SEATTLE -- Given that the Mariners have struggled mightily offensively, the signing of No. 2 pick Dustin Ackley serves as a serious momentum boost for an organization looking to escape a series of shaky moves under the Bill Bavasi tenure.
For example, Bavasi traded Adam Jones and George Sherill for Erik Bedard, and he selected Cal's Brandon Morrow over the University of Washington's Tim Lincecum in the 2006 draft. Morrow is in the minors while Lincecum is one of the top starting pitchers in the major leagues.
So the Mariners needed this. They needed to sign the best hitter in college baseball. Ackley hit .422 with 22 home runs and 73 RBI in 66 games for the University of North Carolina. Signing him went down to the final minutes, with general manager Jack Zduriencik revealing that the deal was agreed upon at 8:45 PM PT, about 15 minutes before the deadline.
With the Pittsburgh Pirates in the midst of their 17th consecutive losing season, a lot of Pirates players have been walking the plank and being shipped to other teams around the majors. Still, even with all the roster upheaval in Pittsburgh it seems there will be at least one person left who will be returning to the Bucs next season.
While in Chicago on Sunday during a rain delay -- the game was eventually postponed -- team president Frank Coonelly talked about the future of current manager John Russell and said that he would be back manning the ship in 2010.
The other night in Pittsburgh, where the city really is named after William Pitt and not its pits-of-the-world baseball franchise, a phenom named Andrew McCutchen hit three home runs. He joined a trio of titanic names in Pirates history -- Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner -- among those who have achieved the feat. It's the sort of drop-dead brilliance envisioned when they summoned the dreadlocked stud from the minors in June.
"He's got tremendous bat speed and the ability to drive the ball," said his manager, John Russell.
Futilitywatch '09 is a our semi-regular update on the Pittsburgh Pirates and their march toward their record 17th consecutive losing season.
I intimated last week that the trade deadline is always a tough time of year for Pirates fans, and Wednesday was the perfect illustration of why that is.
In a matter of about eight hours, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent their two most popular players, Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez, packing to the west coast. The moves were made in the name of rebuilding, and they were the right moves for the team to make, but sometimes that knowledge doesn't make the news any easier to take.
The news of Jack Wilson heading to Seattle dropped out of the sky like a hammer early Wednesday afternoon.
Everyone knows the Pirates are rebuilding, but it was a real surprise to see Wilson headed to Seattle. The Mariners adding veterans and payroll? Are they actually buyers at this deadline?
That's certainly the initial impression here. Wilson is one of the best defensive shortstops in the league and he's having one of the best defensive seasons of his career at the age of 31. He's not a great hitter, but he's got a better bat than Yuniesky Betancourt, who manned short for Seattle for most of this year.
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
The general perception is that Sanchez rejected the two-year, $10 million offer made to him because the three-time All-Star believes he's worth more than that, which led to Wilson rejecting his two-year, $8 million offer because his staying in Pittsburgh is conditional upon his friend Sanchez staying. The team has already said they don't have much wiggle room with the offers, and GM Neal Huntington has made it clear that it's on the players now to continue the negotiation.
Since taking over as Pirates general manager in the fall of 2007, Neal Huntington has been almost singularly focused on rebuilding the Pirates' ravaged farm system. This has necessitated trades of some of their best and most popular players, including Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, and Nyjer Morgan, which has seriously upset the more impatient Pirate fans, who are about to endure a 17th straight losing season.
With this in mind, it's a bit of a surprise to hear that the Pirates front office has offered both Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez contract extensions. Both players have 2010 options, Wilson's is a team option worth $8.4 million and Sanchez's is a vesting option worth $8 million if he reaches 600 plate appearances, that are a bit pricey for the Pirates' tastes, and as a result both were previously thought to be on the trade block.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Red Sox probably did not sleep well Tuesday night.
Boston held a nine-run lead in Baltimore with nine outs to go. Then the Orioles exploded for five runs on seven hits in the seventh inning and five runs on six hits in the eighth, handing Jonathan Papelbon his second blown save of the season. When George Sherrill struck out Jason Bay with two on in the top of the ninth, it finished off a wild 11-10 victory for the O's.
[Said Orioles manager Dave Trembley:] "It was the shootout at the OK Corral except it was Camden Yards."
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Gordon Beckham era has begun in Chicago.
The White Sox announced after Wednesday's loss to the Athletics that they would call up Beckham on Thursday, one day short of a year after he was their first-round draft pick.
"He's going to play," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Where, we're going to find out. Is he going to play third base every day. I don't think so. But he will get plenty of at-bats. To me, he has to be in the lineup every day and get a good percentage of at-bats."
SEATTLE -- Given that the Mariners have struggled mightily offensively, the signing of No. 2 pick Dustin Ackley serves as a serious momentum boost for an organization looking to escape a series of shaky moves under the Bill Bavasi tenure.
With the Pittsburgh Pirates in the midst of their 17th consecutive losing season, a lot of Pirates players have been walking the plank and being shipped to other teams around the majors. Still, even with all the roster upheaval in Pittsburgh it seems there will be at least one person left who will be returning to the Bucs next season.
The other night in Pittsburgh, where the city really is named after William Pitt and not its pits-of-the-world baseball franchise, a phenom named 
Futilitywatch '09
The news of 
Just a few days after news broke that the Pittsburgh Pirates had offered extensions to 
Since taking over as Pirates general manager in the fall of 2007, 
Starting Five
