Tuesday Tom Prince's

Tom Prince was drafted by the Pirates in 1984 and played on some of the last memorable Pirate teams from '87-'93. He got out while the gettin' was good. Prince's career is one of the finest examples of why being a back-up catcher is considered one of the best jobs in sports. Prince played in parts of 17 major league seasons, but never got more than 215 plate appearances in a season and only played in parts of 519 games (that would be an average of 30.5 games per season). Prince made over $3.7 million over those 17 years; talk about bang for your buck, especially for guy with a career .208 AVG.

'Tone looks to be avoiding anything serious since there will be no criminal prosecution, although he did take the chance to make a complete ass of himself on twitter in the past 24 hours. The whole thing looks sketchy, and Goodell has to do something since it seems like NFL players are using a slight loophole to avoid any punishment (I'll pay you if you sue me, just don't press charges). Despite 'Tone believing everything is solved by now, I very much doubt it.

Pooty signed a new deal for 4 years at $3.5 million per. I love this signing, even if it does mean the end of Gonch. Letang will be entering the prime of his career (23-26) and should keep getting better as the contract matures (not always a guarantee: Ryan Whitney). The only issue is the power play, which has and will struggle without Gonchar (who is slowly turning into a one trick pony as he keeps getting older). Someone has to fill Gonch's shoes at the point of the power play, and Letang and Gogo are just not up to the task yet. I'd like to see Leopold get a chance at the point some more, just to see if he could fill that role for the next few seasons (that is, if he's willing to come back to the Pens on something like a two-year contract). All in all though, a very solid signing. Here's the PensBurgh's look; as they look at comparable contracts that have been given throughout the league recently.

Charlie at Bucs Dugout has a bit of a memoriam for Brandon Moss. I think everyone was tired of Moss' struggles, and I've already gone through my thoughts on Moss. But I would like to dispel the notion that this just proves the Bay trade was a complete bust. Moss showing that he can barely stick as a fifth OF certainly doesn't help the evaluation of the trade, but as Charlie noted, Moss wasn't the key to the trade but more of the throw-in lottery ticket; if he would have become Nate McClouth (a guy pegged as a 4th OF but proves to be much more), then it's a great trade, but that he didn't does not prove it to be a terrible trade.

I still expect Andy LaRoche to make the deal about even; having LaRoche for about 5 seasons of average play (or above-average depending on how his bat develops) is very good value for 1.3 seasons of a great season from Jason Bay. And let us not forget the key to the trade, Bryan Morris, who has obviously struggled since coming over, but could still turn into something useful (or as the Pirates hope, special). MLBTR did a good look back earlier this March on the trade from all angles (including Huntington's views).

BUCCO Fans has their weekly look at the Draft Prospect recap. Bryce Harper is still a giant douche, although he's hitting the stuffing out of the ball and has clearly proved himself to be the best player in this upcoming draft. I'm still mighty weary of a college pitcher (and I wouldn't touch Anthony Ranaudo with a ten-foot pole), but there seems to be no one else out there other than Jameson Tailon (who as a high school pitcher, is still quite scary) who threw a no-hitter while striking out 19 of the 21 batters he retired (ridiculous). Still a ways away before any serious conversation must be considered.

WHYGAV has their look at the Pirates season preview, and as usual, it's spot on.

One last note; I got around to watching last week's South Park, you can watch it here. As usual, it's awesome. As an English major, there are obviously some parts I had to disagree with, but most of it is true. Watching South Park is like reading Stuff White People Like; it really shines a light on society's ridiculous flaws. As for the episode, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but there is an obvious target, which I assume would be the novel Push, it's author, and the people infatuated with it. I haven't read the book but my sister has talked about how graphic and disturbing it is. The only book I've read that I would compare has to be American Pyscho. There are parts in that book that made me gag.