BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
SAN FRANCISCO — And without any further ado, our two-day delayed edition of the, um, Thursday 10 Qs is off and running …
mholtz612: With the news of Mario Lemieux exploring a sale, what do you make of Ron Burkle not looking to sell his portion? It might not be popular opinion in this town, but I believe the value of this franchise is near its peak. From all accounts, Burkle is a savvy business man with no real ties to this area. This seems like a perfect time to sell high.
DK: Mario wants to cash out. That’s the simplest, clearest way to state this.
From everything I was told yesterday, his position is that he’s about to turn 50, his children are all just about out of the house, and he’s looking toward a next phase in his life. I also was told that there were several other occasions on which he entertained selling, but never to this degree where a Morgan Stanley would get involved in seeking out a buyer.
Now, this is where it gets a little more layered …
Lemieux and Burkle are great friends and even better business partners. If one considers what it takes for two men to coexist as co-owners — meaning neither one holds a controlling interest — for as long as they have, that’s a testament to that tight relationship. Anyone who tells you otherwise about them is either ignorant or lying.
Because of this relationship, they’ll work together on this sale, as well. It could become complicated. It could be a case where whoever buys the team will demand a controlling portion. That won’t be easy. That could put people in places to make difficult decisions.
I know this much. And by that, I mean I really know it: Burkle loves being part of the Penguins, and that means a big part. His preference is to remain that. The man’s got mountains of money and is in zero financial difficulty, again no matter what else you might hear or read somewhere else. A billionaire is a billionaire, and he’s a billionaire. His original investment in the Penguins was $22 million. To suggest he’d need that cash to cover any sort of issues is utter insanity.
Hope that helps. It will be fascinating to see this play out.
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DJ: My Tuesday 10 Qs question, on Wednesday, and hopefully responded to Thursday: Who would you peg as the frontrunner to buy the Pens?
DK: Ha! Yeah, I guess this is as good a place as any to apologize again for the delay in this weekly feature. It just wasn’t practical on this particular Tuesday. But this one, I’m doing in the terminal at San Francisco International, awaiting the red-eye to Pittsburgh.
I’ll answer your question not with a tossed-out-there name — though I’m sure there will be plenty of that — but with a firm answer: The one who offers the most money, at least out of those candidates who pass other tests.
I could find a delicate way to phrase this or just be blunt: Mario likes his money.
He doesn’t hide that. He doesn’t pretend otherwise.
And for everything he and Nathalie have done for Pittsburgh, chief among them their magnanimous and overwhelming work with local hospitals on constructing children’s play areas, it’s inconceivable to imagine anyone could begrudge him that. Even if he ends up spending most of his time in the new $20 million mansion he just had built in Montreal, and less in Pittsburgh, it’s still inconceivable to me that Pittsburgh could — or will — demand more.
But he will go for the money on this. Take that to the bank.
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GC: Josh Harrison, Jung Ho Kang, and even Jordy Mercer seem like better options than Pedro Alvarez. Would the Pirates consider Kang at first base?
DK: Really?
No, I can’t see that with Kang, much less the other two you cite. No one wants a shorter first baseman for obvious reasons, so Harrison wouldn’t work. No one likes to devalue legit middle infielders by putting them at first, so the other two are out. Neil Walker might be there at some point in his career, but this isn’t that.
When the Pirates’ brass decides they’ve finally seen enough of Pedro — and that will happen as a result of the bat, not the fielding, given his skill set and position — I can promise you they’ll either go to the outside to find a replacement, or a top prospect like Josh Bell will be ready to take over. It won’t be by moving anyone in the current fold.
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Tom Duerr: I know it’s a bit early to start thinking about it, but do you think that the Pirates will try and add a back end starter to the rotation considering the ineffectiveness of Jeff Locke? To me, it seems like our one glaring weakness. Also, any clue why, as of now, Locke is still starting next week and not Vance Worley? Worley is clearly the more talented pitcher.
DK: The Pirates believe Locke has more upside, as a 28-year-old lefty who can throw 93 and isn’t all that far removed from being pretty good. That’s atop the team’s list right now. They believe he can be better and that he isn’t any dramatic move away from being better. His primary issue is inconsistency, not a lack of talent.
On that note, Tom, I’m not sure where you get the assessment that Worley is a clearly more talented pitcher, as they’re basically the same pitcher. Unless, of course, you’ve come down with an acute case of RECENCY BIAS. (We need an alarm or something that goes off with that.) They’ve had virtually identical career paths, numbers, you name it. Even this year, if you look beyond ERA, opponents are batting .296 against Worley — a ridiculous figure, like everyone he faces is Rod Carew — to .287 for Locke. Locke has a few more walks and four more home runs allowed, but that’s the difference there, and that doesn’t strike me as a talent issue. Especially when we know Locke has been capable of consistent command in the past.
Look, I’m not going to start a parade for Locke. If he pitches badly in Atlanta, a change has to be made. Based on a brief conversation we had Wednesday at AT&T Park, I’m guessing he knows that. He’s got to come through.
But you asked why he’s being given another chance, and that’s why.
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bernard.diggins: Does Cortez Allen have what it takes physically and mentally to be a No. 1 corner for an NFL team?
DK: Physically, it would be hard to make the case that he doesn’t have what it takes. Allen has the speed to run down the field, even a straight line. He’s also got the athleticism to make plays, as you might recall from that initial flourish that made him a starter a couple years ago. He was getting his hands on the ball left and right.
The Cortez case is all mental.
I really believe that based on watching him disintegrate on a near-weekly basis over the past year and change and, infinitely more important, so do Carnell Lake, Keith Butler, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers. And, at the risk of mixing sports here, I think that’s why this might be a bit similar to Locke in that they know he can do it, but they still have to — and want to — bring it out.
That said, to draw another parallel to Locke, Cortez has to get it done and done right away. No way should he be given a leash longer than three or four weeks if his performance looks anything like 2014.
On that note, man, not to add pressure to the kid, but this decision to stick by Cortez just looms so large for this front office and coaching staff. Partly because of the silly five-year, $25 million extension — cash taken from an envelope that should have been marked ‘Keenan Lewis‘ — but also because they’ve done so little else to address the position this offseason and are risking a rough start in an already vulnerable area right from the outset.
And this was before they knew Tom Brady wasn’t invited to the opener.
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punjabiterp: DK, the addition of Josh Yohe has definitely been great for all of your readers. He has also seemed to have given you some more energy, based on your Morning Java videos. Can you comment on how adding all of the contributors has affected you and the way you are able to work?
Thanks, and keep up the great work!
DK: You picked a great week to ask that, so I’ll take it even though it isn’t about sports. Anyone put off can just scroll down to the next entry.
It’s been tremendous. Not going to lie. Having Josh not only as a reporter and writer but also as a sounding board, de facto editor and someone with whom to share stuff like anonymous sources, it’s been extremely uplifting. And I’m glad that, at least to you, it shows. We’ve always worked well together in the past, but doing it in this way, where we’re both just basically winging it week to week, day to day, splitting up trips, teaming up on breaking news like the Lemieux/Burkle stuff, it makes it all the more fun. Feels like the sky’s the limit.
I’m excited, too, about our contributors. And trust me when I tell you we’ve got bigger plans for all of them, coming very soon. They’ll be very much involved. You’ve seen Matt Gajtka rise up to the Riverhounds’ borderline miraculous two outcomes last week. You’ve seen John Perrotto bring you inside stuff from Bradenton, and you’ll be getting much more by way of the Major League Baseball draft next week, the All-Star Game in Cincinnati and more. Brian Metzer hasn’t had much of a chance because of rotten timing, what with the Penguins’ season ending right as he came aboard. But there will plenty more opportunity soon enough. And Dan Scifo … eh, I’ll keep this one to myself for now.
We won’t stand pat. We’ll keep growing. And this group, combined with our partnerships with local institutions like Benstonium and Dave DiCello is … wow, I couldn’t be happier.
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AdamFlango: Fun bar question I often discuss with my buddies: All current Pittsburgh athletes walk into a bar. Who do you think gets served first? This is assuming, of course, that if they were offered a beer, they wouldn’t defer it to a more senior athlete. I have to think it’s Cutch right now, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
DK: Whoa! This is too good!
OK, I’ll start by saying I hate that Brett Keisel no longer meets your criteria. Because he’d take this one by a landslide, and you know it. The Beard would immediately own any Pittsburgh institution he’d enter, especially the type you’re describing.
And that’s to say nothing of Francois Leroux or Doug Mientkiewicz, as long as I’m going for the past. Big Frankie actually used to hang out at Redbeard’s on Mount Washington for years.
So wow, I guess I have to pick one from the present.
Starting with the Steelers, I’d look long and hard at James Harrison, not so much because he’s beloved but more because he’d scare the daylights out of everyone. Cam Heyward is another, though I’m not sure he’s yet that recognizable. Ramon Foster would be the life of the party, but not the first served. And Ben Roethlisberger, well, he’d just get chased out of there as quickly as possible.
Moving on to the Penguins, I could see Evgeni Malkin being a hit, though there would be a far better chance of that scene in a bar in Moscow. Most of the rest don’t really fit this mold, as it’s kind of a clean-cut crew, though at least one former player might embrace the experience if it came with all-night poker and blackjack.
Heck, I’d say all the drinks go to Patric Hornqvist, and let the rest sort itself out.
But no, not the Penguins, either.
And not Andrew McCutchen. He’s a bit more reserved than you think and not nearly as much the bar type as he is for finding some fine dining.
The winner: A.J.
Only catch is, he’d do the buying.
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SDBurghman: DK, when you travel on an extended road trip such as this West Coast swing, do you ever travel with the team, meaning get invited to fly with them and stay at the team hotel?
DK: No, never. And I’d never ask. Independent means independent.
Actually, there was one occasion a few years back when a hurricane was fast approaching Houston. The Pirates were kind enough to offer all of us writers covering that series spots on their charter to get out of town way more quickly than we could have commercially. I accepted. And upon return to Pittsburgh, the Post-Gazette, my employer at the time immediately paid the Pirates for the full amount of a basic one-way fare from Houston to Pittsburgh.
This site will always maintain that same separation.
I see the teams at the stadiums and arenas. That’s it.
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Dr. Van Nostrand: What do you make of the Pirates’ infield defense? The corners have both been atrocious, history says Walker will be no better than average, and shortstop is a mixed-up mess because of offensive liabilities. Is this a growing concern?
DK: It is. The Pirates have real problems in the infield, and they’re legitimately worried about it. That was made plenty clear to me on this trip.
Trouble is, there are no easy solutions. Or even identifying the problems.
Alvarez is the exception. He’s obvious. He’s not a big-league first baseman. One can never rule out that he might be someday, but he isn’t now. Not in any capacity.
But aside from that, man, good luck figuring out the errors or other fundamental lapses made by Walker, Harrison, even Mercer running right over a routine ball Wednesday. None of these guys are rotten fielders, but they’ve all been down this season. Kang gets the benefit of the doubt, I’d think, but his range is severely limited, as is his ability to make throws against his body, a must for a shortstop going to the hole.
So what do you do?
I know I’m supposed to offer answers in this forum, but I’ve got none.
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yakimj: The Riverhounds’ offense is explosive and, while that leads to lesser defense at times, allowing two goals per match is unacceptable. How do Mark Steffens and the Hounds shore up the D as USL play ratchets up and D.C. United is looming. Also, what goalkeeper has your vote of confidence?
DK: I haven’t been concerned about the Hounds’ defense since the first 2-3 weeks, when they were conceding grotesque goals late in matches. That’s because some of those were Anthony Arena looking atypically lost, but others came from either a lack of organization or lack of effort, none of which are acceptable, to steal your adjective. Just because a team scores a lot — and the Hounds obviously do — doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be able, for example, to defend set pieces.
Arena and Willie Hunt have steadied to a degree, but they’re usually flanked by headless-chicken-esque Tyler Pasher on one side, undersized Matt Dallman on the other. And it doesn’t work. It just doesn’t.
In goal, per your follow-up, I’m sure I’m in the minority on this at Highmark Stadium, but I want to see much more of Calle Brown — once healthy, of course — and less of Ryan Thompson. I get why the front office was enamored of Thompson, including his pedigree as Jamaica’s national keeper. I also have seen some big saves. But beyond that, I’ve seen far too often where the big save eluded him late. Brown is enormous — 6 feet 7 — he commands the box in a way Thompson never could, he’s young, and he’s got his own pedigree in just having led the University of Virginia to an NCAA championship.
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Dave in Ross Twp.: What’s up with Pedro, really? Does he just not want to attach himself to the city/fan base because it’s all a business to him? Or is he just that aloof? I think he could be huge here if he wanted to be. Everyone loves the long ball!
DK: You left out the cap coming down over his ears, Dave!
Come on, never forget the cap!
No, really, I’d hope that we’re all past the draft mess and the Scott Boras stuff and all the resulting interpretations of his body language. I mean that. It’s tired and it’s trite and, in all honesty, I’m confident in saying most of it’s been proven untrue by this stage.
Without revisiting all that in detail, this is my super-quick summary of Pedro the person: He’s intense but private. He works hard but gets easily discouraged. He’s tremendous with his teammates and coaches but invests precious little in anyone else, including most reporters. (And you can’t imagine how little that impacts my life.) He loves the game and wants to win but … well, I don’t have a but for that one. He legitimately cares.
But he cares about baseball. Not whether or not anyone on the outside likes him.
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Burnley_Penguin: With Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff likely to walk, what do you think the Pens do on defense? Obviously, Kris Letang and Olli Maatta are the top pair. Maybe Ian Cole and Derrick Pouliot are the second. But do the Pens buy out Rob Scuderi too and have a very young third pairing?
DK: Jim Rutherford kind of advertised to Josh this week two facets of this:
1. Letang and Maatta will be the top pair, the shutdown pair.
2. Martin and Ehrhoff are goners. He wasn’t explicit, but he came close.
And full credit to Josh for reporting those to you before anyone else, by the way.
Your second pairing might be dead-on, BP. Cole is really solid on the right side, his off-side, and he’s capable not only of supporting the attack but also defensively sound enough to cover up for Pouliot’s many mistakes. That has a healthy feel to it.
I’d say the third pairing would be Taylor Chorney and Ben Lovejoy or Brian Dumoulin, with a sprinkling of Scott Harrington thrown in. You saw in the playoffs that Chorney and Dumoulin make a strong set, both in the AHL and … not just the NHL but the heat of Stanley Cup playoffs in New York. They were impressive. The staff loves Chorney. Dumoulin has the upper hand on Harrington, in part because of that, though either one will have to earn his way individually.
But to your actual question, no, I don’t see either a need or a desire for Scuderi in this scenario. I do see some modest cap savings, though.
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Kevin Anderson: Who do you see as the Steelers’ No. 2 starting corner? I think Antwon Blake might beat out Cortez for the job. Do you potentially see Senquez Golson or Doran Grant starting by Week 4?
DK: Your second sentence won’t come true, Kevin. For the Steelers to go through OTAs with this plan is powerfully telling. This isn’t done on a hunch. They had all winter to make a plan. That doesn’t mean injury or performance couldn’t affect it, but I’ll assume you’re talking from a default mode. Cortez and Willie Gay are the corners. And when there’s a nickel, Blake comes on in Gay’s spot, and Gay slides to nickel.
I don’t believe Golson or Grant — the latter of whom already seems ticketed for special teams, as it was a real strength for him at Ohio State — will have even a prayer of starting, barring Golson doing something outrageous in the earliest stages of Latrobe. Rookie corners just don’t rise up a month into the NFL schedule, certainly not with the Steelers. If needs arise, you go out and pluck some random B.W. Webb instead.
No, it’s Cortez’s world, and we’re all just catching deep balls in it.
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tabletop390: Since you spend time in various locker rooms, what has been the strangest thing you’ve seen in a player’s locker?
DK: I have kind of a personal rule against doing that. Even though the lockers are almost always open in full view, I try not to look and definitely avoid making any kind of remark. Maybe that makes me a lousy reporter, as you might recall that the infamous bottle of Androstenedione was spotted by a reporter in Mark McGwire’s locker all those years ago and really triggered the whole steroids furor. To me, that’s their world. It’s mostly personal effects, pics of family, that sort of thing.
That said, it was impossible to not notice the magnificent Kenny doll atop Locke’s stall in Bradenton, and yes, I mean Kenny who dies in every episode of South Park.
Wonderful stuff.
I’m hoping to do nothing upon getting home. Josh will carry the Friday Insider, as well as flying to Atlanta for Pirates-Braves this weekend. Matt will have Riverhounds-St. Louis on Saturday. John will have the Pirates to start next week. If all goes well, I’ll wake up by next Wednesday or so.
Thanks for participating, as always!
Ron Burkle has been the Penguins' co-owner with Mario Lemieux since 1999. -- GETTY
June 4, 2015
Thursday 10 Qs: Burkle, Pedro, Cortez, Locke
by Dejan Kovacevic • Five Qs at 5 • Penguins, Pirates, Riverhounds, Steelers
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
SAN FRANCISCO — And without any further ado, our two-day delayed edition of the, um, Thursday 10 Qs is off and running …
mholtz612: With the news of Mario Lemieux exploring a sale, what do you make of Ron Burkle not looking to sell his portion? It might not be popular opinion in this town, but I believe the value of this franchise is near its peak. From all accounts, Burkle is a savvy business man with no real ties to this area. This seems like a perfect time to sell high.
DK: Mario wants to cash out. That’s the simplest, clearest way to state this.
From everything I was told yesterday, his position is that he’s about to turn 50, his children are all just about out of the house, and he’s looking toward a next phase in his life. I also was told that there were several other occasions on which he entertained selling, but never to this degree where a Morgan Stanley would get involved in seeking out a buyer.
Now, this is where it gets a little more layered …
Lemieux and Burkle are great friends and even better business partners. If one considers what it takes for two men to coexist as co-owners — meaning neither one holds a controlling interest — for as long as they have, that’s a testament to that tight relationship. Anyone who tells you otherwise about them is either ignorant or lying.
Because of this relationship, they’ll work together on this sale, as well. It could become complicated. It could be a case where whoever buys the team will demand a controlling portion. That won’t be easy. That could put people in places to make difficult decisions.
I know this much. And by that, I mean I really know it: Burkle loves being part of the Penguins, and that means a big part. His preference is to remain that. The man’s got mountains of money and is in zero financial difficulty, again no matter what else you might hear or read somewhere else. A billionaire is a billionaire, and he’s a billionaire. His original investment in the Penguins was $22 million. To suggest he’d need that cash to cover any sort of issues is utter insanity.
Hope that helps. It will be fascinating to see this play out.
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DJ: My Tuesday 10 Qs question, on Wednesday, and hopefully responded to Thursday: Who would you peg as the frontrunner to buy the Pens?
DK: Ha! Yeah, I guess this is as good a place as any to apologize again for the delay in this weekly feature. It just wasn’t practical on this particular Tuesday. But this one, I’m doing in the terminal at San Francisco International, awaiting the red-eye to Pittsburgh.
I’ll answer your question not with a tossed-out-there name — though I’m sure there will be plenty of that — but with a firm answer: The one who offers the most money, at least out of those candidates who pass other tests.
I could find a delicate way to phrase this or just be blunt: Mario likes his money.
He doesn’t hide that. He doesn’t pretend otherwise.
And for everything he and Nathalie have done for Pittsburgh, chief among them their magnanimous and overwhelming work with local hospitals on constructing children’s play areas, it’s inconceivable to imagine anyone could begrudge him that. Even if he ends up spending most of his time in the new $20 million mansion he just had built in Montreal, and less in Pittsburgh, it’s still inconceivable to me that Pittsburgh could — or will — demand more.
But he will go for the money on this. Take that to the bank.
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GC: Josh Harrison, Jung Ho Kang, and even Jordy Mercer seem like better options than Pedro Alvarez. Would the Pirates consider Kang at first base?
DK: Really?
No, I can’t see that with Kang, much less the other two you cite. No one wants a shorter first baseman for obvious reasons, so Harrison wouldn’t work. No one likes to devalue legit middle infielders by putting them at first, so the other two are out. Neil Walker might be there at some point in his career, but this isn’t that.
When the Pirates’ brass decides they’ve finally seen enough of Pedro — and that will happen as a result of the bat, not the fielding, given his skill set and position — I can promise you they’ll either go to the outside to find a replacement, or a top prospect like Josh Bell will be ready to take over. It won’t be by moving anyone in the current fold.
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Tom Duerr: I know it’s a bit early to start thinking about it, but do you think that the Pirates will try and add a back end starter to the rotation considering the ineffectiveness of Jeff Locke? To me, it seems like our one glaring weakness. Also, any clue why, as of now, Locke is still starting next week and not Vance Worley? Worley is clearly the more talented pitcher.
DK: The Pirates believe Locke has more upside, as a 28-year-old lefty who can throw 93 and isn’t all that far removed from being pretty good. That’s atop the team’s list right now. They believe he can be better and that he isn’t any dramatic move away from being better. His primary issue is inconsistency, not a lack of talent.
On that note, Tom, I’m not sure where you get the assessment that Worley is a clearly more talented pitcher, as they’re basically the same pitcher. Unless, of course, you’ve come down with an acute case of RECENCY BIAS. (We need an alarm or something that goes off with that.) They’ve had virtually identical career paths, numbers, you name it. Even this year, if you look beyond ERA, opponents are batting .296 against Worley — a ridiculous figure, like everyone he faces is Rod Carew — to .287 for Locke. Locke has a few more walks and four more home runs allowed, but that’s the difference there, and that doesn’t strike me as a talent issue. Especially when we know Locke has been capable of consistent command in the past.
Look, I’m not going to start a parade for Locke. If he pitches badly in Atlanta, a change has to be made. Based on a brief conversation we had Wednesday at AT&T Park, I’m guessing he knows that. He’s got to come through.
But you asked why he’s being given another chance, and that’s why.
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bernard.diggins: Does Cortez Allen have what it takes physically and mentally to be a No. 1 corner for an NFL team?
DK: Physically, it would be hard to make the case that he doesn’t have what it takes. Allen has the speed to run down the field, even a straight line. He’s also got the athleticism to make plays, as you might recall from that initial flourish that made him a starter a couple years ago. He was getting his hands on the ball left and right.
The Cortez case is all mental.
I really believe that based on watching him disintegrate on a near-weekly basis over the past year and change and, infinitely more important, so do Carnell Lake, Keith Butler, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers. And, at the risk of mixing sports here, I think that’s why this might be a bit similar to Locke in that they know he can do it, but they still have to — and want to — bring it out.
That said, to draw another parallel to Locke, Cortez has to get it done and done right away. No way should he be given a leash longer than three or four weeks if his performance looks anything like 2014.
On that note, man, not to add pressure to the kid, but this decision to stick by Cortez just looms so large for this front office and coaching staff. Partly because of the silly five-year, $25 million extension — cash taken from an envelope that should have been marked ‘Keenan Lewis‘ — but also because they’ve done so little else to address the position this offseason and are risking a rough start in an already vulnerable area right from the outset.
And this was before they knew Tom Brady wasn’t invited to the opener.
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punjabiterp: DK, the addition of Josh Yohe has definitely been great for all of your readers. He has also seemed to have given you some more energy, based on your Morning Java videos. Can you comment on how adding all of the contributors has affected you and the way you are able to work?
Thanks, and keep up the great work!
DK: You picked a great week to ask that, so I’ll take it even though it isn’t about sports. Anyone put off can just scroll down to the next entry.
It’s been tremendous. Not going to lie. Having Josh not only as a reporter and writer but also as a sounding board, de facto editor and someone with whom to share stuff like anonymous sources, it’s been extremely uplifting. And I’m glad that, at least to you, it shows. We’ve always worked well together in the past, but doing it in this way, where we’re both just basically winging it week to week, day to day, splitting up trips, teaming up on breaking news like the Lemieux/Burkle stuff, it makes it all the more fun. Feels like the sky’s the limit.
I’m excited, too, about our contributors. And trust me when I tell you we’ve got bigger plans for all of them, coming very soon. They’ll be very much involved. You’ve seen Matt Gajtka rise up to the Riverhounds’ borderline miraculous two outcomes last week. You’ve seen John Perrotto bring you inside stuff from Bradenton, and you’ll be getting much more by way of the Major League Baseball draft next week, the All-Star Game in Cincinnati and more. Brian Metzer hasn’t had much of a chance because of rotten timing, what with the Penguins’ season ending right as he came aboard. But there will plenty more opportunity soon enough. And Dan Scifo … eh, I’ll keep this one to myself for now.
We won’t stand pat. We’ll keep growing. And this group, combined with our partnerships with local institutions like Benstonium and Dave DiCello is … wow, I couldn’t be happier.
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AdamFlango: Fun bar question I often discuss with my buddies: All current Pittsburgh athletes walk into a bar. Who do you think gets served first? This is assuming, of course, that if they were offered a beer, they wouldn’t defer it to a more senior athlete. I have to think it’s Cutch right now, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
DK: Whoa! This is too good!
OK, I’ll start by saying I hate that Brett Keisel no longer meets your criteria. Because he’d take this one by a landslide, and you know it. The Beard would immediately own any Pittsburgh institution he’d enter, especially the type you’re describing.
And that’s to say nothing of Francois Leroux or Doug Mientkiewicz, as long as I’m going for the past. Big Frankie actually used to hang out at Redbeard’s on Mount Washington for years.
So wow, I guess I have to pick one from the present.
Starting with the Steelers, I’d look long and hard at James Harrison, not so much because he’s beloved but more because he’d scare the daylights out of everyone. Cam Heyward is another, though I’m not sure he’s yet that recognizable. Ramon Foster would be the life of the party, but not the first served. And Ben Roethlisberger, well, he’d just get chased out of there as quickly as possible.
Moving on to the Penguins, I could see Evgeni Malkin being a hit, though there would be a far better chance of that scene in a bar in Moscow. Most of the rest don’t really fit this mold, as it’s kind of a clean-cut crew, though at least one former player might embrace the experience if it came with all-night poker and blackjack.
Heck, I’d say all the drinks go to Patric Hornqvist, and let the rest sort itself out.
But no, not the Penguins, either.
And not Andrew McCutchen. He’s a bit more reserved than you think and not nearly as much the bar type as he is for finding some fine dining.
The winner: A.J.
Only catch is, he’d do the buying.
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SDBurghman: DK, when you travel on an extended road trip such as this West Coast swing, do you ever travel with the team, meaning get invited to fly with them and stay at the team hotel?
DK: No, never. And I’d never ask. Independent means independent.
Actually, there was one occasion a few years back when a hurricane was fast approaching Houston. The Pirates were kind enough to offer all of us writers covering that series spots on their charter to get out of town way more quickly than we could have commercially. I accepted. And upon return to Pittsburgh, the Post-Gazette, my employer at the time immediately paid the Pirates for the full amount of a basic one-way fare from Houston to Pittsburgh.
This site will always maintain that same separation.
I see the teams at the stadiums and arenas. That’s it.
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Dr. Van Nostrand: What do you make of the Pirates’ infield defense? The corners have both been atrocious, history says Walker will be no better than average, and shortstop is a mixed-up mess because of offensive liabilities. Is this a growing concern?
DK: It is. The Pirates have real problems in the infield, and they’re legitimately worried about it. That was made plenty clear to me on this trip.
Trouble is, there are no easy solutions. Or even identifying the problems.
Alvarez is the exception. He’s obvious. He’s not a big-league first baseman. One can never rule out that he might be someday, but he isn’t now. Not in any capacity.
But aside from that, man, good luck figuring out the errors or other fundamental lapses made by Walker, Harrison, even Mercer running right over a routine ball Wednesday. None of these guys are rotten fielders, but they’ve all been down this season. Kang gets the benefit of the doubt, I’d think, but his range is severely limited, as is his ability to make throws against his body, a must for a shortstop going to the hole.
So what do you do?
I know I’m supposed to offer answers in this forum, but I’ve got none.
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yakimj: The Riverhounds’ offense is explosive and, while that leads to lesser defense at times, allowing two goals per match is unacceptable. How do Mark Steffens and the Hounds shore up the D as USL play ratchets up and D.C. United is looming. Also, what goalkeeper has your vote of confidence?
DK: I haven’t been concerned about the Hounds’ defense since the first 2-3 weeks, when they were conceding grotesque goals late in matches. That’s because some of those were Anthony Arena looking atypically lost, but others came from either a lack of organization or lack of effort, none of which are acceptable, to steal your adjective. Just because a team scores a lot — and the Hounds obviously do — doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be able, for example, to defend set pieces.
Arena and Willie Hunt have steadied to a degree, but they’re usually flanked by headless-chicken-esque Tyler Pasher on one side, undersized Matt Dallman on the other. And it doesn’t work. It just doesn’t.
In goal, per your follow-up, I’m sure I’m in the minority on this at Highmark Stadium, but I want to see much more of Calle Brown — once healthy, of course — and less of Ryan Thompson. I get why the front office was enamored of Thompson, including his pedigree as Jamaica’s national keeper. I also have seen some big saves. But beyond that, I’ve seen far too often where the big save eluded him late. Brown is enormous — 6 feet 7 — he commands the box in a way Thompson never could, he’s young, and he’s got his own pedigree in just having led the University of Virginia to an NCAA championship.
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Dave in Ross Twp.: What’s up with Pedro, really? Does he just not want to attach himself to the city/fan base because it’s all a business to him? Or is he just that aloof? I think he could be huge here if he wanted to be. Everyone loves the long ball!
DK: You left out the cap coming down over his ears, Dave!
Come on, never forget the cap!
No, really, I’d hope that we’re all past the draft mess and the Scott Boras stuff and all the resulting interpretations of his body language. I mean that. It’s tired and it’s trite and, in all honesty, I’m confident in saying most of it’s been proven untrue by this stage.
Without revisiting all that in detail, this is my super-quick summary of Pedro the person: He’s intense but private. He works hard but gets easily discouraged. He’s tremendous with his teammates and coaches but invests precious little in anyone else, including most reporters. (And you can’t imagine how little that impacts my life.) He loves the game and wants to win but … well, I don’t have a but for that one. He legitimately cares.
But he cares about baseball. Not whether or not anyone on the outside likes him.
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Burnley_Penguin: With Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff likely to walk, what do you think the Pens do on defense? Obviously, Kris Letang and Olli Maatta are the top pair. Maybe Ian Cole and Derrick Pouliot are the second. But do the Pens buy out Rob Scuderi too and have a very young third pairing?
DK: Jim Rutherford kind of advertised to Josh this week two facets of this:
1. Letang and Maatta will be the top pair, the shutdown pair.
2. Martin and Ehrhoff are goners. He wasn’t explicit, but he came close.
And full credit to Josh for reporting those to you before anyone else, by the way.
Your second pairing might be dead-on, BP. Cole is really solid on the right side, his off-side, and he’s capable not only of supporting the attack but also defensively sound enough to cover up for Pouliot’s many mistakes. That has a healthy feel to it.
I’d say the third pairing would be Taylor Chorney and Ben Lovejoy or Brian Dumoulin, with a sprinkling of Scott Harrington thrown in. You saw in the playoffs that Chorney and Dumoulin make a strong set, both in the AHL and … not just the NHL but the heat of Stanley Cup playoffs in New York. They were impressive. The staff loves Chorney. Dumoulin has the upper hand on Harrington, in part because of that, though either one will have to earn his way individually.
But to your actual question, no, I don’t see either a need or a desire for Scuderi in this scenario. I do see some modest cap savings, though.
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Kevin Anderson: Who do you see as the Steelers’ No. 2 starting corner? I think Antwon Blake might beat out Cortez for the job. Do you potentially see Senquez Golson or Doran Grant starting by Week 4?
DK: Your second sentence won’t come true, Kevin. For the Steelers to go through OTAs with this plan is powerfully telling. This isn’t done on a hunch. They had all winter to make a plan. That doesn’t mean injury or performance couldn’t affect it, but I’ll assume you’re talking from a default mode. Cortez and Willie Gay are the corners. And when there’s a nickel, Blake comes on in Gay’s spot, and Gay slides to nickel.
I don’t believe Golson or Grant — the latter of whom already seems ticketed for special teams, as it was a real strength for him at Ohio State — will have even a prayer of starting, barring Golson doing something outrageous in the earliest stages of Latrobe. Rookie corners just don’t rise up a month into the NFL schedule, certainly not with the Steelers. If needs arise, you go out and pluck some random B.W. Webb instead.
No, it’s Cortez’s world, and we’re all just catching deep balls in it.
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tabletop390: Since you spend time in various locker rooms, what has been the strangest thing you’ve seen in a player’s locker?
DK: I have kind of a personal rule against doing that. Even though the lockers are almost always open in full view, I try not to look and definitely avoid making any kind of remark. Maybe that makes me a lousy reporter, as you might recall that the infamous bottle of Androstenedione was spotted by a reporter in Mark McGwire’s locker all those years ago and really triggered the whole steroids furor. To me, that’s their world. It’s mostly personal effects, pics of family, that sort of thing.
That said, it was impossible to not notice the magnificent Kenny doll atop Locke’s stall in Bradenton, and yes, I mean Kenny who dies in every episode of South Park.
Wonderful stuff.
I’m hoping to do nothing upon getting home. Josh will carry the Friday Insider, as well as flying to Atlanta for Pirates-Braves this weekend. Matt will have Riverhounds-St. Louis on Saturday. John will have the Pirates to start next week. If all goes well, I’ll wake up by next Wednesday or so.
Thanks for participating, as always!