Week In Review: 8/2-8/8

This past week saw the initial results of the trade deadline moves, including a few looks at the roster following the deadline, and some minor roster moves.  The big signing of the week for the Pirates was broken on this site, as 2010 4th round pick Nick Kingham agreed to sign with the Pirates.  Finally, the week capped off with two big firings on the coaching staff.  Here is a recap of the past week…

• I interviewed 2010 7th round pick Austin Kubitza, who mentioned he was determined to stick to his $1.5-2 M bonus demands.
• State College Spikes Outfielder Cole White was named the New York-Penn League Player of the Week.
• Following the trades of Octavio Dotel, Javier Lopez, and D.J. Carrasco, I took a look at the 2011 bullpen.
• The Pirates traded AA outfielder Brandon Jones to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later.
• Omar sent in his review of the West Virginia hitters in their series against Lakewood last week.
• I looked at the 2011 roster crunch, which will be a big topic this off-season with so many players out of options, and several players who need to be added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.  As a solution, I provided five steps to building the 2011 roster.
• Adam Dunn was waived by the Nationals, and I threw out a scenario where the Pirates could try to claim him and flip some of their Rule 5 eligible players for Dunn, who could bring back two first round compensation picks in the strong 2011 draft.
• I first broke the news that the Pittsburgh Pirates had an agreement to sign Nick Kingham.
• The Pirates claimed relief pitchers Chan Ho Park and Chris Resop off of waivers.
• Following his first start, I wrote about the potential of James McDonald, including why he shouldn’t have been written off from his top prospect status with the Dodgers.
• There was a rumor that the St. Louis Cardinals were looking at Andy LaRoche to fill their third base need for the remainder of the season.
• Matt Curry, Adalberto Santos, and Jhonatan Ramos were all named to the 2010 NYPL All-Star game.
• Ryan Doumit was activated from the disabled list, and Erik Kratz was demoted to make room.
• The Pirates traded infielder Brian Bixler to the Washington Nationals for cash considerations.
• Keith Law presented a rumor that the Pirates were close to a deal with 15th round pick Drew Maggi for around $460 K.
• Following his walk-off homer against the Colorado Rockies, I looked at Pedro Alvarez and how he is the first franchise player the Pirates have had in a long time.
• The Pirates fired pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho.

Coming next week:

• Video recaps of Rudy Owens, Jeff Locke, Bryan Morris, Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, and video of other Altoona players.  This was delayed due to import issues this past week (aka, I didn’t have any hard drive space available for all of the videos).
• Tomorrow morning I’ll have a feature on Chase d’Arnaud, who is starting to tear it up in AA.
• I expect that we will have a lot of draft signings to report on, as the deadline is August 16th.  There are three middle round players who might be close to signing, other than the rumored Drew Maggi deal.
• We could also hear more news on international prospect Luis Heredia, who is eligible to sign on August 16th.
• The Venezuelan Summer League season wraps up this week, with the VSL Pirates playing in the finals starting Monday against the VSL Mariners.  We will have a season recap on Thursday.
• I’ve heard the Pirates might promote some of their AA pitchers this month.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Rudy Owens gets promoted this week, especially considering his recent outings.
• Game reports from Pirates’ affiliates.