152 Comments

It sort of feels like the folks demanding optimism in the Pirates blogosphere jumped the gun a little bit, no?

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Some way the pirates need to get out the Skenes rule added to the PPI as an exception.

"A player is not subject to the full year of service threshold if they make their mlb debut within 11 months of being drafted."

Or "within 45 days of a year of being drafted."

Lot of articles out right now mentioning how he is the first 1.1 pick to make an Allstars game within a year of being drafted. That way the pirates could at least get a first round pick for losing the 7th year of control. Only 2 players from last years draft were on opening day rosters and both probably could have used a little extra time in the minors.

I really feel this is one time the organization actually had the players benefit in mind as well as the teams when they brought him up.

It would be an easy fix from the commissioners office.

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This "extra" year of control is a fantasy anyway. Skenes isn't going to be in Pgh for six years, probably not even five. We'll be lucky if it's four. If he keeps on the way he has, in his first arb year he'll probably get over $20M. Nuttin isn't paying that.

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I totally realize that, wasn't the point of my post.

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I like your idea but I somehow don't think Bob has a lot of sway with MLB

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It would have to come from the media.

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I don’t get why Skenes wasn’t held down for another month to really make it impossible for him to win ROY and lose a year of control… Just more questionable decisions from the GM.

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I definitely get what you're saying and feel similar with the way the incentive is written.

I do think the pirates did right by Skenes though, they gave him some development time in the minors before throwing him in the fire to enhance his craft. The idea I have could be broken into 2 parts for college and prep draftees. Just add an extra year for prep players like Holiday this year. Who knows but maybe an extra month or so in the minors before he was called up might have made his transition better, instead of being sent back down. Same goes for Langford, he probably would have been better prepared for his debut with more triple A at bats. Schanuel was just the Halo's being desperate and probably slowed his actual development.

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Totally agree with all the points on each of the players you mentioned. I def agree the Pirates did right by Skenes keeping him down, letting him get used to pitching on a pro schedule and slowly building him up so he won’t be shut down early this year.

It just sucks that some of the rules are really hampering the Pirates when management is willing to be aggressive. Kind of reminds me when MLB capped draft spending after breaking the bank for Tinker Bell.

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Well, they got Josh Bell so....

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Congrats to Reynolds and Skenes for being named to the All Star game.

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Do we know which pitcher is starting or?

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Sorry fellas, jinxed Chapman.

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During Ortiz's post-game interview he was standing in front of a locker with Hunter Stratton's uni on a hangar, so I guess he's coming off 15-day tomorrow. Wonder who's going down? Hope it's not Palacios!

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They keep their lockers while on the IL, only remove the locker (jersey) when they are optioned. Only have a locker on the road if they are traveling with the team.

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Wouldn’t he go down for some rehab work in the minors? Would be confused if he joined the active roster tomorrow

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OT, but how about the Reds sweeping the Yankees in NY and then getting swept by the Tigers at home?

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Chapmen will be the target, understandably, but Holderman had a 4-pitch walk after the CS and then gave up the double so both back-end guys let us down.

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The more relievers you throw in a game, the better chance one will have a bad game. I would like to see Mlodzinski get a second inning when his stuff is working.

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It was the offense. They need to score more. Aroldis obviously blew this but the team needs to score!

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Yes, that continues to be the main problem.

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Brown and Young said this felt like a “must win”. I hope they lean into that—we didn’t win so now let’s treat the season for what it is, a chance for young players to develop and not much else.

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Diaz shows Chapman how it is done.

Another great start wasted. What is that, like, 15, 18, 20????

There may have been other teams that had dominant pitching paired with pathetic offense but I know I have never witnessed a Pirate team with this imbalance. This roster is so lopsided and Cherington sits in his office and hopes for “internal improvement”. Not everyone is going to be Rowdy. Pathetic.

This team is definitely not ready to contend.

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Not sure about Diaz showing Chapman how it is done. Didn't he come in and lose the lead for the Mets by giving up a walk and the 2 run single by Nick? Chapman is past his prime, but still has over 100 more saves than Diaz.

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True, but 1-2-3 in the 9th. Just being facetious for the most part, but inheriting a bad situation and creating it are two different situations for a reliever. Chapman is a possible HOF’er but more often than not he is NOT getting it done for us.

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I might be the only guy that likes Aroldis, but he is not a reliable closer. He is for sure not a guy you can bring in with runners on base. What I dlslike more than anything is how we use our bullpen, After a good 5 or 6 innings by our starter, Shelton expects the next 3 or 4 relievers to all have their stuff working and go exactly one inning...with no back-up plan.

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You’re not the only guy that likes Aroldis, but I have to admit it isn’t easy to watch sometimes. I know a bit of wildness is and has always been part of his game; that combined with the velo keeping guys off balance and uncomfortable…. But at some point there is such a thing as too many freebies and one an inning (on average this season) is just too many I think.

If they can string together three or four hits to beat you before three of those ABs turn into outs, tip your cap.

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Chapman gets in his own head trying to get into hitters' heads. Did you watch that AB against Iglesias? Sure, they're both Cubans. Got it. He was walking half way to the plate trying to loom large that entire AB. All Iglesias had to do was work the walk and he broke Chapman. Macho He-Man dope stuff.

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Shelton's an idiot. Second only to Cherington.

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Excited to see how BC reconstructs this joke of an offense with an equally terrible joke of an offense in 2025.

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Can we just hope he's gone by 2025 instead?

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You can hope in one hand….

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The eternal mantra of the Pirate fan

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Don't cross your fingers too hard for that...they might get sore.

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It's him or me haha

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Zzzzzzz do not go gently into that good night, Bucs.

And they did. At least Cherington is getting close to as likely to getting fired as making any big trades at this point.

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Cruz, Rowdy, Jack. Against a righty in Ottavino.

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Diaz came back. Still a righty.

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They just brought Diaz back out

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Chapman 10,000,000 dollar waste of money. Pirates truly suck.

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Second worst season of Chapman's career.

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Ben is slipping.

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Has he ever been standing up? He's had one above .500 season and it was with Theo's roster, right?

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He won a title by bringing in a bunch of second- and third-tier veterans, and every one of them had a career year. The next year, they came back to earth and the Sox finished last, then last again. Then the owner brought Dombrowski in above Ben to clean up the mess and Ben fled. Then four last-place finishes for Nuttin and one next-to-last. Incredibly consistent record of disaster.

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He was clever enough one year but never smart.

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He's the perfect comparison to a broke clock.

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I'm wondering if either Fort or Brault will have the stones to mention Grandal's dropped 3rd strike tip in the post-game.

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Chapman shook his head after the the dropped third strike as of he wasn't happy about it.

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Hell no. State sponsored media.

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This manager is an idiot leaving Chapman out there after the base hit. 40 pitches. Nicolas comes in with no room for error. Zero critical thinking.

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They never seem to have a good back-up plan ready if one of their relievers is off that day.

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Yeah. Shelton is obsessed with getting 1 full inning from each reliever, and he won't release that obsession until the game is blown. It has been his modus operandi with the bullpen since day 1. His bizarre obsessive-compulsiveness is: 1) a mental disorder 2) a cover for being too stupid to think of better ways to use the bullpen or 3) a lazy solution that he uses as a crutch to avoid thinking about how to use the bullpen.

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There was a time when managers would routinely bring in 2 or even 3 relievers in one inning in a close and important game. I can't imagine Shelton trying to manage that.

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I hate this team.

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With the exception of Brey, Skenes, Jones and Keller -- me too

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Me too, man. Me too. They lose in the dumbest ways. Just don't have enough talent.

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They aren’t ready and they keep proving it.

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And they extend their dipshit manager while puttng that act on, too.

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