I will keep saying it trade for Taylor Ward $8.75M then trade for Brandon Lowe $10.5M both have another year on the contract too. If they want to stay at or below $100M to start then sign a Caleb Ferguson for $3M and Ryan Borucki for $1M and you are at $100M. I think that makes them a contender. I would project them at 87 wins with those moves. You add two guys who will hit 20+HRs and two strong lefty relievers.
Hate to blow our load with 2 and a half months left til pitchers and catchers but I'm itching to talk bullpen. Probably the only moves left on the table for the club at this point.
Discussing the bullpen is tough because reliever acquisitions tend to come out of the blue. Maybe they’re gonna spend money there. I dunno. Certainly wouldn’t bank on it. Especially not anything multi-year.
Yeah, I think what happened with Chapman was he got caught in that no-man’s land in January, where teams are seeing what happens with the last top guys and a handful of good, second tier guys have to wait for the dust to settle. Evidently BC jumped on him and Chapman didn’t want to wait it out. Maybe trying for a repeat.
So who you got in the remaining corner OF? Are you thinking they are giving Jack another almost guaranteed shot as the bigger side of the platoon and the other half a righty smorgasbord? To counter your possible answer, I still think (and I liked the trade) that Horwitz is basically a platoon (wish I knew his Milb stats against lefties) and IMO Reynolds will get his 'some time at first' against lefties with Cook shagging flys as basically the other half of the Horwitz platoon so Cook in my world is not available to job share with Jack.
Minor league platoon splits for Horwitz varied year by year. 2021 - Hit LHP better; 2022 - about .070 split; 2023 - over .100 split; 2024 - .040 split with still an over .300 BA against LHP. Not really as bad vs. LHP as he was in MLB in 2024.
Exactly that, with Nick Yorke as Jack's small-side platoon mate. Palacios as the backup and some minor league vet stashed in AAA. Trade deadline move if it all goes to shit and they're somehow still in the thick of it.
The indomitable Ethan Hullihan posted a payroll update on the twitters over the holiday and it looks like our Buccos have some more space to play with than I expected.
With Cutch in the fold they're still projected at just $77m on opening day, which is $10m short of where they ended last year.
I thought for sure they’d be in the mid- to high-$90m this year. If memory serves me correct, they were averaging something like 11% increases over the last three or four years.
BA has a piece on winners & losers in the 2020 draft. Lists Pgh as a winner. They did a redraft of round 1. Jones went 5th and Nick 24th. Mlod was listed with “others considered.”
I don’t have it in front of me but I think the Cardinals also had a really good 2020 draft. If Gonzalez can take his game to the next level this Draft class becomes an A+
Thinking some more about this — we’d all trade a 1-7 & 2-44 for a 1-5 & 1-24. That’s easy.
BA apparently would take Mlod in the 30s or 40s. He went 31st. In that range it’d be swell to get a Freddy Freeman or whatever. Realistically, if you get a guy who contributes in the bigs, it’s a win.
I went back to 2005 and 31 isn’t an auspicious pick. There were two guys — both Rays’ pitchers, which figures — who were around 6-8 bWAR. One guy was around 2. A bunch never made the bigs. The rest were all around replacement. Lotta cup-o-coffee guys.
Mlod is already at 1.5 bWAR, so he’s on a good pace.
It’s crazy how difficult the MLB draft is. Picking two first round talents is considered a success, yet I still think that Nick G is mediocre at best. But every year, like Charlie Brown with the football, I believe that *this* is the year that the Bucs are really going to nail it and transform the organization through the draft.
They have managed to pull this off twice with Bonds and Skenes.
I’d love to see MLB allow trading draft picks. Some smart GM would go complete Sean McVay and trade every pick for talent that has proven at least something at the major league level. I think it would work.
I'm fully there on IFA bonus pools already. Short of a handful of the absolute best 14-16 yo kids each year, it's almost pure luck. Trade it for something of value and use that money better, almost any manner of spending is superior.
Leclerc plus a few lefty options would be ideal. Unless something drastic happens, I’ve accepted that the best way we realistically are going to improve this club is by trying to solidify the pen
Agree. I'm not sure who I really wanted them to sign as a bat but I don't see anything in our price range on the fa market. Hopefully the sp build up a comroderie and make it a fun year.
Probably correct. Maybe Bae, Jack, Yorke, Cook..ect. Doesn’t sound like the big hitter in the line-up that I was hoping for. Maybe Jack can be 2023 Jack but not holding my breathe
I will keep saying it trade for Taylor Ward $8.75M then trade for Brandon Lowe $10.5M both have another year on the contract too. If they want to stay at or below $100M to start then sign a Caleb Ferguson for $3M and Ryan Borucki for $1M and you are at $100M. I think that makes them a contender. I would project them at 87 wins with those moves. You add two guys who will hit 20+HRs and two strong lefty relievers.
sources saying we are prepared to trade pitching for one of these guys
Texas: Dustin Harris
Toronto: Will Wagner
Tampa: Chandler Simpson
San Diego: Tirso Ornelas
Colorado: Zac Veen
Kansas City: Gavin Cross
Hate to blow our load with 2 and a half months left til pitchers and catchers but I'm itching to talk bullpen. Probably the only moves left on the table for the club at this point.
so far we´ve got this
Bednar
Holderman
Santana
Nicolas
Mlodzinski
Moreta
Wentz
Stratton
Elvis
Strzelecki
Discussing the bullpen is tough because reliever acquisitions tend to come out of the blue. Maybe they’re gonna spend money there. I dunno. Certainly wouldn’t bank on it. Especially not anything multi-year.
Couldn't agree more, just desperate from poking the club with a stick for two months with little action.
Maybe Jake Junis or somebody of his ilk that's still floating around a month from now a la '24 Chapman.
Yeah, I think what happened with Chapman was he got caught in that no-man’s land in January, where teams are seeing what happens with the last top guys and a handful of good, second tier guys have to wait for the dust to settle. Evidently BC jumped on him and Chapman didn’t want to wait it out. Maybe trying for a repeat.
So who you got in the remaining corner OF? Are you thinking they are giving Jack another almost guaranteed shot as the bigger side of the platoon and the other half a righty smorgasbord? To counter your possible answer, I still think (and I liked the trade) that Horwitz is basically a platoon (wish I knew his Milb stats against lefties) and IMO Reynolds will get his 'some time at first' against lefties with Cook shagging flys as basically the other half of the Horwitz platoon so Cook in my world is not available to job share with Jack.
Minor league platoon splits for Horwitz varied year by year. 2021 - Hit LHP better; 2022 - about .070 split; 2023 - over .100 split; 2024 - .040 split with still an over .300 BA against LHP. Not really as bad vs. LHP as he was in MLB in 2024.
Austin Hays(FA) or a trade for 1
Exactly that, with Nick Yorke as Jack's small-side platoon mate. Palacios as the backup and some minor league vet stashed in AAA. Trade deadline move if it all goes to shit and they're somehow still in the thick of it.
Hank Davis floating around the RF mix, too, if he figures out how to hit big leaguers and Endy earns the catcher spot.
Man Hank’s career so far makes me sad.
The indomitable Ethan Hullihan posted a payroll update on the twitters over the holiday and it looks like our Buccos have some more space to play with than I expected.
With Cutch in the fold they're still projected at just $77m on opening day, which is $10m short of where they ended last year.
I thought for sure they’d be in the mid- to high-$90m this year. If memory serves me correct, they were averaging something like 11% increases over the last three or four years.
So we could have been in the Soto sweepstakes? .....so close.
Day late and several decimal places short, story of the buccos....;)
Profit flexibility!
Unreal. They've gotta have SOMETHING in the works...
Rowdy Tellez for $6M to be the setup man!
AM just listened to the NS9 podcast, and I wanna say you got robbed not moving on for the final round. Ready to riot!
I mean did you hear my joke about people being out there when you go out? That should have guaranteed me moving on 😂
Truly robbed
Couple former Bucco's signing with the Nationals
BA has a piece on winners & losers in the 2020 draft. Lists Pgh as a winner. They did a redraft of round 1. Jones went 5th and Nick 24th. Mlod was listed with “others considered.”
I don’t have it in front of me but I think the Cardinals also had a really good 2020 draft. If Gonzalez can take his game to the next level this Draft class becomes an A+
They were on the list. Masyn Winn went 1-3 in the redraft. Alec Burleson, Tink Hence, Jordan Walker.
Thinking some more about this — we’d all trade a 1-7 & 2-44 for a 1-5 & 1-24. That’s easy.
BA apparently would take Mlod in the 30s or 40s. He went 31st. In that range it’d be swell to get a Freddy Freeman or whatever. Realistically, if you get a guy who contributes in the bigs, it’s a win.
I went back to 2005 and 31 isn’t an auspicious pick. There were two guys — both Rays’ pitchers, which figures — who were around 6-8 bWAR. One guy was around 2. A bunch never made the bigs. The rest were all around replacement. Lotta cup-o-coffee guys.
Mlod is already at 1.5 bWAR, so he’s on a good pace.
It’s crazy how difficult the MLB draft is. Picking two first round talents is considered a success, yet I still think that Nick G is mediocre at best. But every year, like Charlie Brown with the football, I believe that *this* is the year that the Bucs are really going to nail it and transform the organization through the draft.
They have managed to pull this off twice with Bonds and Skenes.
I’d love to see MLB allow trading draft picks. Some smart GM would go complete Sean McVay and trade every pick for talent that has proven at least something at the major league level. I think it would work.
I'm fully there on IFA bonus pools already. Short of a handful of the absolute best 14-16 yo kids each year, it's almost pure luck. Trade it for something of value and use that money better, almost any manner of spending is superior.
IOW, do exactly the opposite of what the Pirates do.
Happy to have been wrong on this one.
Leclerc plus a few lefty options would be ideal. Unless something drastic happens, I’ve accepted that the best way we realistically are going to improve this club is by trying to solidify the pen
Agree. I'm not sure who I really wanted them to sign as a bat but I don't see anything in our price range on the fa market. Hopefully the sp build up a comroderie and make it a fun year.
So no Rf’er??
I'm sure they will throw a middle infielder out there.
Probably correct. Maybe Bae, Jack, Yorke, Cook..ect. Doesn’t sound like the big hitter in the line-up that I was hoping for. Maybe Jack can be 2023 Jack but not holding my breathe
Don't want to pass out from lack of oxygen. I hope Bae goes bye. Id trade him for a Matt Stairs rookie card. Top flight not donruss.
i like the suggestion of that left handed reliever from Florida Nardi
The Nard Dog
Straight out of Cornell. Here comes treble.
Boner Champ
Forgot that one. Damn that was a great character and show.
The Whole Nine Nards!