135 Comments

Priester has been really unimpressive —- he’s a classic NH regime pitch to contact guy —- so I’m fine with getting a solid prospect on the verge of the majors for him. Yorke is only 22. ESPN’s David Schoenfield grades the trade as B- for the PIrates and C for the Red Sox, for what it’s worth.

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I think QP will take a step forward with a new mentality that was unlikely here in PGH. I wish him the best. I don't mind the 'zag' when we wanted to 'zig', but I'd like some support for the 2024 Pirates.

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Acquiring a guy with all of 38 games played above AA isn’t exactly the type of immediate positive impact to the lineup I was hoping for today.

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sources saying diamondback want more bullpen beef and keen on holderman - - - bc eyeíng up ivan melendez

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What about one chapman

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I had a deja vu to Michal Chavis for a sec.

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mine was freddie sanchez

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I like that better

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At least we know the Yorke trade did not increase payroll.

Curious of where AM, Nola & WTM would rank Yorke as he is still a prospect?

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I'm indifferent on the trade, I don't dislike it, don't like it much. Probably a pretty even deal.

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Probably nothing, thoughts on yorke's swing? I dunno if youve had a chance to look yet

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I've watched him a few times, mostly in 2022 and 2023. He looks good if he stays gap to gap, if he gets pull happy he won't last long at PNC, I don't think he has enough pop for clearing the left field wall consistently there.

His swing looked good even when he struggled back then. I'll watch some at bats from this year to see if it's what I remembered.

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Love it, thank you!

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Watched about 10 at bats from this year, swing actually looks better now. He used to be busy, a lot of movement before his load, that's calmed way down, still had a gap to gap approach in tripleA this year.

Note, being busy before the load is fine, it just looks cleaner now.

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Less busy = more repeatable in my very simple mind. Gap to gap doubles power is very fine with me

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Yep, but for some it works.

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sources saying bucs are in on Gavin Cross from KC

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chapman involved

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Jul 29
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carousel operator outside the pitt library

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Flaherty scratched from his start tonight, wonder where hes going

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Yorke may end up as a 40-grade infield defender, but he can really hit, and we're staying on him despite a rough, injury-riddled 2022.

He has a 136 wRC+ in AAA this season. Is he starting at 2b tonight in Houston?

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Sounds like they are waiting till after deadline to assign him. Makes me feel like they are trying to add more, and then depending on what they do, pick.

But I really like this move for the Pirates.

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Don’t like the move at all for 2024 Pirates. Hopefully this isn’t Pirates big move to improve offense this week.

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I like the move as well. I don't think we need to worry about Quinn going Glasnow on us.

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I'd be with you if he could field at an average rate anywhere on the field. Weak arm and slow reaction time doesn't excite me much. I do think he has potential to hit though.

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I wouldn’t expect anything better for Priester, would you?

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Not really, seems like a good trade both ways. There's players I like better but they probably aren't as good of a hitter as Yorke.

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Maybe he's a future OF/DH. This team needs offense

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Jul 29
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Probably the default move since he was in AAA, someone on twitter though mentioned that they may wait to officially move him somewhere after. I'm guessing that just means they are leaving it open to bringing him up to Pittsburgh depending on what other moves they make

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Might be our 2B to run out the season, but seems like hes a LF in the future. Reynolds to RF this offseason?

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Huge LA-STL-CWS deal, cards gave up on edman to land fedde? I wouldnt be super happy if i was their fans

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if if were up to me, I´d have given Peguero a shot and sent Priester for a 17 year old dominican prospect

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I truly don't get the fascination with Peguero from many more than just you. And I mean in the current year as a MLB option, I still have hope for the future. He was around .400 in April, now I don't have all the advance metrics, but it certainly looks like he has been a pretty poor hitter for most of the year.

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not giving Pegeuro a shot means we gave away Marte for nothing

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That's not a reason to promote a player. Once in the system I don't care where they came from. Justifying a trade is a poor reason for promotion.

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I't's called sunk-cost fallicy. Never ends up working well. He earns a position or not - not matter how he got into the system.

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Priester for Nick Yorke. Thoughts? Reported on MLB Trade Rumors.

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I was probably more down on QP than many so that sways me even more as I saw him being a 5th at best. So I like it and am wondering if he will just go straight to Pittsburgh as the Triolo / Akila 2nd base share surely can be improved upon. I question the long term position / outlook but I'll worry about that in the winter. I agree with other folks.. feels like this could be saying Nick won't be back this year.

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we should be trading the excess pitching in the system for hitting prospects. this is a good trade imo. priester may end up being a good pitcher, but the pirates have better options at the moment anyways

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Yep, I like this trade as well

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Jul 29
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He is. His groin fell off.

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Mr. Trade Machine.. how does this grade out?

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Jul 29
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Thank you. From a person (me) who says AAA is not the Majors. Young Mr. Yorke did seem to be having a good run in AAA once promoted this year.

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Jul 29
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So he’ll fit right in!

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I'll take a bat of any kind at this point. Still not sure he will really go to Pittsburgh directly but it gets my vote.

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I like a lot of what Nick has done this year (more than the nothing I expected), but I hardly think it's a "this is our guy going forward" situation with him at this point in time.

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Sox split Yorke's time about even between 2B and LF this year prepping him for the transition. Wouldn't be shocked to see the Pirates do the same.

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With reynolds in LF, wonder if he might be given a shot at RF in the offseason as well? Not a terrible idea

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Per 93.7 THE FAN

Bob allows Ben to trade but not if it increases payroll. wtf?

Apparently, he needs to trade Perez, Gonzales, Taylor, before he can do anything.

What happened to "we'll spend when the time is right"

What an odd organization.

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Their idea of spending is the contract extensions we have seen, and then filling out 20% of the roster with free agents by spreading around the remaining $20-$30 MM like a thin layer of powdered sugar amongst 5-6 guys. No player is allowed to take up an inordinate % of payroll. It’s been their MO since Nutting has been in charge.

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I don't mind the contract extensions, sans Hayes.

Probably won't get guys like Keller and Reynolds for those prices on the open market.

We know they shouldn't spend a dime on pitching, other than a BP arm. The rest of allocated $ goes to upgrading the offense.

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To your OP, I wouldn’t mind the contract extensions if they were willing to “spend when the time was right.”

Their financial philosophies keep them stuck in a rut.

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It’s believable. Every year, BC goes right to the wire and then trades all his tenth-tier veterans. It goes down to the wire because nobody really wants these guys. Teams try to fill their needs with decent players and go for BC’s flotsam only when they’re out of options. Too late for BC to make a real trade.

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This is horsesh!t honestly. More upsetting than doing nothing at the deadline for me.

This only makes sense in the event that the payroll was OK'ed with the understanding that Perez must go at the deadline back when he signed. That is terrible decision making honestly and terrible budgeting. Skenes alone has brought a surplus of revenue which falls to the bottom line that should well offload any of the negative of holding these guys through end of year, and if we were to magically make the playoffs, that is a huge boost to profitability.

GAH

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Who said this?

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Ziese and Pomp

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I'm out of town.. are they just talking heads looking for viewers or do they reference / state where they got their information. I'm not opposed to talking heads throwing 'what ifs' out there but am against repeating their click bait comments if that is all they were. I truly don't know who they are or their credibility so apologies if I am the only clueless one.

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Per sources. Ziese and Pomp didn't make it up, they were simply reporting on it.

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Fair enough.. per sources I get is vague but I am reading that as either they stated that it was per Pirate contacts or through other channels.

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seems bunk to me

after signing the sheets sponsorship, nutting goes on record that he endorses a trade sooner than later

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Jul 29
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i can only hope, when bob dies, and his daughters take over, they aren't as cheap as he was

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Jul 29
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This is a November discussion.. fair warning. But what is the real outlook for baseball in Pittsburgh? I believe the lease (one google search.. so ONE source) on PNC is up in 2030. Are there really other billionaires in Pittsburgh who would buy and spend more given the opportunity? Are there any billionaires in Pittsburgh who are even REAL baseball fans? I am absolutely NOT trying to absolve Bob but sometimes this discussion worries me much more than whether Ben can add a right handing hitting outfielder in the next 29 hours.

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Another problem: there’s far greener pastures for Major League Baseball than Pittsburgh. Off the top of my head I can count 5 markets better than this one that do not currently have teams.

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Jul 29
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Please tell me you are David Tepper and your constant (yes.. you can annoy the heck out of me) pleas to oust Ben/Bob are actually your way of gaining momentum in the purchasing of the Pirates. Also.. creds for pulling links like this so fast as you ace pulling quick information on this and other Pirate topics.. very helpful! It makes you a tough commenter to grade.. did I say you can drive me crazy.

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If wishes were horses - well, I don't have land and a stable so that would be a mess. Wish 1 - a new owner who wanted to win. Wish 2 - a management team with accountability. Wish 3 - an organization that could develop players well. Maybe I just want the Dodgers, Rays, Astros and Brewers all rolled into one. That's not asking too much is it? (Just don't give me the Angels or Rockies who somehow manage to be worse-run teams than the Pirates!) Oh, and I want great hitters by the deadline, too!

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If anyone else has looked into Paredes' metrics - basically he does not hit the ball hard at all and his only power is dead pull right down the line - im hoping and thinking that the rays really fleeced the cubbies here and will set them back a little bit

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Chisholm would have cost Termarr. We have NO 45+

Or higher hitters other than Termarr and the Yankees gave a 45+ and a 45. Marlins did not want pitching. Cherington was right to not make that move. The paredes trade? We don’t have a Morel to headline with. Winker is the only bat traded so far that I would have been happy to match the price and we do t really want a lefty bat so waiting is ok with me there too. I think people are being too impatient. Wait and see. But Jazz was not worth Termarr and you’re fooling yourself if you think we could get him for less.

Relievers and starters? I’m not going to get into those. I would have liked Puk with Jazz but not for termarr. Any way you cut it, it’s premature to say Ben refuses to deal. Also, Bart was a way early move that he should get immense credit for.

Not apologizing for BC shortfalls but he has NOT failed the e trade deadline. Yet.

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As one of the people who has been harshly critical of Cherington in here, you raise an interesting point. I have no idea if we would have had to give up Termarr, but trades take two to complete. Who knows how/if the Marlins valued our prospects? There isn’t an MLB trade meter like on Madden. Wants and needs have to match up on both sides.

That said, the harsh criticism is still fair. The griping isn’t just about Jazz. It’s about his inability to put together anything resembling a contending major league offense. The need to acquire Jazz is a problem of his own making, specifically overvaluing fringy position players with trade/draft capital.

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Jul 29
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Yes. Maybe instead of worrying about whether someone can play 62 positions we need to worry about whether they can actually hit.

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Jul 29
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That’s actually one of the ironies with this team. You don’t have to actually play positions well in most cases. If you’ve worn multiple gloves they seem satisfied.

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Right! Don’t wanna pay for bats, and put guys out in the field because they can go get it? Well, what’s on the field ain’t really the epitome of that strategy.

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You are a brave man Luke... tick tick tick....

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I should add ... because people will now cut/paste their Ben complaints (that they already post 20 times - estimate - in each chat even when totally unrelated to the conversation). I am a low grader of Ben overall (not sure what argument there is to counter that), but also don't understand the purpose of posting it ad nauseam. One man's opinion - free internet world.

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Hard agree. Maybe each of us should have "link to manifesto" when hovering over names hahaha.

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It’s not even about Ben’s overall grade at this point. It’s about the pre-bitching when there is still time and there are still lots of players available for trade. And the refusal to count Bart as an early move. Even Dennis Santana is looking like a good move so far.

Folks just refuse to look at it case by case. They won’t allow good moves to sulky their certainty that there cannot be good moves. Right now Bart and Santana count as moves and I still think there will be more.

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Braves would call up McAdoo. Zips projects him for a 95 WRC+ at MLB level. I’m all for it.

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McAdoo didn't even get 35+ or make the updated 41.

I'm joking

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I’m mostly joking about the Braves too. Although they do call youngsters up from AA a lot. Not usually first year guys. And with Suwinski floundering I doubt Ben will do it again.

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They do, sometimes like Harris it works out. I think they do it to often to pitchers though.

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Yea. And it’s funny. I put a lot of stock in the FV from FanGraphs for prospects that eric has really looked at but not on the ones he clearly hasn’t.

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A CF I've been hoping since last fall that the pirates would target is Jorge Barrosa (triple A for the DBacks). Doesn't have power but is an elite fielder and gets on base. FG rates him a 45 and profiles him as a good 4th outfielder. With the lack of depth, he could be the pirates easiest and most likely upgrade for CF. Totally blocked in Arizona with some top prospects right behind him in lower levels.

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Every time you’ve posted this idea, I’ve given you a like. If you’re not going to trade for major league talent —- and you have to trade salary to do so —- then the only way to improve the team externally is to go for guys who are blocked at AAA or otherwise have upside. Barrosa seems like a fine example of the potential benefits of this strategy.

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Thanks

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