Pirates/MLB category, Page 228
A look at possible Pirates 1st-round picks as GM Ben Cherington keeps it a guessing game
When Ben Cherington conducted a call on Zoom last week to discuss the MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager was jokingly asked to divulge the team’s first-round target. “If you want to tell us who we’re taking,” Cherington said, “you have as good a guess as I do, probably,...
First MLB Draft as Pirates GM will be telling for how Ben Cherington wants to build for future
Before his first MLB Draft as Pittsburgh Pirates general manager, Ben Cherington was asked about his philosophy on making a first-round pick and gave the type of answer that wouldn’t tip his hand. “The simple, boring answer is best player available,” Cherington said last week on a conference call with...
Mark Madden: 48-game schedule would be bolt of adrenaline for MLB
Bruce Meyer, the MLB Players Association’s chief negotiator, condemned MLB’s “cynical tactic of depriving America of baseball games.” Hey, Bruce … right now, nobody even notices. Thanks to Meyer for another example of baseball’s exaggerated self-importance. We’re never deprived of that. It seems MLB, as per an agreement reached in...
Madden Monday: How MLB and NHL are getting in their own way, Steelers talk
After a week off, the “Madden Monday” podcast is back. Mark Madden and Tim Benz take a long look at attempts to reboot the NHL and MLB seasons. Why are both leagues constantly getting in their own way? From a hockey perspective, the issue seems to be how long things...
Pirates All-Star Josh Bell calls this an ‘awesome opportunity’ for athletes to voice injusticesVideo
In a radio roundtable discussion on racial and social injustice, Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star first baseman Josh Bell called for police accountability, voting for candidates who push for reform and said this is “an awesome opportunity” for athletes of all races to come together and voice their concerns so “real change...
Piecing together a decent rotation could prove problematic for Pirates
Since trading Gerrit Cole, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been searching for an ace for their pitching staff. After losing Jameson Taillon to Tommy John surgery and Chris Archer to neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, they are faced with a more daunting challenge. Forget finding an ace. The Pirates will have...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Cuts coming for Pirates, but will a baseball season soon follow?
As the NBA and NHL prepare for the playoffs, baseball’s return remains on hold as MLB owners and the players’ association continue to haggle over economic issues. On Thursday, officials from the MLBPA held a digital meeting with more than 100 players, including the union’s executive board, then released a...
Chris Archer’s health issues make Tampa Bay trade a disaster that haunts Pirates
Two weeks into spring training, Chris Archer was counting down the days until Opening Day and the possibility of pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Tampa Bay Rays. For Archer, it would have marked a return to Tropicana Field and a shot at redemption for the ill-fated and lopsided...
Mark Madden: Baseball will lose out in battle for fans among 4 major American sports
Between owner Bob Nutting so obviously prioritizing profit over winning and attendance not permitted at PNC Park for what figures to be well over a year, the Pirates might be in a load of trouble once tickets can be sold again. It’s hard to imagine anyone being interested. The Pirates...
Pirates would hold spring training at PNC Park, GM Ben Cherington confirms
Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington confirmed Wednesday that an abridged spring training to prepare for an MLB season this summer would be held at PNC Park. “If it happens, and assuming it happens, it would take place in Pittsburgh,” Cherington said on a conference call, adding that the club...
Pirates starting pitcher Chris Archer will miss 2020 season following surgery
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chris Archer will miss the 2020 MLB season after undergoing surgery to relieve symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. The Pirates said the surgery was performed in St. Louis by Dr. Robert Thompson, a vascular surgeon at Washington University Center for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome at Barnes-Jewish Hospital....
Pirates speak out against George Floyd killing, vow to invest and ‘help effect positive change’
The Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday spoke out against the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, calling it “yet another in a long, sad line of senseless acts of racial injustice in our country” and vowing to invest “the time, energy and resources necessary to help effect positive change.” In...
As MLB teams make cuts, Pirates commit to paying minor-league players through June
As MLB teams are releasing hundreds of minor-league players in cost-cutting measures, the Pittsburgh Pirates have committed to paying their 300-plus players in the minors $400 weekly stipends plus health care benefits through June, a source told the Tribune-Review on Saturday. With additional teams in short-season Class A and Dominican...
Pirates Charities, Pittsburgh police team up during Citiparks’ Grab-and-Go event
Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert didn’t just distribute lunches to children at Paulson Recreation Center. They also handed out baseball cards. Pirates Charities and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Officers teamed with the Topps Company to launch a program earlier this month that...
Mark Madden: Players are right, owners are wrong, and labor issues could be fatal mix for baseballVideo
There are two sides to every story. But not when it comes to the conflict between owners and players over MLB’s pay scale for what will be an abbreviated 2020 season. The players are 100% right. The owners are 100% wrong. It’s impossible to logically think otherwise, though many will....
Suspended Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez also faces child porn charges in St. Louis
St. Louis authorities on Thursday confirmed that suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez is charged with sending pornographic pictures of himself to a minor last summer. Documents provided by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office said Vazquez was charged in February with one count of furnishing pornographic materials to a...
Gov. Wolf order: Pittsburgh pro sports teams may return to practice, play without fans
Gov. Tom Wolf issued an order Wednesday afternoon that allows Pittsburgh’s pro sports franchises to return to using their team facilities, albeit without spectators. The order, which provides guidelines for pro teams in counties in the yellow or green phase of the governor’s plan for reopening, paves the way for...
MLB economic proposal for sliding salary scale would hit Pirates’ highest-paid players hardest
With MLB’s lowest payroll at a reported $54 million for 2020, the Pittsburgh Pirates have only 10 players scheduled to make more than $1 million this season. An economic proposal from baseball’s owners, as reported by USA Today, would require the team’s highest-paid players like pitcher Chris Archer, right fielder...
Former Pirate Jung Ho Kang plans return to Korean Baseball Organization after suspension
Former Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang received a one-year suspension from the Korean Baseball Organization on Monday for his three drunken driving arrests. The 33-year-old Kang also was ordered to complete 300 hours of community service during a hearing on Monday, which he did not attend because he...
As MLB tries to save 2020, minor-league teams across the country might be out at home
As the 30 MLB team owners and the players union bicker over how to divvy up the revenue in a potential 2020 season, at least they are projecting to have some cash hitting the books. Ticket revenue and concessions accounted for 30-40% of the $10.7 billion MLB made last season,...
Pirates closer Keone Kela ‘fairly confident’ that MLB, players union can come to an agreementVideo
Keone Kela believes major leaguers want to play baseball this summer and said he is “fairly confident” that the MLB Players Association can come to an agreement with the owners. The Pittsburgh Pirates closer expressed hope the 2020 season can resume during an interview with Bucco Talk host Dan Zangrilli...
Debate rages over Gov. Wolf’s comments about return of sports in Pa.
I feel like Dante in the movie “Clerks.” “I’m not even supposed to be here today!” Yeah, this was supposed to be an off day. Extend the holiday weekend a bit. But I got a call from one of our editors last night, asking if I’d be willing to do...
Pirates affiliate among minor league baseball teams selling curbside fare
New releases available on-demand from your couch rather than on the big screen. Takeout-only dining. No-contact deliveries. Curbside pickup for wine. They’re all signs of the times — a way for businesses pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic to keep open their doors and continue paying employees. Count sports among the...
Pirates announce furloughs of business employees, pay cuts starting June 1
With the baseball season in limbo because of the covid-19 pandemic, Pittsburgh Pirates president Travis Williams announced Thursday afternoon that the ballclub will be instituting furloughs to business operations employees, beginning June 1. “The impact of the coronavirus has been felt by everyone within our community and our industry. The...
Tim Benz: Gov. Wolf’s comments about sports fans were arrogant and inaccurate
While exploring the prospect of major sports events returning to Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf put his foot in his mouth. Even while wearing a facemask. Yup, for this guy, that’s possible. Apparently, Wolf isn’t satisfied telling Pittsburgh’s quarterback whether he can get his haircut. He’s also telling Pittsburgh fans whether...
