While most of the league must wait until Febrary 14th to put guys on the injured list, the Dodgers may begin February 8th. I believe the Dodgers will then have 4 available spots on their 40 man. The Pirates will most likely have 4 as well with Endy, Oviedo, Burrows and I think Brubaker.
I’m going to beat my Shalin Polanco drum again. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has him at 20 in the system, and as one of two breakout candidates (along with Brannigan).
Pirates have signed right-handed pitchers Kade McClure and Connor Sadzeck to minor league deals. Sadzeck has big league experience, while McClure reached Triple-A in 2021, but was injured most of last year.
Bonds last year he had a .480 on base percentage. He also had the 3rd best home run ratio in the league. There were multiple managers and even general managers that off-season (when asked) said they would want Barry Bonds on their team. Yet, no owner signed him.
That's a lot of teams doing their "due diligence" and deciding he's not worth the risk. But surely some team will take him for the minimum. Seems like a move the Brewers would make to replace Burnes.
I have an awfully hard time seeing the moral high ground in a team who gladly employees a prospect convicted of choking his girlfriend yet apparently too good to employ Bauer.
I'm ambivalent as to whether the Pirates should sign him--in general I forgive people when they're contrite. Is that true for Bauer? Maybe, and every GM in baseball should assess that independently. But there's also another layer as to whether he's a good teammate. And every GM should assess that independently as well.
If 30 teams have passed on him, then he's either being blackballed (definitely possible as it's happened in professional sports) or GMs just don't think he's worth the risk to their clubhouse culture.
I hope he gets a chance somewhere as it will be an interesting story to follow. When I wrote that it would seem like a move the Brewers would make, note that I have a lot of respect for how the Brewers operate in general.
Thank you to Anthony and Bucs on Deck for posting the link to my book. If you followed me on Twitter, you've seen Dots Miller the entire time as my profile photo. Even my photo here has been Dots Miller. For a quick background reason on why I wrote the book, Miller spent almost his entire life in my hometown of Kearny, New Jersey. He was born 13 days after my great-grandfather, who was also named John Dreker. Miller's house he lived in is surrounded by houses my family lived in during that time. Both were German families, and that was back when you still had sections for certain countries. Kearny was definitely guilty of that practice at that time. My original house is a short walk from where Dots lived and it's a very short walk from a business he owned on the same street.
I have the hometown connection to Dots, plus the Pittsburgh Pirates connection, but I also have a family connection. As mentioned with him being close in age/location to my great-grandfather, the pair most certainly knew each other, as they also had a common interest in bowling. I was able to find them in the same place at least one day in a tournament. Dots had a niece who married the nephew of my great-grandfather, which is how I have ten relatives who are also related to Miller, one of them still living in Kearny.
I knew a lot about Dots prior to writing the book, but I learned a lot more in the process, including him being considered among the best players in the game at various points by famous writers. He got comps to Nap Lajoie and Tris Speaker. I heard stories about Dots being called the best utility player because he could start anywhere in the infield, but didn't know that someone like John McGraw considered him to be the most valuable player for a time.
I do write about every game, so there are times where you are getting recaps for a bit, but those short recaps are surrounded by any stories I could find about him. I basically went day-by-day during his career, going into a lot of detail about how he ended up with the Pirates, and I did put more focus on his rookie season than any other due to the Pirates championship.
I hope everyone gives it a shot if you're into baseball history
I think Grantham deserves a book. Criminally underrated in team history. Maybe in the future. The next solo book is already written, but won't be out for over a month.
Hmmm, interesting how I said "solo" book, as if there could be a group book coming out as well....
We are just waiting for Ryan to sign off on it. If he doesn't soon, we are just going to create a name so people don't know it is him. Something like Bryan Balencer
Thank you. I hope you purchase it! Otherwise I may have to drop my two-year-old nephew from my gift recipient list. I'd hate for you to know that you were the reason he got no toys from Uncle John for his birthday in May....
That FaceTime thing happened tonight. I should record it sometime. They called the house and he said hi to his grandpa first because he answered the call, hi to grandma, hi to John, then asked to see the fan and said hi to it. At the end of the call, he had to say bye to the ceiling fan. When he first started talking, he would say "fan on" and "fan off" as his first two-word combos.
The kid has the strangest like. He is absolutely infatuated with ceiling fans. He doesn't need actual gifts, he just needs to turn on/off the ceiling fan. When he FaceTimes the house he asks us to turn on the ceiling fan so he can watch it.
You name it, I probably got it. Might have to wait on the Okapi (I didn't even know the thing existed till I had to google what the hell my son was trying to say), the dogs haven't gotten to it yet.
How old is he? You have a pangolin? My son is 6 and into knights, castles, siege warfare, ect. The amount of little plastic "castle people" I step on is ridiculous. The base snaps off and ole mums got to glue it on again. Entire room is a blocks, magnet tiles, Lincoln log castle scene. We even have castle night when we eat by candle light. Good thing his younger sis thinks she is a princess. None of this is baseball related. So....
Yesterday Fangraphs posted their first projected standings and playoff odds. It's a good example of regressing towards the mean when making predictions as only three teams in all of baseball are projected to win more than 88 games (Braves, Dodgers, Astros; last year 9 teams won more than 88 games) and only four teams fewer than 75 games (Rockies, Nationals, White Sox, A's; last year 7 teams won fewer than 75). So, taking that into consideration, we're projected to go 77-85 and only 7 games out of first, but finish last in the NL Central.
I seem to recall this from past predictions too. It's almost if they have a low ceiling on wins and low bottom on losses. It packs in the teams very tightly. Or is it Pecota that does this......either way it's why I pay no attention to them.
So they are implying that we are a Bellinger, Montgomery signing away from competing for 1st place? How do we start one of them Go Fund Me account? Maybe we could get the money together to help sign them.
Also on CSN - I still think he’s gonna spend most of the year in AAA but mariners AAA is in Tacoma which is right next to Seattle. So he and his brother, who plays for the Seahawks, can still live together regardless.
Welcome BB - our GM tends to dance around giving a straight answer at times. Good command and quality secondary pitches can be the answer for just about any question asked about pitching.
Liked Dan O'Dowd's comments on the quality of Paul Skenes on MLB this morning - "I've never seen a college pitcher have this type of dominant stuff, feel for his delivery, ability to make adjustments, team oriented, and competed at the highest level". On comparisons to Stephen Strasburg - "No, he is much more athletic than Strasburg was on his delivery!" Also commented that the organization (Pirates) are on their way up.
Is this the guy who was the GM of the Rockies during Hurdle's time there when they went to the WS? I don’t know anything about him as an analyst but if it’s the same Dan O’Dowd he should know something about baseball unlike many of those talking heads who just pull things out of their behinds to get attention. Hopeful comments from someone outside the Pirate organization are always welcome especially when those in the organization do a lot of talking while doing very little to back it up. Of course he could be Nutting’s cousin I suppose.
Many people, Arky, many people have said Dan O'Dowd is...and I'm being humble here...the greatest and smartest GM they've ever seen. They ask how he does it, being so great. Many people, great people.
While most of the league must wait until Febrary 14th to put guys on the injured list, the Dodgers may begin February 8th. I believe the Dodgers will then have 4 available spots on their 40 man. The Pirates will most likely have 4 as well with Endy, Oviedo, Burrows and I think Brubaker.
Burrows will go out the minor league IL. No reason to start his service clock now
I’m going to beat my Shalin Polanco drum again. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has him at 20 in the system, and as one of two breakout candidates (along with Brannigan).
had a feeling Owings would walk out on us...
Pirates signed more veteran MiL RPs: Connor Sadzeck and Kade McClure.
Beat you by a minute :)
I actually checked first to see if you posted it
Pirates have signed right-handed pitchers Kade McClure and Connor Sadzeck to minor league deals. Sadzeck has big league experience, while McClure reached Triple-A in 2021, but was injured most of last year.
Trevor Bauer announced no team has offered him a contract and that he would play for the league minimum.
BLACKBALLED!
If he doesn’t get offered a contract, I wouldn’t be surprised if he hired Colin Kaepernick’s lawyer to sue MLB for collusion.
Bonds last year he had a .480 on base percentage. He also had the 3rd best home run ratio in the league. There were multiple managers and even general managers that off-season (when asked) said they would want Barry Bonds on their team. Yet, no owner signed him.
And think of all the money he made them while they willingly turned a blind eye to what was going on.
Great example Stats.
That's a lot of teams doing their "due diligence" and deciding he's not worth the risk. But surely some team will take him for the minimum. Seems like a move the Brewers would make to replace Burnes.
I have an awfully hard time seeing the moral high ground in a team who gladly employees a prospect convicted of choking his girlfriend yet apparently too good to employ Bauer.
I'm ambivalent as to whether the Pirates should sign him--in general I forgive people when they're contrite. Is that true for Bauer? Maybe, and every GM in baseball should assess that independently. But there's also another layer as to whether he's a good teammate. And every GM should assess that independently as well.
If 30 teams have passed on him, then he's either being blackballed (definitely possible as it's happened in professional sports) or GMs just don't think he's worth the risk to their clubhouse culture.
I hope he gets a chance somewhere as it will be an interesting story to follow. When I wrote that it would seem like a move the Brewers would make, note that I have a lot of respect for how the Brewers operate in general.
well said!
A guy I'm really anxious to watch this year is Hunter Barco. First full year back from TJ.
for those curious why Honeywell is from Augusta, GA
https://www.greatest21days.com/2013/04/brent-honeywell-incresed-velocity-pc2457.html
good ole´lake ohlemsted stadium
Dont hate the honeywell signing, probably will be nothing but for a while I was super excited to see what he would become as he ascended as a prospect
His Statcast numbers from 2023 are dreadful.
The VAA on his FF is poo also. Mid-90's, but poo shape. Fits their profile well.
We should be so good at fixing fastball shape with how many chances we are giving ourselves!
xSLG over .500 against both 4Ser and CH.
Does he still throw the screwball?
Appears so.
Thanks
Statcast shows six different pitches. Searching for solutions I guess.
I'm fairly indifferent on the signing, hopefully after a year injury free he can regain some of his past stuff. Not counting on it.
Thank you to Anthony and Bucs on Deck for posting the link to my book. If you followed me on Twitter, you've seen Dots Miller the entire time as my profile photo. Even my photo here has been Dots Miller. For a quick background reason on why I wrote the book, Miller spent almost his entire life in my hometown of Kearny, New Jersey. He was born 13 days after my great-grandfather, who was also named John Dreker. Miller's house he lived in is surrounded by houses my family lived in during that time. Both were German families, and that was back when you still had sections for certain countries. Kearny was definitely guilty of that practice at that time. My original house is a short walk from where Dots lived and it's a very short walk from a business he owned on the same street.
I have the hometown connection to Dots, plus the Pittsburgh Pirates connection, but I also have a family connection. As mentioned with him being close in age/location to my great-grandfather, the pair most certainly knew each other, as they also had a common interest in bowling. I was able to find them in the same place at least one day in a tournament. Dots had a niece who married the nephew of my great-grandfather, which is how I have ten relatives who are also related to Miller, one of them still living in Kearny.
I knew a lot about Dots prior to writing the book, but I learned a lot more in the process, including him being considered among the best players in the game at various points by famous writers. He got comps to Nap Lajoie and Tris Speaker. I heard stories about Dots being called the best utility player because he could start anywhere in the infield, but didn't know that someone like John McGraw considered him to be the most valuable player for a time.
I do write about every game, so there are times where you are getting recaps for a bit, but those short recaps are surrounded by any stories I could find about him. I basically went day-by-day during his career, going into a lot of detail about how he ended up with the Pirates, and I did put more focus on his rookie season than any other due to the Pirates championship.
I hope everyone gives it a shot if you're into baseball history
So another book already. It’s like a roadblock got lifted!
I wanna see Boots Grantham.
I think Grantham deserves a book. Criminally underrated in team history. Maybe in the future. The next solo book is already written, but won't be out for over a month.
Hmmm, interesting how I said "solo" book, as if there could be a group book coming out as well....
You got my interest piqued with that last part....
Maybe there will be an announcement a week from today...
When’s the Netflix documentary coming out on the rise and fall of P2?
We are just waiting for Ryan to sign off on it. If he doesn't soon, we are just going to create a name so people don't know it is him. Something like Bryan Balencer
Circle, circle, dot, dot, maybe I'll give this book a shot!
Congrats on the publication!
Thank you. I hope you purchase it! Otherwise I may have to drop my two-year-old nephew from my gift recipient list. I'd hate for you to know that you were the reason he got no toys from Uncle John for his birthday in May....
Does he like animals? I got a bunch of great animal figurines, like a zebra with his nose and legs chewed off.
But I should learn some more Pirates history.
That FaceTime thing happened tonight. I should record it sometime. They called the house and he said hi to his grandpa first because he answered the call, hi to grandma, hi to John, then asked to see the fan and said hi to it. At the end of the call, he had to say bye to the ceiling fan. When he first started talking, he would say "fan on" and "fan off" as his first two-word combos.
The kid has the strangest like. He is absolutely infatuated with ceiling fans. He doesn't need actual gifts, he just needs to turn on/off the ceiling fan. When he FaceTimes the house he asks us to turn on the ceiling fan so he can watch it.
I have been looking for a mangled zebra for 2 months now. I can pay the shipping.
You name it, I probably got it. Might have to wait on the Okapi (I didn't even know the thing existed till I had to google what the hell my son was trying to say), the dogs haven't gotten to it yet.
How old is he? You have a pangolin? My son is 6 and into knights, castles, siege warfare, ect. The amount of little plastic "castle people" I step on is ridiculous. The base snaps off and ole mums got to glue it on again. Entire room is a blocks, magnet tiles, Lincoln log castle scene. We even have castle night when we eat by candle light. Good thing his younger sis thinks she is a princess. None of this is baseball related. So....
Does any Pirate steal over 30 bases this year?
Yesterday Fangraphs posted their first projected standings and playoff odds. It's a good example of regressing towards the mean when making predictions as only three teams in all of baseball are projected to win more than 88 games (Braves, Dodgers, Astros; last year 9 teams won more than 88 games) and only four teams fewer than 75 games (Rockies, Nationals, White Sox, A's; last year 7 teams won fewer than 75). So, taking that into consideration, we're projected to go 77-85 and only 7 games out of first, but finish last in the NL Central.
I seem to recall this from past predictions too. It's almost if they have a low ceiling on wins and low bottom on losses. It packs in the teams very tightly. Or is it Pecota that does this......either way it's why I pay no attention to them.
So they are implying that we are a Bellinger, Montgomery signing away from competing for 1st place? How do we start one of them Go Fund Me account? Maybe we could get the money together to help sign them.
The ultra wealthy owners use taxpayer money to build stadiums so I'm surprised they haven't been able to game the system for player money yet.
Taxes, what are taxes!!! Is that what the middle class pays?
Congrats John.
Also on CSN - I still think he’s gonna spend most of the year in AAA but mariners AAA is in Tacoma which is right next to Seattle. So he and his brother, who plays for the Seahawks, can still live together regardless.
I think this is one of the best articles I’ve read in awhile, well done!
Insight on arm angle with GM, transactional CSN, and a #best player in the game, that you didn’t know history- with link to buy the full story…
THAT is how you do it, and why print news can’t compete.
That subscription is looking like well spent entertainment.
Keep it up.
Welcome BB - our GM tends to dance around giving a straight answer at times. Good command and quality secondary pitches can be the answer for just about any question asked about pitching.
Liked Dan O'Dowd's comments on the quality of Paul Skenes on MLB this morning - "I've never seen a college pitcher have this type of dominant stuff, feel for his delivery, ability to make adjustments, team oriented, and competed at the highest level". On comparisons to Stephen Strasburg - "No, he is much more athletic than Strasburg was on his delivery!" Also commented that the organization (Pirates) are on their way up.
Is this the guy who was the GM of the Rockies during Hurdle's time there when they went to the WS? I don’t know anything about him as an analyst but if it’s the same Dan O’Dowd he should know something about baseball unlike many of those talking heads who just pull things out of their behinds to get attention. Hopeful comments from someone outside the Pirate organization are always welcome especially when those in the organization do a lot of talking while doing very little to back it up. Of course he could be Nutting’s cousin I suppose.
Yes, he was the GM for the Rockies for a long time and is regarded as one of thee most intelligent men in baseball.
By who? They made the playoffs twice in 15 seasons while he was there. I believe he was quite widely ridiculed by the end of his tenure.
Many people, Arky, many people have said Dan O'Dowd is...and I'm being humble here...the greatest and smartest GM they've ever seen. They ask how he does it, being so great. Many people, great people.
The manyiest!
I dont know who Dan O'Dowd is, but he is officially my favorite analyst of today!