The Pirates reinstated Endy, Oviedo, Moreta and Stratton from the 60-day IL. Heller, Jefferies and Mattson were outrighted to AAA. They'll probably all opt for free agency.
There aren't a lot of interesting position players in our price range, and if we sign anyone from this group it would likely be a reliever (which we need!). Best realistic option from the position players? I'll go with O'Neil.
I’m guessing they will try and sneak both Grey and Cabbage through waivers again at some point this offseason. Cabbage has massive strikeout issues but had a 30/30 season in the PCL in 23! Not a bad guy to have at AAA and a healthy choice to move from Beer to Cabbage😜
Mel, i think you should do a bit this winter where you make posts like this but some are legit made up names and then we keep score on who actually figures it out.
You know that if the Bucs did sign Rizzo, he would get hit in the hands again and mis at least half the season as his bones can’t take any more hits and he won’t move back any…..
I could live with this, even Rizzo, unlike some of the others. Inclined to agree that Kim is probably too pricy, but maybe you try and jump the market and throw some $$$ at a guy before the market settles post-Soto?
I like the idea of targeting Kim, but yeah, I'd be hard pressed to think they're able to secure his services.
That's why my hypotheticals would include telling the Diamondbacks you'll take Montgomery off their hands if Lawlar is included, calling the Dodgers about Freeland since they're expected to highly target Adames, or looking to the Guardians or Athletics.
Better yet, bring Santana (GG at 1B in the AL) back or sign Christian Walker (GG at 1B in the NL) and let Triolo back up all four positions because it's inevitable that someone will go down with an extended injury.
Or trade for Montcastle, a GG finalist and much younger than the other two.
Agreed. Granted, the move to 1B isn't as easy as we'd like to believe, but he's also bad in OF. At least have the closest thing to a 1B profiled bat we've had since Bell. Is rather roll the dice on an OF who will hopefully at least be a defensive upgrade to help out our pitching staff.
1b would be ideal, but RF would be ok as well. Too much grass for him playing LF in PNC. Abreu would eat all the grass up and Reynolds would do fine in RF.
Just a look at the Pirates finish for 2024. Lots of BS about how we succeeded in finishing with the same record as we did in 2023 which was 10 games under .500 at 76-86. Was that equal? No, same record, but much further removed from the Playoffs -
2023 10 under .500, lowest WC team - 6 games above .500 - Difference 16/2 = - 8 games
2024 10 under .500, lowest WC team- 17 games above .500 - Difference 27/2 = - 13.5 games
So, we added 4 difference makers - Oneil Cruz for a full year, ROY SP Paul Skenes, SP's Jared Jones and Bailey Falter for full years while losing only SP Johan Oviedo for a full year and Ke'Bryan Hayes for a half year and lost more ground in the race for the playoffs. 5 years of this is enough reason to find a new Manager and make the statement that this franchise and their fans want to make the playoffs rather than inventing more excuses for Derek Shelton!
Well if you factor in how bad Bednar was, this team could have been much closer to .500. 8 losses by your closer will doom any team. Add in another 5 losses by Chapman. The back end of the pen crushed this team.
To each their own but I think the club is in far better shape right now than they were at the same time last year. Ending up with the same amount of wins while losing your 3 WAR cornerstone third basemen and watching your entire bullpen implode is a *positive* sign.
Yes, given that we added Skenes, Jones, and Cruz, finishing with the same record felt like a big step back.
Last year at this time it was easier to see where the improvement could come from within the organization This year, with the exception of Chandler, it seems like to improve we'll need to bring in wins from the outside. Is there any reason to feel optimistic about that?
We're not opposite as I agree that every team needs a mix of internal improvements and additions from outside the organization. I just meant that if everything else remained status quo, it was easy to expect improvement based on the players noted even if that wasn't enough to contend.
E.g., add ~6 wins from Cruz, Skenes, and Jones (though I wouldn't have expected nearly as much from Jones as we got), and we're at 82. Of course other parts of the team (Hayes, Suwinski, Bednar, Holderman) had unexpected drop-offs while the only unexpected bonus was from Bart. I.e., we didn't maintain status quo with the rest of the roster.
A very well deserved Gold Glove for Jared Triolo. For the past two years he has held the left side of the infield together after injuries to 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, another Gold Glover. He was also very strong defensively at 2B, and SS while also seeing action at 1B and RF.
During this off-season I hope he figures out the swing that he wants to use - the exaggerated "high-Hands" pre-pitch approach cost him the regular job at 2B. He managed to get it together, dropped the hands, and with less head movement he found that he could actually see the ball better - his last 3 months were much better than the first three. Definitely at least the Pirates regular UT IF going into 2025, and maybe even more than that.
Dump BDLC & IKF. Move JT into the Super U position and give Peggy the starting SS job and use the money saved to acquire a middle of the order 1B or RF. And hope like hell Hayes’ back is healthy.
I think as far as 2025 goes, the only attainable improvement at SS will come on the trade market. Teams that have mlb ready tradeable SS are slim, it should be an early target area. Cleveland, Mets, Diamondbacks, A's, and Dodgers are the teams that might part with their depth but not a given.
Kim is the only plausible free agent and his shoulder is a major question.
I don't think Peguero is the answer, I'd try to package him in a trade to a team needing a 2nd basemen or a right handed backup infielder (he had an .871 ops against lefties in Indy).
Great post Scott - I had to look twice because it's something I would have posted. As a 22 year old in 2023, he posted 20 doubles and 11 HR in only 318 PA with a BB% of 10.1% and a K % of 18.2% at AA. The Pirates had him on a deliberate developmental path to possibly see the majors by 2025. That changed when Oneil Cruz was injured. When others failed, the Pirates turned to Peggy - he hit 7 HR in less than 200 AB with a .650 OPS at, the MLB level. Last year, high priced MLB Veteran SS IKF hit 1 HR with a .587 OPS in 218 AB for the Pirates. This is a no-brainer. Getting rid of IKF is even a bigger no-brainer.
The Pirates reinstated Endy, Oviedo, Moreta and Stratton from the 60-day IL. Heller, Jefferies and Mattson were outrighted to AAA. They'll probably all opt for free agency.
Fangraphs has their Top 50 FAs article up: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-top-50-mlb-free-agents/
There aren't a lot of interesting position players in our price range, and if we sign anyone from this group it would likely be a reliever (which we need!). Best realistic option from the position players? I'll go with O'Neil.
MLBTR now has their top 50 up, and surprisingly two of their four writers predict O'Neil to sign with us: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/2024-25-top-50-mlb-free-agents-with-predictions.html
What's better than one Oneil?
One of the two who didn't predict us with O'Neil predicts Conforto to end up with us, and I'd like that too.
I’m guessing they will try and sneak both Grey and Cabbage through waivers again at some point this offseason. Cabbage has massive strikeout issues but had a 30/30 season in the PCL in 23! Not a bad guy to have at AAA and a healthy choice to move from Beer to Cabbage😜
Cabbage . . . . . Imagine the Cherington word salad potential . . . .
He can make coleslaw out of cabbage.
Wordslaw
Apparently the pirates claimed Trey Cabbage
Mel, i think you should do a bit this winter where you make posts like this but some are legit made up names and then we keep score on who actually figures it out.
Barney Bologna claimed off waivers.
I'll slip a couple in, already have a pretty good one in mind.
this award puts an exclamation point on the IKF 2025 $7.5 salary blunder
Buccos off-season...
-Trade for Wilyer Abreu (Boston is looking for pitching)
-Sign Kim to play SS
-Sign Rizzo on the cheap looking for a bounce back
-Sign a couple legit BP arms - entertain the idea of bringing Chapman back
If not now, when?
You know that if the Bucs did sign Rizzo, he would get hit in the hands again and mis at least half the season as his bones can’t take any more hits and he won’t move back any…..
I could live with this, even Rizzo, unlike some of the others. Inclined to agree that Kim is probably too pricy, but maybe you try and jump the market and throw some $$$ at a guy before the market settles post-Soto?
Added Rizzo due to Pirates budget.
All considered they could do far worse.
Sounds nice, but I’m prepared to Triolo winning the GG be the highlight of the offseason……😕
Pass on Rizzo, but overall, that'd be a step in the right direction.
Love Kim, but a contender will probably throw a contract outside the Bucs price range at him.
Rizzo seems washed to me. The guy's power has disappeared.
I like the idea of targeting Kim, but yeah, I'd be hard pressed to think they're able to secure his services.
That's why my hypotheticals would include telling the Diamondbacks you'll take Montgomery off their hands if Lawlar is included, calling the Dodgers about Freeland since they're expected to highly target Adames, or looking to the Guardians or Athletics.
Speaking of bounce backs though, I'd be game bringing in Yoan Moncada, whose biggest issue has been remaining healthy.
man i feel old.
That White Sox future super stardom filled roster really fizzled out lol
So, IOW, try to make the team better? Damn, what a novel idea!
FWIW, an infield of Key (3B), IKF (SS), Nicky G (2B), and Tree (1B) would at least be one hell of a defensively competent infield.
No, this is not a comment saying that that should in fact happen.
Better yet, bring Santana (GG at 1B in the AL) back or sign Christian Walker (GG at 1B in the NL) and let Triolo back up all four positions because it's inevitable that someone will go down with an extended injury.
Or trade for Montcastle, a GG finalist and much younger than the other two.
Walker is the only 1b in free agency that interests me. Maybe he won't break the bank due to his age.
Any of which I think should be considered. Though personally, I'd prefer to go the route of finding outfielders, and moving Reynolds to 1B.
Bingo!
Honestly surprises me we seem desperate to find that unicorn low dollar big bopper 1B when Bryan Reynolds is staring us in the face.
Agreed. Granted, the move to 1B isn't as easy as we'd like to believe, but he's also bad in OF. At least have the closest thing to a 1B profiled bat we've had since Bell. Is rather roll the dice on an OF who will hopefully at least be a defensive upgrade to help out our pitching staff.
1b would be ideal, but RF would be ok as well. Too much grass for him playing LF in PNC. Abreu would eat all the grass up and Reynolds would do fine in RF.
There are a lot of potential options for them to actually upgrade the team. Lets hope they take initiative to do so, one way or another.
How can you suggest this? Have you lost your mind? 🧌
Yes, yes I have
Just a look at the Pirates finish for 2024. Lots of BS about how we succeeded in finishing with the same record as we did in 2023 which was 10 games under .500 at 76-86. Was that equal? No, same record, but much further removed from the Playoffs -
2023 10 under .500, lowest WC team - 6 games above .500 - Difference 16/2 = - 8 games
2024 10 under .500, lowest WC team- 17 games above .500 - Difference 27/2 = - 13.5 games
So, we added 4 difference makers - Oneil Cruz for a full year, ROY SP Paul Skenes, SP's Jared Jones and Bailey Falter for full years while losing only SP Johan Oviedo for a full year and Ke'Bryan Hayes for a half year and lost more ground in the race for the playoffs. 5 years of this is enough reason to find a new Manager and make the statement that this franchise and their fans want to make the playoffs rather than inventing more excuses for Derek Shelton!
Well if you factor in how bad Bednar was, this team could have been much closer to .500. 8 losses by your closer will doom any team. Add in another 5 losses by Chapman. The back end of the pen crushed this team.
Exactly.
To each their own but I think the club is in far better shape right now than they were at the same time last year. Ending up with the same amount of wins while losing your 3 WAR cornerstone third basemen and watching your entire bullpen implode is a *positive* sign.
Yes, given that we added Skenes, Jones, and Cruz, finishing with the same record felt like a big step back.
Last year at this time it was easier to see where the improvement could come from within the organization This year, with the exception of Chandler, it seems like to improve we'll need to bring in wins from the outside. Is there any reason to feel optimistic about that?
I see this completely opposite.
No team wins only with internal improvements.
This time last year you were HOPING those internal improvements actually came to fruition, and now we know they have.
By definition this makes it *easier* to see where the investments need to be made.
It's easier to improve the 2024 club than the 2023 club.
We're not opposite as I agree that every team needs a mix of internal improvements and additions from outside the organization. I just meant that if everything else remained status quo, it was easy to expect improvement based on the players noted even if that wasn't enough to contend.
E.g., add ~6 wins from Cruz, Skenes, and Jones (though I wouldn't have expected nearly as much from Jones as we got), and we're at 82. Of course other parts of the team (Hayes, Suwinski, Bednar, Holderman) had unexpected drop-offs while the only unexpected bonus was from Bart. I.e., we didn't maintain status quo with the rest of the roster.
Congrats to JT. Hopefully the first of two postseason awards for Pirates players.
Rowdy for Comeback Player of the Year?
Shelty for coach of the year of course
That would make BC GM of the year and BN…..
Sounds like a clean sweep if you ask me
A very well deserved Gold Glove for Jared Triolo. For the past two years he has held the left side of the infield together after injuries to 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, another Gold Glover. He was also very strong defensively at 2B, and SS while also seeing action at 1B and RF.
During this off-season I hope he figures out the swing that he wants to use - the exaggerated "high-Hands" pre-pitch approach cost him the regular job at 2B. He managed to get it together, dropped the hands, and with less head movement he found that he could actually see the ball better - his last 3 months were much better than the first three. Definitely at least the Pirates regular UT IF going into 2025, and maybe even more than that.
Dump BDLC & IKF. Move JT into the Super U position and give Peggy the starting SS job and use the money saved to acquire a middle of the order 1B or RF. And hope like hell Hayes’ back is healthy.
You're only saving money on SS by handing the position to a player who would not start for a single of the other 29 teams in the league.
That seems bad.
I think as far as 2025 goes, the only attainable improvement at SS will come on the trade market. Teams that have mlb ready tradeable SS are slim, it should be an early target area. Cleveland, Mets, Diamondbacks, A's, and Dodgers are the teams that might part with their depth but not a given.
Kim is the only plausible free agent and his shoulder is a major question.
I don't think Peguero is the answer, I'd try to package him in a trade to a team needing a 2nd basemen or a right handed backup infielder (he had an .871 ops against lefties in Indy).
Great post Scott - I had to look twice because it's something I would have posted. As a 22 year old in 2023, he posted 20 doubles and 11 HR in only 318 PA with a BB% of 10.1% and a K % of 18.2% at AA. The Pirates had him on a deliberate developmental path to possibly see the majors by 2025. That changed when Oneil Cruz was injured. When others failed, the Pirates turned to Peggy - he hit 7 HR in less than 200 AB with a .650 OPS at, the MLB level. Last year, high priced MLB Veteran SS IKF hit 1 HR with a .587 OPS in 218 AB for the Pirates. This is a no-brainer. Getting rid of IKF is even a bigger no-brainer.