15 Comments
Nov 17, 2023·edited Nov 17, 2023

Lets talk about Paul Skenes opening the season in Pittsburgh

Assuming he becomes what everyone thinks he will become, there is zero chance he signs a long term extension here and because of that, it is a guarentee we will trade him one day

Seeing that fact, does the extra arbitration year even matter? Is it not a better gamble that he wins rookie of the year and we get an additional draft pick out of it?

Is that additional draft pick worth more than the Skene´s last year of arbitration that he inevitably server for another team?

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I think the best solution is to bring Skenes up when he is ready: not based upon some need now for a season that looks as lost as the last one or an arbitrary deadline for super 2 or a hypothetical draft pick from a RoY. Skenes only has pitched, full-time, for 1 full season. He is still experimenting with grips for pitches other than his fastball, slider, and changeup. He needs some experience adjusting to the rhythm of pitching every 5 days and to prepare gameplans for major-league hitters.

Give him at least one month, probably two or even three in AAA... see where is he and make a decision from there. If he is the generational talent scouts project, the last thing that the Pirates can afford to do is screw up his development for reasons not directly related to his preparation to face big-league hitters.

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There's, what, a 5% chance Paul Skenes wins rookie of the year? Less, right?

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I don’t give a hoot about the super2 deadline but unless Skenes can pitch every other day OR the Bucs break the bank on 2 GOOD FA SPs … I don’t want to see him in Pgh until June because that buys us an extra year of his services. If he really wants to pitch MLB in April he can sign a 7 year deal now.

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Bob is perfectly happy to talk about this:

"No."

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Is that a direct quote?

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This is a PG-rated site.

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One interesting prototype you see here is the org depth guy who helps the system get through a season without being an actual prospect. Alvarez and Nadal are good examples. A lot of MiL R5 selections, in fact probably most, are more for roster-filling purposes rather than looking for actual prospects.

Nadal, btw, may have the strongest arm in the org this side of Oneil.

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Hope they protect Brennan Malone, maybe he can finally have a healthy season. They should definitely protect Dariel Lopez.

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Hope they protect Brennan Malone, maybe he can finally have a healthy season. They should definitely protect Dariel Lopez.

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Lopez si, but I don’t see a world where anyone takes on Malone. He’s the opposite of an innings eater with no evidence of potential left. He may be released just to get out of his medical expenses.

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I know what you mean, 27 innings total in his pro career (since 2019). I can just see a team like the Ray's picking him up and in a couple years, he leads them to the playoffs.

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You can say that again.

Just playin.

Malone isn’t even on my radar anymore due to the injury bug that has plagued him his whole professional career.

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is Lonnie White on your radar?

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He’s a faint blip.

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