Hope you guys noticed the potential of Barco, Reilly and Curtis. All were acknowledged as great college pitchers. Barco and Curtis were hurt and Reilly had control issues. Vandy program loved Reilly for his work ethic. Think Barco will be in Greensboro this year and the other two will start in Bradenton.
Barco definitely caught my attention after reading about him when we drafted him. It's great to have the pitching depth we appear to have, and I'm sure it will help each to be surrounded by peers with so much talent.
The reason I wanted the Pirates to draft Skenes over a hitter - You win playoff series with a stud ace like him in your rotation. A unit like him IMO, is much more valuable in a 5 or 7 game series than a hitter. Also, the shape stuff is overblown. If he can paint 101 on the outside edge, they are not going to hit it.
Yeah, I started pushing for Skenes last February because good pitching can beat good hitting, and we're not likely to get an ace any other way than drafting at the top of the draft (the jury is still out on our ability to develop guys drafted lower, and with Jones, Chandler, and a few others, there are some positive signs).
And speaking of the draft, I also thought that if we went with a hitter, Langford deserved consideration over Crews because after their freshman years, Langford out-slugged Crews in SEC play (iirc). Langford has a 1.248 OPS in ST and has been drawing rave reviews from his teammates. Oh to be a Rangers fan with Carter and Langford in the OF for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately we play at Texas this year but I'm hoping that in '25 the series is at a time when it works for me to get to Pittsburgh.
Same camp here. I think i remember Crews hit more than 50% on the ground and that was another reason i liked Langford more if we went hitter. Was on Skenes early after visiting the Air Force Academy and talking with their coach... he said the 412 loved his makeup and ability.
Coming into the draft, Langford had higher OPS than Crews, more extra base hits, comparable K/bb % and most noticeably, substantially better line drive and ground ball rates than Crews. Crews entered the draft as a nearly 50% ground ball hitter and, unlike Langford, his ground ball and line drive rates went in the wrong direction from 22-23.
Also Langford played two seasons in the summer wood bat leagues and posted comparable stats to his college numbers. Crews had not played in wood leagues aside from 12 PAs early on in his college career.
I was initially for Crews but by the end of conference regular season was Skenes, by the end of the Sec tournament Langford jumped Crews as well. By the draft I had Skenes 1, Langford 2, and Jenkins 3 slightly ahead of Crews 4. 5, Lowder 6, Teel 7, Schanuel.
An eight year deal might make sense because Skenes would still reach free agency before turning 30. OTOH, that probably only gains us one year of control from what we'll have by calling him up in June and then having six more years after this one. Is it worth committing that kind of money to only lock him up for one more year?
It's a tough call; if we add another year to essentially buy out two FA years, then I'm all in. That would also take the deal to 9 figures, which might carry some added appeal for him to sign. Heck, top Reynolds' total and maybe the two sides could work something out.
I didn't clarify above but would have an option year to take it to 9/110+. We're in the same range, they need to do it before he pitches in season or his price will probably go up.
I was thinking 8 years $120 million. With the way pitchers careers have been cutting short, I think he might take it. Many gamble a few dollars to make a million dollars in the lottery. Not many people gamble $120 million to make more.
If we avoid Super Two, though, then the next four years can be under $3MM total. So that would be adding essentially four years at about $30MM per, which is far more than he'll make through arbitration for the first three of those four years. If the eight years begin in '25, then that could make sense (and they could pay some of it as a bonus this year).
Counting Bobby Witt Junior's late season call-up as a season, he is receiving $107 million for his first 8 years. After that they are paying him $175 million for another 5 years. I think it would be nice if we could avoid playing the super 2 game and treat him like a franchise player. I would prefer 10 years/150 million. The longer the Pirates wait, the more he is going to want Witt numbers. Lock this guy up now.
Unless he really loves Pittsburgh and Primanti's and IC Lights, I'd gamble on staying healthy and cashing in bigtime. You see what some of these guys are getting on the open market? Imagine what It'll be in 6-7 years. Dude could cash in for 3/4 of a Billion! Skenes and Olivia's children and their children and ...would be set for life.
NGL that entire inning by Skenes was heavenly. Most impressive was the AB versus Holliday. After getting hosed on a couple of calls, Skenes retained his composure and had the balls to attack one of the two best hitting prospects in the game with a 3-1 slider and 3-2 changeup. I could watch it on a loop.
anybody have a statcast link? can't find the prospect game.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?gamePk=762640&game_date=2024-03-14&date=2024-03-14
thanks brother!
You bet
Our young pitching is making me think that better days are ahead for our Buccos.
Hope you guys noticed the potential of Barco, Reilly and Curtis. All were acknowledged as great college pitchers. Barco and Curtis were hurt and Reilly had control issues. Vandy program loved Reilly for his work ethic. Think Barco will be in Greensboro this year and the other two will start in Bradenton.
Barco definitely caught my attention after reading about him when we drafted him. It's great to have the pitching depth we appear to have, and I'm sure it will help each to be surrounded by peers with so much talent.
Skenes is an absolute unit!
The reason I wanted the Pirates to draft Skenes over a hitter - You win playoff series with a stud ace like him in your rotation. A unit like him IMO, is much more valuable in a 5 or 7 game series than a hitter. Also, the shape stuff is overblown. If he can paint 101 on the outside edge, they are not going to hit it.
You take the risk with an animal like Skenes.
Yeah, I started pushing for Skenes last February because good pitching can beat good hitting, and we're not likely to get an ace any other way than drafting at the top of the draft (the jury is still out on our ability to develop guys drafted lower, and with Jones, Chandler, and a few others, there are some positive signs).
And speaking of the draft, I also thought that if we went with a hitter, Langford deserved consideration over Crews because after their freshman years, Langford out-slugged Crews in SEC play (iirc). Langford has a 1.248 OPS in ST and has been drawing rave reviews from his teammates. Oh to be a Rangers fan with Carter and Langford in the OF for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately we play at Texas this year but I'm hoping that in '25 the series is at a time when it works for me to get to Pittsburgh.
Same camp here. I think i remember Crews hit more than 50% on the ground and that was another reason i liked Langford more if we went hitter. Was on Skenes early after visiting the Air Force Academy and talking with their coach... he said the 412 loved his makeup and ability.
Coming into the draft, Langford had higher OPS than Crews, more extra base hits, comparable K/bb % and most noticeably, substantially better line drive and ground ball rates than Crews. Crews entered the draft as a nearly 50% ground ball hitter and, unlike Langford, his ground ball and line drive rates went in the wrong direction from 22-23.
Also Langford played two seasons in the summer wood bat leagues and posted comparable stats to his college numbers. Crews had not played in wood leagues aside from 12 PAs early on in his college career.
https://pittsburghbaseballnow.com/pittsburgh-pirates-wyatt-langford-2023-mlb-draft-florida-gators/
I was initially for Crews but by the end of conference regular season was Skenes, by the end of the Sec tournament Langford jumped Crews as well. By the draft I had Skenes 1, Langford 2, and Jenkins 3 slightly ahead of Crews 4. 5, Lowder 6, Teel 7, Schanuel.
Paul Skenes.
We should probably sign him to an extension.
10/150? He would probably want more but Im going to totally and not overreact but just assume hes a future 7x Cy Young winner
Hasn’t it been renamed the Paul Skenes Award yet?
If they hurry they can probably get 8/85
An eight year deal might make sense because Skenes would still reach free agency before turning 30. OTOH, that probably only gains us one year of control from what we'll have by calling him up in June and then having six more years after this one. Is it worth committing that kind of money to only lock him up for one more year?
It's a tough call; if we add another year to essentially buy out two FA years, then I'm all in. That would also take the deal to 9 figures, which might carry some added appeal for him to sign. Heck, top Reynolds' total and maybe the two sides could work something out.
I didn't clarify above but would have an option year to take it to 9/110+. We're in the same range, they need to do it before he pitches in season or his price will probably go up.
I was thinking 8 years $120 million. With the way pitchers careers have been cutting short, I think he might take it. Many gamble a few dollars to make a million dollars in the lottery. Not many people gamble $120 million to make more.
If we avoid Super Two, though, then the next four years can be under $3MM total. So that would be adding essentially four years at about $30MM per, which is far more than he'll make through arbitration for the first three of those four years. If the eight years begin in '25, then that could make sense (and they could pay some of it as a bonus this year).
Counting Bobby Witt Junior's late season call-up as a season, he is receiving $107 million for his first 8 years. After that they are paying him $175 million for another 5 years. I think it would be nice if we could avoid playing the super 2 game and treat him like a franchise player. I would prefer 10 years/150 million. The longer the Pirates wait, the more he is going to want Witt numbers. Lock this guy up now.
Jackson Chourio just signed for 8/$83M plus two option years. For arguments sake a Skenes contract could be:
$1M
$1M
$1M
$7M (arb/super2 yr)
$12M (arb yr)
$18M (arb yr)
$23M (arb/FA yr)
$25M (FA yr)
Thats 8/$88M.
He will not sigh for "only" 5 million more than Chourio.
I think we are on the same page.
My man, he's not signing an extension with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Now is our best chance, if he comes up in May we could still have him 6 and over a half years so 7.
8 years with an option, for a guaranteed $85mil would be a reasonable offer. The option year would be up there $25 to $30 some million.
He's still human and injuries happen but it would be worth the risk.
Unless he really loves Pittsburgh and Primanti's and IC Lights, I'd gamble on staying healthy and cashing in bigtime. You see what some of these guys are getting on the open market? Imagine what It'll be in 6-7 years. Dude could cash in for 3/4 of a Billion! Skenes and Olivia's children and their children and ...would be set for life.
NGL that entire inning by Skenes was heavenly. Most impressive was the AB versus Holliday. After getting hosed on a couple of calls, Skenes retained his composure and had the balls to attack one of the two best hitting prospects in the game with a 3-1 slider and 3-2 changeup. I could watch it on a loop.
since the pirates won, does that mean we have the better farm system now???
I think that means we win jackson holiday into our system
I'm okay with this
Maybe make it a red rover game. The team that wins gets to take a player from the other team.