19 Comments
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Jul 18·edited Jul 18Author

The Pirates are dominating FG's replacement level killers series. The latest Cherington triumph:

"Yaaaargh. Even with Bryan Reynolds hitting .284/.347/.487 (132 wRC+) with 2.0 WAR, the Pirates outfield is such a mess that all three positions made the Killers lists; the team’s combined outfield production of -0.7 WAR is ahead of only the White Sox, and a full win worse than the 28th-ranked Royals. At the plate the Bucs outfielders have combined for a 87 wRC+ (fourth worst), while in the field they’re dead last with -24 DRS and second to last with -19 FRV."

They're also on the list at C and 3B. Cherington should run away with the honors if they do a GM list.

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As bad as they’ve been offensively, Seattle may be worse.

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Matt Hague is in another article in Fangraphs saying he's one of the best up and coming hitting coaches, maybe he can come back to the Pirates.

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Jul 18Author

Interesting

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On the "bright" side at least their playoff chances are high enough to make the lists! Now if only they had offense.

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I mostly ignore the lower levels, but the power over hit seems the norm with most of these kids.

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Jul 18Author

Bradenton ranks 8th of 10 in their league in runs, first by a lot in whiffs, last by a lot in BA and one off the lead in HRs.

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is the international program worse under vizcaino?? there's nothing out there

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What’s the first class where he gets the blame or credit?

It's hard to imagine many systems have young guys who hit the ball harder than Plaz and Blanco

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That's what I'm wondering. Is it Vizcaino or poor player development? My guess is the latter.

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Jul 18Author

IMO, the main issue is the refusal to go after the top guys. It’s been that way since NH. Quantity over quality has been a long term failure, but in Nuttinland every single deal has to be a bargain.

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The Pirates give millions to players who can't make it past the Mendoza Line or A ball. It's daft to flush that money down the drain with nothing to show for it.

I don't doubt the Pirates won't spend top dollar on an IFA. Since McClatchy, the organization has operated on the belief that players are overpaid and that spending too much on a player is a bad idea. We're lucky Nutting spends on the draft.

Every once in a while, someone in the Pirates FO pays homage to the Rays and their methods. One thing that can be said about the Rays, the organization has guts.it seeks out top IFAs and signs them. It moves vets to keep its payroll within its comfort zone. But it retool whenever it does so. It's the best organization in baseball. It wins despite its low payrolls. It wins because it's smart and gutsy. It wins because the pipeline is never wholly empty.

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Literally nothing hitting the majors aside from Luis Ortiz since Polanco basically?

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Jul 18Author

Among Lat Am prospects signed by this FO, only Wilber Dotel, who has a 5.17 ERA at Greensboro, has made it past low A. Unless you count Emmanuel Chapman, who signed out of Cuba and is nearly 26.

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That is just insanely abysmal int'l scouting and dev for a small market team that brags about spending money on their Dominican facility and development as basically it's lone accomplishments as an org.

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Who was the reliever who was good for like 15 minutes? Edgar Santana? It’s been bad internationally for decades.

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Thats a whole heck ton of walks

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And I believe only 1 week of FCL left, unless they make playoffs. Then an extra 2? days

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Jul 18Author

Hopefully that’s when the promotions happen.

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