Pittsburgh Pirates Tidbits

Joe Kerrigan's name (Yankee's bullpen coach) has surfaced in the rumor underground linked to the Pittsburgh Pirates. But the only way I believe Kerrigan gets hired is if Jimy Williams becomes manager. That is, if Kerrigan would even have an interest.

However, if Dan Duquette is actually running the Robert Nutting redecorating show behind the scenes, you have to believe there's not much hope for Williams.

Interestingly, Larry Bowa (Yankees third base coach) has a reported offer from the Mariners to be their third base coach but is hesitating because he would rather be on the East Coast. The Brewers are said to be the most likely landing spot for him if he declines the Mariners offer.

Now I mention all three of these men's names simply because one poorly written rumor has them all coming to the Pirates as a group. Personally, I think the probability of this happening is so remote I hesitated to even cover the rumor. Yet, there are a few nagging issues.

For one, Kerrigan is well known as an outstanding field level trainer. Simply put, he's good with youth. Plus, there isn't exactly a lot of openings right now for a pitching coach. And two, Williams has said numerous times he would love to be back at the helm. Lastly, they both have a relationship with Duquette who seems to be guiding Nutting.

But let me stress again, and please hear this clearly, the chances of a group like this hitting Pittsburgh are zilch unless Robert Nutting has a card up his sleeve we don't know about.

What I mean is, if Nutting was to try and buy a title in 2008 to try and ward off the 16th consecutive losing season, men like these could be employed, if only on a one year deal.

Now, if you thought the odds of this group coaching the Pirates was ridiculously high, multiply that by 1000 and you are probably close to the odds of Nutting trying to buy the division in 2008 with overpaid free agents on one-year deals.

That being said, you're better off looking for a younger, and probably mostly unknown, coaching staff to be put in place knowing it is going to take five to seven years to rebuild this franchise. I'll be shocked if Neal Huntington doesn't make several trades over the winter to get prospects.

As for Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell coming to the Pirates? How does anyone leave that environment for a gig with the Pirates and a first-year GM?

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One of the knocks on Moneyball general manager types like Neal Huntington is that they tend to favor statistics over makeup. Athleticism, or tools, will always be in the forefront, but after the extremely toolsy guys are selected in drafts or for trades, they tend to go after players who tend to be higher values statistically, leaving potential makeup problems to the manager and his staff.

And that can be a recipe for disaster, as the Rays have found out over the years.

At this point Huntington's blueprint for rebuilding is a bit blurry so we'll have to wait for it to become clearer to us once he starts naming names and when the first of the month rolls around and we see how many folks currently in the Pirates organization walk, if any.

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As you have probably read, MLB is nearing six billion in revenue and you can't help wondering what the Pirates take currently is. My guess is one and one-half times player payroll before revenue sharing.