Tag: pittsburgh pirates

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Pirates Morning Report

FINAL SCORE: PIRATES 1 BREWERS 3

WHY THE PIRATES LOST: IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TYPE OF GAME, WHERE NEITHER TEAM COULD HIT, THE PIRATES TURNED IT INTO AN ART FORM, GETTING ONLY ONE HIT AND SCORING THEIR ONLY RUN ON A DOUBLE PLAY BALL. THE DEFENSE ALLOWED THE TYING RUN TO SCORE. SAM HOWARD SHOWED EVERYBODY HOW NOT TO PITCH. COMING ON IN THE TOP OF THE NINTH WITH ONE OUT, HE PROMPTLY HIT THE FIRST BATTER, GETS ONE OUT, THEN WALKS THE NEXT 3 BATTERS TO MAKE THE SCORE 3-1. WHY HE WAS ALLOWED TO WALK THAT MANY BATTERS IN A ROW IN A CLOSE GAME, ONLY THE SHELTON KNOWS. JOSH HADER PITCHED THE NINTH FOR THE BREWERS, WHILE OUR TOP TWO RELIEVERS SAT COMFORTABLY IN BULLPEN OF A ONE RUN GAME. ONE TEAM TRYING TO WIN GAMES AND ANOTHER TEAM NOT. I’LL LET YOU GUESS

KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: TOP OF THE SIXTH, THE PIRATES HAD FIRST AND THIRD WITH NOBODY OUT AND KE’BRYAN HAYES GROUNDED INTO A SPECTACULAR DOUBLE PLAY. EVEN THOUGH RUNS WERE HARD TO COME BY, THE BREWERS WERE WILLING TO GIVE UP THE RUN, BECAUSE THEY KNEW THE MOVES THAT SHELTON WAS GOING TO DO THE REST OF THE GAME.

NEXT GAME: TODAY, BREWERS IN PITTSBURGH. THIS LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE YEARS THAT THE BREWERS COULD BE DOMINATING THE PIRATES. THEY HAVE HAPPENED BEFORE. LAST NIGHTS LINE UP LOOKED GOOD ON PAPER BUT DID NOT WORK OUT. TODAYS SHOULD BE INTERESTING.

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Pirates Morning Report:

FINAL SCORE: PITTSBURGH 0 CHICAGO 21

WHY THE PIRATES LOST: THEY SHOWED UP BUT TOOK THE DAY OFF. IN A GAME LIKE THIS, THERE IS NO KEY PLAY OF THE GAME. HOWEVER, LEAVE IT TO THE PIRATE ANNOUNCERS, MAINLY GREG BROWN, TO BRING THE GAME DOWN TO AN EVEN LOWER LEVEL. WHEN MIGUEL YAJURE, WHO IS OFF TO A BAD START THIS YEAR, WAS GETTING PUMMELLED FOR 7 RUNS IN 2 AND 1/3, GREG BROWN DECIDED TO MENTION THAT THE PIRATES LIKE ALL MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS WERE GOING TO HAVE TO CUT THE ROSTER TO 26 PLAYERS. HE THEN SAID THAT THE PIRATES WOULD BE SENDING DOWN ONE OF THEIR PITCHERS. TALK ABOUT KICKING SOMEONE WHEN THEY ARE DOWN. MY THOUGHT AT THAT TIME WAS, TOO BAD THE PIRATES ARE NOT CUTTING DOWN ON ANNOUNCERS ON MAY 2ND, BECAUSE IT WOULD BE NICE TO SEE GREG BROWN LEAVE THE BOOTH. THE BIGGEST SHILL THE PIRATES HAVE, JUST SAID I GUESS IT’S OBVIOUS WHO THEY SHOULD CUT, WITHOUT HAVING ENOUGH GUTS TO ACTUALLY SAY HIS NAME. WHAT A CHICKEN SHIT. THAT GOD FOR DVR SO I GET TO LISTEN TO THOSE GUYS AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.

THE NEXT GAME: TODAY CUBS IN CHICAGO. MAYBE WE WILL GET 3 OF THE FOUR OUTFIELDERS IN THE STARTING LINE UP. BEING A SUNDAY GAME, LET’S HOPE THAT THE PIRATES DON’T DEEM THIS ANOTHER DAY OF REST. DESPITE THE HORRIFIC LOSS, THEY CAN WIN THE SERIES.

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Pirates Morning Report

FINAL SCORE: PIRATES 5 NATIONALS 3

WHY THE PIRATES WON: DESPITE ANOTHER BIZZAR STARTING LINE UP, THE PIRATES WON BECAUSE OF SOME TIMELY HITTING, A WIDE STRIKE ZONE BY THE HOME PLATE UMP AND ANOTHER SHUT DOWN PERFORMANCE BY THE BULLPEN. MICHAEL CHAVIS HAD ANOTHER GREAT GAME. THEY OVERCAME ANOTHER BASERUNNING BLUNDER AND IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SECOND THEY HAD 1ST AND 3RD AND NOBODY OUT AND FAILED TO SCORE. IT WAS NOT THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE BUT QUINTANA HUNG IN THERE THROUGH 4 INNINGS GIVING UP 3 RUNS WHEN IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE.

KEY PLAYS OF THE GAME: YOU COULD SAY THE PIRATES WON THIS GAME BY A HALF STEP AND A HALF A HAND. THE HALF A HAND WAS HOW MUCH JOSH BELL WAS OUT AT HOME PLATE IN THE TOP OF THE 7TH, WHICH COST THE NATIONALS A RUN. THE HALF OF STEP WAS HOW MUCH YOSHI TSUTSUGO WAS SAFE AT FIRST WHICH ALLOWED THE PIRATES TO SCORE A RUN, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE GAME.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WIN: THIS WAS THE PIRATES FIRST SERIES WIN IN OVER A YEAR. LAST YEAR, THEY WERE THE FIRST TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY TO GO AN ENTRIRE SEASON AND NEVER WIN A SERIES. THEY ENDED THAT STREAK YESTERDAY.

NEXT GAME: TONIGHT, THE BREWERS IN MILWAUKEE. WILL WE SEE THE A TEAM? HIGHLY UNLIKELY BUT POSSIBLE, SINCE THE OLD MEN REYNOLDS AND HAYES ARE NICE AND RESTED.

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Pirates Morning Report:

FINAL SCORE: PIRATES 6 NATIONALS 4

WHY THE PIRATES WON: THE PIRATES HAD 3 OUTFIELDERS. THEY WERE ABLE TO OVERCOME A BASERUNNING BLUNDER. THEY GOT AWAY WITH GIVING UP SIX WALKS. THEY HAD OUTSTANDING DEFENSE AND A FEW LINE DRIVES THAT WERE HIT RIGHT AT SOMEONE. THEY HIT IN THE CLUTCH. THE BULLPEN WAS GOOD AGAIN DESPITE HAVING A SHAKY NINTH INNING. SHELTON HANDLED THE BULLPEN VERY WELL, BRINGING BEDNAR IN DURING A HIGH LEVERAGE SITUATION IN THE 7TH INNING.

KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: WITH THE PIRATES CLINGING TO A 3-2 LEAD IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 8TH, MICHAEL CHAVIS CAPPED OFF A GREAT GAME BY LEADING OFF THE INNING WITH WHAT LOOKED TO BE A ROUTINE DOUBLE AND TURNED IT INTO A TRIPLE, WHEN THE NATIONAL’S LEFT FIELDER MADE A LEISURLY TOSS TO THE SHORTSTOP. THIS BASE RUNNING GEM SET UP THE ENTIRE INNING THAT ENABLED THE PIRATES TO SCORE 3 INSURANCE RUNS, THAT TURNED OUT TO BE THE MARGIN OF THE VICTORY.

NEXT GAME: TODAY, NATIONALS, AT PITTSBURGH. WITH PATRICK CORBIN PITCHING FOR THE NATIONALS, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THE PIRATES WILL HAVE 3 OUTFIELDERS AGAIN BUT DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH.

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Pirates Morning Report

FINAL SCORE: PIRATES 1 CUBS 2

WHY THE PIRATES LOST: IT STARTED WITH THE LINE UP CARD. CHAVIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT FIRST BASE AFTER THE GREAT GAME HE PLAYED. COLE TUCKER IN RIGHT FIELD. WHY? I GUESS THEIR BIG GOAL IS TO GET THE NO. 1 PICK NEXT YEAR. THE PIRATES TWICE HAD A RUNNER ON SECOND WITH NO ONE OUT AND FAILED TO MOVE HIM OVER AND FAILED TO SCORE.

KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH THE PIRATES HAD A RUNNER ON SECOND AND ONE OUT WITH MICHAEL CHAVIS COMING TO BAT. THEN SHELTON DECIDES TO PINCH HIT FOR CHAVIS, WITH THE TURTLE. AGAIN WHY? CHAVIS’S SPLITS RIGHTY LEFTY ARE NOT THAT MUCH DIFFERENT. PLUS, THIS IS THE GUY WHO ALMOST WON YOUR LAST GAME SINGLE HANDED. GRANTED HE HADN’T LOOKED ALL THAT GOOD UP TO THIS POINT BUT MOST OF THE PIRATE BATTERS WERE IN THE SAME BOAT. OF COURSE, THE TURTLE MAKES IT LOOK EVEN WORSE BY TAKING 6 STRAIGHT PITCHES AND 3 WERE STRIKES. WHEN HE CAME TO BAT THE NEXT TIME, HE SWUNG AT 3 OUT OF 4 PITCHES AND 2 OF THOSE WERE BALLS. THIS IS A DFA WAITING TO HAPPEN. THE SOONER THE BETTER.

NEXT GAME: CUBS TODAY AT HOME. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THE STARTING LINE UP. HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT WE WILL LOSE?

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Sports: Pittsburgh Pirates, Swooning Continues.

The Pirates showed that May was no fluke, as they stumbled and bumbled their way, to a 9 and 17 record in June. The highlight of the month was the 10 game losing streak. Again there were no surprises, unless you call the bad players, going from bad to worse a surprise. The few major league players they do have, played some solid to excellent baseball. If baseball only put 5 players and a pitcher on the field, the Pirates could make a run at the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Pirates, there are 3 other players that have to take the field. They are so bad, that they desecrate the game. They are so far below the performance of a major league player, that they could only be productive, at the AA level of the game. These players should not even be playing for Indianapolis, let alone the Pirates. The list, in no particular order, is Gregory Polanco, Kevin Newman, Phillip Evans, Ka’ai Tom, Erik Gonzalez, Michael Perez, and Ben Gamel. Here is their corresponding OPS+, with the league average being 100: 74,46,73,60,55,62, and 87. None of them have a WAR of over .3 and most are negative war. The Magnificent Seven, they are not. These players who cannot hit, average one walk per 13 plate appearances. The league average is one walk per 11 plate appearances. The 5 major leaguers, that the Pirates do have on their team, average one walk per 10 plate appearances. Obviously these players do not learn by example. They really do not learn by any method, really. They certainly do not try and improve their game.

Despite having an overall horrible month, the Pirates did improve their Defensive Efficiency to 12th in all of baseball, from 20th. Ke’Bryan Hayes is probably the main reason for this. He has been a defensive star and is still hitting above the league average with an OPS+ of 122. His bat has been slumping a little of late, but every hitter is going to go through this once in awhile. In less than a month of playing his WAR is already, at 1.0. The Pirates are 29th in runs scored, with the New York Mets dead last, but only 5 runs behind. They are fortunate to be 6 games over .500, and the Washington Nationals are feeling the 2019 vibe, all over again. It will be interesting to see, if the Mets can remain in contention, throughout this season, let alone stay in first plate. It shows you what great pitching can do, but can it hold up for another grueling 3 months. Sorry about getting sidetracked about the Mets, but it is really hard writing about the Pirates. Will the Pirates finally go for the full teardown by getting rid of 3 of the 5 major leaguers they have, namely Colin Moran, Adam Frazier and Jacob Stallings. I am only discussing position players, as there are pitchers, both starters and relievers, that could be gone at the trade deadline. Only time will tell, how far the Pirates are going to go, in tearing this thing down. I mean the Pirates are a thing. They are certainly not a baseball team. They are about as bad as I have ever seen, even though they do not have the worse record in baseball, at least for the moment. Remember, I witnessed the mid 60’s Mets, and believe me, they were better overall, than this group. It would be nice to see 7 DFA’s come August 1st, but I doubt that will happen. Hopefully, Hayes’s bat will get hot again, and the other 4 will perform, as they have been. I guess 5/9ths of a team is better than nothing, or is it? Will look at them again August 1. Maybe they will surprise, that would be nice.

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Sports: Pirates 5-8, Pretty Amazing

The Pittsburgh Pirates have played 13 games so far this year, and have won 5. Considering all the things that have gone wrong, winning 5 games at this point, goes way beyond expectations. They have not been doing it with mirrors either, but I will get to the stats, later. The biggest thing that went wrong, is that they lost their best player, Ke’Bryan Hayes to injury, after the first game. It was a major blow, almost before the season started. Despite that, they won 4 more games. There does seem to be some hope for this team, since they split a 4 game series with the San Diego Padres, one of the better teams in the National League. One of the Padre games set baseball back about a hundred years, where the Pirate pitchers walked 13 batters, hit 3 more, and yet won the game rather easily, 8 to 4. There are some things to like about this team, and their manager.

Despite losing Hayes, and having no production, and I mean one big fat zero, from the centerfield position, the Pirates did not hit bad as a team. Their OBP is 8th in the Majors and their OPS+ is 11th. Unfortunately, that did not compute into as many runs as it could have, due to the fact, they only had 7 batters, each game, capable of putting the ball in play. In total runs, they are currently 17th. Even when they put Wilmer Difo in centerfield, who at the time was swinging a hot bat, he struck out 4 times and hung an 0 for 5 collar. The pitching and defense have not faired as well. In Defensive Efficiency, they are currently 22nd, which is still a little better, than they have done in the past. In all the significant pitching stats, walks, Whip, ERA+, and FIP, the Pirates rank between 24th and 27th. The only place where they are above average, is striking out batters, ranking 11th. So far, I love the way Shelton has managed. I do not know whose philosophy this is, but the way the bullpen is being managed is brilliant. Everybody is getting their chance to pitch in some high leverage situations, and there does not seem to be the proverbial 7th and 8th inning man. Yes, Rodriguez does seem be the possible closer, but with the Pirates leading 2-1 in the eighth against the Padres, it was Chris Stratton, warming up in the bullpen. The Pirates did score 3 runs in the eighth, but Stratton was warming up before they scored the runs. I hope this bullpen philosophy continues. He seems to be trying to have a very stable starting line-up, with none of what I call the strange Sunday line-up, that Clint Hurdle was famous for. The Pirates are going to play 15 of their next 20 games on the road. In order for this team to remain viable, they need to at least tread water, and stay somewhere between 3 and 5 games below .500. What needs to happen?

Hopefully, Hayes will come back sooner than later, and can stay healthy. There has got to be better production from the centerfield position. Forget the DH, right now the Pirates have 2 pitchers batting in the line-up as it stands now. That has to end soon, no matter how that is accomplished. Polanco is beginning to show some life. If he can continue, and stay healthy, and not hurt anybody else, like throwing a bat in the dugout, or running over Phillip Evans, then that will be a big plus. Hopefully, the base running and fielding will improve. It should, when Hayes comes back. Then, there is the K twins. I wish K stood for strike out artists, but instead stands for killing any chance of winning a game, when they start. Mitch Keller and Chad Kuhl have got to start pitching better. This is the coaching staffs biggest challenge at the moment, getting these two back on track, and staying on track. The whole rotation needs to improve. Nobody has gone 6 complete innings. That hopefully will start to happen. No matter how well Shelton can handle the bullpen, it needs a rest, once in awhile. With all the problems, and some bad luck, running into a red hot hitting Cincinnati team didn’t help, the Pirates won 5 out of 13 games. That doesn’t sound that great and the next 20 games could be difficult, but with any good luck, we will still see the Pirates right around .500 when we visit them again on May 10th.

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Sport: Pittsburgh Pirates 2021

In a few hours from now, the Pittsburgh Pirates will embark on the 2021 season. This will be the first full season of the Ben Cherington-Derek Shelton regime. The predictions for this season are dire. One headline read, the Pirates embark on their 2021 season, and they are going to be terrible. One person on MLB Network predicted they would lose 115 games, which would be one of the worst seasons in Pirate history. This is all because the Pirates are on the rebuild, or are they? When pressed about this, Ben Cherington has refused to say the word rebuild, and nobody seems to notice. If the Pirates are rebuilding and/or tanking, why didn’t they get rid of everybody. They only made 3 trades, and yes, they added a lot of prospects, to the point, that they have moved into the top 10 of minor league systems. But they still have Adam Frazier, Colin Moran, Kevin Newman, Gregory Polanco, Jacob Stallings, Erik Gonzalez, Richard Rodriguez, and Steven Brault. With the exception of Polanco, all of these players have value, and would have brought even more prospects to the team. The one excuse that is made, is that these players will have more value at the trade deadline, and will bring even more prospects, as the Pirates languish in last place in July and August. The other reason given for such a poor season this year, is how bad the Pirates were last year. They had a record of 19 and 41, which would compute out to 51 and 111 for a 162 game season. In my view, the Pirate management looked at last season as a lost season, anyway. Instead of trying to win games, management decided to evaluate talent for 60 real games, and I think they succeeded. During the 60 game season, they played players all over the place, and used a different batting order, almost everyday. This led to some surprising cuts at the end of spring training. The most surprising in my view was Geoff Hartlieb. He has looked very good at times, and last year had an ERA+ of 127. Obviously, at least for right now, the Pirates feel they have better options in the bullpen, than Hartlieb. The same thing can be said for Edgar Santana, another pitcher with decent major league experience and an ERA+ of over 120,the last 2 years that he pitched. Not putting Cole Tucker and Todd Frazier on the opening day roster, is significant. What kind of season do I think the Pirates are going to have?

I think this team will play right around .500 baseball, and with any luck will finish with 85 wins. Now things won’t have to be perfect, for them to do this, but a few things will have to break their way. The rotation is very thin, and they will have to avoid any more serious injuries, like what’s happened to Steven Brault. He looks like he may be able to return in June, but who knows. The infield is solid and hopefully will have some improved hitting from Frazier and Newman. Moran at first base may be a disaster, but I think Phillip Evans may wind up as the regular first baseman, and Todd Frazier may come up and fill some of that void. Hayes at third, will be solid, no matter what he hits, and hopefully he reaches full potential this year. The outfield does not have a lot of depth but again Evans and Adam Frazier can fill in there, but I hate to see Frazier move off 2nd base, where he really seems to have found a home. Hopefully, Brian Reynolds can get his hitting stroke back, and I am confident he will. Then there is Gregory Polanco, the 11 million dollar man. Hopefully he does not run into anybody and end their season like he did last year. Since 2014 he has had 3 decent seasons for the Pirates and 4 horrific seasons either due to poor play or injury. He practically destroyed his body, sliding into second base in 2018, and has not been the same since. He has become the project of the Pirates hitting coach, Rick Eckstein. If Polanco can stay healthy and have a 2 to 3 WAR season it will go a long way in helping the Pirates, be a competitive team. The bullpen should be solid, and it will be interesting to see how Shelton handles the various arms, and how the Pirates are able to finish close games. I think one of the biggest keys, will be if Richard Rodriguez can develop into the main high leverage guy, and if he doesn’t who will. We will all see what happens with this young Pirate team. Every 10 games I will do a blog on how the season is going. I watch every game they play when televised. I also watch the game with no sound. I am not going to listen to Joe Block, ask questions, that my grandson would ask, who is just learning the game. Could this season be one where they might lose a record number of games? Maybe, but I do not think so. See you at the 10 game mark. HAPPY OPENING DAY! Let’s go Bucs!

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Sports: Pirates 2020

Mercifully, the Pittsburgh Pirate 2020 season came to an end. The Pirates announcing team tried to put a positive spin on things, by mentioning the starting pitching over the last 2 weeks, players that would have bounce back years and some of the bullpen work. The bottom line is this, 19 and 41 is pretty pathetic, no matter how you spin it. So let’s take a look at these Pirates realistically, without any concern about how we can talk fans into buying tickets. The new management team looked at this 60 game schedule as spring training II. They would deny this, but the facts speak for themselves. They moved players around, and had a different batting order for every game. Some would point to injuries as the reason, but it can not even begin to explain the moves. Taking a gold glove finalist off second base. Putting a guy that never played outfield in the outfield. Putting players in different spots in the batting order almost everyday. Besides, most of the injuries happened to the pitching staff. I am not even being critical , because this was a team, that was never going to do well, anyway. Just come out and admit it. We are just going to continue player evaluation during this 60 game season and not even try, or worry, about winning games. Who knows, this may have been the best thing to do. We did learn a lot this year, about some of the players, and well most of it was bad, it was not all bad. Let’s look at each part of this Pirate team, and get an idea on what the future might bring.

The offense was by far the worst part of this team. In what I call the big three in offense evaluation, OPS+, OBP, and runs, the Pirates were dead last in all of major league baseball. Since the DH was universal this year, you could compare all 30 Major League teams fairly. Fairly, the Pirates finished 30th, 30th, and 30th. This was a team effort where nobody hit except for Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran. The cause for greatest concern was the poor showing of Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds. It will be essential for them to right the ship next year if the Pirates are going to be competitive. With a couple of exceptions, the rest of players should have no effect on the Pirate’s future, as they will be gone.

The pitching, with a great statistical stretch, in the final two weeks of the season faired a little better. ERA+ which compares pitching staffs by taking in ballpark factors, the Pirates were 17th. Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), which compares how well a staff does with things they can control, namely strike outs, walks, and home runs, the Pirates finished 21st. Walks Hits per inning (WHIP), the Pirates finished 18th. In all the important phases of pitching the Pirates were very close to the league average. The one thing the staff got was a lot of good experience. Derek Shelton let pitchers in longer than they should have been, to see if they could succeed or fail. This meant losing some games, the Pirates should have won, but it gave pitchers an idea of what they could do in adverse situations. The best result was with Richard Rodriguez. He blew a save early in the season, and had some other end of game meltdowns, but showed his resilience, and developed into a solid end of game reliever. Before we get too enthralled with the Pirate pitching, it is always easier to perform when the games are meaningless. Next year it would be nice to see Chris Archer pitch and Jameson Taillon come back from surgery. Regardless of this happening, the Pirate pitching staff gained a lot of invaluable experience this year, and it should pay off, next year.

The big surprise was the Pirates developed into a slightly better than average fielding team. I like the Defense Efficiency Rating, used by Baseball Reference, and the Pirates finished 15th in the league with a .697, .004 above the league average. It may have been even better, if Adam Frazier would have been allowed to play 2ond base for the entire season. The two defensive gems the Pirates have, is Ke’Bryan Hayes at 3rd, and Jacob Stallings behind the plate. They were such big upgrades at their positions, that it was probably enough to push the Pirates to be an average defensive team. The last five years the Pirates have finished between 25th and 30th when it comes to defensive efficiency. Erik Gonzalez, despite having absolutely no plate discipline, is a solid defensive shortstop which helped their overall defensive rating.

So where do the Pirates go from here except up. First, let’s look at who won’t be here, when the Pirates become competitive. In other words, as long as these players are still on the 26 man roster, the Pirates are doomed to be mired in the basement of the Central Division. This list includes, Cole Tucker, Kevin Neuman, Gregory Polanco, Jose Osuna, J. T. Riddle, and John Ryan Murphy. These players, for various and many reasons, will not be apart of any Pirate resurgence. I would have said the same thing about Colin Moran. If the DH remains in the National League, then he will fit the role quite nicely. This year Moran had an OPS+ of 115 with 100 being the league average. When Joe Musgrove is considered the fifth starter the Pirates will be contenders. The Pirates are going to have a hard time acquiring prospects. Who would they trade. Better yet, are there any teams that would want their players. I do not think it is time to give up on Josh Bell or Bryan Reynolds. What would the return be, after a very down 60 games. There would have to be a team with many bats, and a gaping hole at shortstop for Erik Gonzalez to have any value. The Pirates have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. The new management team keeps saying, they are not going to do a complete teardown. Could this be the first off season, that the Pirates are going to participate in the free agent market. They seem to be in this kind of no man’s land. They do not have a lot of prospects. They are not an old team, where they have a lot of veterans to unload for prospects. I really can’t believe, that Pirates will be active in the free agent market. But if they are going to strictly build through the draft and prospects, then this could be a long losing haul, until near the end of this decade. I suppose we could hope for more 60 game seasons, so at least it will go by quickly.

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Sports: Pirates, Management Team in Place, What’s Next.

Well, the Pirates have a manger, a general manager and a President, finally.  They shall remain nameless in this blog to protect their families.  The question now is, what are they going to do.  The consensus is that the Pirates need to tear it down and rebuild.  If you watch MLB Network, there doesn’t seem to be any other way for the Pirates to get back on top. Certainly, for the new management team, this is the safest way to go. If you are rebuilding you are going to get at least a 2 year reprieve on criticism and maybe even a third.  It is the cheapest way to go.  Even though the payroll of the Pirates is one of the smallest in baseball,  it can be pared down even further, by trading Starling Marte, Chris Archer, Gregory Polanco, and Keone Kela.  With the exception of Polanco, they should all bring back some good prospects and they are, by far,  making the most money.  Trading them would more than make up for the money be paid to Huntington and Hurdle over the next two years.  Polanco was called one of the most disappointing players in all of baseball, by Joel Sherman on MLB Now, the show for the thinking fan. Geeze, and I thought I was hard on Polanco. The point is, he probably is not going to get much of a return.  The rebuild proponents, which there are many, point to  the 93 losses the Pirates suffered this past year, as the reason this team needs to start over.   But let’s just wait one gall darn minute here.  At the All Star break this team was 44 and 45, and about 3 games out of first place.  Then they collapsed mightily, on and off the field.  So are you going to base a rebuild on just a 2 month bad stretch.  Granted, they have not come close to making the playoffs since 2015, but at least when they take the field this is not a bad or old team.

According to Baseball Reference, by measuring , Wins Above Replacement, a player value stat (WAR) the Pirates have 5 solid Major Leaguers in Josh Bell, Adam Frazier, Kevin Newman, Bryon Reynolds and Starling Marte.  WAR is a production number, so the more you play the more your WAR can go up. Jacob Stallings with only 71 games played and 210 plate appearances had a WAR of 1.4 with 2 being a Major League starter.  With more starts Stallings should be able to hit that 2 number easily. That would give the Pirates 6 position players considered Major League starters. Compare that with the rest of the NL Central at the moment.  The Cincinnati Reds have just one, the Milwaukee Brewers 3, the St. Louis Cardinals 5 and the Chicago Cubs 7.  I know that gives Stallings the benefit of the doubt on a small sample size but who cares.  The Pirates starting 8 is pretty good and the oldest member of the group is Marte at age 30.  The Pirates have 2 glaring weaknesses third base and right field.  How they will deal with that I have know idea and again I do not care.  I know the pitching is a mess but there is lot’s of pitching out there on the free agent market.  The management team has not really given us a clue on what they will do, but it will become evident, as this offseason moves along what’s going to happen.

Derek Shelton, the new Pirate manager, (sorry Derek I mentioned your name) said that this will be a fun clubhouse.  He may be the first manager to win Manager of Year and lose 95 to 100 games, if he can keep that promise.  I can hear Bob Walk saying after the 95th loss, ” This is the happiest I have ever seen the Pirate clubhouse since I have started broadcasting. They weren’t this happy when they first made the playoffs in 2013″.  Bringing happy and losing together, would be quite an accomplishment for the new Pirate manager. In case you haven’t figured it out, I am against the rebuild solution to the Pirate situation.  Have a 140 million dollar payroll,  make a few good trades, and this team can contend. What ever happened to that saying, the nucleus is there.  How big does a nucleus have to be for it to be significant.  The Pirates have 6 in the field and despite the pitching being such a disaster they have about 4 or 5 solid arms. In my view that’s enough to add on, not tear down and start over again.