Camp Controversy

Sometimes, you have to wonder if Joel Pineiro is the sharpest tool in the shed.

I mean, really, getting riled up at one of the most respected members of the coaching staff about the World Baseball Classic?  Is this really in your long-term (or, heck, even short-term) interest?

Pineiro seems to think that he is entitled to it just because he's been a starter for a long time. 

The problem is that he doesn't realize he hasn't been that good for a long time either.  The names that were replacing him—Ian Snell and Jonathan Sanchez—would seem to give Puerto Rico a much better chance of winning than starting Pineiro.

I mean, except for that span in St. Louis in 2007 which got him the contract extension, he hasn't had an ERA under 4.00 since 2003.  And if he hadn't gotten that extension, there's a good chance he would have signed a one-year deal somewhere and would have to go looking for work this offseason.

Not the best time to be needing a job. Be thankful for what you have, my friend.

And his "I've been a starter my whole career" bit is a little false as well.  He has 69 of his 253 career games out of the pen. So, a little over a quarter of his baseball career has been spent in relief.  Interestingly enough, most of his numbers out of the pen are better than his starting numbers.

All in all, Pineiro doesn't come out of this looking very good.  Most players would either say, "I'll do whatever for my team" or quietly withdraw from the tournament.  Pineiro apparently wants to make it all about him.  This may come back to haunt him when he's struggling and someone on the farm looks like they deserve a chance in the bigs.

Contrast Pineiro with Ryan Ludwick.  He'd rather be a starter if he's going to interrupt his training, so he just let Team USA know. Which makes sense.  He's not complaining that he deserves to be a starter, that he hit 30-plus home runs last year, and that he should be batting cleanup.  He's just let them know where he stands and lets the team make the decision.

I'm not sure if they had it last spring, but having video at the Post-Dispatch site is pretty sweet this year.  Derrick Goold put up video of Brett Wallace taking some hacks as well as Fernando Salas throwing some BP.  It's as close as you can get to Jupiter while sitting behind your computer screen.

A bit of a tangent, but this article on Mark McGwire and his congressional testimony a few years ago is worth reading.  It'll be interesting to see if perhaps this view becomes more prevalent.

Today's Playing Pepper features the Twins and the Pirates.  Check back later for those!