefty? Who cares? You didn't expect us to be in a pennant race, did you? Besides, in my opinion, the lefty-righty thing is overrated. If you can get guys out you can get guys out. Grabow gets them both out and that's what we'll lack in the short term. Donnie Veal's a lefty. Doesn't mean he can pitch, at least at the MLB level - yet.

Matt Capps: See my above opinion for my opinion on "closers". The most overrated, stat-generated position ever created. The Pirates need a closer? Since when? The last time the Bucs won anything, they had guys like Bill Landrum and Stan Belinda "closing" games, but it was more a bullpen-by-committee approach. Problem is, Capps simply isn't that good. Somehow, he still manages to hold a 13-game saves streak, the Philadelphia meltdown aside. And, he can hit 96 mph on the gun. So, here's hoping Capps can somehow run that streak to 17 or 18 games and we get him out of here. He'll generate interest, although it's doubtful teams will view him as a closer. Many teams seem to consider him a set-up man, a la J.J. Putz. Don't expect anywhere near the same return the Mariners got for Putz, though. Give me either an organization's top two or three prospect or two decent ones in the lower minors and I'll personally ship him out. No need to thank me here.

Jack Wilson: Personally, I don't see a JW deal, unless perhaps the Mariners come calling. I can also see Boston making a run at him. I like JW and it'd be nice to keep him around. Not much to say here that hasn't already been said by everyone. Depends on the return. Let's not forget: An injury to some team's SS in the next couple weeks could create a whole new market.

Honestly, aside from Andrew McCutchen, ANY Pirate could be dealt by the 31st, either July or August. That includes Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Brandon Moss...well, no, not Brandon Moss. I think NH's good, but he ain't THAT good.

Random thoughts...

Kudos to Garrett Jones. Pitchers will figure him out - they always do - but it's a nice run for the kid. Nice bat, surprising speed, great hustle. BTW, is it "Garrett" or "Garret"?

Neil Walker. Never heard of him...

I miss Nate McLouth's hair. Jason Michaels' too, for that matter. Although I kinda dig Cutch's locks. Personality.

I read a post on an outstanding Bucco message board regarding Jesse Chavez needing a bath. Too funny. I have thought the same thing. Or, maybe he was talking about Chavez's "filthy" stuff...nah.

Speaking of personality - I wish John Russell would get one.

Steelers training camp is just around the corner here in good ol' Latrobe. Since I'm 2 minutes from St. Vincent, it somehow just reminded me of how pissed off I get with all the traffic.

Oh well. Second half baseball. Drink up. You'll need to.