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bcimmet · 01-03-2004, 05:30 PM

The Journal of Christopher Quinn (2b, Pittsburgh Single-A)

JANUARY 2, 2004

Happy New Year! I went up to Montreal to hang with Otter and some of his high school friends for the new year. He’s been working out a lot this winter as well, but I don’t know... He may just quit baseball all together. He was talking about getting a job in Montreal, moving scrap metal or something. What he should do is get looked at by the Expos, and see whether they can swing a trade with Pittsburgh.

We’re both eager to see what Pittsburgh does in the upcoming draft. It’s all I can do not to scream at the world, “DON’T DRAFT ANOTHER MIDDLE INFIELDER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!” But I don’t.

APRIL 1, 2004

I can’t believe I haven’t written a thing since New Year’s... So much has happened. We had the draft.

We also made a trade in the big leagues. We got Alex Massenburg, an aging but decent first baseman (last year, he split the season between Oakland and San Diego, hit .244 with 6 homers and 22 RBI in 123 at-bats) and minor-leaguer Bill Garbutt (also known as Garbage-Butt) who was 5-2 as a reliever for San Diego’s A-ball team last year. I remember facing him at one point last August. He struck me out looking twice in that game. Two weeks later, I hit a 2-run double off him to win a game for us. In the trade, we gave up outfielder Jose Zena. Jose is 36, and perhaps his better years are behind him. He played in 138 games for us last year in the majors, hit 18 homers, 53 RBI and had a .263 average. Nothing special. We were able to shave about three million from the payroll with this deal.

We hung on to 10 players through arbitration, including John Batton. We lost Bernardo Mazza, our big-league first baseman, to free agency (which is, I’m sure, what prompted the trade for Massenburg).

Our draft this year was as follows: 1st round: Anthony Bielecki, 3b; 2. Paul Kee, cf; 3. Brandon Orme, cf; 4. Paul Leamon, p; 5. Paul Singletary, p; 6. Melvin People, p; 7. David Tait, ss; 8. Jamie McCullough, p; 9. Walter Thompson, p; 10. Adrian Frisina, p.

In February, we signed three free agents: pitcher JM Velasco (5-1, 5.10 in relief for the Rangers last year), starter Anthony Brewer (12-8 last year for St. Louis, but the two years before that, a combined 39-17 with a 3.29 ERA). This guy can pitch. He was also 4-0 with a 2.10 in the post-season last year (this, after St. Louis edged the Pirates for the NL Central). He’ll be our #3 starter in the bigs after Pio Pena (16-12, 3.17) and Cruz Moreno (13-12, 3.13).

As we gear up toward opening day, some things are becoming clear. They’re not likely to move any of the current second basemen on this roster. My chances of promotion are pretty slim at this point. Porras and Batton are on the ILB roster; Gray, Bowden and Tuma are in AAA; Wilner is in AA, and Joel Hunt and I sit here in A-ball. However, a week after telling management he might quit the game, Otter was promoted to AAA! He doesn’t think he’ll start, but he’s there. Looks like that scrap metal job might be pushed back a couple years.

Opening day, I’m batting leadoff. We’re up against Philadelphia. First inning, I single, and get thrown out stealing. Another single, and I advance on Big L’s base hit to right. Galeana strikes out swinging, though, and we still have no score. By my next plate appearance, we’re up 3-0, and we end up winning the game 12-2. I go 4-5 with a stolen base and an RBI. Good start to the year.

APRIL 7, 2004

A week into the season, and Pittsburgh starts its spring cleaning. Sixteen players were released this morning, including AAA second-baseman Eric Tuma. On the down side, my old buddies from Wilkes-Barre last year, Ryan Herdon and Pat White were both let go. Pat was in AAA, Ryan in AA. Pat hadn’t pitched yet, and Ryan had a good outing in his one start (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 K and the win). I’ll have to keep my eye on those folks, and see what develops. (Speaking of old friends, Chris Gerner is still with Atlanta’s farm system, and he made it to the AAA roster. So far, he’s just 0-1 – a strikeout – in his tenure there.)

01-03-2004, 05:30 PM	#14
bcimmet Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: New York City Posts: 65	The Journal of Christopher Quinn (2b, Pittsburgh Single-A) JANUARY 2, 2004 Happy New Year! I went up to Montreal to hang with Otter and some of his high school friends for the new year. He’s been working out a lot this winter as well, but I don’t know... He may just quit baseball all together. He was talking about getting a job in Montreal, moving scrap metal or something. What he should do is get looked at by the Expos, and see whether they can swing a trade with Pittsburgh. We’re both eager to see what Pittsburgh does in the upcoming draft. It’s all I can do not to scream at the world, “DON’T DRAFT ANOTHER MIDDLE INFIELDER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!” But I don’t. APRIL 1, 2004 I can’t believe I haven’t written a thing since New Year’s... So much has happened. We had the draft. We also made a trade in the big leagues. We got Alex Massenburg, an aging but decent first baseman (last year, he split the season between Oakland and San Diego, hit .244 with 6 homers and 22 RBI in 123 at-bats) and minor-leaguer Bill Garbutt (also known as Garbage-Butt) who was 5-2 as a reliever for San Diego’s A-ball team last year. I remember facing him at one point last August. He struck me out looking twice in that game. Two weeks later, I hit a 2-run double off him to win a game for us. In the trade, we gave up outfielder Jose Zena. Jose is 36, and perhaps his better years are behind him. He played in 138 games for us last year in the majors, hit 18 homers, 53 RBI and had a .263 average. Nothing special. We were able to shave about three million from the payroll with this deal. We hung on to 10 players through arbitration, including John Batton. We lost Bernardo Mazza, our big-league first baseman, to free agency (which is, I’m sure, what prompted the trade for Massenburg). Our draft this year was as follows: 1st round: Anthony Bielecki, 3b; 2. Paul Kee, cf; 3. Brandon Orme, cf; 4. Paul Leamon, p; 5. Paul Singletary, p; 6. Melvin People, p; 7. David Tait, ss; 8. Jamie McCullough, p; 9. Walter Thompson, p; 10. Adrian Frisina, p. In February, we signed three free agents: pitcher JM Velasco (5-1, 5.10 in relief for the Rangers last year), starter Anthony Brewer (12-8 last year for St. Louis, but the two years before that, a combined 39-17 with a 3.29 ERA). This guy can pitch. He was also 4-0 with a 2.10 in the post-season last year (this, after St. Louis edged the Pirates for the NL Central). He’ll be our #3 starter in the bigs after Pio Pena (16-12, 3.17) and Cruz Moreno (13-12, 3.13). As we gear up toward opening day, some things are becoming clear. They’re not likely to move any of the current second basemen on this roster. My chances of promotion are pretty slim at this point. Porras and Batton are on the ILB roster; Gray, Bowden and Tuma are in AAA; Wilner is in AA, and Joel Hunt and I sit here in A-ball. However, a week after telling management he might quit the game, Otter was promoted to AAA! He doesn’t think he’ll start, but he’s there. Looks like that scrap metal job might be pushed back a couple years. Opening day, I’m batting leadoff. We’re up against Philadelphia. First inning, I single, and get thrown out stealing. Another single, and I advance on Big L’s base hit to right. Galeana strikes out swinging, though, and we still have no score. By my next plate appearance, we’re up 3-0, and we end up winning the game 12-2. I go 4-5 with a stolen base and an RBI. Good start to the year. APRIL 7, 2004 A week into the season, and Pittsburgh starts its spring cleaning. Sixteen players were released this morning, including AAA second-baseman Eric Tuma. On the down side, my old buddies from Wilkes-Barre last year, Ryan Herdon and Pat White were both let go. Pat was in AAA, Ryan in AA. Pat hadn’t pitched yet, and Ryan had a good outing in his one start (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 K and the win). I’ll have to keep my eye on those folks, and see what develops. (Speaking of old friends, Chris Gerner is still with Atlanta’s farm system, and he made it to the AAA roster. So far, he’s just 0-1 – a strikeout – in his tenure there.)