On Friday (Day one of Piratefest) myself and several Pirates bloggers (Pirates Prospects, Rumbunter, Bucs Dugout, Pittsburgh Lumber Co.) were invited to a sit down interview with Pitcher Paul Maholm, General Manager Neal Huntington and President Frank Coonelly.

 

 

Paul Maholm

On whether he pitches differently because of poor infield defense: “No. I’m a ground ball pitcher. I’m going to keep throwing ground balls.”

Maholm isn’t a big strike out guy. He went on to say, “Last year was sad that [Joel] Hanrahan almost got me in the strike out category. We were neck and neck, sweating it out.”

On if he has a different approach this offseason due to roller coaster 2010 season: “As far as training and everything? No. I have a trainer. I go in there and do what he says. It’s been different exercises. But still the same mechanics. The same goals, training wise. Throwing off the mound is mainly fastball command. I haven’t thrown any other pitches yet. Trying to make sure I am good to go.”

On Pitching Coach Ray Searage’s approach compared to others he’s worked with: “I’ve known Ray for about eight years now. He knows my mechanics. We just kind of ‘go pitch’. I tell everybody who’s about to work with him, ‘If you’re ever feeling bad about yourself, go throw a bullpen with Ray.’ He’s the most energetic guy to be around. As pitchers, you need plenty of confidence and he’s going to be there.”

On Manager Clint Hurdle wanting the starters to pitch deeper into games: “I’m not a happy camper if I go 60 or 80 pitches. I expect to go deep into games. To me, 100-120 pitches a normal outing. We got to get deeper into the games so that the back of the bullpen stays fresh.”

On potentially being traded: “I’m here. My number one goal is to win. But I also want to be the team that wins here. I think the fans deserve it. I want to be here but I have no control over it. It’s not bothering me, I’m going to prepare. If Neal [Huntington] and them [President Frank Coonelly and Owner Bob Nutting] want to approach to me about staying, I’m all for it. It’s in their hands. I’m here until otherwise.”

On the recent reports of Pedro Alvarez’s 15 pound weight gain: “Let the guy play … there’s plenty of people in baseball who aren’t the prototypical athlete… He’s a good third baseman. He gets to a lot of balls, he has a great arm … Don’t try to bash him for his weight.”

 

General Manager Neal Huntington:

 

 

On the reports of Pedro Alvarez’s 15 pound weight gain: “It’s not completely accurate. Pedro’s not where we need him to be but it’s not as desperate as maybe that article [PiratesReport.com] seemed it is.”

Huntington did not give an exact number on how over weight he is but did say, “He’s not where we have concerns. He’s not enough where we don’t think we can get him to where he needs to be.”

On how long Alvarez will remain at third base: “That’s a better question for Pedro Alvarez. He has the hands. He has the arm. He has the arm versatility. He even has the feet to be able to play third base. It’s a matter of how he’s going to do physically in order to stay there. The ultimate answer will be shown by his actions.”

On why Wil Ledezma was taken off the 40-man roster: “As we began to look at adding players, taking players off, Wil had good secondary numbers last year. He’s got a good arm. A good fastball. He had some opportunities with us. Had the one bad outing. As we looked at our 40-man roster we made the decision that we were going to keep some other players on that 40-man roster. Part of the decision was the contract we signed him to. We thought it may make it difficult for a team to claim him and risk paying him $300,000 at the Triple-A level. It was a gamble that didn’t work out for us. We had a chance to claim him back and we chose not to do it for the same reasons we put him on waivers the first time.”

Andrew McCutchen was recently ranked the #1 Center Fielder in baseball, Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata received honorable mentions. Huntington on young bucs starting to make their mark in baseball: “It’s exciting for us to look at our group of players that are 25 and under. You take it from the major leagues on down. We feel very comfortable that that group matches up with some of the best in baseball. We’re excited about where we are both at the high end and also the depth of the group we have coming in the system. We had some guys graduate to the big leagues this year. We didn’t have a lot of guys with break out years. Unfortunately most of our guys in the mist of break out years got hurt. Starling Marte or Tony Sanchez or Brock Holt. We sustained some bizarre injuries. It wasn’t chronic injuries that we have long term concerns about. It was collisions, it was hit by pitches, it was a broken hamate. All things we recovered from. We’re looking forward to some guys having some break out years. That group of 25 and under, we’re really excited about. Which added us to the moves of the veteran presence this year. With [Lyle] Overbay. With [Matt] Diaz. With [Kevin] Correia. Now with [Jose] Veras and [Joe] Beimel to go along with Scott Olsen. To help keep this group moving forward. Help get some guys that can help them learn how to win on the field. And also how to grow and mature. To help reach their potential quicker. It’s one thing for a coach, or manager to help a young player. It’s another thing for another player to help a young player. That’s where the most impact is made. That’s where the Overbay and the Diaz moves in our minds are significant upgrades for us from what we had prior to that.”

On whether the Pirates farm system could handle a Matt Garza or Zach Greinke kind of trade: “We feel like the farm system is deep enough to put us in a position to make trades, when the major league team is ready to make those. In Milwaukee, in Chicago’s case, one could argue they are a little further along in the curve then we are. We need to see some young guys take some steps forward. We need some of our veteran players to take some steps back to where they were in the past. We need our additions to come in and do well. A big part of why you develop a deep farm system is to have replacement at the major league level. It’s to make trades, it’s to fill that hole that you have at the major league level. To add to your depth. The signings that we’ve done haven’t impacted what we are doing anywhere else. We’re still going to invest heavily into the draft, this year, the next five years. We need to. We’re still going to invest heavily in Latin America, in the International Market. We have to. We need to. Part of the reason is to have a deep system so that we can make trades.”`

Huntington did go on to say that the pirates “engaged Tampa Bay” on both Matt Garza and James Shields, but ultimately the Rays “thought that they had better opportunities elsewhere”. The Pirates were never in on Grienke because the equivalent package would have been Tabata, Walker, Moreno, and another player –to hard of a hit.

On injured minor leaguers with possible set backs in 2011: “Donnie Veal coming off the hand surgery is probably the most prominent. There is a handful of other guys. Most of the guys we’ve talked about; Marte, Sanchez, Holt, that sustained the injuries last year, they’re on track. They are going to be ready to go and ready to compete in spring training. Hopefully we will have a lot fewer dramatic injuries this year.”

On Veal’s time frame: “He wants no part of the June/ July return that is the typical 12, 13, 14 month return. It’s really 12-18 months. Donnie had the surgery early in the season, so he’s progressing as well as we could have possibly hoped. He’s actually probably a head of schedule. We’re excited. He’s fired up. He feels great.”

On locking up the young players (McCutchen, Walker, Tabata Alvarez): “It’s part of the plan. It’s easier said than done. It takes both sides.”

　

President Frank Coonelly

 

 

On being Pirates minors being ranked #19 (Baseball America) and #21 (Keith Law ESPN): “Not happy with that number. But pleased, not satisfied with the progress. They are subjective rankings. If we were 1 I would agree with it, if we are 19, I’m not so happy with it. We graduated a large number of prospects. If you look at the number of players, whether major league or minor league, 25 or under on our club, I think we match up very well with the No. 1 organization –Kansas City. The issue is all their top players 25 and under are still in the minor leagues. That’s why they are No. 1. In their eyes and Several of ours are at the major league level doing great things; Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez. When you graduate a large number of players like that obviously now all of a sudden your elite prospects are at the next level. The other thing I encourage you to look at is, because maybe we don’t do a good enough job, making the calls to Baseball America or to Keith Law and really talking up our own players. Look at the statistics of Rudy Owens and Kyle Drabek. Last year, the year before, somehow Kyle Drabek was named ‘Eastern League Pitcher of the Year’ beating out Rudy Owens. Across the board Owens numbers are much better. 93, 94 mph. Unbelievable command from the left side. Drabek I believe was #16 on Jonathan Mayo’s [list], I’m sure he’s up on these guys’. Rudy Owens isn’t even in the top 100. Something’s not right there. Several of our top prospects had some injuries last year that kept them back. We need to be much better than 19. And I think we are better than 19. Maybe we need to do a little bit better job selling ourselves.”

On Clint Hurdle’s impact on getting players to sign in Pittsburgh: “Extraordinary effective. Joe Beimel is just the latest in the number of agents who got on the phone with Clint Hurdle. Neal and I must not have a personality. Everybody comes out and says, ‘the reason I’m coming to Pittsburgh is because of Clint Hurdle’. He embraces the opportunity. He’s very good at it. The reason he is good at it is because he’s genuine.”

Coonelly said that he sat in on a recruiting phone call with a player they did not end up getting but, “I was ready to sign to sign up for it.” “We didn’t get the player, somebody offered more money, but they should have come to Pittsburgh for the reasons that Clint gave them. It was an effective presentation. Clint has a lot of experience that he can draw from.”

On if there is an end point on the draft once the major league level is stacked: “There is no end point. We always have to be extraordinarily aggressive in this area. If there’s a slotting system, we have to find another area to be aggressive in securing talent. I don’t like being #19 in the Baseball America rankings. I want to make it impossible for them to not put us in the Top 5. Really, for a club like ours, we look to graduate two or three top prospects into the major leagues every year.”

Coonelly said, “the strength of our minor league system right now is starting pitching. It’s all those kids who took Altoona to the Double-A Championship last year. I refuse to believe that Rudy Owens is not one of the Top 100 prospects in baseball. I refuse to believe that Bryan Morris shouldn’t be in consideration as one of the top prospects in baseball. Jeff Locke, Justin Wilson. These are real prospects that are looking to have an impact sooner, rather than later.”

On the reports that 16-year-old Luis Heredia’s will debut in the Gulf Coast League in 2011: “That decision hasn’t been made. That would be pushing it but so far everything that Luis Heredia has done for us has shown that he’s ready to be pushed. It would not be surprising or shocking to me that he started in Bradenton.”

On new media types: “I think the level of analysis, and I’m not just saying this because you’re here and I’m sitting in front of you and you have the power of the pen, but the level of the analysis that you get from blogs, and particularly blogs that focus on one team or one aspect is at a much higher level then the traditional media.”

　

**Special thanks to Matt Nordby, Paul Maholm, Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly for the great opportunity. And Jim Trdinich, Tom of Rumbunter and to any others who helped make this event happen.