The Pirates came home from a 3-3 road trip and took the field with about as much urgency and concern as Aramis Ramirez did running to first base on a grounder to short in 2003.  Obviously the players had a meltdown.

Double plays weren’t turned because Sanchez forgot how many outs were in an inning, Nady sent airmail letters to Paulino, Bautista forgot that leadoff men actually bunt and he needs to play in at times, and McLouth was slow to a ball through the middle and then tossed a two or three hopper from medium center to third to try and catch a runner going first to third on him. 

Toss in Maholm throwing high in the zone which, unbelievably, he got away with probably because the Brewers couldn’t see watermelons thrown at them right now, and, well, we just looked about as flat as we could possibly get. 

Maybe flu is running throw the clubhouse again?  Maybe… maybe.

No urgency, no fire, no desire = blowout type loss.  You’ve seen it before – this is classical… we’ll probably go on to lose something like 12 of the next 15 unless a spark gets ignited.

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Someone tell me why Sean Burnett is on the 25-man roster?  The man has absolutlely zero stuff.  Zero. 

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Before Tuesday’s game the Pirates enjoyed a 3.71 ERA at home despite having allowed an MLB leading 23% line drive rate, which is very high, plus allowed a very high 30% hit rate.  In other words, they have been very fortunate so far this year.  Proving that point is their expected ERA (xERA) at home of 4.96 – some 25% higher.

On the road we’re getting mauled with a 6.16 ERA – highest in the game and almost 30% over league average.  The difference between home and away ERA’s is second highest in the game at 2.45 runs where league average is just .58. 

Now I mention all that because statistics have a tendency to fall to the mean and I think we’re about ready to start seeing the fall. 

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Word on the street is that the Pirates are turning away trade opportunities right now. 

There you go.

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Pirates ownership may be asking the front office to steer down the cheaper road if Tim Beckham falls to them.  In past years ownership has demanded they take a college player each year with few exceptions like McCutchen and Walker, but this year could be different.

In fact, one source suggested Neal Huntington has already had a private showcase with Beckham and he might already be working out a pre-draft agreement.

I assume MLB’s #2 slot money will be around $3.3M this year and I further assume because of the Beckham family’s financial plight, he’s going to want a straight bonus.  So let’s assume he’s going to want somewhere between $4M and $5M to sign.  That’s considerably cheaper than potentially having to pay a $4M slot money and a $4M signing bonus to a college player like Alvarez who may also demand a major league contract.

But check this out – one sabermetric analyst wondered aloud to me if the Pirates might be better off playing the new compensation rules game this year.

Say the Pirates demand Beckham sign for near slot and, if he refuses, let him truck off to college (there is a signability issue with Beckham but most believe it’s slight).  That would give the Pirates the #3 pick in the 2009 draft which is going to be chock full of outstanding impact college arms (ie: Kyle Gibson, Mike Minor, Steve Strasburg, and Gavin Brooks just to mention a few).

Now Beckham is a toolsy middle infielder which is exactly what the Pirates should want to begin a rebuilding process with.  Right?  The problem, the analyst suggested, is that Pirates ownership has refused to allow the “R” word to be mentioned so far and will probably prefer to ”re”build around McCutchen, and not the younger Beckham who would be at least three+ years behind McCutchen.

Instead, he further suggested, if the Pirates fail to sign Beckham, the Pirates will get the #3 pick plus whatever slot we end up with at the end of the 2008 standings.  So here’s what he thinks the Pirates could theoretically do - trade Bay, Nady, Wilson, LaRoche, Snell, Sanchez, and/or anyone else they can to reduce the everyday roster to a replacement level club, and watch them lose game after game after game to try and get the #1 slot – and trade for as many 2A and 3A impact position players they can.

Then use the #1 and #3 picks in the 2009 draft which is sure to give them two top of the order starters two to three years down the road to fall in line with McCutchen’s development (add a few other potential names here to round the roster off like Moskos, Lincoln, Snell, Capps, Gorzelanny, Friday, Ford, et al).

It’s an intriguing possibility which would provide what we need most to build around – pitching, albeit I don’t think anyone in the Pirates front office would ever have the time to even think this through, much less want to risk it. 

So instead I’ll keep with my initial thought that the Pirates will continue to go with a college player, will take Pedro Alvarez no matter the cost, and will forgo the college arm they could have in Crow or Matusz. 

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