Pre-Spring Training Musings

Pitchers and catchers report to camp this Saturday and I am very excited about that. Even though the Pirates will most assuredly be just shy of mediocre, I cannot help but be filled with optimism. Even with a losing record (making it 17 consecutive losing seasons) looming, I am anxious to see how the season unfolds for the Pirate's players, in the majors and minors both. Can Nate McLouth produce as well as last year? Will Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny bounce back from horrid seasons? How will Pedro Alvarez perform? And of course, when will we see the Holy One, Andrew McCutchen, in Pittsburgh? Though a poor record seems inevitable, the answers to these questions could portend to how things will unfold for the Pirates in 2010 and beyond.

Every February I buy a baseball magazine or two. My primary focus is on Fantasy Baseball prep, but I can never resist picking up Athlon Sports magazine for its more general baseball season preview. Though they picked the Bucs to finish sixth this year, they did toss their name in when discussing who could be this year's surprise team, like Tampa was last year and Colorado and Detroit were the previous two years. Perhaps they wanted to pick the least likely team, you know, for shock value. Anyway, even after mentioning Pittsburgh they immediately recanted and said "Maybe in 2011." See that? Only two more years until the Pirates might be the team no one suspects will be good and that actually turns out to be good. Take that, haters.

Which Team is the Local Team, Part 2: I am determined to figure out the local team, or at least most commonly liked team, here in Bloomington. I plan to do this without asking anyone though. So anyway, I was at a store at the mall yesterday (though I won't say which one) and I noticed clothing for the following four MLB teams: Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Cardinals. We live pretty much in the center of those three cities, so perhaps the loyalties of the locals are evenly divided, and this particular store wants to appeal to as many customers as possible with their little bear outfits.

Another sign I spotted was the cover of the aforementioned Athlon baseball magazine. While living in the Bay Area, this magazine always featured A's and Giants players on the cover, so I assumed the covers varied based on the different geographical regions. This particular issue, bought here in Bloomington, featured Derrek Lee of the Cubs and Carlos Quentin of the White Sox on the cover. Either that means the locals here root for the Chicago teams, or the makers of Athlon Sports assume they do. This does put the Chicago teams in the lead, followed closely by the Reds. The Cardinals are a distant fourth at this point.

McLouth v. The Pittsburgh Pirates: Nate McLouth's arbitration hearing is scheduled for February 17th, which is but one week away. I'm sure both sides have been trying to come to an agreement, but with each passing day the odds diminish that a contract will be agreed to without the need for the hearing. To compare to Dioner Navarro, catcher for Tampa, and his recently decided case seems a little inapt, but here goes. Navarro just lost his case and he will make $2.1 million this season. He had asked for $2.5 million. Navarro has been in the league for parts of 5 seasons and has spent the last two as Tampa's starting catcher. He also was selected to his very first All-Star game last season. Nate McLouth has been in the league for parts of 4 seasons and has really only been a starter, save a couple of months in '07, for one season, in which he was also an All-Star. McLouth did have a much more impressive season in '08 than Navarro, but Navarro plays at a more difficult position and his team reached the World Series last year. But a panel of arbitrators did not feel that Navarro was worth two and a half million dollars. Well, McLouth has asked for $3.8 million, with the team countering at $2.75 million. Once again, I do realize that McLouth's statistics far exceed those of Navarro, but Navarro's experience, position and team success make me think McLouth's asking price is a bit high for the arbitrators. Hopefully the Pirates and McLouth will settle. If they do not, I would expect the decision to favor Pittsburgh.