The last part of the Neal Huntington interview will run tomorrow morning and then I’m going to get into full-on season preview mode. Because the baseball season starts on Thursday. And the Pirates play on Friday. Doesn’t it feel great to say that?
I thought it was really cool that Colin Dunlap posted the audio of the media session with Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle after the Josh Rodriguez/Pedro Ciriaco decision yesterday. You can tell that Hurdle likes Ciriaco a lot (how many times does he mention his speed or his usefulness in the National League?) but he also seems to be willing to give Rodriguez a shot. Also, I swear I will never call the poor guy “J-Rod” ever.
Also really enjoyed DK’s piece about Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and Tony Sanchez. Reading it, I can’t help but think of Allie as Scut Farcus from A Christmas Story. And you know that I’m going to like any pitcher described as “cerebral.”
Also today, the Pirates traded Josh Fields to the Rockies for a PTBNL or cash. If this isn’t the last we hear of this move, I’ll eat my hat. Uh, figuratively. I like most of my hats and I need them now that the Lackey Hairline is kicking in.
The Royals are keeping Nathan Adcock on their roster, at least for now. A year is a long time to keep Rule 5 pitchers on the roster, though, as we all remember from the Donnie Veal experience. This one, I feel like we haven’t heard the last of.
Jim Negrych is not all that enthused about the prospect of heading back to Altoona. Pedro Ciriaco being demoted to Triple-A may put him there, though.
The Altoona Mirror also has a look at Huntington’s plan through the minor league lens, which dovetails nicely with the second part of my interview with Huntington.
I made a guest appearance on the UCB Radio hour with Daniel Shoptaw of C70 At the Bat and several other NL Central bloggers. It was, as it is every year, a ton of fun and though it’s awfully long, it’s worth a listen if you have a chance.
