Reading about the decimated Marlins rotation made me think about the possibility of trading them one off our out of option’s starters…..then I chuckled. Never enough depth!
BTW, it’s all lefties left, Luzardo, Rogers, Weather, and Puk…….
Their Latin scouting, including PR, leaves much to be desired, it seems. Maybe someone in the organization who can habla español would help. The Astros hired a GM who spoke fluent Spanish and their roster is jam packed with latin players.
Nice seeing Gonzales crush a breaking ball for a homer. His stance is definitely different and his approach looks different. Seems to not be swinging and missing at the breaking stuff as much.
Two or three days ago, he worked a 7 or 8 pitch walk. I am pretty sure he fouled off a breaking ball and laid off another one. I have been really impressed with his approach this spring.
Would be nice if he broke out this year. If he or peguero can break out they could be great trade pieces for when termarr is ready. Or if they want to go get a legit 2 then termarr could be the centerpiece.
A couple of years ago they interviewed Meccage once and then Don Kelly. I've never seen another interview from either one since, lol. I know, sounds a little conspiratorial and I won't worry too much about it unless one of them falls out of a hotel window.
For all of you who think Connor Joe should be at first, there’s another example of why he’s a liability. He got baited into allowing a run to score by getting into a run down instead of checking and going home with the ball. Nothing shows up in the stats so he might still look good, but that’s a run that shouldn’t have scored but did because he doesn’t know how to play the position.
It's not as much that I think Connor Joe should be the first baseman, it is more how much Rowdy Tellez has stood out as not being a good first baseman. Or maybe we were just spoiled with Carlos Santana.
Olivares was not a CF with the Royals, and he is not a CF with the Pirates. No matter who gets plugged into that position for a game, it does not make them a CF. Celestino (who is a Center Fielder) has outplayed all of them. Injured most of 2023 with a UCL tear in his left thumb, he played over 600 innings in CF in 2022 and rated 15th of the 26 CF's who played 600 innings or more. MAT was No. 5 in that group.
I know Olivares isn't a CFer, just following up on how the first run shouldn't have scored with the second probably shouldn't have scored either with an actual CFer.
I also see Alika being on the chopping block as well if they keep Honeywell since he’s not on 40 and then I think same for Ali Sanchez because they aren’t carrying 3 catchers
I had a very similar prediction as you on another post. I had Honeywell instead of Stratton but I keep going back and forth on those two and I had McKinney over Olivares. I think personally, I’d rather have Olivares but McKinney has played well and seems like a guy they like.
Wouldn't it be different to bring your best players north to start the season and try to win rather than start the season with your marginal players and hoping they will finally be good. Then if they are true to form and you lose a bunch of games to start the season you then decide to bring the better and more promising players up just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me..
Skenes has pitched 7 innings in pro ball, so I think it's legit to start him in the minors. And if Jones is kept down just a few weeks, they gain a whole year of control. But if he continues to look ready and one of our 5 best options, then he better be up the end of April. Waiting for the Super 2 deadline with him would piss me off.
Yeah I understand Skenes and would feel the same about Jones if he wasn't performing so well. I'm probably jinxing Jones and Stratton but not giving up any runs aside it's their overall performance that's been impressive. You're probably right now that I think about it as far as Perez and Jones goes. They would be taking a chance the good Perez pitches for them against taking a chance on a very young guy facing some of the best hitters in baseball every five days.
It's more than that - Perez, Gonzalez, Chapman, and a few others are almost assuredly going to be traded at or before the Aug 1 Deadline to help finalize our team for 2025. The only thing that could stand in the way of that happening is if the Pirates are solidly in a playoff position at the time of the Trade deadline.
I like the Pirates with the bats and on defense, but I doubt the Rotation is good enough to play .500 ball. Adding a few of the younger pitchers early could sustain the Pirates position if trades are made at the deadline. From there it's going to be a tossup.
It would be ideal if the everyone performs well enough that the end of the season rotation is Keller, Ortiz, Priester, Jones, Skenes. Even if German is one of the 5. If they are playing winning baseball, they can still move Perez/Gonzalez if the younger guys are pitching well.
But the season is a marathon. Sometimes bringing some players north is also about maintaining system depth for the MLB team that you can be sure will be needed. If it is just a matter of who is sent to AAA then is doesn't matter, but when you start DFAing depth it adds to the decision making process.
No doubt but off the top of my head I don't remember every players status and admittedly I didn't feel like looking up whether Perez is on a minor league contract or has options or not. All I remember is he was with the Rangers previously. I know Jones and Ortiz have options and I'm not sure about Stratton.
They signed Perez for $8 million. He is not going anywhere and will be in the rotation, which is good. He is probably the 2nd best starting pitcher they have right now... unfortunately.
Reading about the decimated Marlins rotation made me think about the possibility of trading them one off our out of option’s starters…..then I chuckled. Never enough depth!
BTW, it’s all lefties left, Luzardo, Rogers, Weather, and Puk…….
Wasn't it a month ago that the rumor was we were going to get a starting pitcher from the Marlins because of their surplus?
That’s why I chuckled!
Yep, now they got several lefties but only a few right handers.
Maybe Ro for their compB pick?
Only if they agree to start him against us!
He'd probably dominate lol
Stop it!
Hope he looks good enough today to either justify a spot on the roster or increase his trade value to get a few teams interested.
That would be a good move, if they are willing. Gotta get something out of him or hope he can figure it out in the bullpen.
Shawn Ross was born in PR, a PirateRican in our system I didn’t know about…. That makes like two? 🫨😔
Their Latin scouting, including PR, leaves much to be desired, it seems. Maybe someone in the organization who can habla español would help. The Astros hired a GM who spoke fluent Spanish and their roster is jam packed with latin players.
You really think they have no one in the organization who is fluent in Spanish? Please.
I was kidding, of course. I'm sure their people in DR and elsewhere speak Spanish.
Right over my head…sorry.
Nice seeing Gonzales crush a breaking ball for a homer. His stance is definitely different and his approach looks different. Seems to not be swinging and missing at the breaking stuff as much.
Two or three days ago, he worked a 7 or 8 pitch walk. I am pretty sure he fouled off a breaking ball and laid off another one. I have been really impressed with his approach this spring.
Would be nice if he broke out this year. If he or peguero can break out they could be great trade pieces for when termarr is ready. Or if they want to go get a legit 2 then termarr could be the centerpiece.
He “scorched “ a ground ball on his 1st at bat off a breaking ball….. baby steps
E-Brock right as he is mic'ed up. Run the Pirates out of another inning. He's not the right coach at first base......been saying this for years.
Is there a spot where the Pirates have the right . . . anybody?
Good point.....maybe Meccage? I don't think Donnie Kelly is much of a bench coach. Wouldn't mind giving first base to him.
A couple of years ago they interviewed Meccage once and then Don Kelly. I've never seen another interview from either one since, lol. I know, sounds a little conspiratorial and I won't worry too much about it unless one of them falls out of a hotel window.
Let this be Hayes from now on!
Usually save it for extra base hits, but that was exceptional situation hitting.
For all of you who think Connor Joe should be at first, there’s another example of why he’s a liability. He got baited into allowing a run to score by getting into a run down instead of checking and going home with the ball. Nothing shows up in the stats so he might still look good, but that’s a run that shouldn’t have scored but did because he doesn’t know how to play the position.
It's not as much that I think Connor Joe should be the first baseman, it is more how much Rowdy Tellez has stood out as not being a good first baseman. Or maybe we were just spoiled with Carlos Santana.
The second run probably doesn't score with Taylor in center. Olivares broke back instead of charging the ball.
Olivares was not a CF with the Royals, and he is not a CF with the Pirates. No matter who gets plugged into that position for a game, it does not make them a CF. Celestino (who is a Center Fielder) has outplayed all of them. Injured most of 2023 with a UCL tear in his left thumb, he played over 600 innings in CF in 2022 and rated 15th of the 26 CF's who played 600 innings or more. MAT was No. 5 in that group.
I know Olivares isn't a CFer, just following up on how the first run shouldn't have scored with the second probably shouldn't have scored either with an actual CFer.
My 26 man roster prediction
Position players- Cutch, Davis, Delay, Tellez, Joe, Triolo, Peguero, Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Taylor, Suwinski, Olivares.
Pitchers- Rotation- 1. Keller, 2. Perez, 3. Gonzalez, 4. Ortiz, 5. Priester. BP- Bednar, Holderman, Chapman, Mlod, Borucki, Hernandez, Stratton, Contreras.
Falter to waivers
bonus predictions- Jones will replace one of Ortiz/Priester in May. Skenes replaces one of Perez/Gonzalez in late June/early July.
Position players- Cutch, Davis, Delay, Tellez, Joe, Big Tree, Peggy, Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Taylor, Suwinski, McKinney(versatility = huge +)
Rotation- I’m going with a prediction of the obvious first three Keller, Perez, Gonzalez and then Anderson, Priester.
Pen-I’m going to say Holderman, Chapman, Mlod, Borucki, Fleming, Stratton, Honeywell, Contreras, Bednar
The Falter waiver move makes sense too…AAAA
And scratch Stratton…nvm
I also see Alika being on the chopping block as well if they keep Honeywell since he’s not on 40 and then I think same for Ali Sanchez because they aren’t carrying 3 catchers
I had a very similar prediction as you on another post. I had Honeywell instead of Stratton but I keep going back and forth on those two and I had McKinney over Olivares. I think personally, I’d rather have Olivares but McKinney has played well and seems like a guy they like.
Wouldn't it be different to bring your best players north to start the season and try to win rather than start the season with your marginal players and hoping they will finally be good. Then if they are true to form and you lose a bunch of games to start the season you then decide to bring the better and more promising players up just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me..
Skenes has pitched 7 innings in pro ball, so I think it's legit to start him in the minors. And if Jones is kept down just a few weeks, they gain a whole year of control. But if he continues to look ready and one of our 5 best options, then he better be up the end of April. Waiting for the Super 2 deadline with him would piss me off.
Yeah I understand Skenes and would feel the same about Jones if he wasn't performing so well. I'm probably jinxing Jones and Stratton but not giving up any runs aside it's their overall performance that's been impressive. You're probably right now that I think about it as far as Perez and Jones goes. They would be taking a chance the good Perez pitches for them against taking a chance on a very young guy facing some of the best hitters in baseball every five days.
It's more than that - Perez, Gonzalez, Chapman, and a few others are almost assuredly going to be traded at or before the Aug 1 Deadline to help finalize our team for 2025. The only thing that could stand in the way of that happening is if the Pirates are solidly in a playoff position at the time of the Trade deadline.
I like the Pirates with the bats and on defense, but I doubt the Rotation is good enough to play .500 ball. Adding a few of the younger pitchers early could sustain the Pirates position if trades are made at the deadline. From there it's going to be a tossup.
I think Shelton and his coaching staff can help them lose enough winnable games to keep that from happening.
It would be ideal if the everyone performs well enough that the end of the season rotation is Keller, Ortiz, Priester, Jones, Skenes. Even if German is one of the 5. If they are playing winning baseball, they can still move Perez/Gonzalez if the younger guys are pitching well.
But the season is a marathon. Sometimes bringing some players north is also about maintaining system depth for the MLB team that you can be sure will be needed. If it is just a matter of who is sent to AAA then is doesn't matter, but when you start DFAing depth it adds to the decision making process.
No doubt but off the top of my head I don't remember every players status and admittedly I didn't feel like looking up whether Perez is on a minor league contract or has options or not. All I remember is he was with the Rangers previously. I know Jones and Ortiz have options and I'm not sure about Stratton.
Stratton has all 3 Options remaining - I think last year was his first time up.
They signed Perez for $8 million. He is not going anywhere and will be in the rotation, which is good. He is probably the 2nd best starting pitcher they have right now... unfortunately.