2010 Sports Predictions

It’s time again for my world famous sports predictions for coming year. Of my 2009 predictions some were on target, and some were close and some, well they just didn’t happen. For 2010 my visions are cloudy, but the Oracle of the Allegheny will be on the mark with these predictions.

England will win the World Cup.

I know England never does well at the World Cup, but this year the draw is set up perfectly for them. They have a fairly easy road to the Final.

Carolina Kostner will win Gold in Figure Skating

She’ll get good karma since she interviewed with us.



Sidney Crosby will be at the center of controversy in Vancouver.

I don’t know what yet, but something is will happen

No Undeafeated Teams from non-BCS Conferences.

2009 was the year of the little guy, next year their will be no surprise runs for the likes of TCU, Boise, etc.

Paula Creamer will win 2010 US Women’s Open at Oakmont

I might even go to see it live.

Tiger Woods will play in 2010

He’ll be back for better or worse.



Victoria Azarenka will become the top tennis star in the world.

Simple as that.

Bob Nutting will Sale the Pirates.

If only one of these predictions comes true, pray that it’s this one.



Lions make the NFL Playoffs

Correct, that’s the Detroit Lions, by the time the calendar flips to 2011, the Lions will have a playoff birth wrapped up.

Happy New Year from RizzoSports.com

Pirates to call Neil Walker?

Neil Walker could be only days away from his MLB debut. Easily the most heralded Pirate in more than a decade Walker has started the season strong in “AAA” Indianapolis. He also creates an added interest and marketability since he grew up in close by in Pine-Richland. Since the Pirates moved him from catcher to third base, he has improved his defense dramatically. The current third base situation is less then ideal. Andy LaRoche has yet to get a hit in 14 at bats, and Ramon Vazquez is a career .257 hitter as a utility player. Walker currently leads his triple-A team in hitting. Walker has been in the minor leagues since 2004, including over a full year in at the triple-A level. His defense is solid enough that the Pirates should bring him to Pittsburgh now, they have nothing to lose.

2009 Pittsburgh Pirates Season Preview.

2008: W-L (67-95)
2008 Attendance: 1,609,076

Acquisitions:
Eric Hinske (TB) - IF/OF
Ramon Vasquez (Tex) - IF
Craig Monroe (Min) - OF

Gone from 2008
Jason Michaels - OF
Doug Mientkiewicz - 1B
Luis Rivas - IF
Chris Gomez - IF

The Pirates have finished 67-95 in three out of the the four seasons. With no free agent acquisitions of note, the 2009 Pirates are clearly looking to build with in. Here is what the Bucco Experts predict for the 2009 Season.

Matt - Pittsburgh Lumber Co. - 72-90
Jim - Sportocacy - 70-92, not a game better
Brian - Raise the Jolly Roger - 71-91
Nick - Pgh Sports & Mini Ponies - 82-80
Pat - WHYGAS - 65-97
Sean - Sean's Ramblings - 76-86
Jesse Behr - TheBurghBlues - 81-81

RizzoSports.com - 70-92 - I just don't think they have right people in place to do anything better.

Here are 5 questions for the season:

1. The Losing Record - The Pirates have a chance to set professional sports history with a 17 consecutive losing season.

2. Encore - Will Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, and Paul Maholm improve on last year's season? Recent Bucco History says no. Don't forget the Pirates reinvested their Bay/Nady/Marte money in contract extensions for this group.

3. Where are the Young Guys? - How long until we see Neil Walker, and Andrew McCutchen.

4. Coaching / Front Office - Joe Kerrigan is the new pitching coach, but John Russell and Neal Huntington have been here long enough that they can't blame anyone but themselves. I like to point out that Huntington was demoted in Cleveland and John Russell was fired by the Pirates as Third Base Coach. The simple point is if Pittsburgh is going to be a wining team, they'll need an above average front office and manager.

5. We'll they come - The biggest star the Pirates have is the stadium tax payers in Western PA built for them. However given the down economy and team that could lose 100 games, attendance could be a lot lower than last year's 1,609,076.

Pirates Start Spring Training

The Pirates made only one significant off-season personnel move by bringing 3B/OF Eric Hinske from Tampa Bay. Spring Training should at the very least be interesting. Really no player from last year’s 67-95 team is much of a proven commodity. Position battles should be plentiful, and the search for a major league caliber pitcher is always fun to watch. The Pirates should give some young guys like Andrew McCuthen and Neil Walker an extended look. Last year, when the Bucs gave away, I mean traded away their two best hitters, they received a handful of players. Will any of those players make the opening day starting line-up? At the very least it means warmer weather is not far away.

2009 Sports Predictions

Here are my soon to be famous 2009 Sports Predictions. Last year's predictions proved I was no "Oracle of the Allegheny", but I did correctly predict no Super Trophy for New England and winning ND season.



With much fanfare here they are:

- The Pirates will fire John Russell.

- Inter Milan will win the Champions League.


- The Yankees will make the World Series.

- The Big East will place 3 teams in the Final Four.

- Pitt will finish next season with a better record than PSU.


- Jelena Jankovic will win her first tennis major.

- Tiger will not win a golf major.

Sorry Pens Fans, I currently have no clear thoughts on the team's future.

Hugo Bezdek

Only Man To Be NFL Head CoachAnd MLB Manager Check this resume’ for a man who wasn’t even born in this country. Major League Baseball Scout, Pittsburgh Pirates. Major League Baseball Manager, Pittsburgh Pirates. NFL Head Football Coach, Cleveland Rams. College Football Head Coach, 124-54-16 record. Member of the College Football Hall Of Fame.

His name is Hugo Bezdek and he holds the distinction of being the only man ever to have served as both manager of a MLB team and head coach in the NFL. Bezdek, a native of Prague/Czech Republic, played fullback at the University of Chicago for Amos Alonzo Stagg and was third team All-America in 1905. He also played second base on the college baseball team.

As a college football coach, he had two undefeated seasons and a Rose Bowl victory. His players looked forward to game competition, considering his practice sessions a lot tougher. Bezdek was 68 when he passed away in 1952. I’ll bet you never even heard his name mentioned before reading this article.

I pulled this article from Bob Tatran's site www.dribblebob.com - There are many great stories like this one and strongly incourage you to check them out.

2008 Pittsburgh Pirates Season Recap

W-L
67-95 (68-94 - 07’)

Starting with the most important measure – wins. The Pirates won only 67 games this season, one less than in 2007. The previous two seasons they won 67 games a piece, so over the last four years, the only thing you can say about the Bucccos is they’re consistently bad. They also finished dead last in the NL central for the second consecutive season.

Attendance
1,609,076 (1,749,142 -07)

The Pirates end the season averaging less than 20k per game (19,865), for only the second time in PNC Park history. This is a direct result of losing, but don’t worry the organization is probably still making a profit.

Team Hitting - (NL Rank / 07)Runs – 755 (9 of 16 / 724)
BA. – .258 (9 of 16 / .263)
HRs – 153 (9 of 16 / 148)
OPS – .723 (13 of 16 / .736)
SBs – 57 (15 of 16 / 68)
K’s – 1039 (12 of 16 / 1135)

The hitting stats for the Pirates aren’t horrible, but led by Bay and Nady better numbers came during the first half. One positive is they cut their strikeouts by 9%. The bottom line is they don’t rank in the top half of the NL for any of these offensive categories.

Team Pitching - (NL Rank / 07)
ERA – 5.08 (16 of 16 / 4.93 )
K’s – 963 (15 of 16 / 997)
BAA – .286 (16 of 16 / .288)

The team ERA is easily the worst in baseball, that’s really all we need to say about the pitching. Statistically speaking the Bucs had the worst staff in the NL.

Positional Breakdowns (games)

1B: B- (LaRoche -129)

Adam LaRoche was a mainstay for the Pirates at first, he finished strong but started the season slow again. He rounds out to an average 1B, and his OPS did improve this season up to .841.

2B: C- (Sanchez – 131)

Freddy Sanchez doesn’t have superior range, so he needs to have a higher OBP, his was .298. Also he only had 52 RBI’s which is low for him.

SS: F (Wilson – 80)

Wilson spent a lot of time on the DL and the Bucs lacked a creditable sub. Jack didn’t have a bad year hitting .273, but his replacements we’re neither good in the field or at the plate. Pittsburgh shortstops combined for only 42 RBI’s and a .294 OBP.

3B: D- (Bautista – 81, LaRoche – 45)

Pirate third basemen combined only had 15 HR’s, 65 RBI’s, and 230 something BA, which very poor for this position. Pittsburgh got rid of Bautista and his .739 OPS and basically replaced him Andy LaRoche .462. OPS. Not to mention Andy’s pedestrian .155 BA.

LF: B (Bay -105)

I would rate this as Bay – A, Others – D. Bay had a great start and he helped lead the Pirates 1st half offense. They traded away their best player of the decade, and since trade their LF’s have been below average. However Morgan did play well there in the final weeks.

RF: B (Nady – 82)

This was Pittsburgh’s best offensive position with a combined .905 OPS.
This category is again could be broken up Nady – A after Nady - C-. Nady started out as good as anyone could have expected, and increased his trade value.

CF: B+ (McLouth – 148)

Nate McLouth gets the highest grade on the team, not only because the he led the Bucs in just about every offensive category, but he also was major surprise. Far better than expected, hitting 26 HR’s and stealing 23 bases. His defense however was below average, and in my off-season outlook, I’m going to strongly suggest he moves to left.

C: B (Dommit - 103)

Led by Dommit who caught 103 games, the Pirates got decent production behind the plate. Ryan improved his hitting and fielding this year, giving the Bucs an above average power hitter for the position. However the failure of Ronny Paulino was a major setback.

SP: – F

Worst starting pitching in the NL, what else can you say. Pirate pitchers are notorious for taking steps backwards.

Duke – D At least his ERA dropped to under 5.00
Snell – D Grossly exceeded worst case senerio for him, his ERA went up almost 2 points. Maholm – B+ Good season over 200 IP, and exceed expectations.
Gorzelanny – F One the biggest steps backwards in Pirates history, and that’s saying something
#5 – F If those are your first four, your number 5, well probably should be in the minors.

RP – D

Not much to say here, either. Matt Capps of was a disappointment, and was injury much of the season. John Grabow was the pen’s lone bright spot.

Manager - D

John Russell in his first season as a manager, show very little. Including a lack of emotion, on the field. There were much better choices out there for a new manager. He is clearly not an elite manager, and I highly doubt he would be sought after for a manager position should the Pirates let him go.

Front Office - D

I’m not sure how true those rumors are that Cleveland could care less he left their organization, but after seeing the moves Huntington made this season it’s certainly believable. Most people expected the team to be in better future shape then the way they finished 08. Most people liked the draft, but time will tell.

Trades

Nady, Marte for Tabata – OF & McCutchen, Karstens, Ohlendorf – P

This trade could end up working out well for the Pirates. The key will probably be Tabata, who had an OPS over .900 in his time in Altoona. McCutchen still has some time to prove his worth as well.

Bay for LaRoche – 3b, & Hansen, Morris – P

In a trade the Red Sox absolutely had to make, the Pirates looked like they got burnt. I could have told you LaRoche was a K machine. The pitches will have to turn into something or stack this one up there with some of Littlefield’s finest.

Overall 2008 Pirates’ Grade - F

Final Thoughts

As I’ve said recently, by every measure of success this team / organization have failed. After making major front office and personal changes the Pirates still finished this season in last place, with no true signs of overall improvement. Many can argue the future outlook heading into the off-season is as bleak this year as it was last year. Bob Nutting must be stopped!!!

Other Notes

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08274/916097-63.stm - The PGH Post had a similar style article, which I saw after I wrote mine, so I didn’t cheat.

Side note: I was also disappointed in the Pirates’ choice of bobble heads this season, though the all you can eat seats seemed to be a hit. Their take-over of the Outback also seemed like a good move.

I’ll be doing an off-season preview, where I’ll discuss the future of each position. Hopefully that will be done in the next week, so keep checking back for it.

Oh and feel free to post you’re thoughts about the 2008 Bucco season.

Pirates Tie Losing Record

82

Loss # 82 yesterday to the San Francisco Giants, gave the Pirates' their 16th consecutive losing season.

Jason Bay will hit .400 for Boston

(Reuters)

Jason Bay will hit .400 for Boston down the stretch run. You have to remember he is going from the largest left field (PNC Park) in baseball to the smallest (Fenway), meaning he should hit for even more power. Not to mention there is far more protection in Boston, to go along with more baserunners to drive in. He'll be motivated and should be able to take his game to another level. There might not be a better match than Bay and Fenway.

good trade Buccos!!!

Is Anyone Home at PNC Park?

Buccos trade Jason Bay for warm bodies.



Let me sum up the Bay trade as follows. Change for the sake of change is only a good thing, when it's change for good.

We all know the Pirates need pitching, but they didn't receive anyone close to being a safe bet top of the rotation pitcher. The point that everyone is missing here is....the Pirates didn't have to trade Bay or Nady. Since Manny was going into "Operation Shutdown" Boston had no choice but to acquire Bay, therefore the Pirates could have received far greater, and I mean far greater return. Right idea, poor execution.

Will Craig Hasen, Bradon Moss, Andy LARoche, and Bryan Morris make Neal Huntington lucky or will we understand why it's a fact the Cleveland front office was happy to see him go.

Bay trade's projected successful outcome: 15%

Pirates Trade Nady & Marte: Analysis

So the Buccos trade Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the NY Yankees. They receive in return outfielder Jose Tabata, and three right handed pitchers Dan McCutchen, Jeff Karstens, and Ross Ohlendorf. This trade has a 15-20% chance of being successful. Jose Tabata was the marquee piece of the deal, but is only in "AA". Plus he projects as a center fielder, the one area where the Pirates seem set. The three pitchers don't seem to have much upside, and might all be better suited for a bullpen role. Ross Ohlendorf did pitch 40 innings of relief this season.

Marte had 1.16 WHIP, and certainly was one of the top 3 available relief pitchers. Nady's stats this season have him at the top of the list of outfielders. Only time will tell, if this trade will end up being set forward or backwards.

Pittsburgh Pirates News Notes & Batting Order

The Pirates are hanging around .500 at the All-Star Break, thanks to a great offense. Here is my take on a lot of things going on with the team.

1st off, John Russell is the worst manager in baseball. Just getting that out of the way first.

Okay, one of the big stories lately has been the Pirates batting the pitcher 8th. The reason they're doing this is because their #1 hitter Nate McLouth is a good RBI guy, producing lots of extra base hits. However I ran their normal batting order of late, up against my formula for creating a batting order.

Pirates' Current Normal Batting Order.
1. McLouth
2. Sánchez /Rivas
3. Doumit
4. Bay
5. Nady
6. LaRoche
7. Bautisa
8. Pitcher
9. Wilson

Here is how it would look if applied to my rules.

1. McLouth
2. Bay
3. Doumit
4. Nady
5. Bautisa
6. LaRoche
7. Sanchez
8. Wilson
9. Pitcher

The shocking thing about my line-up is batting Bay 2nd, but when you think about McLouth & Bay would set the table nice for the following hitters. I almost bent the rules (which is allowed in certain circumstances) and batting Laroche 5th because he's currently on hot streak. However I still want to see another solid week from him.

Now on to the pitching or lack there of. It boggles my mind, the organization can have this few pitchers. They must trade for more pitching asap. If they have to use one more spot starter, I feel they need to give Barthmaier one more chance. His only game was against a buzz saw Tampa line-up, and hopefully he will be more relaxed second time around.

Trades - Now to the topic on everyone's minds. We know the Pirates must bring in pitching, absolutely paramount they do so. This is who I rate in order, they should try to trade.

1. Nady - Having a great year, but too injury prone to rely on for the future.
2. Pearce - Doesn't have the power to be effective in a corner position, trade him now before other teams figure that out.
3. Sanchez - Maybe you can get a team to bite on him.

Jack Wilson, maybe because a lot of teams need a SS, but since there is nobody in the organization right now capable of holding a big league SS job, then trading him would be throwing in the towel.

Pirates Should Trade: Nady & Pearce

The Pirates should trade Xavier Nady - ASAP and minor league Steve Pearce even quicker. We all know the Pirates have major issues in the infield and on the pitching staff, hopefully these players could return some type of help or at least a prospect.

Reasons for trading Nady: When healthy Nady offers good offensive numbers, the problem is he's rarely healthy. He could be a great 4th outfielder / pitch hitter on a contending team. Since he has good numbers so far this season, teams will be interested.

Reasons for trading Pearce: He was thought by many to be a top hitting prospect with power. However they should deal him now, before teams realize he's not a power hitter - only 8 HR's in 251 at bats at "AAA" this year.

Pirates: Bring back Ronnie!!!

Apparently Ronny Paulino wants to be out of Indianapolis before his first month's rent is due, through 2 games he is 7 for 10 with 2 home runs and 2 doubles.

Pedro Alvarez #2 Draft Pick - Pittsburgh Pirates

With the 2nd selection of the 2008 MLB Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates select 3rd, but maybe future 1st baseman Pedro Alvarez, from Vanderbilt University via New York City. Alvarez's agent is worst person in professional sports Scott Boras, so the odds of him ever signing with the team have to be 50-50.

Pirates Still Committed to Losing

New manager John Russell still finds it necessary to run out Adam LaRoche at first base each game. Regardless of his .233 SLG and .165 batting average.

Dommit and Nady are both capable first basement.

Pirates line-up says it all

If haven't seen a the Pirates play this season yet, and want to know how new president Frank Coonelly, GM Neil Huntington, and manager John Russell are doing. All you have to do is look at the line-up they trotted out last night.

The Pirates might as well forfeit then pitch Morris, everyone know he going to give up 10 runs in three innings on a good day. Adam LaRouche is batting a blistering .130 with a slugging percentage of .208, securing his place in the starting line-up.

This obviously say the three stooges of Coonelly, Huntington, and Russell either don't want to win or don't know what their doing, or maybe both.



Logic would say bench LaRoche, and play either Nady or Dommit at 1st. As for Morris if you're not going to release him, then the only option I see is move him to the bullpen. Tell him you're only going to pitch him in road games you've already lost, and he's going to finish the rest of the game no matter if it takes 200 pitches. Maybe he'll work his way on to the DL, or better yet he'll be embarrassed and quit or refuse to play.

Awww it's going to be a long year Bucco fans.

Pirates Quietly Sweep Reds; improve to 6-6

The Bucs have improved to 6-6 overall. Nate McLouth has surprising led the way offensively with an OPS over 1000. The starting pitching for the most part has been adequate so far. The Pirates now play 20 games in next 21 days 13 of which are on the road against teams expected to be playoff contenders. We should learn a lot about the direction of the Pirates this year after this stretch.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2008 MLB Salaries

2008 - Pittsburgh Pirates MLB Salaries. According to the USA Today the Pirates opening day roster is on the books for $ 48,689,783. Which puts them 15th in the NL and last in their division. Outside of the Matt Morris fiasco, thank you Littlefield, relatively speaking the Pirates pay out average to below league average for their players.

Starting 8

Jose Bautista - $ 1,800,000
Freddy Sanchez - $ 4,150,000
Jack Wilson - $ 6,650,000
Adam LaRoche - $ 5,000,000
Ryan Doumit - $ 412,000
Xavier Nady - $ 3,350,000
Nate McLouth - $ 425,000
Jason Bay - $ 6,000,000

Bench

Chris Gomez - $ 1,000,000
Doug Mientkiewicz - $ 750,000
Nyjer Morgan - $ 391,000
Ronny Paulino - $ 423,500
Luis Rivas - $ 525,000

Pitching

Starting Rotation

Ian Snell - $ 435,000
Tom Gorzelanny - $ 419,000
Zach Duke - $ 400,000
Paul Maholm - $ 424,500
Matt Morris - $ 10,037,283

Bullpen

Matt Capps - $ 435,500
Phillip Dumatrait - $ 390,500
John Grabow - $ 1,135,000
Damaso Marte - $ 2,150,000
Evan Meek - $ 390,000
Franquelis Osoria - $ 393,000
Tyler Yates - $ 800,000

Outside of the paycheck Matt Morris steals the Pirates get a fairly good return on investment. I don't believe Snell's figure to be completely accurate, as he did recently get a new deal.

2008 Pittsburgh Pirates Season Preview

Mike's 2008 season preview



10 mins in one take is hard, but the bottom line is the Bucs should be around 80 wins. Look for a lot of trade talk this season and our man Ronny will do fine this year