In the middle of the 2009 baseball season, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded star second baseman Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants. During the offseason, the Pirates wanted to find a replacement second baseman. Following a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, they found their man.
Akinori Iwamura, who was Tampa Bay’s everyday second baseman in 2008 when the team made a run to the World Series, was traded to the Pirates for Jesse Chavez, a relief pitcher. Iwamura will likely become Pittsburgh’s everyday second baseman.
In 2009, Iwamura’s season was cut sure due to a knee injury. The 30-year-old native of …read more

The San Francisco Giants traded for Freddy Sanchez during the middle of the 2009 baseball season. The marriage apparently is working out well as Sanchez and the Giants agreed to a two-year extension. Terms of the extension have yet to be released.
The 31-year-old second baseman began his career with the Boston Red Sox but made his name with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played with the Pirates from 2004 through the middle of last season. For his career, Sanchez has a .299 batting average and an on-base percentage of .334.
In 25 games with the Giants last season, Sanchez hit .284 with …read more

On Sunday, Albert Pujols had the day off — or so the Pittsburgh Pirates hoped. In the tenth inning, Pujols hit a pinch-hit blast off of Matt Capps to put the St. Louis Cardinals up 2-1. Ryan Franklin closed it out in the bottom of the tenth to pick up his 37th save of the season.
That the homer came off of Capps is significant. The last time Pujols faced Capps, the reliever was ejected for hitting Pujols in the ribs with a fastball. However, Pujols said that it wasn’t a matter of revenge.
Said Pujols: “Not revenge. What I’m trying to …read more

The trades don’t stop for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A day after trading Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson and Ian Snell, the Pirates are reportedly close to trading John Grabow to the Chicago Cubs. The reports comes courtesy of ESPNChicago.com.
On the season, the 30-year-old Grabow has a 3.42 ERA in 45 appearances. He’s been a member of Pittsburgh’s bullpen since coming into the big leagues in 2003. Last season was his best year — finishing with a 2.84 ERA in 74 appearances.
The Cubs have been interested in Grabow because they needed an additional left-hander in their bullpen. Currently, Sean Marshall is the …read more

The selling spree hasn’t stopped for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Wednesday, the Pirates made two more trades as they continue their rebuilding efforts.
The first trade sent Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners. In return, the Pirates received Ronny Cedeno, Jack Lement, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.
Wilson was the starting shortstop for the Pirates and will continue to start with the Mariners. On the season, he’s hitting .267 with four homers and 31 RBIs. Snell is a starting pitcher with a 5.36 ERA and a record of 2-8. Many scouts think that the 27-year-old Snell still …read more

Adam Laroche has been traded to the Boston Red Sox, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been busy shipping off virtually all of their big league assets, so it’s not much of a surprise that they have sent LaRoche to the Red Sox.
On the season, the 29-year-old LaRoche is hitting .247 with 12 homers, 40 RBIs and 46 runs. In the month of July, he has been slumping — hitting just .138 for the month with one homer in 58 at-bats.
Considering that a number of Pirates players have expressed their displeasure with the way …read more

Nyjer Morgan was enjoying a breakout season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’ll have to now complete that season with the Washington Nationals. Morgan was traded along with Sean Burnett from the Pirates to the Nationals for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan.
On the season, Morgan is hitting .277 with two homers, 27 RBIs, 39 runs and 18 stolen bases. The 28-year-old is an everyday starter for the first time in his big league career.
Burnett is a 26-year-old relief pitcher. Prior to the trade, he had a 3.06 ERA in 38 appearances with the Pirates. He began his career as a starter …read more

It’s still very early in the season but Albert Pujols keeps showing why he has to be considered the early leader for the 2009 National League Most Valuable Player Award. With the St. Louis Cardinals coming into their game on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates losers of three straight, Pujols slugged the Cards to a 4-2 victory.
Pujols finished the game 4-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. In the first inning, he connected on his 11th home run of the season. In 2009, to go along with his 11 long balls, Pujols is hitting .364 with 31 RBIs and an …read more

Not long ago, Chris Carpenter was arguably the best pitcher in baseball. But after two injury plagued seasons, Carpenter had all but fallen off the baseball map. To begin his 2009 campaign, Carpenter gave the St. Louis Cardinals a glimpse of his Cy Young award form.
The 2005 National League Cy Young winner took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. Although the Pirates broke up his no-hit bid, Carptenter and the Cardinals were able to post a 2-1 victory.
In seven innings, the 33-year-old gave up one hit, two walks and no earned runs while striking …read more

Although all fans around the baseball world are having World Series visions, the reality is that there are going to be a handful of horrible teams during the 2009 Major League Baseball season. Who are the top five worst teams in baseball?
5. Seattle Mariners
The Mariners will likely be improved from last season. They have a relatively high-priced roster so Seattle can expect less bad luck this year. That said, they will likely remain a top five worst team.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates simply don’t have enough talent. They’ve played hard the last few years but without the necessary talent, it’s difficult …read more