[Dave1408]

04/04/09
"Shock and awe"; the two words newly hired Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager David De Vito used to describe his reaction after learning that he would take over for the recently fired Neal Huntington. Huntington, who was hired in 2007, was fired after an absolutely horrendous Spring Training by the Pirates in which they lost all but two games. De Vito was hired back in February as the Pirates Assistant General Manager after spending 6 years as a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is only 27 years of age, which has prompted the nickname of "Wunderkind De Vito" to be applied to him. While many people believed that he was indeed destined to become a General Manager one day, no one could have expected his opportunity would come so quickly.

Pirates president Frank Coonelly wasted no time in promoting De Vito to the General Manager's position a day after the firing of Huntington. Coonelly was interviewed regarding the move yesterday. "We saw no reason to interview potential candidates. We have a young, up and coming team here in Pittsburgh so it makes sense for us to have one of the best up and coming General Managers in the league running this team. Yes, we realize that there will probably be some growing pains associated with the hiring of David. However, we believe he has what it takes to bring success back to a franchise that has been lacking it for so long."

De Vito admitted that he was reluctant at first to take the job but cited his genuine belief in the quality of the team as his main reason for taking it. "We have some young players here in Pittsburgh that I am going to look to build around. While there are certainly some holes in the organization, we have enough quality players here that I believe we can bring this team back to respectability rather quickly." The Pirates are led by the likes of Nate McClouth and Paul Maholm. A finish in the top-half of the division is certainly not out of the question for this team.

When asked about untouchables on the team De Vito obviously quickly listed off McClouth and Maholm as the teams main pieces but then mentioned a few surprises: "Our corner outfielders, Brandon Moss and Eric Hinske are two guys that I have been very impressed with in the past and would love to see fluorish in our system. Trust me, they will both be given every opportunity to succeed in our organization". While De Vito will be handling all of the front office aspects of the organization, Coonelly also mentioned that De Vito will handle most of the managing decisions as well. These will include setting lineups and performing substitutions during the games. He will however leave aspects such as offensive and defensive strategy during games to manager John Russell. While it is not unheard of for a General Manager to be handling so many aspects of a ball club, it is surprising that the Pirates would give such a young man so much responsibility.

Baseball in Pittsburgh just got much more interesting!

[Dave1408]

05/04/09
...
"Well I think it's very realistic" - Robert Nutting (Majority Owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates)

"That is absolutely ridiculous. You think it's possible for me to somehow create a miracle and get this roster above .500 for THIS season! My predecessor has left this roster in shambles. I have overpaid veterans on large contracts filling roster spots and putting us up tight against the budget you've given me; and holes everywhere else because there's no money to pay the rest of the roster! How can you expect me to make a .500 team out of this mess?! I'm no miracle worker!" - David De Vito (Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager)

"You've been in your position one day and you're already criticizing the budget that I have given you? That should be more than enough money to field a competitive team. We brought you here for a reason Dave, you've been hailed as one of the shrewdest negotiators out there and a perennial stat-wiz. If you put your mind to it you should have no problems turning this team around. Now I want to hear some sort of plan to get this team back to respectability!" - Robert Nutting

"Well I think first things first, we have to get some of these contracts off the books. Guys like Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson are tieing up far too much of our budget over the next two years so i'm going to try to find a way to unload them. Yes, they've both shown to be quality players in the past but it just doesn't make sense to tie up our budget when we have guys like Adam LaRoche and Eric Hinske needing new contracts at the end of the season. Also, looking at Ramon Vazquez, i'm very curious to know who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to give this guy a multi-year deal at 2 million dollars a year! For god sakes he's making more than Hinske who is going to start everyday for us! I will not have a backup on my bench making that kind of money when we're already tight against the budget" - David De Vito

"Alright, well I don't like the idea of getting rid of Wilson since he's been so loyal to us in the past but I will try to trust your decision making on this. How about our pitching? How do you feel about it? Will it make us competitive?" - Robert Nutting

"With the guys we have right now, I think if Maholm steps up he can legitimately be our staff ace. Whether we're competitive is going to really depend on whether Ian Snell and Zach Duke can fill the #2 and #3 roles in our Starting Rotation. After that it's pretty much going to be whoever steps up. Guys like Karstens, and eventually Ohlendorf when he's ready, will really have to step up and show they deserve to start. I would like to pick up a legitimate back of the rotation veteran though so i'm going to look into that. As for the bullpen, we've got enough quality arms that I think we'll be alright with Capps, Grabow, and Hansen leading the way." - David De Vito

"Ok, well it seems like you're already pretty well on top of things. Just keep me updated. It's like I said, I want to see a .500 finish this season! Do what it takes to get us there!" - Robert Nutting