I'd like to see Cook and Cheng get a couple of starts. Seeing how they do against established pitchers should be high on the organizations list. They have shown the defensive abilities, hopefully they can show enough offensively to at least be future bench pieces with potential for more.
I have mentioned him as possibly getting action at 1B, 2B, OF, or DH in addition to Catching. When he was with the Mets, he was behind Francisco Alvarez and had to find other positions in order to get regular PT. So he played those other positions for them, and continued playing those other positions with the Pirates after the trade (Musgrove).
In MLB he has only been a Catcher - 410 Inn. In the Minors for both teams he has played Catcher 1,829 Inn .991 Fld%, 1B 330 Inn .993 Fld%, 2B 147 Inn .959 Fld%, and OF 220 Inn .968 Fld%. As a Switch Hitter, he could help solve a lot of handedness issues in the lineup, and his numbers so far in ST at the plate are either the best on the team, or very close.
Especially with his athleticism, baseball savvy, and the fact that YOUR STARTING FIRST BASEMAN IS HURT AND YOU HAVE NO OTHER REAL FIRST BASEMAN ON THE ENTIRE ROSTER!!!
Just a fantastic Spring training from our Catchers. Every good baseball team has to have leadership from that Catcher position and the Pirates have two - Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez - that will go into the regular season, and a third, Jason Delay who could step in whenever needed.
Congrats to the Athletics who locked up Lawrence Butler for 7 or 8 years after only 1 year of MLB Service. We need to take action with Oneil Cruz, who is into his 3rd year of MLB Service. Granted, after his ankle injury, we needed to see how he would respond, but that was very positive, and we are doing nothing, or so it seems. We still need another MOTO hitter - be nice if we could locate a SS who can field well and hit 20+ HR.
The Braves might be interested in a C with Sean Murphy out for about 2 months. Unfortunately, their prospects are more pitching-heavy than ours, and I don’t see them giving us a guy from their MLB OF. Maybe with a 3rd team involved?
They have two backups in Chadwick Tromp who saw action in MLB last year and Drake Baldwin. With Murphy out only 2 months, I cannot see AA giving up anything for a backup. AA could be interested in Jason Delay. If we are serious that Henry Davis is our #3 Catcher, it could be a good opportunity for Delay, who is probably looking at another year at AAA for the Pirates.
You're right that Baldwin could step in, but it's a pretty big risk given that he split last year between AA/AAA. And Tromp has <100 games in MLB. So, there's not a lot of experience there. Henry or Endy might move the needle enough for them depending on how they feel about Baldwin, but we'd need a pretty good return, and the teams just don't match up well.
If Cruz would sign a deal similar to what Butler just signed (maybe one or two years less), I think the Pirates would do that. I am skeptical that Cruz would do it.
Remember a few things. First, Cruz has already returned $41 mil in Value to the Pirates with his 5.3 fWAR to date, and second, he is closer to FA than Butler. A day or two ago I offered that the Pirates should try an offer of 6 Years -$87 mil, which would include an $8 mil Signing Bonus and $79 mil in annual salaries from 2025 thru 2030. That would cover his first two years of Free Agency and he would complete that contract in his age 31 season, therefore enough time to do another FA Contract.
We already have Mitch Keller who got a $2 mil signing bonus, $74.5 mil where he will get $18 mil in 2027 and $20 mil in 2028.
Bryan Reynolds signed a log term deal worth $2 mil signing bonus and $96 mil. No really big years, but $15 mil in 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030.
My barometer for measuring Skenes’ success is so messed up since this feels like a “blow up”outing for him, but how did he look for anyone that was able to track on their own?
I didn't watch a single pitch. But I'm guessing with him trying to incorporate a couple new pitches to his repertoire, he's probably leaning heavily on them.
I'd like to see Cook and Cheng get a couple of starts. Seeing how they do against established pitchers should be high on the organizations list. They have shown the defensive abilities, hopefully they can show enough offensively to at least be future bench pieces with potential for more.
this Endy is only a catcher nonsense needs to end
I have mentioned him as possibly getting action at 1B, 2B, OF, or DH in addition to Catching. When he was with the Mets, he was behind Francisco Alvarez and had to find other positions in order to get regular PT. So he played those other positions for them, and continued playing those other positions with the Pirates after the trade (Musgrove).
In MLB he has only been a Catcher - 410 Inn. In the Minors for both teams he has played Catcher 1,829 Inn .991 Fld%, 1B 330 Inn .993 Fld%, 2B 147 Inn .959 Fld%, and OF 220 Inn .968 Fld%. As a Switch Hitter, he could help solve a lot of handedness issues in the lineup, and his numbers so far in ST at the plate are either the best on the team, or very close.
I liked him the games I saw him play at first in Indy. He played first the games he wasn't catching/
Especially with his athleticism, baseball savvy, and the fact that YOUR STARTING FIRST BASEMAN IS HURT AND YOU HAVE NO OTHER REAL FIRST BASEMAN ON THE ENTIRE ROSTER!!!
Dude loses almost all his value when you move him out from behind the plate.
A real first baseman on the Cherington Pirates. Interesting concept . . . .
Curtis Mead having a Kevin Newman Spring...
.778 BA - 14 hits in 18 ABs
Just a fantastic Spring training from our Catchers. Every good baseball team has to have leadership from that Catcher position and the Pirates have two - Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez - that will go into the regular season, and a third, Jason Delay who could step in whenever needed.
Congrats to the Athletics who locked up Lawrence Butler for 7 or 8 years after only 1 year of MLB Service. We need to take action with Oneil Cruz, who is into his 3rd year of MLB Service. Granted, after his ankle injury, we needed to see how he would respond, but that was very positive, and we are doing nothing, or so it seems. We still need another MOTO hitter - be nice if we could locate a SS who can field well and hit 20+ HR.
The Braves might be interested in a C with Sean Murphy out for about 2 months. Unfortunately, their prospects are more pitching-heavy than ours, and I don’t see them giving us a guy from their MLB OF. Maybe with a 3rd team involved?
They have two backups in Chadwick Tromp who saw action in MLB last year and Drake Baldwin. With Murphy out only 2 months, I cannot see AA giving up anything for a backup. AA could be interested in Jason Delay. If we are serious that Henry Davis is our #3 Catcher, it could be a good opportunity for Delay, who is probably looking at another year at AAA for the Pirates.
You're right that Baldwin could step in, but it's a pretty big risk given that he split last year between AA/AAA. And Tromp has <100 games in MLB. So, there's not a lot of experience there. Henry or Endy might move the needle enough for them depending on how they feel about Baldwin, but we'd need a pretty good return, and the teams just don't match up well.
Nacho
If Cruz would sign a deal similar to what Butler just signed (maybe one or two years less), I think the Pirates would do that. I am skeptical that Cruz would do it.
Remember a few things. First, Cruz has already returned $41 mil in Value to the Pirates with his 5.3 fWAR to date, and second, he is closer to FA than Butler. A day or two ago I offered that the Pirates should try an offer of 6 Years -$87 mil, which would include an $8 mil Signing Bonus and $79 mil in annual salaries from 2025 thru 2030. That would cover his first two years of Free Agency and he would complete that contract in his age 31 season, therefore enough time to do another FA Contract.
We already have Mitch Keller who got a $2 mil signing bonus, $74.5 mil where he will get $18 mil in 2027 and $20 mil in 2028.
Bryan Reynolds signed a log term deal worth $2 mil signing bonus and $96 mil. No really big years, but $15 mil in 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030.
My barometer for measuring Skenes’ success is so messed up since this feels like a “blow up”outing for him, but how did he look for anyone that was able to track on their own?
I didn't watch a single pitch. But I'm guessing with him trying to incorporate a couple new pitches to his repertoire, he's probably leaning heavily on them.
It's spring training. Traditional stats are meaningless. Remember last year when the Pirates led all of baseball in HRs?