Tampa Bay Pirates
 Alan Shaffer   5 years  306-504

    Manager Record Post-Season G O+S HR RBI IP Wins Saves ERA (min 81 IP)
1998 Martinez Wolfpack Greg Garner 57-102, 6th   Dm.Young  143 Klesko  .834 King  22 King  78 Astacio  184 Nomo/ D.Springer  7 Aguilera  25 Nomo  3.01
1999 Martinez Wolfpack Greg Garner 70-92, 5th   Tejada  158 Jenkins  1.094 Jenkins  27 Dye  92 Astacio  224 Astacio  17 Koch  24 Milton  3.84
2000 Martinez Wolfpack Greg Garner 88-75, 4th   Tejada  160 Jenkins  .972 Jenkins  37 Jenkins  127 Dempster  226 Milton  14 Koch  33 Estes  3.39
2001 Martinez Wolfpack Greg Garner 73-89, 5th   Tejada/Dye  162 Stevens  .862 Dye  37 Dye  112 Milton  201 Milton/ F.Rodriguez  10 Koch  27 F.Rodriguez 3.52
2002 Martinez Wolfpack Greg Garner 66-96, 6th   Tejada  162 McGriff  .899 McGriff  37 Tejada  130 Fogg  197 Milton  12 Koch  28 Schmidt  4.35
2003 Florida Aqualungs Alan Shaffer 74-88, 6th   Tejada  162 Jenkins  .823 Jenkins  26 Tejada  85 L.Hernandez 258 L.Hernandez 19 Worrell  14 Schmidt  2.47
2004 Florida Aqualungs Alan Shaffer 67-95, 6th   Tejada  162 Tejada  .887 Tejada  38 Tejada  124 L.Hernandez 237 L.Hernandez 12 Lidge  25 L.Hernandez 4.36
2005 Tampa Bay Pirates Alan Shaffer 57-105, 6th   Tejada/Feliz 162 Gibbons  .831 Burrell  35 Burrell  100 L.Hernandez 233 L.Hernandez 11 Lidge  13 Crain  3.20
2006 Tampa Bay Pirates Alan Shaffer 55-107, 6th   Tejada 162 LaRoche .890 LaRoche 34 LaRoche 100 L.Hernandez 223 Schmidt 11 Lidge 12 Capps 2.49
2007 Tampa Bay Pirates Alan Shaffer 53-109, 6th   Byrnes 161 Burrell .761 Burrell/ Byrnes 23 Byrnes 83 L.Hernandez 224 L.Hernandez 9 Capps 10 Capps 2.85

  2005 Signings 2006 Signings 2007 Signings
1b Kotchman Kotchman Kotchman, LaRoche
2b     Sanchez
3b Feliz F.Sanchez  
ss Tejada Tejada Tejada
lf Burrell Burrell Burrell
cf Gathright Gathright Duffy
rf Hidalgo Gibbons Byrnes
c Barrett, Molina Barrett, Molina Barrett
ut      
sp Schmidt, L.Hernandez, Sosa Schmidt, Maholm, L.Hernandez, Waechter L.Hernandez, Schmidt, Maholm
cl Lidge Lidge  
rp Juan Cruz   Capps

Personnel History

Greg Garner spent the first five years as the franchise owner but really didn't accomplish much. Poor records begat good draft picks that form the core of the team. J.D. Drew, Geoff Jenkins, and Jermaine Dye were all taken with high picks in 1998/1999. Jason Schmidt was a 2001 first round pick, and Livan Hernandez was the #3 pick overall in 2003. And, with Miguel Tejada around from the original expansion draft, it was always felt that the Wolfpack could be in contention.

The only plus .500 season occurred in 2000, but the 89 win record was only good for 4th place in a very competitive division, 25 games out.

Alan Shaffer took over in 2003 and got Hernandez with an early pick. Tejada and Jenkins got the newly christened Aqualungs to an 8 game improvement to 74 wins. But Jenkins slumped, was sent away for Juan Cruz, and later JD Drew was sent away for a package that essentially netted the team Pat Burrell.

The problem with the Aqualungs is that too the signings have been devoted to fan favorites, despite their lack of talent. Joey Gathright, Doug Waechter, Paul Maholm, Chris Duffy, Jorge Sosa, and Pedro Feliz have all cost the Pirates/Aqualungs picks that might have improved the medium term fortunes of the team.

2006

Last in batting average, on base pct, and slugging average, and a 5.14 team ERA, the Pirates just weren't a very good team. First round pick Adam LaRoche bopped 34 homers, and perennial whinger Miggy Tejada hit .300 with 31 more homers, but there were huge sinkholes at 3b and cf. While Livan Hernandez and Jason Schmidt turned in respectable performances and mid 4 ERAs, the bottom of the rotation combined on a 12-42 record. Compounding the problems was closer Brad Lidge, who saved 12 and blew 11. As such, the Pirates were last in the league leading after 7 innings. The results were horrible. The team did not even cross the .333 mark until August 28 in the midst of a 10-1 streak in which 6 of the wins were one run games.

2005

The Pirates featured a punchless offense and a nondescript pitching staff. Pat Burrell hit 35 homers, but he also hit only .240 with a .320 OB%. Jay Gibbons led the team with an .831 O+S. Only Dave Roberts stole more than 5 bases. The Pirates were last or next to last in most offensive categories. The pitching wasn't much better, Jason Schmidt had an unlucky year at 5-13, leaving Livan Hernandez as the only reliable starter. Jesse Crain was useful in middle relief, but Brad Lidge continued to disappoint, saving only 13, while blowing 7 and posting a 4.61 ERA. As such, Tampa was never a factor. They managed to hang close to .500 for the first quarter of the season, but in the last three quarters only won 37 and lost 85.

2004

The team started poorly, losing 9 of the first 10, and then enduring a 10 game losing streak shortly thereafter. Livan had a decent year (12-13, 4.26), but Jason Schmidt was awful in the first half, and rebounded only to a 9-13 mark. First round pick Brad Lidge wasn't as good as his hype, losing 10 games and posting a 3.71 ERA. As such, the pitching was last in the division. The offense wasn't much outside of Miguel Tejada (.305/.348/.539). The only other Aqualungs with more than 15 homers couldn't post an OB% better than .300.

2003

Offensively, a second tier offense and a league average ERA, thanks largely to two starters: Livan Hernandez and Jason Schmidt. Luckily for the Lungs, a trade involving Schmidt was disallowed, and Jason looks poised to lead the staff going forward. The offense suffered from a lack of ability to get on base (.306 OB%), though the team hit a decent number of homers and executed steals and bunts well. Though the Aqualungs were no factor for the playoffs, and spent the entire second half of the season in last place, they were at 58-61 at the 3/4 mark of the season. Injuries and shortages caused a poor finish.

2002

Offensively, Martinez was in the second tier, despite super seasons from Tejada and McGriff. On the other side, Aaron Boone failed to hit .200 and J.D. Drew wasn’t much better. Dave Roberts was a nice surprise, reaching base nearly 40% of his plate appearances, but after McGriff and Tejada, there was a serious power shortage. The pitching staff was fairly miserable. Ryan Dempster tied Charles Nagy’s all time record of losses in a season with 21, and the rest of the staff wasn’t much better. The Wolfpack started out 13-15, but then won only 9 of their next 43 games. That ensured last place, even though the Wolfpack played .500 ball over the last 74 games.