I wish I had your optimism. I don’t see how the Pirates are done with tryouts? They signed two guys to minor league deals and we are supposed to say they are going for it? There were a ton of good mid rotation arms on the market this year and they did nothing. The only hope is the pitching prospects reach the majors in the next year or two and produce. So to me, the tryouts are here for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, Pirate fans think small market MLB teams can only sign players who are past their prime, scrubs, or injury prone players to fill the roster. I don’t really care all that much for any of the players listed above.
I don't like your generalization of Pirate fans, particularly if it includes me. I think many posters on this board, including myself, have routinely pointed out the Pirates are more than capable of signing legit free agents, but Nutting chooses not to.
My comment was in reference to your's which seems to equate German to the usual talent that come in on minor league deals. I think he's better than that, by a decent margin, and the fact that he was a raging drunk who has DV allegations suppressed his market. Hopefully he's learned, accepted responsibility, and can be a legit 4th starter and non-problem human being.
Seems like they were in on MAT, Duvall, and Pham. Pham’s bat probably puts him in a slightly elevated FA tier, but defensively, he didn’t really fit on this team. Duvall set the market, which likely caused MAT to re-evaluate his options. My guess is that he perceived this particular situation as his best option to be a near, full time player.
This is a good article to archive. It supports what many of us know to be true.......the F.O. has and will continue to dumpster dive well into February each year. And you never want to rule out the real bargains as late as March 15!
This doesn't mean these signings are worthless, it just means BC can give a good sales pitch to Bob about the sale price he got. The question will always be did he get any value by doing so, or will they give you less than 1 WAR which we could have got from the kids.
I'm shocked that BC has learned there are other dumpsters besides the one marked utility and finally found the one marked center fielders, lol. It's been a bit frustrating the past few years watching our cf'ers almost get to the ball in the gaps before watching it go over their glove and bounce off the wall or watching our infielders in right almost take our cf'ers out.
Also, Quinn Priester is kind of an after thought with all the talk of Skenes, Jones, Chandler, Solo, Harington, Barco etc. His MLB debut last year exposed some issues people have had with him as a prospect for a while, but all reports indicate he has the character and work ethic to better himself if possible. It would be a really nice boost to this team if he can work himself into a viable mid-rotation or good back end of the rotation arm.
Thank you. Delay might be the back up catcher if Grandal can't play but none of those other guys add much of anything to the roster even Joe who's nothing more than an average utility player.
It's going to be interesting to see what eventually happens with Joe. With the addition of MAT and Olivares and Triolo's ability at first he's becoming a little more expendable.
I really like both these moves, and have been advocating for them for a while.
German is probably the best starter they acquired this offseason (faint praise, but true). Good K rates, good BB rates, he's a homer problem away from being good. Nonetheless, he's should be a legit 3rd/4th starter type. Reports are the Pirates met extensively with him and his wife and interviewed others collaterally involved and feel as though he is addressing his issues.
Taylor is a legit CF, and gives them an actual CF, particularly when lefties start. Reynolds-Taylor-Suwinski is a strong defensive OF, and Olivares is a nice 4th OF.
I am pretty excited about Taylor's defense coming with the Pirates. I would like to see Taylor get the needed reps at the plate before we just throw him in the line-up. He was a .220 hitter last year and probably not ready to hit that until he gets a little practice.
It sounds like they took a lot of care in their due diligence and the structure of the deal fits the situation well (German needs to prove himself). I like the deal, and suddenly with German and Lauer I'm feeling like we might be able to bridge to when Skenes and others are ready.
I am for giving another chance to people that have learned their lesson and become a better person because of it. There is a pitcher out there still that stayed clean last year in Japan (which I believe) has stricter rules. Bauer could be one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball.
I'm thinking the over/under is around 76.5 or 77.5. Still a dark horse for sure, but I am starting to see a path for them being a big surprise this year.
Not sure why MAT is so polarizing to some…plus defender with some bottom of the order pop, great platoon option for Suwinski in CF, gives Shelton flexibility to play Suwinski in RF against lefties if he doesn’t want to take him out of the lineup, could be a nice late inning defensive replacement, and at about half of his previously perceived market value. This is a great allocation of $4m; very Raysesque assuming he is deployed correctly.
I'm not sold on Shelton by any means, but I really like the flexibility this gives him to mix and match MAT, Suwinski, and Olivares (and Palacios if there's a roster spot for him). And at the price, there should be no need to stick with MAT if he falls off the offensive cliff. If we get close to league-average offense (last year he was at a 96 wRC+, the year before 89), this should work out very well.
I'm totally with you on Shelton. I expect him to indeed stick with Michael A. long past the time he should. He has a "veteranosity" perspective, he's said this in interviews so we should not doubt him.
These off season outfield moves gives us relief from watching infielders playing the outfield while making it harder for Shelton to screw up, not impossible but harder. Hopefully it works out the same on the pitching side as they seem to be building some decent pitching depth.
Wonder if they are gonna platoon Taylor or give him CF out right. If that’s the case I know is late but I would love to see Reynolds move to RF and Jack in LF. The starting pitching is not great, but they do have pitching depth and that’s something.
Soon as Haines saw Taylor's strikeout percentage he thought I can add this to my success rate....😁
This makes the team better.
They now have a plus, plus defender in CF. Jack slides to RF, with Olivares as his platoon mate.
Hopefully they get German and Lauer ramped up and they’re part of the rotation with Keller, Perez and Gonzales.
They’re actually trying to win games and the tryouts at the mlb level is over.
I wish I had your optimism. I don’t see how the Pirates are done with tryouts? They signed two guys to minor league deals and we are supposed to say they are going for it? There were a ton of good mid rotation arms on the market this year and they did nothing. The only hope is the pitching prospects reach the majors in the next year or two and produce. So to me, the tryouts are here for the foreseeable future.
Taylor was a major league deal.
Lauer and German were in minor league deals. That’s who I was referring to.
I would take German over Perez, Marco, Lorenzen, or Clevinger.
Unfortunately, Pirate fans think small market MLB teams can only sign players who are past their prime, scrubs, or injury prone players to fill the roster. I don’t really care all that much for any of the players listed above.
I don't like your generalization of Pirate fans, particularly if it includes me. I think many posters on this board, including myself, have routinely pointed out the Pirates are more than capable of signing legit free agents, but Nutting chooses not to.
My comment was in reference to your's which seems to equate German to the usual talent that come in on minor league deals. I think he's better than that, by a decent margin, and the fact that he was a raging drunk who has DV allegations suppressed his market. Hopefully he's learned, accepted responsibility, and can be a legit 4th starter and non-problem human being.
Tryouts = giving a bunch of rookies who haven’t earned anything ample playing time at the mlb level
Tryouts are def rookies, but also middling veterans who you hope have a career year. That’s the Pirates way for the last decade.
Seems like they were in on MAT, Duvall, and Pham. Pham’s bat probably puts him in a slightly elevated FA tier, but defensively, he didn’t really fit on this team. Duvall set the market, which likely caused MAT to re-evaluate his options. My guess is that he perceived this particular situation as his best option to be a near, full time player.
This is a good article to archive. It supports what many of us know to be true.......the F.O. has and will continue to dumpster dive well into February each year. And you never want to rule out the real bargains as late as March 15!
This doesn't mean these signings are worthless, it just means BC can give a good sales pitch to Bob about the sale price he got. The question will always be did he get any value by doing so, or will they give you less than 1 WAR which we could have got from the kids.
I'm shocked that BC has learned there are other dumpsters besides the one marked utility and finally found the one marked center fielders, lol. It's been a bit frustrating the past few years watching our cf'ers almost get to the ball in the gaps before watching it go over their glove and bounce off the wall or watching our infielders in right almost take our cf'ers out.
Also, Quinn Priester is kind of an after thought with all the talk of Skenes, Jones, Chandler, Solo, Harington, Barco etc. His MLB debut last year exposed some issues people have had with him as a prospect for a while, but all reports indicate he has the character and work ethic to better himself if possible. It would be a really nice boost to this team if he can work himself into a viable mid-rotation or good back end of the rotation arm.
So the bench is now Joe, Alika, mckinney and Delay? We be seeing Joe at second base from time to time assume
You mean Indy's bench.
Thank you. Delay might be the back up catcher if Grandal can't play but none of those other guys add much of anything to the roster even Joe who's nothing more than an average utility player.
It's going to be interesting to see what eventually happens with Joe. With the addition of MAT and Olivares and Triolo's ability at first he's becoming a little more expendable.
pegeuro and Nick need to get at bats in Indy
Teller experiment gets four weeks in my opinion
If pegeruo is taking then he goes to second base and Triolo to first
I really like both these moves, and have been advocating for them for a while.
German is probably the best starter they acquired this offseason (faint praise, but true). Good K rates, good BB rates, he's a homer problem away from being good. Nonetheless, he's should be a legit 3rd/4th starter type. Reports are the Pirates met extensively with him and his wife and interviewed others collaterally involved and feel as though he is addressing his issues.
Taylor is a legit CF, and gives them an actual CF, particularly when lefties start. Reynolds-Taylor-Suwinski is a strong defensive OF, and Olivares is a nice 4th OF.
I am pretty excited about Taylor's defense coming with the Pirates. I would like to see Taylor get the needed reps at the plate before we just throw him in the line-up. He was a .220 hitter last year and probably not ready to hit that until he gets a little practice.
Big day today--I really want to see Keller's velo return, and Jones has the chance to make a big impression by facing, presumably, Atlanta's A team.
Reading more on German, was signed with an option for next year as well, $2.5 million according to DK Sports
It sounds like they took a lot of care in their due diligence and the structure of the deal fits the situation well (German needs to prove himself). I like the deal, and suddenly with German and Lauer I'm feeling like we might be able to bridge to when Skenes and others are ready.
I am for giving another chance to people that have learned their lesson and become a better person because of it. There is a pitcher out there still that stayed clean last year in Japan (which I believe) has stricter rules. Bauer could be one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball.
German on a minor league deal is amazing.
Also Priester carved up a good lineup last night. Hes still only 23 as well.
Between Priester's outing and the depth that MAT and German bring, I feel like my expectations went up by 3-4 wins yesterday--that's a good day!
I'm thinking the over/under is around 76.5 or 77.5. Still a dark horse for sure, but I am starting to see a path for them being a big surprise this year.
St Louis is only at 83 on Fangraphs winning the division. This is gonna be a fantastic season in the NLC.
Not sure why MAT is so polarizing to some…plus defender with some bottom of the order pop, great platoon option for Suwinski in CF, gives Shelton flexibility to play Suwinski in RF against lefties if he doesn’t want to take him out of the lineup, could be a nice late inning defensive replacement, and at about half of his previously perceived market value. This is a great allocation of $4m; very Raysesque assuming he is deployed correctly.
Because Dipshit Shelton will play him every day.
He should play against all lefties and feature in all games close in late innings.
I'm not sold on Shelton by any means, but I really like the flexibility this gives him to mix and match MAT, Suwinski, and Olivares (and Palacios if there's a roster spot for him). And at the price, there should be no need to stick with MAT if he falls off the offensive cliff. If we get close to league-average offense (last year he was at a 96 wRC+, the year before 89), this should work out very well.
I'm totally with you on Shelton. I expect him to indeed stick with Michael A. long past the time he should. He has a "veteranosity" perspective, he's said this in interviews so we should not doubt him.
These off season outfield moves gives us relief from watching infielders playing the outfield while making it harder for Shelton to screw up, not impossible but harder. Hopefully it works out the same on the pitching side as they seem to be building some decent pitching depth.
PS - royals gave us Olivares. Palacios was a minor league rule 5. Let’s not pretend these guys were 1st round draft picks
I have no problem with this move.
Wonder if they are gonna platoon Taylor or give him CF out right. If that’s the case I know is late but I would love to see Reynolds move to RF and Jack in LF. The starting pitching is not great, but they do have pitching depth and that’s something.
My guess is Shelton falls in love with the veteran and gives Taylor CF.