"Official Pittsburgh Pirates ARE Going to the Playoffs Thread"

get excited Cash....

 

I don't know if it will help unless God is a Pirates fan. I figure he mainly cheers for the Angels.

 

If they get Upton they're in good shape.

 

Wonder who they give up.

 

Just saw that. Not bad.

 

You excited Cash?

 

The Pirates have acquired left-handed starter Wandy Rodriguez from the Astros in exchange for minor leaguers Rudy Owens, Robbie Grossman, and Colton Cain.

The Astros will also pay some of the remaining salary owed to Rodriguez at least through 2013 and perhaps through 2014, as the club option for that year became a player option when Rodriguez was traded, per a stipulation in his contract. The Astros' yearly contributions to Rodriguez's salaries break down as such: $1.7MM in 2012, $8.5MM in 2013, and potentially $7.5MM in 2014.

 

I really like the trade for the Pirates, not just this year. But the next couple. They need to get a bat though if they really want to compete this year.

 

If the change of scenery gets his head cleared, its a nice gamble, if not, its the same frustration that TOR had....high upside for sure.

 

I'll give you that one.

 

Ummm no. You can't compare teams from different leagues/divisions simply on W/L records. After last night's games the Rangers are 61 and 43 and the Pirates are 60 and 44. They look similar obviously so one could assume yeah they're nearly equal. But wait.....

The Rangers have a +80 run differential while the Pirates have a +36. The Rangers have scored 102 more runs (although their pitching has given up 58 more runs). And that's not even getting into the quality of the leagues and divisions both teams play in or the overall quality of the team. Still think they're equal?

The Rangers' offense as a team rank 1st in runs, 1st in hits, 7th in HRs, 1st in AVG, 2nd in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 2nd in OPS
The Pirates' offense as a team rank 22nd in runs, 28th in hits, 10th in HRs, 23 in AVG, 28th in OBP, 14th in SLG and 21st in OPS
The Rangers' pitching as a team rank 15th in ERA, 16th in runs allowed*, 14th in Ks, 11th in BAA, 7th in WHIP, 6th in K/BB, and 12 in K/9
The Pirates' pitching as a team rank 6th in ERA, 27th in runs allowed*, 19th in Ks, 8th in BAA, 11th in WHIP, 17th in K/BB and 18th in K/9
*note that you want to have a number closer to 30 in this stat*

So in a nutshell the Rangers offense has been one of the best, if not the best, in baseball and are much better than the Pirates offense and while the Pirates pitching is better than the Rangers, the gap isn't nearly as far as it is in the offensive stats.

PLEASE also note this isn't a post hating on the Pirates, I'm rooting for them to make the playoffs as it would be great for the game to see teams like them, Washington, Oakland and the Dodgers make the playoffs but they're just simply not in the Rangers terrority in terms of the quality of their overall team nor the toughness of their schedule. The fact that the NL Central has the 2 worst teams in baseball (Cubs and Astros) where the Pirates are a combined 15 and 5 against those teams and another team under .500 in the Brewers where they went 3 and 3 against them to beef up their record of 18 and 8 against teams under .500 in their division while going a combined 9 and 8 against the Reds and Cardinals is why Pirates' record is so good. Now you have to beat the teams you play and the Pirates are fortunate to be able to beat up on those bad teams so that's not a knock on them by any means, however the Rangers have do play better teams in both their league and division (every team in their division has a positive run differential granted Seattle is under .500 and are at a +3).

Again you simply can't judge the two teams the same just in record alone. If the Pirates were in the AL West I don't think they would have the same record they do, while if the Rangers were in the NL Central, I think they would have a better record because they would be able to face the Cubs and Astros. Granted in SSS of interleague play this year the Pirates went 9 and 7 against the Tigers (6 games), Royals, Orioles, Indians and Twins while the Rangers went 14 and 4 against the Astros (6 games), Giants, Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies.

So no I don't think the Pirates are in the Rangers' terrority, but does that really matter if the Pirates make the playoffs? Just get in, that's the hard part. Comparing the two teams is silly though.

 

If you get back and read this Finkle, since you mentioned the Nats, what do you think of them shutting their best pitcher down when they have a chance to come out of the NL?

Also yes Rangers > Pirates. Though not by as much as those stats would indicate.

 

Hard to say to be honest with you without knowing about Strasburg's medicals and background information. Perhaps the doctors advised the team he shouldn't pitch more than X amount or they risk him re-injuring himself so soon after his surgery.

I think what you will see is the team either skipping one of his starts here and there, perhaps going with a 6 man rotation to ease the work loads for him and Zimmerman, or just shutting him down for 2 weeks at the start of September so he gets extra rest but has enough time to be ready for the post season.

It's a difficult decision for the franchise though but as fans we don't know what inside information the team has so it's tough to say what the right decision is. But without knowing anything I'd say they shut him down for 2 or 3 weeks in mid to late August and have him pitch 2 times at the end of September as tune ups.

 

I still had to give him credit, though. At the time when I said that, I thought the Pirates would tank. I didn't expect then to have the same record by August.

The Rangers are better but the Pirates don't suck like I thought they would.

 

That's fair. I don't think the Pirates suck either but I don't think their record matches the real quality of the team that they are. Like I said in my previous post, they really beefed up and padded their record against the bad teams in their division (granted those are teams they're suppose to beat). I don't think they have the same record if they were in any other division except possibly the AL Central. And again that's taking nothing away from them, I'm rooting for them but I wouldn't be shocked or surprised if they started to regress soon and missed the playoffs either. I think both the Reds and Cardinals have better teams overall than the Pirates and I think the Braves/Nationals take the other NL wild card spot. But again, I'm rooting for the Pirates to make the playoffs this year for sure, I'm just trying to be realistic.

 

It's also worth nothing that the Pirates' last series of the season is against Atlanta, not a team they have historically fared well against. They have a good shot at claiming one of the wild card spots but I don't see them winning the one game playoff against probably the East's runner up.

 

It's a one game series. Anything can happen.

 

I am rooting for them, just so this THREAD doesnt become "the boy who cried wolf" type scenario over and over each season....

 

Easy there, cliche guy.

 

Depends on who the other teams that made the playoffs were but yes probably simply because the Pirates offense isn't that good based on the fact that all their offensive stats rank in the bottom third of baseball and none of the Pirates starting pitchers outside of Burnett have that ace type shut down stuff.

Out of all the NL teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today I'd have to say the Pirates are the weakest team overall out of Washington, Cincinnati, San Francisco and Atlanta. So yes I would like to face the Pirates in the first round if I had a choice.

 

That's cold man.

 

They might not have a choice. I'm sure certain players refuse to suck but still do.