The Pirates made a minor move today, sending pitcher Virgil Vasquez to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for a player to be named later. I'm going out on a limb and guessing that player will not turn out to be Evan Longoria. But seriously, the return should be very minimal for Vasquez.
The 27-year old hurler, signed in 2009 off waivers from San Diego, went 2-5 with a 8.64 ERA in 14 games (seven starts) last season for the Pirates. He was slated to start the 2010 campaign as a starter at Triple-A Indianapolis, but his departure may open a spot for Jeff Karstens in the Indianapolis rotation.
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In other news that Pirate fans will find very interesting, it was recently announced that Dejan Kovacevic's PBC Blog on the Post-Gazette website will be moving to the PG-Plus pay site on May 1.
Kovacevic's blog has been tremendously popular from day one, and for good reason: it mixes news, insight, opinion, and access in a way few other newspaper-driven blogs can or have done. The initial reaction from his readers gives the predictable mixed bag of those who will pay, those who will protest, and those who refuse to pay for a blog considering they already pay for a newspaper subscription. The PG- Plus runs $2.99 per month on an annual subscription ($35.88 total) or $3.99 going month to month (here is the introductory page). In comparison, a one-year subscription to the PG newspaper will run you $182.
Kovacevic has to be looked at as a huge asset to the PG, and his bosses have identified his blog as a potential source of revenue in an industry that continues to bleed money. Whether that was the right or the wrong decision will be known in time, but apparently it was a move they thought was worth making at this point.
4 comments:
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. Whoa this guarantees he will become a 20 game winner.
A smart move from the paper's standpoint, and maybe from Dejan's, too. As you probably know there's practically no money in blogging, still considered journalism's bastard cousin. His blog was an excellent source of news, featuers, and entertainment, and it's a shame that he likely wasn't getting paid anything extra from it.
Hopefully he'll get paid a little something for it. PG+ is $3 a month without Dejan, and it'll be $3 a month with him. There's nothing there to really justify that $3 now.
It'd be cool if they'd do some sort of tie-in, where if you sign up for PG+ you get a discount on your subscription. People turn to newspapers today just to have something to read over breakfast and in the can, considering how much more is found on the internet for free.
It costs $182 a year to get a freaking newspaper? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
No wonder its a dying business holy crap!
I love how places like ESPN.com charge you extra for their articles (Insider). Now the PG wants to get in on the act.
There's just as much good information out there for free if you know where to look for it.
Hell if you're reading this, then you've found Mondesi's House, and he's always got great stories to read.
Listen to the Fan 93.7 FM. They have most of the PG writers on their as guests anyways.
I guess it's time for me to get serious about my blog too.
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