If this doesn't give you confidence, I don't know what will (from Mackey's column in the PG):
“I feel urgency all the time,” Cherington said. “I don’t feel it any more today than I did yesterday or tomorrow or five years ago. There should be urgency all the time.
“We work to apply that urgency to our work every day. Let’s be urgent about getting better every day.”
To paraphrase a favorite movie, I do not think it means what he thinks it means.
There is no urgency because their plan for Skenes is to Trade him for junk one year before he becomes FA eligible or sooner if his arbitration is high. Why support someone who you’re not allowed to afford?
Boston figured out how to bring urgency to BC - hiring a no-nonsense gunslinger like Dave Dombrowski and making BC report to him was all it took to get his attention! When the Franchise has a .415 Winning %age during your tenure there really is nowhere to hide. Either you can manage and demand results from the personnel reporting to you, or you cannot and, therefore, your only honorable action is to resign!
Draft Picks 1-7, 1-1, 1-4, 1-1, 1-9 and at least a Competitive Balance Pick A or B each of those 5 years, and we are still crying the blues. Hire a Manager who knows how to manage and demands results from players, or turn in your resignation, dumbass!
Not to be outdone, Shelton chimes in with this gem of brilliance. “I think the biggest thing is we have to get better,”
We are all relieved to learn that Shelton thinks that winning is important. “From the beginning of camp, we’ve talked about winning. I think that’s important. The people we brought in are going to help us do that.”
I find that last sentence problematic. Surely they don't think Frazier, Pham, Heaney, Ferguson, etc. are bringing enough with their on-field production to help us win, so it reads to me as if it's their clubhouse leadership that will help. But shouldn't that be a major part of Shelton's job? I feel like Ben keeps bringing in veterans to provide the leadership that his manager doesn't provide instead of addressing the problem directly.
It's just boilerplate and typical Shelton. He did manage to get through 4 sentences without using the word "thoughtful" though so he did deviate from his usual script slightly.
Perhaps, because waiting until spring training to make your biggest free agent signing or having your biggest trade being a back-of-the-rotation starter for a 27-year-old 1B with less than a full season of MLB experience doesn't scream urgency.
And I liked the Heaney and Horwitz acquisitions, but they didn't make me think we're all in to win.
OK buckle your seatbelts.....get ready for a 2 -1 ballgame with Skenes vs. Alcantara. "The little things" that Shelton preaches will be the difference. I'm predicting our BP is better than theirs and we get the W.
In such a case, I'm glad that I have a ticket to a show at 6 and won't have to sweat through Bednar protecting a 1-run lead. Of course I'll have some regret later for missing the drama.
It would be a combined no-hitter. It would border on malpractice to let Skenes go 9 after not having him pitch more than 5 in ST (did he even pitch a full 5?), unless somehow he is a lot more efficient than he's been.
Yeah but for Skenes to get through 9 he'd probably have a pitch count well above 100 and that just doesn't seem like something they'd allow to happen on Opening Day. If it's a perfect game, though, I think they'd take the chance.
That's a great sale AM for a product that has been both very informative, and very enjoyable to me. The discussions bring varied participants with varied points of view in an acceptable environment. Thank you.
Looking at your listing of the Active Roster of Pitchers and Players and that Infield needs to change, and hopefully we can do that during 2025. Is Ke'Bryan Hayes on the IL? If the Pirates are unable to purchase the bats they need in the MOTO, then everyone in the lineup, especially the IF, need to be much better.
Hayes missed almost all of 2024, IKF has been terrible since coming to the Pirates, and Gonzales has not developed as was expected when drafted 1-7 in 2020. Triolo, as a 2nd Round (No. 72) pick, has become the best Defensive Utility Player in MLB. The 611 OPS is not acceptable if he is going to get 400+ PA. Looking forward to seeing Spencer Horwitz and Endy Rodriguez - I think they will help this team.
Also, not to relitigate DKs article from last week on the Pirates losing money, but a pair of very different responses from BA and BP to Kovacevic’s article. BA seemingly takes DK’s reporting at face value, BP…does not.
I don't have access to the article, but two problems leap out. First, the info didn't just come from the Pirates' books. In fact, very little of it did. Second, the title of the BP article, "Are the Pirates in Dire Straits?" is a straw man. The report didn't say anything like that. Sounds like standard BP snark to me.
When I moved to Pgh in the late aughts and started following the Bucs, DK was one of the best beat writers I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Then he became a columnist and got into shit slinging. Kind of a bummer.
I can never remember the backstory on him thinking NH trying to get him fired. And he never really articulated it anyway, which makes DK look like he exaggerated (or worse) the whole thing anyway.
Really a classic example of being promoted to one’s level of incompetence. I agree with you. As a beat writer DK was superb. He managed to convey what happened while being analytical at the same time. I really enjoyed his daily coverage.
Hopefully we signed him to a MiLB Contract in Nov - if so, he will be assigned to AAA. Still only 24. He did very well in the lower levels, but he only had 18 IP at AAA and that was a 5+ ERA in 2024.
Rowdy Roddy Tellez getting Opening Day nod with the Mariners?
Great article on The Athletic on the Bednar boys.
If this doesn't give you confidence, I don't know what will (from Mackey's column in the PG):
“I feel urgency all the time,” Cherington said. “I don’t feel it any more today than I did yesterday or tomorrow or five years ago. There should be urgency all the time.
“We work to apply that urgency to our work every day. Let’s be urgent about getting better every day.”
To paraphrase a favorite movie, I do not think it means what he thinks it means.
There is no urgency because their plan for Skenes is to Trade him for junk one year before he becomes FA eligible or sooner if his arbitration is high. Why support someone who you’re not allowed to afford?
Boston figured out how to bring urgency to BC - hiring a no-nonsense gunslinger like Dave Dombrowski and making BC report to him was all it took to get his attention! When the Franchise has a .415 Winning %age during your tenure there really is nowhere to hide. Either you can manage and demand results from the personnel reporting to you, or you cannot and, therefore, your only honorable action is to resign!
Draft Picks 1-7, 1-1, 1-4, 1-1, 1-9 and at least a Competitive Balance Pick A or B each of those 5 years, and we are still crying the blues. Hire a Manager who knows how to manage and demands results from players, or turn in your resignation, dumbass!
Not to be outdone, Shelton chimes in with this gem of brilliance. “I think the biggest thing is we have to get better,”
We are all relieved to learn that Shelton thinks that winning is important. “From the beginning of camp, we’ve talked about winning. I think that’s important. The people we brought in are going to help us do that.”
I find that last sentence problematic. Surely they don't think Frazier, Pham, Heaney, Ferguson, etc. are bringing enough with their on-field production to help us win, so it reads to me as if it's their clubhouse leadership that will help. But shouldn't that be a major part of Shelton's job? I feel like Ben keeps bringing in veterans to provide the leadership that his manager doesn't provide instead of addressing the problem directly.
It's just boilerplate and typical Shelton. He did manage to get through 4 sentences without using the word "thoughtful" though so he did deviate from his usual script slightly.
Maybe he has an overactive bladder.
Perhaps, because waiting until spring training to make your biggest free agent signing or having your biggest trade being a back-of-the-rotation starter for a 27-year-old 1B with less than a full season of MLB experience doesn't scream urgency.
And I liked the Heaney and Horwitz acquisitions, but they didn't make me think we're all in to win.
OK buckle your seatbelts.....get ready for a 2 -1 ballgame with Skenes vs. Alcantara. "The little things" that Shelton preaches will be the difference. I'm predicting our BP is better than theirs and we get the W.
In such a case, I'm glad that I have a ticket to a show at 6 and won't have to sweat through Bednar protecting a 1-run lead. Of course I'll have some regret later for missing the drama.
Ditto! I've got a 5 p.m. commitment so I can watch 2 great pitchers and walk away
without the gnashing of teeth!
Damn, 6 lefty arms!
so who is getting their contract extenstion today before the first pitch?
Cruz??
thats where my fingers are crossed
Vlad?
Not the only one that matters.
Anybody notice Ethan’s payroll data being featured at DKPS? I guess Dejan had to acknowledge Ethan is The Man.
Ethan should absolutely be employed by a team in baseball…or by MLB itself. The dude has no peer.
what does CBT stand for in that column header?
and LRD?
I'm hoping the information was properly attributed?
Very much so.
there´s a pretty good chance Skenes throws a no hitter today against that puny marlins lineup
Substitute Alcantara for Skenes and it would be just as true.
It would be a combined no-hitter. It would border on malpractice to let Skenes go 9 after not having him pitch more than 5 in ST (did he even pitch a full 5?), unless somehow he is a lot more efficient than he's been.
I'm sure he pitched more than 5 in the backfields.
Yeah but for Skenes to get through 9 he'd probably have a pitch count well above 100 and that just doesn't seem like something they'd allow to happen on Opening Day. If it's a perfect game, though, I think they'd take the chance.
Is it 1985 again? No chance Pirates are going to push Skenes on OD past whatever limit they have on him. For any reason.
https://www.mlb.com/news/opening-day-no-hitters-c268380114
That's a great sale AM for a product that has been both very informative, and very enjoyable to me. The discussions bring varied participants with varied points of view in an acceptable environment. Thank you.
Looking at your listing of the Active Roster of Pitchers and Players and that Infield needs to change, and hopefully we can do that during 2025. Is Ke'Bryan Hayes on the IL? If the Pirates are unable to purchase the bats they need in the MOTO, then everyone in the lineup, especially the IF, need to be much better.
Hayes missed almost all of 2024, IKF has been terrible since coming to the Pirates, and Gonzales has not developed as was expected when drafted 1-7 in 2020. Triolo, as a 2nd Round (No. 72) pick, has become the best Defensive Utility Player in MLB. The 611 OPS is not acceptable if he is going to get 400+ PA. Looking forward to seeing Spencer Horwitz and Endy Rodriguez - I think they will help this team.
Ke’Bryan Hayes wasn’t listed as an Infielder.
Happy Skenes Opening Day!
The omission only seems appropriate given all the time he misses.
Hard to argue with that.
I was gonna say only four names?!
Also, not to relitigate DKs article from last week on the Pirates losing money, but a pair of very different responses from BA and BP to Kovacevic’s article. BA seemingly takes DK’s reporting at face value, BP…does not.
Baseball Prospectus is basically a mouthpiece for the large markets.
Nobody with a functioning brain should believe anything from that tool.
The BP article pokes fun at DK basically saying “oh you believe the books the Pirates showed you?”
I don't have access to the article, but two problems leap out. First, the info didn't just come from the Pirates' books. In fact, very little of it did. Second, the title of the BP article, "Are the Pirates in Dire Straits?" is a straw man. The report didn't say anything like that. Sounds like standard BP snark to me.
The article is more in depth than my paraphrasing.
Dude is beyond shady. He also believes Neal Huntington tried to get him fired.
It's a shame because he was a damn good beat writer for the Pens back in the day.
Now he's focusing all his energy on BS Pirates agendas and threesomes with his wife and interns.
Tim and DK got some things in common then
When I moved to Pgh in the late aughts and started following the Bucs, DK was one of the best beat writers I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Then he became a columnist and got into shit slinging. Kind of a bummer.
I can never remember the backstory on him thinking NH trying to get him fired. And he never really articulated it anyway, which makes DK look like he exaggerated (or worse) the whole thing anyway.
Really a classic example of being promoted to one’s level of incompetence. I agree with you. As a beat writer DK was superb. He managed to convey what happened while being analytical at the same time. I really enjoyed his daily coverage.
He was excellent. Then, like you said, he started these stupid petty flame wars.
I hold DK from my experience as a good sports writer.
What ever happened to my favorite, Wilkin Ramos?
Hopefully we signed him to a MiLB Contract in Nov - if so, he will be assigned to AAA. Still only 24. He did very well in the lower levels, but he only had 18 IP at AAA and that was a 5+ ERA in 2024.
Yes, MiL deal. Should be Indy.
Thank you