Power Pros Forum

this is the 301st post on this topic and the 300th reply.

Go Pirates

I can root for the Pirates 'cause you guys gave us Bay
But yet....you don't play Moss or Hansen even though they're god-awful compared to your players but.......... REBELLLL

He headbutted you to? xD

I'll call him A-Roid then, kay? lol

no A-Fraud's fine

Evert gives up tying homer

Meh, he's hitting the showers early. Carl Evert gave up another homerun to Giambi after getting himself out of a jam. The game is now tied and Joba Chamberlain was called into take the mound... can his blazing speed be enough against his former team?

Uggla hits a homer, Pirates up 5-6. Uggla traded to Mets as he rounds second...

Uggla put his team ahead with a homer before he was traded to the New York Mets for Johan Santana, CC Sabathia, and Carlos Delgado.

that would be awesome.
but you'd have no salary left.

Yankees win, 9-6

The Yankees came away with the victory today. The Pirates did play hard, but were unable to contain the huge, probably corked and steroid injected bat of A-Fraud. However, looks like his steroids make him choke. Cause he choked in the end. Which is why he handed his bat to Giambi who popped two big ones over centerfield, leading the Yankees to a victory.

Psh, I'm George Steinbrenner!

Bo Sox fire Francona, Pirates swoop in



..Guess who, guess who, guess who? Former Red Sox Manager, Terry Francona has been fired by the Red Sox! This is bad news for Boston fans, yes, however good news for the Bucs. You ask how and why? They just signed him to lead them to a World Series as he did for the Sox in 04' and 07'. Francona did not comment on being released from Boston, but he did say this about becoming the Pirates' Manager.

"This team has tons of potential. They had a Billy Beane as General Manager early last season who made several key trades that keep the salary low and give us a winning team. I salute ReLink for a job well done in that department... However, Zimmer has made some crucial mistakes when it comes to coaching these guys. I've reviewed and fixed them all since. With that being said, let's take a look at the projected rotation, bullpen, and lineup for the 2009 Pirates."

Starting Rotation

1. Felix Hernandez - RHP
2. Zach Duke - LHP
3. Jered Weaver - RHP
4. John Maine - RHP
5. Chad Billingsley - RHP
6. Anibal Sanchez - RHP

"Let me explain why I chose King Felix to lead this rotation, despite being the youngest on the team, and Duke's two-no-no's.

I chose Felix because he has leadership capabilities other players are just lacking. To me, the spot of an Ace, is a guy you can look upto for advice, someone who will help you with your mechanics, and such. I'm not saying Duke isn't that kind of guy, but he still has things to work on of his own - basically, his win/loss ratio." Francona explained. Most fans thus far have agreed with the move.

However, there is more to baseball than a starting rotation. When those six beasts get tired, someone needs to relieve them - those someone(s) make up the bullpen:

"It was tough to thoroughly design this pen," Francona said, "We have some old vets of the game who can't compete with the young guys, but they can still go [deep] into the game. Like I said, it was rough." Despite the "roughness" Francona described, he was able to put up a pretty solid pen that is expected to be better than last year's, hopefully:

Swingman

Tom Gorzelanny - LHP

Francona defended his choice, "Like I said, it was rough. I realize many fans aren't intune with the idea of Gorzelanny holding such a key posistion in the pen, but he was decent last year with his ninety-five strikeouts. This isn't a "come in and strike everyone out" posistion like most think. This is a spot where you need to be dominant, healthy and powerful. That's what Gorzelanny is. A twenty-six year old, left-handed, future-ace."

"I'm not going to offer any explanation on anyone else since we're running out of time and I really want to take questions before I have to go." Francona said to the press.

Long Relievers

Mark Prior - RHP
Hideo Nomo - RHP

Middle Relievers

Carl Evert - LHP

Situational Lefty

Eric O'Flahtery - LHP

Mop-up Man

Matt Capps - RHP

Set-up Men

Joba Chamberlain - RHP
Rafael Betancourt - RHP

Closer

Eric Gagne - RHP


Continued next post...

Gagne, O Jesus. And I can't believe we fired Tito:-(

Is Gagne a good or bad thing? I read somewhere he took HGH. >_<

Well his career has gone way downhill since '07 with the red sox but he's not that bad in this game

Yeah, he lead the league in saves last year. ^_^

Pittsburg Starters Cont.

"As I said before, I don't have a lot of time left and I'll gladly take questions from the Press when I'm finished. Now, let's begin:"

1. Carl Crawford - CF
2. Nate McLouth - RF
3. David Wright - 3B
4. Dan Uggla - 2B
5. Cody Ross - LF
6. Chris Snyder - C
7. Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
8. Robinson Cano - SS
9. Chris Duffy/Angel Chavez - DH

"The two I specified as Designated Hitter are the only ones on the bench. Duffy, as you know is an outfielder, and Chavez is a infield utility man. As for my decision to let Crawford lead off, he's the fastest man on my team and can make contact. I reckon' he'll be on base six times out of ten. The rest of the lineup is the same except the fact I moved Ross down to fifth, but that's because I need someone who can get on base constantly in that spot." Francona said. Fans aren't really happy about Ross batting fifth, but they'll live with it... for now. Then again, Ross did drive in a lot of RBIs, and could just be a failsafe if Uggla doesn't do his job.

Triple-A

Phil Dumatrait - LHP
John Grabow - LHP
Great Matsui - RHP
Great Bennett - RHP
Nick Campbell - LHP (Drafted)
_______________________________


Mr. Francona: Alright, I'm ready to answer your questions now. I only have time for five, so let's hurry.

Reporter One (Pittsburg Post-Gazzele): Do you think you can lead this team to the World Series?

Mr. Francona: Yes, we have talent that I am interested in developing and exploiting.

Reporter Two (New York Times): What record do you think the team will have?

Mr. Francona: We'll finish with more than ninety wins and clinch the division. Now, I have less time than I originally thought and must get going. Thanks for the questions.