When the Pirates managed to sign Pedro Alvarez last year after contentious negotiations with agent Scott Boras, most thought he would spend a little time in the minors and then be called when the rosters expanded in September.
Well, the savior is not off to such a hot start in Class A Lynchburg. In 21 games, he is hitting .219 with four home runs and a league-best 20 RBI. The latter number is a bit deceiving in that he drove in five runs on either sacrifice flies or groundouts. He's also made seven errors at third base.
This doesn't mean he's going to be a bust. Most players need a period of adjustment in the minors, and Alvarez is too talented not to thrive. What it does mean is that missing all that time last season while his agent played games with the Pirates (ignoring offers, not returning phone calls) delayed the process. Alvarez is 22 and has played three years of college ball at Vanderbilt. But he hasn't been in a competitive baseball game since last spring. The layoff after the draft has obviously affected him.
A new home
7 years ago
The Pirates had a chance to draft a real baseball stud two years ago in Matt Wieters, but the cheap-#$@ bums didn't want to spend the kind of money it would have taken to sign him. I still think Alvarez will be a solid major-league power hitter. Can you imagine having both of them in the talent pipeline? Of course, a few years down the road, the Pirates, under the current ownership, would unload them for a figurative sack of baseballs rather than pay the freight. Anyone remember Aramis Ramirez, who has average 30-plus homers and more than 100 RBI a season for the past five years with the Cubbies?
ReplyDeleteAlvarez is a Pirate, therefore he is a bust ... until he's traded elsewhere!!!
ReplyDelete