The comparisons between newest Pirates GM Neal Huntington and not dearly departed former GM David Littlefield are flying with the recent demotion of Steve Pearce.

Pearce may not be the best prospect in the world, but he is 25 and has little to nothing to prove in Indianapolis.

Because of that, it’s easy to connect the two GMs, since basically, it’s the Pirates choosing a mediocre veteran over the higher potential of an unknown prospect. It’s been the Pirates’ motus operandi for so long.

Pat at WHYGAVS expresses his displeasure very clearly.

To put things simply, the next Pittsburgh Pirate team that plays meaningful baseball after the All-Star break almost certainly won’t have Xavier Nady on it, but it might have Steve Pearce. Because of that, there’s no reason to play Nady over Pearce, whether there’s a buyer for Nady or not.

Our Brewers preview interview was postponed last night due to our recording equipment picking up an errant AM radio station. We’ll try again tomorrow, but in the meantime, the Crack Technical Staff and I catch up on what’s been going on around the division.

Ruh-roh, Astros

• Kaz Matsui has undergone surgery to repair his anal fissure. He’ll be out two to three weeks, and will miss the opening.
• Utility man Mark Loretta will replace Matsui.

Trouble Brewers
Manager Ned Yost has interesting plans for his lineup.

• Mike Cameron will bat 2nd when he returns from his drug suspension. Yost wants Cameron’s replacement to also bat 2nd, so as not to disrupt the delicate order of the line-up.
• Yost will have the pitcher bat 8th.

Tweet tweet Cardinals

• Finally signed Kyle Lohse for 1 year and $4.25 M. What the hell happened to the consensus best free agent starting pitcher? Collusion? Backlash against Scott Boras?

Da Cubs

• Rumors that the Cubs will trade with the Orioles for lead-off hitter Brian Roberts continue to abound and be squashed.
• Kerry Wood looks to be the closer for this season.
• Ryan Dempster might not make the starting rotation.

Ahoy! Pirates

• Steve Pearce, one of the Pirates best prospects was cut and send down to AAA camp.
• Starter Ian Snell signed a long-term deal ($8 M over three years). With options, could buy out a year of free agency.

Watch out for McCarthy, Reds

• Jeremy Affeldt has been moved to the bullpen.
• Rotation looks to be Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Josh Fogg, Johnny Cueto, and Edinson Volquez

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I know it’s only an article on SI.com, but there’s actually a positive look at the Pirates and their future. When an article starts off like this one does, you know that the author has either huffed the gold paint one too many times or actually believes what he’s typing.

I am ready to run through an outfield wall for Neal Huntington.

(A more cynical take might be that the writer’s simply trying to garner page views by something outlandish.)

John Donovan, the writer of the article, details the difficulties that anyone running the Pirates would encounter, not least of all is dealing with the almost two decades of futility. When Huntington says that the team has a rough time ahead and needs some work to be fixed, it’s easy to ignore him. The previous GM, Dave Littlefield, often said the right things, too, and that never got the team anywhere.

Like Donovan, I do feel something different with Huntington and the Pirates. Although I’m disappointed that the team wasn’t more active trading away players to reload their farm system, I can’t fault him. I don’t see any harm in waiting for players to improve their value. The Pirates have no big stars, and it would be a shame to trade Jason Bay when his value is so low.

Of all the teams in the Central, I want to see the Pirates win again, and I hope Huntington gets the time to let his actions match his words. Maybe if he has 6 years like Littlefield, we’ll actually see a competent Pirates team. At the very least, I expect we’ll see fewer trades like the one for Matt Morris.

Spring Training in baseball is always exciting, filled with the naive optimism that “We can win it this year.” It always seems the players feel that way, too, so I wonder how the marginal players deal with the cuts. It’s one thing if you’re young and a touted prospect, but to be older and hanging on for one more shot has to be hard.

No major moves have been made yet, but here’s a rundown of the cuts that the National League Central clubs have made in the past few days.

• The Astros are letting go pitchers Paul Estrada, Sammy Gervacio, Brad James, Josh Muecke, Fernando Nieve, and Chad Reineke, infielders Tommy Manzella and Lance Niekro, and outfielder Yordany Ramirez. Most of those guys appear to be younger with need of more seasoning.
• The Cubs have trimmed their roster to 42. Pitchers Juan Mateo and Jeff Samardzija and outfielder Jake Fox were optioned to minor league teams, while pitcher Ed Campusano, infielder Luis Figueroa, and catcher JD Closser, all non-roster invitees, were reassigned to minor league camp. Pitcher Shingo Takatsu was released.
• The Pirates got in on the act, chopping 12 players off their roster. I imagine that has to hurt: not being good enough for the Pirates.
• The Reds have yet to start trimming their roster. Their first round involved cutting two pitchers.Rule V pick Sergio Valenzuela was sent back to the Braves, ending a Rule V pick that everyone except apparently Wayne Krivsky knew was doomed to fail, and Ramon Ramirez was optioned to the minors.

 Just two and a half weeks until Opening Day, and most teams have rosters that are well over the 25 man limit. It seems that teams are taking longer to decide on which 25 to take this year. I find the hand-wringing over all of it a little amusing. I mean, the vast majority of the final 35 or so players all make it to the big leagues at some point. Someone always gets injured.

Until then, keep enjoying the starting rotation battles for the Reds, the closer battle for the Cubs, the 25-man battle for the Pirates, and the Cardinals ongoing search for a Scott Spiezio replacement.

Tonight on the podcast we talk with Pat Lackey, writer of Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?, contributor at the Fanhouse, author of a chapter for the Hardball Times season preview, and all-around media darling. We talk about:

• The front-office changes the team has made this off-season and how long it will take for them to impact the team.
• The strengths and weaknesses of the Pirates going into 2008. Alas, mostly weaknesses.
• The likelihood of Jason Bay bouncing back and Adam LaRoche hitting over .100

Podcast: Play in new window | Download