Three Pirates pitchers celebrate San Diego homecoming

By John Maffei

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/sd-sp-pirates-pitchers-20180628-htmlstory.html

June 28, 2018

Pitching in front of at least 75 friends and family members, Joe Musgrove tossed seven shutout innings against his hometown team and Jody Mercer homered to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-3 victory over the sloppy San Diego Padres on Friday night.(Dennis Poroy/Getty Images)

A season ticket holder since 1992, Rich Williams has seen hundreds of Padres games.

Since Petco Park opened in 2004, the family’s seats have been in section 101, “right behind the high-priced seats, but behind the plate in a direct line with the pitcher,” Williams said.

Williams will be in his seat this weekend, but his perspective will be totally different.

On Saturday, right-hander Trevor Williams — Rich’s son — will be the starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the middle game of a three-game series with the Padres.

It will be Trevor’s first appearance in Petco Park.

“My dad said he didn’t want to sit in his seat because he’d be in my direct line of sight,” said Trevor.

“I went to three-four Padres games a week when I was in middle school. I went mainly on the weekends in high school. I fell in love with Petco Park.

“I told my dad that if I can see him in the seats, I’m doing something wrong. My focus will be on my catcher and the hitter.”

Williams, who played at Rancho Bernardo High andArizona State, is one of three San Diego pitchers on the Pirates.

Right-hander Joe Musgrove will start today. Left-hander Steven Brault works out of the bullpen. Brault and Musgrove were teammates at Grossmont High in 2010.

Brault, an accomplished musician, went on to play at Regis University in Colorado. He was drafted in the 11th round by the Baltimore Orioles and traded to the Pirates in 2015.

Musgrove was a first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, traded to the Houston Astros in 2012 and acquired by the Pirates via a trade at the end of last season.

Musgrove is the only one of the local trio who has pitched in Petco Park, throwing a scoreless inning for the U.S. team as the starting pitcher against the World in the All-Star Futures Game before the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego. He retired Manuel Margot, Raimel Tapia and Yoan Moncada.

“San Diego is such a hotbed of baseball talent,” Trevor Williams said. “There are San Diego guys all over the big leagues.

“But having three San Diego kids on the same team — with two of those from the same high school — is pretty special. It’s cool, and we do talk about it.”

Trevor Williams

The Padres are the last National League team Williams will have faced, and Petco Park is the only NL stadium in which he hasn’t pitched.

He had no idea how many tickets he’ll need to accommodate family and friends but estimated he, Musgrove and Brault will have a sizable cheering section all weekend.

“It’s probably going to be easier for me and Joe,” Williams said. “We can leave tickets for the day we start. Steven is working out of the bullpen, so he has to leave tickets for all three days.”

With family members and friends in attendance, the games figure to be emotional.

But even more so for Williams and Musgrove.

Rich Williams, a former Marine who is now a legal officer for Marine bases at Miramar, MCRD and Yuma and the longtime public-address voice of Rancho Bernardo baseball, was diagnosed with stage 4 double B-cell lymphoma in 2015 and given 60-90 days to live.

“Thanks to some great doctors, chemo and radiation, I’m still here,” Rich Williams said. “I’m doing really well now ... two years cancer free in September.

“I don’t dwell on the cancer, but vowed I’d spend every nickel traveling to see Trevor pitch.”

Rich was in Pittsburgh when Trevor made his major league debut on Sept. 7, 2016. Trevor worked three scoreless innings in relief against the Cardinals, earning the victory.

Immediately after the game, Trevor went to the stands, hugged wife Jackie and infant son Isaac before sharing an emotional moment with Rich.

The video of the pair embracing, crying, immediately went viral.

“I remember looking at him and being so proud,” Rich said. “And I was so happy to be alive.”

Rich Williams is also proud of Trevor for his commitment to Project 34. Named after Cory Hahn, Trevor’s roommate at Arizona State, Project 34 helps raise money for wheelchairs for spinal-cord victims.

Cory Hahn, a 26th-round pick of the Padres out of Santa Ana Mater Dei in 2010, was paralyzed from the chest down after snapping his neck on a head-first slide into second base in his third game with the Sun Devils.

Hahn, who is now a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, wore No. 34. Williams wears that number as a tribute to his friend, who was in Trevor’s wedding.

In 2008, Mark Musgrove, Joe’s father, was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune deficiency. A police officer at the time, Mark Musgrove was paralyzed from the neck down for nearly two years.

“I had to mature and grow up and fill a role I wasn’t ready to at that age,” Musgrove told the U-T’s Kevin Acee last fall. “I started to realize more and more that sometimes bad things have to happen to good people. Maybe he had to suffer for me to turn out the way I have. I didn’t want to believe that for a long time. Like, why would that happen? The life he led of being such a good person, being a cop, risking his life every day to protect people. He got sick. Maybe it was supposed to happen. That’s really been a motivating piece for me, pushing me.”

Said Terra Musgrove, Joe’s mom: “He had to grow up really quick, and he had to be the man of the house. We split duties around the house. He spent a lot of nights with him at the hospital.”

Joe Musgrove said baseball played a big part in helping him get through that period.

“I always loved baseball, but realized just how important it was for me as an outlet,” he told Richard Justice of MLB.com. “I was so negative, so depressed. I wasn’t doing my schoolwork and stuff. I was spending most of my time at the hospital with him, and the 21/2, three hours a day where I got to leave the hospital and go to the field was the only time where I didn’t really think about it.

“Baseball was the one thing that never changed. Everything else in my life seemed to be kind of falling down. My grades were struggling. My dad wasn’t doing well. Baseball allowed me that same feeling of joy and happiness when I couldn’t find it anywhere else.”

Both stories have happy endings.

Rich Williams will be at this weekend’s games with his other sons — Trent, an All-America swimmer at Cal, and Tanner, who swam at UC Santa Cruz.

Mark Musgrove, now 61, works as a private investigator.

“This weekend is going to be pretty emotional for Joe, Steven and myself,” Trevor Williams said. “But the game doesn’t know how emotional it will be. The game is the game, it will go on.

“I think once we get the first pitch out of the way, we’ll all be fine.”

Steven Brault (Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports)

Brault, a left-hander, wasn’t drafted out of high school and chose to play at Regis University because it was one of the few schools that offered voice for a music major.

Last week, he sang the national anthem before a Pirates game at PNC Park.

“It’s something my grandma always wanted me to do, sing the anthem before a major league game,” Brault said.

Brault is the lead singer for his San Diego-based band “Street Gypsies.”

“There are no do-overs in life,” Rich Williams said. “Mark Musgrove and I have had plenty of time at games, talking about our sons, rooting for Trevor, Joe and Steven.

“I just hope we don’t get too emotional watching them pitch this weekend.”

LOCAL BUCS

Three Pittsburgh pitchers with San Diego ties:

Name | G | GS | P | H | R | ER | BB | K | W-L | ERA

Trevor Williams | 16 | 16 | 87.0 | 76 | 44 | 39 | 37 | 64 | 6-5 | 4.25

Joe Musgrove | 6 | 6 | 33.1 | 38 | 19 | 17 | 9 | 32 | 2-3 | 4.59

Steven Brault | 22 | 5 | 59.2 | 42 | 27 | 26 | 34 | 51 | 5-2 | 4.13

john.maffei@sduniontribune.com

Tomlin expects to have Edmunds, Allen see time at ILB

By Brian Deardo

https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/Article/Pittsburgh-Steelers-Mike-Tomlin-expects-to-have-Edmunds-Allen-see-time-at-ILB-119458363/

June 29, 2018

Terrell Edmunds

Technically, the Pittsburgh Steelers did not select an inside linebacker during the 2018 NFL Draft. That obviously came as a surprise, considering the fact that the team lost Ryan Shazier for the 2018 season as he continues to recover from spine stabilization surgery. Tyler Matakevich, who is slated to compete for a starting job alongside Vince Williams, underwent shoulder surgery earlier this offseason. 

While the team's technically draft an inside linebacker, it was quickly realized that part of the reason why the Steelers drafted rookie safeties Terrell Edmunds and Marcus Allen was the versatility each player displayed during their time at Virginia Tech and Penn State, respectively. During a recent interview with Steeler Nation Unite, Tomlin confirmed that he expects both Edmunds and Allen to see time at inside linebacker during the 2018 season. 

"The awesome thing about both of those guys is that I saw them in package play on their college video, particularly Edmunds," Tomlin said. "He played strong safety, free safety. He played linebacker, some subs packages. I saw similar things from Marcus, particularly at the sub package linebacker level. Their physicality, size and athleticism is gonna provide us a lot of flexibility.

"And I think it’s reasonable to expect those guys -- as they get their feet on the ground relative to their first job which is safety — for them to quickly establish themselves at secondary positions that are somewhat situational. That’s gonna be an exciting part of team development to watch that unfold."

Marcus Allen

Tomlin was hoping to see a great deal of communication between Edmunds and Allen during the team's rookie minicamp. That's exactly what he got, as Edmunds and Allen did enough to receive some praise from their new coach after working together throughout the weekend. 

“The way that you stand out at this juncture is just simply communicating, or willingness to communicate," Tomlin said. "I like to hear a lot pre snap chatter. Both (Edmunds and Allen) are providing that. It shows you a lot of things. It shows that they’re into it, they’re situationally aware. The safety is a communicating position, so that’s a job requirement. It also shows that they’re capable of learning things that we’re presenting to them in the classroom and taking it out to them on the field. So, less evaluating in terms of what they’re doing physically. I like what I hear from them prior to the ball being snapped. It’s an indication of this being a good weekend for them.”

Edmunds, who saw time at both safety as well as at linebacker during minicamp, was seemingly in constant communication with Allen throughout camp. 

"There’s a lot of calls being made. Marcus Allen and I were both calling it back and forth," said Edmunds, the 28th overall pick in the draft. "There’s a lot of communication between the two because we both can be interchangeable at the position. So that’s what we’re doing now."

Allen, who said that he had already built a relationship with Edmunds before becoming teammates last month, said that he felt comfortable during his first weekend in an NFL uniform despite learning several new techniques from new defensive backs coach, Tom Bradley. 

“To be honest, I feel comfortable out here," said Allen, a former Penn State standout. "I have a great relationship with a couple of the guys. I’m building relationships. It feels unbelievable."

While the Steelers aren't expected to reinvent the wheel when it comes to their defensive game plan in 2018, Tomlin confirmed that changes will be made this season in order to accommodate the new pieces within Pittsburgh's defense. 

“We’re developing in a lot of ways," Tomlin said. "More than anything, we’ve got some significant young talent that we’re infusing into the group and learning their skill set. Guys like our top draft pick in Edmunds, free agents like Morgan Burnett and others. I think part of us determining what we’re gonna be in ’18 is getting a sense of who and what those guys are. Their strengths and leaning on those things that highlight what they do and stay away from things that maybe minimize the best of their capabilities.

"You can’t get away from the personnel element of it. Who is available to us and how we’re gonna utilize their talent. You know we’re going through a transition at the inside linebacker level obviously, going into a season without Ryan Shazier and his unique talents. So we’ll do some things differently. We’ll plan differently. We’ve done that, and I look forward to watching it unfold inside the stadium."

PENGUINS PRIMED TO ADD AFTER SALARY-DUMPING DEAL SENDS SHEARY, HUNWICK TO SABRES

By: Jared Clinton
https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/penguins-primed-to-add-after-salary-dumping-deal-sends-sheary-hunwick-to-sabres
June 27, 2018

Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick

Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford made one thing abundantly clear after his team exited the post-season in the second round: despite previously winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, despite coming two wins short of advancing to a third-straight Eastern Conference final and despite having one of the most talented rosters in the league, one still assumed to be a championship contender for a few seasons yet, changes were going to be coming. The NHL is a business built on winning, after all, and despite all their highs last season, the Penguins lost ultimately lost when it mattered.

We got our first window into what those changes will look like Wednesday afternoon, too, as the Penguins shipped off two players — one a speedy scorer during the consecutive title runs and the other a free agent targeted to bolster the blueline — have been shuffled off as Pittsburgh freed up a considerable amount of cap space in a salary-dumping deal with the Buffalo Sabres.

The trade itself is one that can easily be called a win-win right from the outset, which is a rarity, to be sure. To the Sabres goes 26-year-old winger Conor Sheary and 33-year-old defenseman Matt Hunwick. In return, the Sabres gave up a conditional 2019 fourth-round selection.

In Sheary, Buffalo lands a diminutive but productive forward, though one who hasn’t been without his detractors. Some have referred to Sheary as a product of playing with Sidney Crosby, the winger’s point production said to be boosted by playing with one of the game’s true greats. And even if there’s some element of truth to that, it’s not as though Sheary’s some beer-bellied rec leaguer whose become a tap-in merchant with ‘Sid the Kid’ as his set-up man. Sheary’s speed can wreak havoc and he brings added depth to the Sabres’ wings. That’s not to mention if he finds a similar fit alongside any of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart or Casey Mittelstadt, Sheary might be able to recapture some of the same form that saw him score 23 goals and 53 points in 61 games in 2016-17.

The addition of Hunwick in the deal, too, gives Buffalo additional help on a blueline that was sorely lacking depth. Gone is youngster Victor Antipin, an anticipated singing out of the KHL, as are Josh Gorges and Justin Falk. Does Hunwick vault onto the top pairing or even into the top four? Maybe. Maybe not. But he skates well and can move the puck up ice quickly. And given the options on the free agent market, it’s a decent acquisition to help an ailing defense.

And even if one or both of Sheary and Hunwick are flops in Buffalo, it will be no great loss. That is the genius of the deal for the Sabres. The fourth-round pick is unlikely to come with the same value as two clear-cut NHL-level skaters that can help this roster in one way or another over the two coming campaigns. In fact, even if the conditions on the deal are enacted — Sheary scores 20 goals or 40 points or Hunwick is traded ahead of the 2019 draft — the third-round Pittsburgh receives still isn’t likely to match the value in having two honest-to-goodness NHLers. So, the real cost for Buffalo is nothing more than $5.25 million in cap space over the next two seasons, a paltry sum for a team that still has upwards of $18 million in spending room.

That cap figure is the key, too, for the Penguins. Moving out two understood commodities for one unknown in the draft pick might seem on the surface like highway robbery for Pittsburgh, but this is all about dollars and cents for Rutherford and Co. It’s a cap-clearing deal that gets more than $5 million off the books and effectively doubles the Penguins’ cap space days before free agency opens. With that disappears any and all of Pittsburgh’s concern about fitting free agent-to-be Riley Sheahan, acquired and utilized as a depth pivot last season, and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak into the salary structure for next season. It also makes the Penguins an awfully intriguing player in free agency when the market officially opens Sunday.

It may not seem like all that much — and truth be told when compared to the $20 million-plus available to more than a dozen teams, maybe it isn’t — but there’s a lot the Penguins can do to improve this summer with $10 million.

The rumblings have been that Pittsburgh could use some of their cap space to target one free agent in particular, Jack Johnson, who would essentially replace Hunwick, albeit at a higher price. How much exactly the Penguins need to spend in order to make that a reality is the biggest question, however, as Johnson at $4 million is much more palatable than the reported $6 million he’s seeking. Should the Penguins choose to pass on Johnson or declare the price too steep, other options exist to strengthen the blueline. More cost-effective options could include Michal Kempny, John Moore, Nick Holden, Calvin de Haan and Thomas Hickey. Even veteran Dan Hamhuis might be able to help solidify blueline depth on a short-term pact.

And if Pittsburgh can stretch a buck further on the backend, there’s an opportunity then to spend up front. Sheary stands to be replaced for pennies on the dollar by one of Daniel Sprong, Dominik Simon or Zach Aston-Reese, each of whom had cups of coffee with the big club this past season. And the savings there could translate to a spend on second-tier forward on the market, such as Derek Ryan, Riley Nash or Michael Grabner. Even a top-tier player such as James van Riemsdyk isn’t entirely out of the question if the money is right.

So, if depth throughout the roster is what Rutherford is seeking this off-season, clearing as much cap space as he did Wednesday is certainly one way to address whatever issues he perceives with his roster.

Want more in-depth features and expert analysis on the game you love? Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

Penguins win trade ... with themselves

By Tim Benz

https://triblive.com/sports/columnists/timbenz/13807941-74/tim-benz-penguins-win-trade-with-themselves

June 27, 2018

Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick

When a deal is made in sports, the question often is asked: "Who won the trade?"

However, when you essentially trade your own guys for more of your own guys, that's a tough question to answer.

This is basically what the Penguins did over the past two days, and it appears to have worked out well.

In essence, the Penguins traded Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick for Bryan Rust, Riley Sheahan, a conditional draft pick and probably Columbus free-agent defenseman Jack Johnson.

It sure sounds like the Penguins won that trade with the Penguins.

Wait, what?

For general manager Jim Rutherford, that's more or less what he did.

First, the decision was made to avoid arbitration and pay Rust $3.5 million against the salary cap for this season (and the next three seasons). That meant the Penguins weren't going to be able to keep all of their restricted free agents they coveted while also acquiring some much-needed outside help to bolster their blue line.

Rutherford didn't really trade Sheary and Hunwick. He traded their income statements.

Those statements were going to cost a collective $5.25 million next season. Dealing that expenditure meant Rutherford could keep Sheahan at a slight raise on a new one-year contract ($2.1 million) on top of Rust's new money for a total of $5.6 million.

So, almost a wash financially.

On top of that, the Penguins acquired the pick and enough remaining cap room to likely retain defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. Plus, they should be able to buy Johnson on the free-agent market for somewhere around a reported $3 million per year .

I'm not sure how that can be viewed as anything but a victory.

Despite his struggles in Columbus last season, Johnson has more potential for a career rebound than Hunwick. The ceiling is higher on Johnson for only slightly more money. That risk is worthwhile even if his contract stretches to potentially 2023. With inflation, $3.5 million won't seem like much cash by then.

While Johnson (11 points) only had one more point than Hunwick last year, he's two years younger and has a pair of 40-point seasons under his belt. Johnson's demise and frequent benchings in 2017-18 suggest he's well on the downside of his career.

But we thought the same things about fellow defensemen Trevor Daley, Ron Hainsey, Justin Schultz and Oleksiak. Each enjoyed a career renaissance of varying degrees with the Penguins.

The hope was Hunwick would have the same experience coming from Toronto last season. It didn't happen. There were no signs it would next season, either. So why not try for the much greater reward at only a slightly greater risk in Johnson?

Hunwick is valued so little that one of the conditions on the pick acquired from Buffalo is if the Sabres manage to trade him to someone else, the pick jumps from the fourth to the third round.

Imagine that. Hunwick's new team is willing to increase the currency going out the door if they can rid him off their books fast as possible.

Darren Dreger

✔@DarrenDreger

Condition on draft pick. If Sheary scores 20 goals or 40 pts or Buf trades Hunwick before the '19 draft, it flips to a 3rd round pick.

Darren Dreger

✔@DarrenDreger

Sheary and Hunwick to Buffalo for 2019 4th that can become a 3rd. https://twitter.com/darrendreger/status/1012002641004593152 …

1:17 PM - Jun 27, 2018

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Yikes! As troubled as Johnson's recent seasons have been in Columbus, he carries far more value than that.

Sheary is a different story. He was an important contributor on two Stanley Cup championship squads. He has 37 even-strength goals the past two seasons. He's only 26. He can play with Sidney Crosby. His $3 million price tag wasn't exactly onerous, but it was too much for his inconsistency and one-dimensional role.

Sheary scoring 20 goals a season for that kind of cost against the Penguins' tight cap ceiling wasn't enough. For a team such as Buffalo with more cost flexibility and lower expectations, Sheary scoring 20 goals seem like good value at that price.

That's why another condition on that pick is if Sheary gets 20 goals or 40 points, the pick goes from the fourth to the third round.

In the end, former Penguins assistant GM Jason Botterill proved to be the perfect dance partner for Rutherford: a guy who was willing to take on salary without the demand of shoving some back in return.

Rutherford was dying to give away two guys for as close to free as possible, and Buffalo was willing to make that happen.

Trading in a salary-capped sport makes for strange bedfellows and divergent goals. In this case for the Penguins, they looked to win a trade — with themselves — by getting nothing in return.

That's sounds like a complicated road to what should've been an easy task. I bet it was hard all around, though. And Rutherford has made the Penguins better for the effort.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at tbenz@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TimBenzPGH.

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Penguins lock up Bryan Rust with 4-year, $14 million deal

By Jonathan Bombulie

https://triblive.com/sports/penguins/13803631-74/penguins-lock-up-bryan-rust-with-4-year-14-million-deal

June 26, 2018

After he agreed to a new, four-year, $14 million deal with the Penguins on Tuesday, Bryan Rust said he started receiving congratulatory text messages from friends, family and teammates.

"Sid reached out to me and asked me where we're going for dinner. I told him it would be a surprise," Rust said, joking about his interaction with captain Sidney Crosby.

If Rust received a text message from every linemate he's had in his three-plus seasons with the Penguins, he probably would have to contact his cellular provider about adding a bigger data plan.

Rust has played right wing and left wing and on all four lines throughout his NHL career. His versatility has become his calling card, and it's a big reason the Penguins deemed him indispensable enough to make a long-term financial commitment to him Tuesday.

"It is very important to me, to be able to give the coaches the flexibility and to try to mesh my game with other guys' games," Rust said. "It doesn't matter if it's skill guys or grinders. I think I can try to adapt my game well to everyone."

The contract represents a significant vote of confidence from a Penguins team that is butting against the salary cap ceiling this offseason.

With Rust signed, the Penguins are about $4.25 million under the $79.5 million cap with 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies under contract. If, as expected, they're able to re-sign center Riley Sheahan and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, their cushion will be gone.

If general manager Jim Rutherford wants any flexibility to make offseason improvements to his roster — and he does want that — he'll have to trade away a salary or two in the near future. He said as much in a meeting with reporters Monday.

By signing Rust to a four-year contract, the team took on a little salary-cap pain now to save itself a headache down the road.

Rust came into this season as a restricted free agent. Computer-model projections estimated he could expect to receive a two-year deal with an average annual salary of less than $2.5 million. After those two years, however, Rust would have been an unrestricted free agent who could have commanded a significantly larger salary on the open market.

The $3.5 million average annual salary he received essentially buys out two years of unrestricted free-agent value.

From Rust's perspective, the deal is a cause for celebration for a number of reasons.

First, it gives him some stability.

"I think anyone in this business, playing sports, having short-term contracts, anytime you can get as many years as you can or a few more years to have a little more security is key," Rust said. "I think that's something I was really looking for, just to be able to relax a little bit and not have to worry about things every year or every other year."

Second, it's a tangible reward for a long road to NHL success.

A third-round pick in the 2010 draft, Rust worked his way up into a prominent place in the Penguins lineup by 2016.

His speed and tenacity on the forecheck were a perfect fit for the style of play coach Mike Sullivan was implementing. His series-clinching goals in Game 7 of the 2016 Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay and in the first two rounds against Columbus and Washington in 2017 won't soon be forgotten.

"I think the overall style of game just fits into the type of player I am – north-south, speed game, try to play in transition and play as aggressive as possible," Rust said. "It just kind of fits into my style, and I've been able to mesh well with the guys on the team and the coaching staff. I've been trying to make the most of my opportunities."

One area where Rust would like to improve over the term of his new four-year deal: production. Rust thinks he has a higher ceiling than the 14 goals and 33 points he's averaged over the past two seasons.

"I'd probably like to work a little more on my scoring touch and finishing ability," Rust said. "That's something I hopefully can keep building on."

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.comor via Twitter @BombulieTrib.

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