Blogs

The Pirates named third baseman Pedro Alvarez their Minor League Player of the Year and Rudy Owens their Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Alvarez hit a combined .288 with 27 homers and 95 RBI for Class A Lynchburg and Double-A Altoona. The 2008 first-round pick lead all Pirates prospects in homers and RBI. “Pedro [...]

Anthony Claggett, whom the Pirates claimed yesterday off waivers from the Yankees, flew to Bradenton, Fla., to throw a bullpen session for Pirates officials today. GM Neal Huntington has not yet decided whether Claggett will join the Pirates or simply begin his usual offseason conditioning program. “He’s been down 10 days (without throwing in a game),” [...]

Today, the Pirates claimed right-hander Anthony Claggett off waivers from the New York Yankees. To make room on the 40-man roster, Jose Ascanio was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Claggett, 25, went 7-7 with a 3.07 ERA in 39 games (five starts) for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He also made two appearances for the Yankees. Claggett was [...]

A four-run rally in the third inning this afternoon lifted the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-1 victory and a four-game sweep of the Pirates. The Pirates have dropped six games in a row and 22 of their past 25. Right-hander Charlie Morton (4-9) gave up four straight hits with two outs in the third inning, [...]

Hooray for the G-20 summit! It took me about 15 minutes this morning to breeze down the unusually empty Parkway East and into the parking garage across from PNC Park. All of the players I talked to this morning in the Pirates’ clubhouse said the same thing: easy access from the North Hills and North [...]

Some more “G20″ notes — none of which have anything to do with protesters, blocked-off roads or French president Nicolas Sarkozy: Garrett Jones leads all rookies with 20 homers. He is the fourth Pirates rookie to hit 20-plus in a season, joining Jason Bay (26 in 2004), Ralph Kiner (23 in 1946) and Johnny Rizzo [...]

My National League MVP ballot rests before me on the table. There are 10 slots to fill and — as the BBWAA has stressed in its e-mail — none of them should be considered a “throwaway.” The top two spots are practically gimmes — Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez. But in what order? Don’t laugh. [...]

The Pirates, more or less, have their usual lineup in place for tonight’s game against the Padres. I say more or less because the three players who are back in action – Andy LaRoche, Garrett Jones and Delwyn Young – each are still less than 100-percent healthy. “They’re still feeling it a little bit,” manager [...]

There is one record the Pirates are in line to set this season that’s not a bad thing: Going into tonight’s game, the Pirates have made 63 errors, the fewest in the majors. They are on track to shatter the franchise record of 83, set in 2007. The Pirates’ .988 fielding percentage also would surpass [...]

LOS ANGELES — I’m guessing not many folks in Pittsburgh stayed awake until the bitter end, but it was a tough 5-4 loss — even the hard-luck standards of this season — for the Pirates to swallow last night. The Pirates blew two saves: Matt Capps yieled a run in the ninth (snatching a win [...]