The fat sleepy bear has since begun to stir this past week in preparation for pitchers and catchers reporting in 19 days with the minor league signing trio of Jaret Wright, Casey Fossum, and Hector Carrasco...now that's inspiring. Wright missed all of '07, the Rays let Fossum walk, and Carrasco had an era in the 5's...I smell NL Central champs! Have no fear Swashbuckler fans, they've signed more has-beens, never-weres, and who-the-hell-are-they-anyways: stud pitchers Adam Bernero, TJ Beam, and Elmer Dessens, catcher extraordinaire Raul Chavez, and super utility man Jose Macias. Hold on, that's not it, for a limited time only they'll throw in reliable reliever Salomon Torres for nothing- straight to the Brew Crew for 2 minor league "prospects". Also gone are Jose Castillo, Shane Youman (Phils thank you), Cesar Izturis (starting SS for the Cards), and Josh Phelps. They did sign one free agent to a MLB contract though, future Hall-of-Fame utility infielder Chris Gomez, so not all hope is lost. They've also been tossing around the idea of inking Freddy Sanchez to a multi-year deal, but to Pittsburgh that's probably only 2 years. Let's check back into reality here, the Pirates look dismal for '08, but they'll still probably have a better April than the Charlie Manuel fueled Phillies.
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