50 Comments

Mitch Keller era 3.87 FIP 3.93

Jared Jones era 3.85 FIP 3.93

I'm cool with these 2 as 3-4 starters and bailey as the 5th. Bubba slotting in as a legit 2 would have this as one of the better rotations in the sport.

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We need to prioritize the defense behind that rotation and perhaps moving Cruz was a step in that direction. The next tough step might be to move Reynolds out of LF and as some have suggested, 1B could be a good fit for him. Of course that would then leave both corner OF positions as major questions going into '25.

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I’ll make the obligatory joke here, since no one else did. I can’t wait for them to fill those corner OF holes with some utility infielders. If they do make this move, I suspect Hank will be moved out there.

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Hayes-IKF-Gonzales-Reynolds on the dirt is a good defensive team.

Now, fill in the 2 OF holes.

They had Reynolds taking grounders the other day and when asked about it, he seemed fine with it

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Reynolds to first, IKF at short is a step in the right direction defensively. Although, that leaves a gaping hole in the second CF we have, unfortunately. Getting someone to adequately field LF AND upgrade the offense is quite the task.

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The easier path is probably trading for O’Hearn or Lamont Wade, and sticking Reynolds in RF where his range is less an issue.

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Off the top of my head Wade definitely works. Not sure about O’Hearn though. His defensive metrics look pretty shaky, and that’s with a lot of time at first. Oddly, he doesn’t appear to be qualified for Statcast’s range metric.

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O’Hearn may be the more available of the two if they want to give Mayo a shot at first. Either bat would help. I’d love to get a good two-way player, but those guys cost a lot in either prospects or money.

If you want a good two-way outfielder with term (Brenton Doyle?) you better be prepared to part with someone like Bubba.

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Wait, isn’t O’Hearn a free agent? If that’s the case you can sign him easy enough.

Correct on someone like Doyle. This is where I think a platoon situations are our best bet. Even if O’Hearn doesn’t have the best glove out there, maybe you pair him with a MAT type, not only as a platoon mate, but as a defensive sub.

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Yeah, Ortiz to the pen. Bailey is pretty much exactly league average as a starter. Getting that out of your 5th starter is HUGE. Plus, it's nice having at least one lefty starter.

If I have a budget to spend this winter, it's going 90% offense and 10% BP.

I think you can find a rec arm out there on an NRI in case Bubba doesn't break north. They also have Burrows and Oviedo on the 40.

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Gotcha. Falter is pretty good in that 5 spot. If they sign an outside acquisition (let’s say it’s Pivetta), and move Ortiz to the pen, they’d have a 1-5 of: Skenes, Keller, Jones, Pivetta, Falter. If that’s the rotation, you’ve got Oviedo, Bubba, and Harrington waiting in the wings.

For the pen, I’ve long adhered to the idea of putting Ashcraft and Burrows back there. It might be a little soon for them to break camp in the pen, but I’d rather see them be proactive with some of their depth pieces and figure out how to help the big league club that way.

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Ortiz to the pen? I’d actually like a short term deal on a starter (Pivetta?), for next year and maybe 2026. And if Bubba is ready in ST, Falter goes to the pen.

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id bring back Cantina and have another left handed starter

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Don't get me wrong, I like Pivetta. But Bailey gives you the same value while being pre arb.

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Fair enough. Pivetta has more of a track record than Falter, but he’d be pricier as you noted. I’d like him because there feels like there is a bit of a breakout. Basically aiming higher than a Perez/Gonzales/Hill type.

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Ya gotta like Cook throwing out Pham at home.... and scoring from first on a single to center.

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Thrillbilly has to hit. None of this matters if he can't hit MLB arms.

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Since when does anybody have to hit to play for the Pirates?

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Nice year for Jared Jones👏👏... I was hoping he could be more substantial than my comp, Joe Kelly, and he certainly is on his way... fingers crossed he remains healthy, significant...🤞🤞

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BTW, we finished 10 games under .500 last year, but the WC teams got in with only being 6 games above .500. The Pirates of 2024 are currently 7 games under .500, and the teams getting WC spots are presently 13 games above .500 - I think it would be correct to evaluate that as the Pirates losing ground this year, even though we added SP's Skenes and Jones. To me, that means that either BC or DS have to pay for this fallback. 5 years and we are not getting better no matter what spin we try to put on it!

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Jones needs to go to the bullpen for the rest of the year...not ready for prime time as a SP right now...

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is he the #1 candidate to be our next closer?

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he was mentioned for this often before being called up to the major leagues

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Not for me, he is a SP but not very efficient RIGHT NOW. So why not let him finish the year in bullpen and get completely healthy...

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Only if we dont do a covert swap for will bednar

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David is losing his c in closer

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Bednar = bender

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I'd say that would be an intriguing possibility however his value as a starter makes that unlikely.

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He’s had a very good rookie year as a MLB SP. Are there 5/6 pitchers in the organization better to be in the rotation?

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Prime time as a team with no playoff hopes and 2 weeks left? Thats the exact time for him to learn

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That's a bit of an overreaction. He did not have his control yesterday, true, but he won his previous two starts, going 6.1 and 7.0 IP with 1 BB and 13 K. Granted, those were against worse competition, but he needs to learn how to work through starts like this against playoff-level competition and not be banished to the bullpen.

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Not an overreaction on my part...If you read my post my comment was to move to the bullpen for the remaining time this year and that's all I said. And he has not been very efficient since coming back from his injury, so maybe he just needs to heal completely...

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i appreciate you shooting your shot

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With the loss at home yesterday, the Indianapolis team is out of it unless they win out on the road, and the team 5 games ahead of them lose out, and that team also owns the benefit of winning the season series against Indy. So, any reason for NOT calling up Liover Peguero? Jack Suwinski?

Pirates OPS numbers since the All Star Break:

Cutch - .910 OPS

Bart - .859 OPS

Cruz - .857 OPS

Triolo - .785 OPS

Reynolds - .744 OPS

Tellez - .735 OPS

Gonzales - .628 OPS

Joe - .598 OPS

Deliberately left Hayes off the list due to being out a lot with injuries, and IKF and BDLC since they did not get to the Pirates until August. But, their BB/K numbers since arriving have been terrible. More surprised that IKF has been that bad, and do we want to keep him for 2025 at $7.5 mil?

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and at the top of the leaderboard - Yasmani Grandal .959

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IKF’s immune system hadn’t had a chance to build up resistance before he got exposed to the Haines Virus.

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I think it's reached pandemic status.

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I like it, but for a guy like IKF to have only 3 Walks and 32 K's in about 160 AB - that is ridiculously bad. Not even Haines is that effective. He came and made all the proper comments, but his head has definitely not been in playing for the Pirates.

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I think we can replace what IKF brings for much cheaper, wouldnt be super surprised if he was dealt this winter

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Doesn’t matter what we think about any player. Clearly this management team has their own way of evaluating players that us mere mortals can’t understand.

I will say this, I will be very surprised if either IKF or BDLC are non-tendered this winter.

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IKF is on a guaranteed $7.5 MM contract.

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Sep 16Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

which is fine if he is a 1.5-win bench/role player. Then again, you have Triolo making min and offers the same services.

Either way, they cannot in good faith go with IKF as their everyday SS in '25. But you know they will.

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I’ll be charitable and say that depends on how they construct the rest of the roster? Assuming it looks like I think it will, I agree IKF is less than ideal.

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author

Why you gotta make me sad on a Monday morning?

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Sep 16Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

Man, I'm sorry.

Steelers are 2-0...if that's your thing!

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author

I'm a Pittsburgh fan in Nola, so in a way, I'm sitting 4-0 with NFL currently

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