OK, that’s not really what he said. But while Pittsburgh is leading the Yankees, 1-0 in the top of the 5th tonight, we’ll hop in the time machine and go all the way back…to this morning’s Post-Gazette, where Paul Meyer challenges the Pirates’ selection of Clemson P Daniel Moskos (above) in yesterday’s amateur draft.
Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters was available, but his super agent Scott Boras is rumored to want a $10 million signing deal for Wieters.
Did that scare off the Pirates?
“We’ve got the guy we want, really,” general manager Dave Littlefield said. “Moskos is who we’re happy to have. We feel he’s going to be a very talented pitcher. With regards to other players, we decided to pick the best guy for us.”
Is Littlefield concerned the Pirates will be viewed by their fan base as having drafted a player they know they can sign rather than having drafted a more expensive, perhaps higher impact player?
“What really concerns me is that we’ve got a talented guy and we think he’s going to be a successful pitcher for the Pirates,” Littlefield said. “That’s really first and foremost what I pay attention to. My focus is on winning games and adding talent that we think is the best talent available for us. That’s really how we feel about Daniel Moskos.
“He was the best guy for the pick we had. We’re very happy to have him. We picked fourth. I’m not sure if you want us to say we wish we had a couple other guys. We don’t have the first pick. We picked fourth.
“I have this sense that there’s this desire to say we didn’t get the No. 1 guy we wanted. We picked fourth. We’re very happy with the player we have.”
Someone mentioned to Littlefield that Baseball Prospectus had written that Pirates management submitted a request to ownership — read, Bob Nutting — to spend the money to sign Wieters and was denied.
“That’s not true,” Littlefield said. “We had an opportunity to draft a pitcher we really like. We think he’s a good pick in our spot at four.”
Moskos commemorated his likely signing with the prestigious Pirates organization by allowing 9 earned runs in 5 innings today, as Clemson lost their NCAA Super Regional opener to Mississippi State, 8-6.
Proving there are some veterans too precious to turn out for the Long Island Ducks, reliever Troy Perceival has signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals.
Peter Abraham reports the Yankees were cheering in the visitor’s clubhouse at US Cellular yesterday when Shannon Stewart broke up Curt Schilling’s no-hitter. Presumably it didn’t escape their notice that Thursday might’ve been Schilling’s best performance in a Boston uniform.
While the living, breathing revelation that is Jorge Sosa has held the Tigers to a mere 3 hits at Comerica tonight (the Mets hold a 2-0 advantage in the top of the 7th), the Amazins’ have done their best to give Detroit a generous competitive advantage by starting Rickey Ledee (batting 9th) in left field. David Wright and Carlos Delgado have each hit solo HR’s off Chad Durbin.