Paul Skenes has been elected to the MLBPA eight-member executive subcommittee. To be elected at such a young age is quite a tribute to the respect that his peers have for him, as well as his leadership skills.
Extremely poor asset management per the usual. I would have tried to extend him prior to the deadline, unconventional but worth a shot. At the end of the day, a good FA signing has us standing here with our d*ck in our hand. They are just so effing bad at this aspect of the game, which is arguably the most important.
Not to be a dick but we're talking about the same guy that was almost universally seen as a failed signing and waste of money through the first half of the year on account of him being pretty terrible.
It's crazy too because relievers have been getting SO MUCH back at the deadline the last couple of years. Chapman himself got Cole Raggans back for the Royals, who ended up being one of their best pitchers last season
I'm sure he could've pulled a low level flyer from someone but let's not forget he walked 1 out of every 5 hitters he faced over the first half of the season and was almost exactly replacement level. He'd already put up 1.3 WAR with the Royals prior to them trading him the year before.
Maybe my memory is failing, but I don't remember him showing up on the trade deadline listicles and it didn't seem like anyone was really knocking at the door.
Yea I'm not exactly saying they would have got another Ragans. He wasn't nearly as good as he was the previous year. Teams were still paying a premium on relievers, so I'm sure they could have gotten something worth while.
A nice look at Antwone Kelly from Aruba. The Pirates have a nice thing going at the A/A+ level with LHSP Michael Kennedy, RHSP's David Matoma, Zander Mueth, Antwone Kelly, Carlos Castillo, Clevari Tejada, and others. Is Levi Sterling capable enough to possibly reach Bradenton in A Ball his year?
Boston is active and the Pirates did some business with them to get Nick Yorke for RHSP Quinn Priester. Maybe some other Pirate need could be filled by a guy like 25 year old LH hitting 1B Triston Casas for another Pirate #5, 6, or 7 SP. The Bosox IF is changing to make room for Roman Anthony and that might mean that Casas will be made available. He had a big year in 2023 at the MLB level, but missed some time in 2024. He has 2 years of MLB Service, and the Pirates need another LH bat.
Compared to the quality of RP's on that list, how close is it before we take a shot with Jaden Woods? Made it to AA in 2024, and did well considering being fast tracked.
I think Chapman was exactly the Pitcher we hoped he would be when signing him. Mostly very good, with a mixture of terrible outings when he couldn’t throw a strike if his life depended on it. Unfortunately a few of those blow up outings happened at the same time as the bad outings by Holderman and Bednar in late July - early August when Pirates fell out of contention.
I don’t think with the state of the offense there was too much of a chance we were going to pay $11 million, or whatever it would’ve taken to outbid the Red Sox, to a relief pitcher. That money needs to go to a bat. I’d guess they didn’t make too serious of an effort to resign him?
No, I just think they want to reallocate the money to the offense. I’d imagine they’ll go the risky route with the bullpen and hope to find some Borucki’s/Santana’s and perhaps rely on some converted starters for depth?
I have more faith in dumpster diving for relief arms rather than bats. A tweak here and there for guys like you mentioned and they may be pretty decent back end arms.
Paul Skenes has been elected to the MLBPA eight-member executive subcommittee. To be elected at such a young age is quite a tribute to the respect that his peers have for him, as well as his leadership skills.
The Athletic has an article out about Pacific Rim scouting. Identifies the Pirates as one of the teams with a semi-aggressive presence there.
Really nice interview of Yorke by Laurila:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nick-yorke-went-back-to-his-old-approach-and-became-a-pirate/
Forever etched in Pirate lore for honkin his mum's hooters, we shall miss ye.
I forgot how bizarre that whole time was, what a moment in Bucs history
Tabata's-Baby-Snatcher-Wife tier.
I wanted to post something witty 7 hours ago. I tried again now. Dude was top 5 Hermansen for me. 19 going on 23. I can only think what the
if they didnt plan to resign him, then why didnt they trade him last July???
Extremely poor asset management per the usual. I would have tried to extend him prior to the deadline, unconventional but worth a shot. At the end of the day, a good FA signing has us standing here with our d*ck in our hand. They are just so effing bad at this aspect of the game, which is arguably the most important.
Not to be a dick but we're talking about the same guy that was almost universally seen as a failed signing and waste of money through the first half of the year on account of him being pretty terrible.
It's crazy too because relievers have been getting SO MUCH back at the deadline the last couple of years. Chapman himself got Cole Raggans back for the Royals, who ended up being one of their best pitchers last season
I'm sure he could've pulled a low level flyer from someone but let's not forget he walked 1 out of every 5 hitters he faced over the first half of the season and was almost exactly replacement level. He'd already put up 1.3 WAR with the Royals prior to them trading him the year before.
Maybe my memory is failing, but I don't remember him showing up on the trade deadline listicles and it didn't seem like anyone was really knocking at the door.
Yea I'm not exactly saying they would have got another Ragans. He wasn't nearly as good as he was the previous year. Teams were still paying a premium on relievers, so I'm sure they could have gotten something worth while.
Just not Cole Ragans
its strange because asset management has little to do with baseball skills and evaluation at all
something Nutting could theoretically do on his own
all economics skills
Same reason we acquired BDLC, IKF, and Beeks--we were in it to win it!
They had secret analytics that said BDLC was gonna take them to the WS.
A nice look at Antwone Kelly from Aruba. The Pirates have a nice thing going at the A/A+ level with LHSP Michael Kennedy, RHSP's David Matoma, Zander Mueth, Antwone Kelly, Carlos Castillo, Clevari Tejada, and others. Is Levi Sterling capable enough to possibly reach Bradenton in A Ball his year?
Boston is active and the Pirates did some business with them to get Nick Yorke for RHSP Quinn Priester. Maybe some other Pirate need could be filled by a guy like 25 year old LH hitting 1B Triston Casas for another Pirate #5, 6, or 7 SP. The Bosox IF is changing to make room for Roman Anthony and that might mean that Casas will be made available. He had a big year in 2023 at the MLB level, but missed some time in 2024. He has 2 years of MLB Service, and the Pirates need another LH bat.
Top LHRP left on the UFA market:
1.Tanner Scott
2.Danny Coulombe
3.AJ Minter
4.Colin Poche
5.Andrew Chafin
They might be able to get someone like Holby Milner for a few mil.
Holby Milner is probably 6th on that list.
I dont hate this move at all
He's been pretty good for 3 consecutive years. But even Milner might cost too much.
Compared to the quality of RP's on that list, how close is it before we take a shot with Jaden Woods? Made it to AA in 2024, and did well considering being fast tracked.
I doubt they give him, Cy Nielson or Dombkowski a look this season and they are the closest thing they have to MLB ready LHRP.
Luis Peralta🥲
Plus, you should probably look at those 5 guys stats. That's 5 of the top LHRP in the game left on the market.
We had a guy who put up an 0.73 ERA in 15 ML games last year, but we needed somebody to pitch mop up over the last two months.
I think Chapman was exactly the Pitcher we hoped he would be when signing him. Mostly very good, with a mixture of terrible outings when he couldn’t throw a strike if his life depended on it. Unfortunately a few of those blow up outings happened at the same time as the bad outings by Holderman and Bednar in late July - early August when Pirates fell out of contention.
I guess he didn't want to play with the Bucs. Who can blame him?
I'm guessing the Bucs didn't have the bucks to pay him.
I don’t think with the state of the offense there was too much of a chance we were going to pay $11 million, or whatever it would’ve taken to outbid the Red Sox, to a relief pitcher. That money needs to go to a bat. I’d guess they didn’t make too serious of an effort to resign him?
We need relief pitchers desperately. We paid him 10 million last year. Was an extra million too much to ask.
No, I just think they want to reallocate the money to the offense. I’d imagine they’ll go the risky route with the bullpen and hope to find some Borucki’s/Santana’s and perhaps rely on some converted starters for depth?
I have more faith in dumpster diving for relief arms rather than bats. A tweak here and there for guys like you mentioned and they may be pretty decent back end arms.
The currently have no 1bmen, no DH and huge ? in RF.
They're going to need to swing a trade or 3.
The 5 Million $ budget will probably go to Cutch
So you’re thinking payroll is only likely to be around 80 mil? Per FG, I think their payroll is about 75 mil.
I wouldn’t say that. At this point in his career, he’s turned into an assassin for hire. Taking on the best 1-year deal he can get.