Go get me Michael Kopech and Tommy Pham for Bae and Anthony Solometo. Improves the bullpen this year and in future, and improves RF now. Sox get someone to play now and big upside Solo.
I'm not sure why we assume Pham and his .264 mlb average will perform better than Bae and his .367 milb average. I also think the fact the Pirates are not bringing him up makes other teams cautious about trading for him.
Don't you think his babip is a little higher because he gets down to first faster than most. I find it odd that when Bae hit ,290 in the minors, they brought him up and pretty much ignited the Pirates with his speed the first month of last year. He hit .240 in the majors.... 50 points less. Now that he is hitting .367 in the minors, wouldn't you think it is worth a try to give him another chance in the majors..... as opposed to trading prospects for rentals.
im getting a sense from these BC quotes that there is not a hitter trade scenario that makes sense to him and he may get a starting pitcher or high leverage bullpen arm for the same reasoning he spent his money on chapman instead of a starting pitcher last december
I've always kind of questioned how teams go out and trade for guys that know how to win, but they are all from teams that are losing and having terrible seasons.
MLB pipeline has an article up with a prospect from each team that could be traded at the deadline. They List Hunter Barco for the Pirates.
I go back and forth as to whether I would deal Barco in front of guys like Harrington, Ashcroft, Burrows, Meath etc. Looking ahead to the Pirate rotation over the next several years we have LOTS of RH starters. With Solometo struggling it leaves Barco as the only LH option in a park that is made for LH pitching.
As of this second I hope the Pirates keep Barco, and deal from their surplus of righty’s assuming it’s a good deal, am I the only one?
Pretty reasonable point and since hes a college guy, pretty decent though he could jump an extra level next year if hes having success. That said, if say the nats were super high on him and that was the main piece they wanted for lane thomas (or any similar controllable OF bat) then I wouldnt hesitate to move him
Lane Thomas in not the guy I want- he mashes lefty’s but his numbers against righty’s this season 211/.269/.347! I’m not paying big prospect capital for the short side of a platoon. He is basically a little better version of Connor Joe
I think you might be selling Lane Thomas a little short. He missed some serious time this year because of injury, but last year 28 homers 86 rbis 20 stolen bases .268 batting average. I would take that even if his lefty/right numbers are lopsided. To me, his at bats might be closer to Oneil Cruz, who's splits are also very lopsided.
Another guy I'd take a look at is Amed Rosario. Not a big name, but likely more useful to Pirates than a lot of other squads. Can play RF and 3b. No significant splits, although hits better away from the Trop. Not much power, but gets on base a lot more than our current guys in those positions. Currently .309/.332/.415/.747. Career avg around .275/.710. Rays typically use him in 5 or 6 slot, but he could lead off. Doubt he'd cost much (would only be owed $600K or so), but it is the Rays.
When the Pirates drafted TJ, I did not mind that the team missed on Holiday, Jones or Rocker. Holiday and Jones might become better players over all, but the Pirates got the guy who projected to become an apex hitter. After Bonds, we had Giles, Sanchez for one year, and Cutch during his prime. I had hoped the Pirates had the opportunity to draft Wetherholt.
The 60's and 70's Pirates got some of us! We want a Lumber Company! It's what we had when we became fans.
New drop by the athletic, looks like teams who lost revenue from tv deals can receive up to $15 mil in “luxury tax dollars.” Does that mean 15m just for payroll or?
I dont have the athletic to read more, but I almost wonder if its some incentive to spend some extra amount of money? Seems too good to be true plus we now have Sportnet Pgh so if we got any bobb would probably make it all disappear
Bucs win 5-0 over the Cards to stay one game back of them and one game back of the Wild Card conversation. Pirates are 8-2 in their last ten games and distancing themselves from the 4th place Reds and Cellar Dwelling Cubs.
*
CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!
@> Connor Joe for his key two-out, two run double in the fourth.
@>@> Right on Rowdy for his two for three day with two batted in and two runs scored, including a splsashdown to the river.
@>@>@> M. Perez for his 6 innings of shutout ball.
Here's hoping the Pirates really go after a bona fide hitter upgrade, no to Ward or Robert both just more of the same, maybe on Chisholm but for me only because he can run and create offense that way...
All three of those guys would be major upgrades, but it will ultimately come down to acquisition cost. Robert will cost the most, so he’s out. Chisholm is the most polarizing, which will make any deal difficult. That leaves Ward, and he is probably your best bet. I would also kick tires on Mountcastle.
The story I've heard is that Tellez stopped listening to Haines. At least, that's the prevailing interpretation of his "If I'm going down, I'm going down swinging my way" or whatever it was Tellez said right before his hitting turned around.
The FO has a major not facing facts problem so I'm not congratulating them on anything. Right now, it looks like the analytics department was right and the hitting instruction was wrong. And the FO had more than enough prior data to identify and eliminate the hitting problem.
My complaint on Rowdy this spring was that he looked like the laziest guy that didn't care. Just try a litlle please. My guess by observation was that he did it his way first and hit rock bottom where he figured he might need to get some help. My assumption was that he finally started listening to Haines.
And you all - without any other comment, rationale, or evidence - have blindly assumed that the guy who was non-tendered last year after cratering to a 78 wRC+ was referencing Andy Haines over the first two months of 2024 for the sole reason that it confirms your priors.
What do we think about going after Pedro Leon? He's a short (5'9") CF for Astros who's currently blocked. He's 26 now. Has a .905 OPS in PCL with 19 HRs in 400 PAs, K% around 20%. Doubt it would cost much, but he seems better than any option we'd bring up from AAA.
The Pirates cannot afford proven ML hitters who aorth a damn. The team needs its pitching prospects because pitchers break, so trading pitching prospects for proven hitters likely means trading pitchers with a ceiling for a player that is, at best, mediocre.
He's played his entire AAA outside Houston, pretty much near sea level. I can't get home/road splits, but with a .905 OPS, I'm not sure they matter all that much.
Don't know anything about him specifically, but short of making a game-changing move, that's the sort of thing Cherington should be looking at. It'd just be so damn easy to upgrade this offense.
Crads just aren’t the same team with Goldschmidt and Arenado doing so little. Like Mil, they seem over their heads to me. The opportunity is there if Ben would only reach for it.
In fairness, the Crads are performing waaaay over their expected wins right now. They're like five wins ahead, IIRC. That's a screaming candidate for regression, and their run differential doesn't much contradict the idea, either.
One of my Cardinal fan friends likes the young guys on the the team, but thinks the leadership of Goldschmidt and Arenado is actually holding them back a little from being the young exciting team they could be.
The fifty-whatever million (or whatever the exact accounting is) they have into those two probably doesn’t help in terms of team construction either. They aren’t on BN budget, but they have their limits too.
I’ve been convinced throughout the Cherington era that the veteran presence fetish does exactly that. It makes a bad manager like Shelton more comfortable, but it damps down enthusiasm.
Rowdy acquired positive veteranosity whe he began to drive in runs and put balls into the seats and river. For veterans, acting the right way while producing is all that's required. Of course, it helps when the veteran is producing and is a character like AJ Burnett!
Go get me Michael Kopech and Tommy Pham for Bae and Anthony Solometo. Improves the bullpen this year and in future, and improves RF now. Sox get someone to play now and big upside Solo.
I'm not sure why we assume Pham and his .264 mlb average will perform better than Bae and his .367 milb average. I also think the fact the Pirates are not bringing him up makes other teams cautious about trading for him.
Because Bae is riding a sky high babip. Oh and it’s the minors.
Don't you think his babip is a little higher because he gets down to first faster than most. I find it odd that when Bae hit ,290 in the minors, they brought him up and pretty much ignited the Pirates with his speed the first month of last year. He hit .240 in the majors.... 50 points less. Now that he is hitting .367 in the minors, wouldn't you think it is worth a try to give him another chance in the majors..... as opposed to trading prospects for rentals.
im getting a sense from these BC quotes that there is not a hitter trade scenario that makes sense to him and he may get a starting pitcher or high leverage bullpen arm for the same reasoning he spent his money on chapman instead of a starting pitcher last december
Keller for Kjerstad or Mayo is a trade that takes guts to make.
And it’s not gonna happen, since they just signed him to the extension.
Jack, Joe, MAT and Tank all have just as good of a chance at a decent second half than that sake of ja laters
would rather stick with what we have than give those losers our at bats
I've always kind of questioned how teams go out and trade for guys that know how to win, but they are all from teams that are losing and having terrible seasons.
MLB pipeline has an article up with a prospect from each team that could be traded at the deadline. They List Hunter Barco for the Pirates.
I go back and forth as to whether I would deal Barco in front of guys like Harrington, Ashcroft, Burrows, Meath etc. Looking ahead to the Pirate rotation over the next several years we have LOTS of RH starters. With Solometo struggling it leaves Barco as the only LH option in a park that is made for LH pitching.
As of this second I hope the Pirates keep Barco, and deal from their surplus of righty’s assuming it’s a good deal, am I the only one?
I’m keeping Barco and Harrington.
Pretty reasonable point and since hes a college guy, pretty decent though he could jump an extra level next year if hes having success. That said, if say the nats were super high on him and that was the main piece they wanted for lane thomas (or any similar controllable OF bat) then I wouldnt hesitate to move him
Lane Thomas in not the guy I want- he mashes lefty’s but his numbers against righty’s this season 211/.269/.347! I’m not paying big prospect capital for the short side of a platoon. He is basically a little better version of Connor Joe
I think you might be selling Lane Thomas a little short. He missed some serious time this year because of injury, but last year 28 homers 86 rbis 20 stolen bases .268 batting average. I would take that even if his lefty/right numbers are lopsided. To me, his at bats might be closer to Oneil Cruz, who's splits are also very lopsided.
yeah but we are really good at picking left handed veterans off the scrap heap and polish them off
Imo, your point makes logical sense.
I forget that Endy is injured. Hope he is hanging with the pitching staff and talking shop. Plating hold em and spitting seeds.
Pretty sure he’s rehabbing in Bradenton right now
Thanks. I dream of a spry Kendall in him. Or an average Craig Biggio either position
The latest is that he’s likely to get game action as a lefty DH in August.
Yes, in the minors. Assume at either Indy or Altoona.
Another guy I'd take a look at is Amed Rosario. Not a big name, but likely more useful to Pirates than a lot of other squads. Can play RF and 3b. No significant splits, although hits better away from the Trop. Not much power, but gets on base a lot more than our current guys in those positions. Currently .309/.332/.415/.747. Career avg around .275/.710. Rays typically use him in 5 or 6 slot, but he could lead off. Doubt he'd cost much (would only be owed $600K or so), but it is the Rays.
The beauty is the bar to upgrade our roster is so low that that would even represent a significant boost
That's why looking for incremental upgrades for the players that bother us is just a way to get new players that will bother us.
Yelich possibly out for the season with back surgery, more incentive to think we could sneak up into the division race?
Trade them MAT.
If Cherington were their GM it would happen
Termarr didn't wait. Singled first time up. 17 games.
When the Pirates drafted TJ, I did not mind that the team missed on Holiday, Jones or Rocker. Holiday and Jones might become better players over all, but the Pirates got the guy who projected to become an apex hitter. After Bonds, we had Giles, Sanchez for one year, and Cutch during his prime. I had hoped the Pirates had the opportunity to draft Wetherholt.
The 60's and 70's Pirates got some of us! We want a Lumber Company! It's what we had when we became fans.
New drop by the athletic, looks like teams who lost revenue from tv deals can receive up to $15 mil in “luxury tax dollars.” Does that mean 15m just for payroll or?
“Baseball expenses”
I dont have the athletic to read more, but I almost wonder if its some incentive to spend some extra amount of money? Seems too good to be true plus we now have Sportnet Pgh so if we got any bobb would probably make it all disappear
Just for Bob.
Wednesday, July 24
52 down. 29 to go.
*
Bucs win 5-0 over the Cards to stay one game back of them and one game back of the Wild Card conversation. Pirates are 8-2 in their last ten games and distancing themselves from the 4th place Reds and Cellar Dwelling Cubs.
*
CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!
@> Connor Joe for his key two-out, two run double in the fourth.
@>@> Right on Rowdy for his two for three day with two batted in and two runs scored, including a splsashdown to the river.
@>@>@> M. Perez for his 6 innings of shutout ball.
________________________________
“Of course you know this means war.”
-Wabbit
Damn shame last night's game...
Here's hoping the Pirates really go after a bona fide hitter upgrade, no to Ward or Robert both just more of the same, maybe on Chisholm but for me only because he can run and create offense that way...
All three of those guys would be major upgrades, but it will ultimately come down to acquisition cost. Robert will cost the most, so he’s out. Chisholm is the most polarizing, which will make any deal difficult. That leaves Ward, and he is probably your best bet. I would also kick tires on Mountcastle.
Two things I was dead wrong about this season:
1- Falter making the rotation out of Spring Training; and
2- I 100% would have DFA’d Tellez after that late May/early June series at Toronto. It was so painful to watch his at-bats.
Hat tip to Pirate management on both counts
The story I've heard is that Tellez stopped listening to Haines. At least, that's the prevailing interpretation of his "If I'm going down, I'm going down swinging my way" or whatever it was Tellez said right before his hitting turned around.
The FO has a major not facing facts problem so I'm not congratulating them on anything. Right now, it looks like the analytics department was right and the hitting instruction was wrong. And the FO had more than enough prior data to identify and eliminate the hitting problem.
Jesus Christ dude.
My complaint on Rowdy this spring was that he looked like the laziest guy that didn't care. Just try a litlle please. My guess by observation was that he did it his way first and hit rock bottom where he figured he might need to get some help. My assumption was that he finally started listening to Haines.
Hannah Mears: Rowdy, you've been lights out for two months what turned your season around?
Rowdy: I LIKE CHEESEBUHGUHS
Pirates Fans, collectively: fucks sake, Haines, I knew it.
Precisely.
And you all - without any other comment, rationale, or evidence - have blindly assumed that the guy who was non-tendered last year after cratering to a 78 wRC+ was referencing Andy Haines over the first two months of 2024 for the sole reason that it confirms your priors.
Good observation. Living up to your name.
What do we think about going after Pedro Leon? He's a short (5'9") CF for Astros who's currently blocked. He's 26 now. Has a .905 OPS in PCL with 19 HRs in 400 PAs, K% around 20%. Doubt it would cost much, but he seems better than any option we'd bring up from AAA.
I'm trying to figure out why Bae is still in the minors hitting .367 in 180 at bats without a call up.
They need proven major league bats not minor leaguers.
The Pirates cannot afford proven ML hitters who aorth a damn. The team needs its pitching prospects because pitchers break, so trading pitching prospects for proven hitters likely means trading pitchers with a ceiling for a player that is, at best, mediocre.
I'd consider Leon a last-ditch option in case no other deal works out.
He's played his entire AAA outside Houston, pretty much near sea level. I can't get home/road splits, but with a .905 OPS, I'm not sure they matter all that much.
The current Pirate center fielders currently rank dead last in production in MLB so he’d pretty much have to be better wouldn’t he?
For a couple weeks. Until Andy Haines gets in his head. Then it's .550 OPS the rest of the way.
Any PCL stats scare me without drilling down more. They make a lot of hitters look good.
Don't know anything about him specifically, but short of making a game-changing move, that's the sort of thing Cherington should be looking at. It'd just be so damn easy to upgrade this offense.
Cards scored 3 in the series. How are the best fans in baseball handling that?
They stood from their couches to give Perez a standing ovation after he threw his final pitch.
Well played greenie!
Who would have guessed over half of the runs we would give up in a 3 game series would be off Skenes.
I know how our fans would handle that...
We have far more experience.
🏴☠️❌52
( @ lazy ). Lol!
Efficient!
Why use lot word when few emoji do trick
Touché!! 🤣🤣🤣
🤣
Booyah!!! #52 in da books and a series win against the Dirty Birds!!!! Next up the Dbacks! Raise It!!!!
9 walk shutout. Don't see those very often. 2 out of 3 in the series, and 4 out of 6 on the homestand. Nice work.
Feel like WTM probably sees those a lot in the FCL and Bradenton lol
If you want the real nine-walk games, you gotta check the Dominican summer league. There are some real doozies there.
We talking per game or per inning?
Crads just aren’t the same team with Goldschmidt and Arenado doing so little. Like Mil, they seem over their heads to me. The opportunity is there if Ben would only reach for it.
In fairness, the Crads are performing waaaay over their expected wins right now. They're like five wins ahead, IIRC. That's a screaming candidate for regression, and their run differential doesn't much contradict the idea, either.
One of my Cardinal fan friends likes the young guys on the the team, but thinks the leadership of Goldschmidt and Arenado is actually holding them back a little from being the young exciting team they could be.
The fifty-whatever million (or whatever the exact accounting is) they have into those two probably doesn’t help in terms of team construction either. They aren’t on BN budget, but they have their limits too.
I was happy when they traded for Arenado and his contract knowing this day was coming.
That's what happens when a team's time horizon is shorter than the contract they must honor.
I’ve been convinced throughout the Cherington era that the veteran presence fetish does exactly that. It makes a bad manager like Shelton more comfortable, but it damps down enthusiasm.
Rowdy acquired positive veteranosity whe he began to drive in runs and put balls into the seats and river. For veterans, acting the right way while producing is all that's required. Of course, it helps when the veteran is producing and is a character like AJ Burnett!
I agree. Carlos Santana might be the one exception.
That sure helps getting over yesterday's debacle. Raise it.