Same with Reilly for Cook. BC is just way over his head, whether he is drafting, trading, signing IAFA, or just lounging in his office. However, Priester for Yorke seems like a baseball trade with each team receiving equal value.
Nah Im the head of the billy cook fan club, so I think this deal could will break even or better for us. We already made another patrick reilly with carlson reed but I think cook has a fever average to slightly above seasons with the bat
To finish at .500, they must win 13 of the 18 remaining games (13-5).
Unlikely, yes.
"So you're saying there's still a chance?"
I've turned my Wabbit-Ears toward the group for next season. Seeing Endy going back to Toon-Town for the end of the season is great news. Adding such a player means one less AAAA player on the team.
Pirates clearly have a stacked rotation next year. The pen could be good too, given that we've got yer every day Oviedos, Ortizes, MGonzaleses and Falters running around as swing men... AND if Bednar figures out what happened this season. (I see Chapman saved - barely- last night.)
Hayes, I'm sure, is on a back strengthening regimen and the infield looks ok if you're going Hayes, IKF, NickG, Cook, Endy and York.
Catching looks good with Bart and Delay with Endy playing between the infield and behind the dish. (I like me some Jason Delay.)
Outfield is still thin, but BRey, O'Cruz and BLDC? I'm ok with it. Just no depth right now.
As I've said: Worst to first is the flick of a switch. Between the potentially dynamic rotation and just enough new RBI guys, we could be fun to watch next season.
I took the over on their preseason wins record…need 76. However my bet on all six division winners (Atlanta, Chicago, LA, Baltimore, Minnesota, Seattle) may go 0 for 6. I feel like I should get my sawbuck back on that one.
Why are Peguero, Yorke, and Suwinski still at AAA? There are at least 2 players at the MLB level who should not be occupying a spot on the 40 let alone the Active Roster - Alika Williams and Michael Taylor, both defensively strong players who cannot hit and have no future with this club. I think Peguero and Suwinski would appreciate the promotion, and Yorke hits. Time to start thinking about 2025.
Rutledge has struggled the past 2 or 3 years, and could be on his way out the door.
As for Yorke, he won't be rule 5 eligible this offseason so there is no reason to put him on the 40-man now. He is only 22 and has been in AAA only a couple months. The Pirates have been too aggressive, I think, in trying to move guys up to the majors (mostly because they never have 26 guys who merit a place on an MLB roster). No reason to keep cluttering up the 40-man with guys who will likely start next season in AAA. Yorke has plenty of time to refine his game and demonstrate that he belongs on an MLB team. No need to rush these things. They have been burned by the that in the past.
Listening to Brown and Walk last night, it appears Pirates brass thinks Williams is the SS of the future. I would have no problem with that if Pirates had above average and better hitters everywhere else, but clearly they don’t.
I think it was Wehner saying Williams could provide value to a loaded lineup. Paraphrasing here - You could hide a guy like Alika in a lineup like the Yankees and he could provide value. Really difficult for a young guy to hit MLB pitching when they start once per week.
Honestly, I think he's pretty high up there for DFA candidates...then again, he'll have 2 options remaining next season.
When you compare Williams and Peguero, I’d much rather see Peguero get the at bats despite the recent struggles because he has a much longer track record of success in the minors and better tools. I don’t think Peguero is going what we thought he could be back in 2021-22, but he could turn things around and offer some league average offensive production, given the tools and pedigree. Williams, aside from his lofty draft position, has just never shown much even in the minors, and the lack of power really puts a dent in whatever value he could offer.
If you’re trying to construct a team that’s solid up the middle and has power bats at the corners you can live with that. It makes the pitching better. In our case, aside from Reynolds, they have massive holes at the corners. But alas, that’s a moot point because it doesn’t even appear Alika is capable of .5 fWAR.
Williams has some value to the Pirates in that he is just good enough to be an emergency infield replacement in emergencies and just bad enough that he can pass through waivers multiple times in a season if necessary. That is about the extent of his value.
I didn't mind Williams at the start of the year as the end of the bench / kind of rotting there / start once a week backup as they were committed to playing Hayes/Cruz/Triolo basically every day. In fact, I preferred that over Nick G or others who I wanted to get regular ABs. At this point I am with the others that I don't see the value in him outside of that similar role which IMO does not currently apply. As for him being the future SS... baby barf unless the metrics are just all wrong and he is in fact Andrelton Simmons(sorry to insult you Mr. Simmons).
Yeah every team has that utility type buried on the back of the 40 man. In that sense it isn’t egregious to have him around. But at this point they have enough other guys that are needing at bats where he shouldn’t be on the 26 man.
I have been one of Suwinski's biggest supporters and really thought that his new approach would pay dividends, but he is the same player right now at Indianapolis that he was in Pittsburgh for most of the season. A promotion at this point would do him little good. He needs to stay in AAA until he figures out what went wrong this season with the approach that worked so well the last 2 months of last season. It was the same approach the last 2 months of last season of being more aggressive, covering more of the plate, and hitting the pitch where it was thrown rather than just waiting for something that he could pull. Something malfunctioned this season, and he and the coaches need to figure out what it is. Driveline in the off-season may help since the Pirates' coaching staff seems unable to fix these things.
I know your thing is vibes on this stuff buuuuuuuttttt August '23 was Suwinski's worst month of the season. He had a hot run for the last three weeks or so of September, but was pretty objectively better in the first half than the second.
His best months - April and July - correlated with a *higher* pull rate, lower ground ball rate, and *more* strikes taken. That's just the facts.
Jack Suwinski is strong as fuck and has a phenomenal eye. Why you want to turn him into someone he isn't is beyond me.
There’s a fine line between making adjustments with a player in an attempt to unlock something and leaving him alone because he may be at his ceiling already. It feels like they should have known that with Jack already: we’ve got a productive, fat-half of the platoon RF who is decent in a corner.
Wilbur is certainly onto something that a guy who tap dances on the line like Jack does with the K rate, but he was also productive in two seasons with his own approach. I’m hoping they can unwind those changes, but that sounds easier said than done.
This. Guy screams poor mans Kyle Schwarber, and that’s basically what they had. Why you’d tinker with a player when the upside isn’t obviously there is beyond me.
They already had house money! He came straight up to the bigs after less than 150 plate appearances in Indy, and hit 45 homers in over 900 plate appearances. Not only that, he was sold as a TTO guy with no other facets to his game, yet he has some wheels and isn’t bad defensively.
So yeah, let’s dick around with his swing and approach. So glad they did that. Dude is still only 25, so I’m hopeful he resets, and goes back to 2023 status: Just looking for a pitch to Jack.
I don't think that the Pirates had anything to do with it. I think it is something that Suwinski did all on his own. I watched him change his approach in the middle of Atlanta series last year. Commented on it at the time. Suddenly, he started swinging at pitches on the outer corner, going the other way, and content to hit gap-to-gap.
He had an .813 OPS in July, but followed that with a .627 OPS in Aug. However in Aug he also had 4 doubles, a triple, 3 HR. So far in Sep he is hitting at a .917 OPS. I think his numbers in the past 2 + months are good enough to get him some positive reinforcement from the Pirates in the form of a promotion back to MLB. In his last 16 games he is hitting over .300 with 6 doubles, 3 HR, 11 RBI. Numbers like that would mean a lot in the Pirate lineup. He's shown enough to get another chance in 2024.
I'm in the leave him in the minors boat. While I agree MATs ABs are not productive, they are also not overly plentiful. Reynolds is full-time in left and Cruz in center with just occasional days off. They are not going to suddenly not play DeLaCruz and while I am not optimistic, you don't stop playing a guy you just traded for. So Jack can get daily ABs in the minors or sporadic in the majors where he has already had 2/3 of a season to re-establish himself. Net: Let him get daily ABs in the minors and prove he can finish strong and make his case for next year.
A serious organization is not going to make roster decisions based upon a 2-week sample of ABs. Grasping at straws and hoping that every guy who puts up decent numbers over a small sample is going to be an MLB-regular is not going to transform the Pirates into a contending team. There needs to be serious plan about what to do with guys like Suwinski and Peguero that does not involve giving them 26-man scholarships just because the Pirates have no one better. They need to get better players, and the guys at the margins of the 40-man like Suwinski, Peguero, and Williams have to earn their place on the 26-man, not be handed it.
Catching up on recent friends...
-Pat Reilly seems to be holding his own as a AA starter with Baltimore. Few less Ks but still missing a ton of bats.
-Luis Peralta still has yet to give up a run for the Rockies across 6 appearances.
-Chuck Mac is really wearing it with the Jays, down to an 87 wRC+ including a 4-21 performance against Altoona last week.
Peralta for beeks was at the time and will continue to be head scratching to me, dont see the upside in that one at all
Same with Reilly for Cook. BC is just way over his head, whether he is drafting, trading, signing IAFA, or just lounging in his office. However, Priester for Yorke seems like a baseball trade with each team receiving equal value.
I’m sorry, Reilly for Cook is some kind of huge heist by Baltimore? Not seeing that.
Nah Im the head of the billy cook fan club, so I think this deal could will break even or better for us. We already made another patrick reilly with carlson reed but I think cook has a fever average to slightly above seasons with the bat
Bucs are in last place with a record of 68-76.
There are 18 games remaining in the season.
To finish at .500, they must win 13 of the 18 remaining games (13-5).
Unlikely, yes.
"So you're saying there's still a chance?"
I've turned my Wabbit-Ears toward the group for next season. Seeing Endy going back to Toon-Town for the end of the season is great news. Adding such a player means one less AAAA player on the team.
Pirates clearly have a stacked rotation next year. The pen could be good too, given that we've got yer every day Oviedos, Ortizes, MGonzaleses and Falters running around as swing men... AND if Bednar figures out what happened this season. (I see Chapman saved - barely- last night.)
Hayes, I'm sure, is on a back strengthening regimen and the infield looks ok if you're going Hayes, IKF, NickG, Cook, Endy and York.
Catching looks good with Bart and Delay with Endy playing between the infield and behind the dish. (I like me some Jason Delay.)
Outfield is still thin, but BRey, O'Cruz and BLDC? I'm ok with it. Just no depth right now.
As I've said: Worst to first is the flick of a switch. Between the potentially dynamic rotation and just enough new RBI guys, we could be fun to watch next season.
_________________________
"Make yourself homely. Homely? Eeeee-he-he-he-he heeeeee!"
-Wabbit
Let's get some money on the line here...
I got 100 carrots on 78-84
Thats a whole lot of orange veggie sticks!
I had 80-82 at the beginning of the season, so I'm toast.
I took the over on their preseason wins record…need 76. However my bet on all six division winners (Atlanta, Chicago, LA, Baltimore, Minnesota, Seattle) may go 0 for 6. I feel like I should get my sawbuck back on that one.
“Bucs are in last place”
AKA “Cherington Place.” Good name for a sitcom.
Why are Peguero, Yorke, and Suwinski still at AAA? There are at least 2 players at the MLB level who should not be occupying a spot on the 40 let alone the Active Roster - Alika Williams and Michael Taylor, both defensively strong players who cannot hit and have no future with this club. I think Peguero and Suwinski would appreciate the promotion, and Yorke hits. Time to start thinking about 2025.
Rutledge has struggled the past 2 or 3 years, and could be on his way out the door.
As for Yorke, he won't be rule 5 eligible this offseason so there is no reason to put him on the 40-man now. He is only 22 and has been in AAA only a couple months. The Pirates have been too aggressive, I think, in trying to move guys up to the majors (mostly because they never have 26 guys who merit a place on an MLB roster). No reason to keep cluttering up the 40-man with guys who will likely start next season in AAA. Yorke has plenty of time to refine his game and demonstrate that he belongs on an MLB team. No need to rush these things. They have been burned by the that in the past.
with you on this one, too.
Yorke is rule 5 eligible this year, they should bring him up. As long as they don't option him back to the minors he wouldn't lose an option.
Correct
Listening to Brown and Walk last night, it appears Pirates brass thinks Williams is the SS of the future. I would have no problem with that if Pirates had above average and better hitters everywhere else, but clearly they don’t.
They're fooling themselves if they think that. However they are fools so..........
I think it was Wehner saying Williams could provide value to a loaded lineup. Paraphrasing here - You could hide a guy like Alika in a lineup like the Yankees and he could provide value. Really difficult for a young guy to hit MLB pitching when they start once per week.
Honestly, I think he's pretty high up there for DFA candidates...then again, he'll have 2 options remaining next season.
Thanks for the context.
Peguero out of options for next season...I think.
Smells like another Alen Hanson situation.
Alen Hanson is such a perfect comp.
Big helium from a huge A-ball season, never able to follow it up.
He’s actually going to be eligible for a fourth option
Nice. What is the circumstance?
When you compare Williams and Peguero, I’d much rather see Peguero get the at bats despite the recent struggles because he has a much longer track record of success in the minors and better tools. I don’t think Peguero is going what we thought he could be back in 2021-22, but he could turn things around and offer some league average offensive production, given the tools and pedigree. Williams, aside from his lofty draft position, has just never shown much even in the minors, and the lack of power really puts a dent in whatever value he could offer.
Yeah, I heard that part of the game as well. Very clear that it was a mandated talking point.
That’s quite disturbing if true. If you are going to play a guy with a bat like that, he better have defensive numbers like 2012 Clint Barmes.
Even that won’t cut it. For all of Clint’s great glove work, he was only worth half a win in .5 fWAR in 2012.
If you’re trying to construct a team that’s solid up the middle and has power bats at the corners you can live with that. It makes the pitching better. In our case, aside from Reynolds, they have massive holes at the corners. But alas, that’s a moot point because it doesn’t even appear Alika is capable of .5 fWAR.
He doesn’t. The metrics see him as average or below.
Williams has some value to the Pirates in that he is just good enough to be an emergency infield replacement in emergencies and just bad enough that he can pass through waivers multiple times in a season if necessary. That is about the extent of his value.
I didn't mind Williams at the start of the year as the end of the bench / kind of rotting there / start once a week backup as they were committed to playing Hayes/Cruz/Triolo basically every day. In fact, I preferred that over Nick G or others who I wanted to get regular ABs. At this point I am with the others that I don't see the value in him outside of that similar role which IMO does not currently apply. As for him being the future SS... baby barf unless the metrics are just all wrong and he is in fact Andrelton Simmons(sorry to insult you Mr. Simmons).
Yeah every team has that utility type buried on the back of the 40 man. In that sense it isn’t egregious to have him around. But at this point they have enough other guys that are needing at bats where he shouldn’t be on the 26 man.
At this point, I think I'd rather see Peguero rather than Alika.
Maybe it’s the 47 wRC+ that’s getting them turned on.
I have been one of Suwinski's biggest supporters and really thought that his new approach would pay dividends, but he is the same player right now at Indianapolis that he was in Pittsburgh for most of the season. A promotion at this point would do him little good. He needs to stay in AAA until he figures out what went wrong this season with the approach that worked so well the last 2 months of last season. It was the same approach the last 2 months of last season of being more aggressive, covering more of the plate, and hitting the pitch where it was thrown rather than just waiting for something that he could pull. Something malfunctioned this season, and he and the coaches need to figure out what it is. Driveline in the off-season may help since the Pirates' coaching staff seems unable to fix these things.
I know your thing is vibes on this stuff buuuuuuuttttt August '23 was Suwinski's worst month of the season. He had a hot run for the last three weeks or so of September, but was pretty objectively better in the first half than the second.
His best months - April and July - correlated with a *higher* pull rate, lower ground ball rate, and *more* strikes taken. That's just the facts.
Jack Suwinski is strong as fuck and has a phenomenal eye. Why you want to turn him into someone he isn't is beyond me.
There’s a fine line between making adjustments with a player in an attempt to unlock something and leaving him alone because he may be at his ceiling already. It feels like they should have known that with Jack already: we’ve got a productive, fat-half of the platoon RF who is decent in a corner.
Wilbur is certainly onto something that a guy who tap dances on the line like Jack does with the K rate, but he was also productive in two seasons with his own approach. I’m hoping they can unwind those changes, but that sounds easier said than done.
This. Guy screams poor mans Kyle Schwarber, and that’s basically what they had. Why you’d tinker with a player when the upside isn’t obviously there is beyond me.
They already had house money! He came straight up to the bigs after less than 150 plate appearances in Indy, and hit 45 homers in over 900 plate appearances. Not only that, he was sold as a TTO guy with no other facets to his game, yet he has some wheels and isn’t bad defensively.
So yeah, let’s dick around with his swing and approach. So glad they did that. Dude is still only 25, so I’m hopeful he resets, and goes back to 2023 status: Just looking for a pitch to Jack.
I don't think that the Pirates had anything to do with it. I think it is something that Suwinski did all on his own. I watched him change his approach in the middle of Atlanta series last year. Commented on it at the time. Suddenly, he started swinging at pitches on the outer corner, going the other way, and content to hit gap-to-gap.
He had an .813 OPS in July, but followed that with a .627 OPS in Aug. However in Aug he also had 4 doubles, a triple, 3 HR. So far in Sep he is hitting at a .917 OPS. I think his numbers in the past 2 + months are good enough to get him some positive reinforcement from the Pirates in the form of a promotion back to MLB. In his last 16 games he is hitting over .300 with 6 doubles, 3 HR, 11 RBI. Numbers like that would mean a lot in the Pirate lineup. He's shown enough to get another chance in 2024.
I'm in the leave him in the minors boat. While I agree MATs ABs are not productive, they are also not overly plentiful. Reynolds is full-time in left and Cruz in center with just occasional days off. They are not going to suddenly not play DeLaCruz and while I am not optimistic, you don't stop playing a guy you just traded for. So Jack can get daily ABs in the minors or sporadic in the majors where he has already had 2/3 of a season to re-establish himself. Net: Let him get daily ABs in the minors and prove he can finish strong and make his case for next year.
A serious organization is not going to make roster decisions based upon a 2-week sample of ABs. Grasping at straws and hoping that every guy who puts up decent numbers over a small sample is going to be an MLB-regular is not going to transform the Pirates into a contending team. There needs to be serious plan about what to do with guys like Suwinski and Peguero that does not involve giving them 26-man scholarships just because the Pirates have no one better. They need to get better players, and the guys at the margins of the 40-man like Suwinski, Peguero, and Williams have to earn their place on the 26-man, not be handed it.
Seriously. Crazy what healthy competition can do.
amen brother.