Pittsburgh Pirates: Views And News From Around The National League Central
By Larry Snyder
The cold winter winds continue to blow up and down the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. Yet, the fans of Burgh Ball can look forward to the first vestige of spring as Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers and catchers have their first official workout Thursday, Feb. 19 in Bradenton.
Coming up after a Black and Gold intrasquad contest Monday, March 2, the Bucs set sail for their first Spring Training contest Wednesday, March 4 at McKechnie Field against the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 p.m.
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It is time to brew a fresh pot of coffee, warm up by the fire, and inspect the National League Central Division to see what the Buc’s opponents are up to with Spring Training about ready to commence on the Cactus and Grapefruit circuits.
Jacob R. Miesener over at Cubbies Crib reports that the future looks even brighter at Wrigley Field as the team has seven young players in Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101.
The Blog Red Machine‘s Matt Wilkes examines the one year, $1 million contract that Cincy gave right-hander Burke Badenhop to bolster their bullpen.
Along the shore of Lake Michigan, Reviewing The Brew‘s Pete Schwichtenberg believes that it is time for Milwaukee to part ways with right-handed pitcher Francisco Rodriguez.
Rolling down the Mississippi River, Joseph Schneider at Redbird Rants points out that the Cardinals avoided salary arbitration with outfielder Jon Jay by agreeing on a two year deal worth $10.975 million.
Time to climb the riggings for the main mast of the Jolly Roger to get a good view at what people are saying about Clint Hurdle’s crew this week.
At the top of the order is Rumbunter‘s Jason Rollison, who takes a look at the outfield talent of the Miami Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna, and how it compares to the Pirates’ trio of Andrew McCutchen, Gregory Polanco, and Starling Marte.
The crew at Forbes To Federal survey the NL Central to see the breakdown of MLB’s Top 100 Prospects on each team.
Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects runs down his list of the Pirates Top 20 prospects with links to up-to-date biography information, grades, and risk evaluations for every player.
Checking in on the Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke? blog, Pat Lackey previews Gregory Polanco for 2015 in fewer than 500 words.
From Bucs Dugout on SB Nation, Charlie Wilmoth answers reader’s questions including “When will Jameson Taillon debut?”
That concludes this session Pirates fans. We will gaze through the spyglass again next week to view what is going on around the National League Central.