Josh Bell - Steal of the draft?

Keith Law stated before the draft the Josh Bell, the 6'3, 200lb slugger committed to the University of Texas, was a top 15 talent and was virtually unsignable. Supposedly, the Red Sox had great interest in taking him in the first round, but the letter Bell sent to MLB teams prior to the draft requesting that they did not draft him because of his college committment was enough to scare off all major league teams in the first round. Law also stated that if a cool 6.5 mil and a chance to play for the world champion Red Sox couldn't persuade Bell to enter the draft, then nothing would...

So, the progressive, high rolling Pittsburgh Pirates decided to roll the dice on Bell with the 1st pick of the 2nd round....and they were successful on signing bell to a 5 million dollar deal. Although the deal wasn't completed until a few minutes before the signing deadline, the Pirates were victorious in securing two highly touted draft prospects (Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell).

At Texas Prep, Bell was an advanced switch hitter that offers tremendous power. He started switch hitting at the age of 5 and hits equally as well from both sides of the plate. In Bell's senior season at Texas Prep, he hit .584 with 13 HR's, 50 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. Bell projects to be a middle of the lineup type of hitter that will likely play either left or right field.

Athough Gerrit Cole stole the show as the first pick of the draft, Bell might have a greater upside as an every day contributor to the offense. Kudos to Bob Nutting and the Pirates organization for putting together a financially record setting draft and following the sustainability plan they discussed early on. Bell might be more of a "sure thing" than anyone else the organization drafted this year. Pirates fans have a reason to be excited for several years to come.

Steelers to Set Their Own Salary Cap

Even though the 2010 NFL season is going to be uncapped, the Steelers have decided to set their own salary cap.

Steelers Dir. of Operations, Kevin Colbert, said "We will operate as we always have. We will operate as if we have a cap. You don't know what you're going to be dealing with. First of all, no one's been in an uncapped year since 1993, so it's a whole different era and no one knows how this will play out. We don't know, if there is a new [labor] deal at any point, what the new rules are going to be".

I believe most teams in the league will take a similar approach. Nobody knows what the future of the NFL will look like and the two sides (NFL & players) do not appear anywhere near a new labor deal. The off-season will likely business as usual in Pittsburgh.

Steelers Contract Talks to Begin

The Pittsburgh Steelers are planning to begin negotiating with their top 3 priorities: Unrestricted free agents Casey Hampton, Ryan Clark, and Jeff Reed.

I have been saying for a very long time that the Steelers poor drafting would eventually catch up with the team. The time has come. The organization has been hitting the ball out of the park in the first round...However, the Steelers have missed on too many picks after the 1st round in 6 of the last 7 years.

The Steelers usually let free agents over 30 years old to sign with a team like the Redskins or Cowboys that are willing to over-pay for older free agents. Pittsburgh has always had enough organizational depth and players ready to slide into the starting vacancies created from letting the over-the-hill, over-priced free agents walk. Beacuse of the poor drafting, the Steelers will likely have to over-pay for guys that are passed their prime.

Don't get me wrong, Casey Hampton is still very capable and he does a great job stuffing running lanes in the 3-4 defense. Ryan Clark is a nice complement to Troy Polamalu as well. However, they are both very expensive and we have no choice but to sign them. We have nobody ready to step in!

Speaking of older vets, the organization is also interested in bringing Charlie Batch back to be the #3 QB. I do like this move. Batch is capable of playing in an emergency role, but he has become a great leader and almost another coach on the field for the black and gold. He will likely play for the vet minimum as well.

James Harrison to attend off-season workouts

Steelers LB James Harrison is having difficulty getting a new deal with the Steelers. The 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is due to make a measly 1.4 million dollars (base salary) in 2009. He is largely underpaid and nobody disputes that.

The problem: In May, James Harrison will be 31 years old. Many could argue that he is simply a product of Dick LeBeau's 3-4 system and may fail in a different environment. Given that Harrison is on the wrong side of 30, I do not think a blockbuster deal is in the future. The two sides are said to be pretty far apart.

When Harrison's agent was asked if James would be attending the "voluntary" off season workouts, he replied, "Yep, James will be there."

Harrison seems to be handling the situation with class right now, but I wonder if his mindset will change as training camp nears.

I could see Harrison holding out for a new deal if a deal cannot be reached.

On the other side, it may be in Harrison's best interest to not be greedy and accept what the Steelers are offering. If he holds out the 2009 season, he will be a 32 year old free agent LB next year. How many teams are going to break the bank for that?

Pirates curious about Pedro Martinez

Free agent pitcher, Pedro Martinez is still looking for a place to call home. A few teams are said to be "curious" about his services.

The problem seems to be that Martinez is looking for a 1 year, 5-8 million dollar deal.

Advice to the Pirates: Aggressively pursue Pedro. Though Pedro is up in age and significantly less effective than in his hay-day, he will put butts in seats. With the roller-coaster seasons we have experienced from guys like Zach Duke, Tom Gorzelanny, and Ian Snell, Pedro could potentially be a nice change up.

Pedro will sell tickets and hopefully be a good mentor for our young pitching staff. Offer him a low base salary, incentive laden contract that could potentially pay him 5-8 million....and if he achieves his contract ceiling, then he was well worth the signing. Seems simple to me.