PPG:  Cook:  2008 Pirates Minor League Year in Review

I apologize for 2 Post-Gazette posts in one day like this, but honestly:  the paper’s making amazing strides in usefulness.  Personally, I like what the Coonelly/Huntington leadership is doing.  Even if you don’t, at least the paper isn’t stuck writing non-stop “Bonifay/Littlefield could be worse” articles.

The methodology was up to Huntington’s choice for director of player development, 30-year-old Kyle Stark, who initiated a total overhaul of instructional techniques, a break-a-few-eggs disciplinary approach to make them count, and a wholly new computer-based framework for communicating and storing scouting and statistical information.

Because the old system of “writing everything on legal pads and chatting about it over pay phones while smoking stogeys” just wasn’t working properly.  Not using computers for info storing gives me the same reaction as when people pay at the grocery store with checks.

Lincoln, 23, made a surprisingly effective return from elbow reconstruction with Hickory, earning a promotion to high Class A Lynchburg and finishing 6-10 with a 4.69 ERA. Most important, given the surgery, he walked only 17 in 103 innings.

Moskos, 22, was converted to a starter in his first full professional season but sent back to the bullpen in August because he physically wore down. Bottom line: 5.95 ERA and 43 walks in 110 innings. Still, he will resume starting next year.

Again want to re-iterate that I much prefer Tim Lincecum and Matt Wieters.