AM - Agree that Valdez should not be a platoon option with NG at 2B, however Horwitz played a lot of innings at second base for Toronto last year and his OPS against RHP's was almost 200 points higher than the OPS of NG against RHP's. In his 256 AB against RHP's, Horwitz had an OPS of 864 with 15 doubles and 12 HR, 35 BB/56 SO. That platoon would make a lot of sense. And, if doing that, it opens 1B to Switch Hitting Endy Rodriguez. He lost all but 10 games last year to injury, and he needs to get as many AB as we can find for him.
I like looking at statscast on park factor as well on trying to figure out slugging or OPS expectations. In '23 Endy hit 3 homers, his expected was higher in all parks but 4. PNC was 1 of the 4, several parks only had 1 or 2 more, several had him with 7 or 8.
I'd like to see how the ball comes off his bat in spring training since he added some muscle. I kinda agree with you, there's a chance just a little extra pop could really improve his outlook, might not be in Pittsburgh but certain teams might see hidden value. I mention this do to the Paredes trade that just went down.
I could actually see the Pirates starting the year with Bart and Delay in the majors while Davis and Endy split the catching duties, DH, and 1st base in Indy. It would give Bart a chance to establish himself as the primary catcher, while adding some position flexibility and even service time for the other 2. I think Delay, Davis, and Endy have 2 options remaining.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Bart’s d behind the plate was pretty awful. Rumor has it that the Bucs were monitoring the catching market, seems odd for a team with four catchers on the 40-man. This makes me think one of two things may happen: 1) they move either Davis or Endy, or 2) they make Bart the right side platoon at 1B while still catching a couple games per week against RHP. Under scenario 2, you probably bring in a LH hitting catcher with average or better defense to play about 50-60 games and you keep Delay in the majors to handle similar time/games primarily against LHP.
I like the idea of keeping Davis and Endy in AAA, splitting C duties and adding some positional flexibility. Endy is extremely athletic for a C and seems to have a good baseball IQ and passion for the game. I am really hoping he has a big developmental year. If he can regain his MiLB production with a little more pop, he could be a very instrumental middle of the order bat to this team, ala the Ray’s version of Ben Zobrist, and basically play anywhere on the right side of the diamond including catcher.
It's hard to tell what the pirates will do, they're consistently inconsistent.
Bart's defense isn't great but isn't the worse they've went with. His bat will dictate his playing time. I could see him short side platooning at first though, if his defense isn't horrible.
Endy is the best hope as far as a combination of defense and offense, with the added versatility.
Davis needs his bat to show up and keep improving his defense. His out come is completely unknown, he could end up a DH/emergency catcher, starting catcher, at a different position, or on a different team.
I like this comment. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks in ST post-injury, as pre-injury a lot was made of his middling exit velocity, too much in fact. He was still adjusting to major league pitching, and his plate discipline and launch angle were excellent. Not saying he ends up as a great hitter, the opposite is probably more likely to be true, and that’s ok so long as he has value as a catcher. But we shouldn’t write off the bat just yet.
I am one who pushes back on Endy but not because I am giving up on his bat, more that considering him as a potential starter or even some part of a platoon at positions that typically are offensive positions is just real bad planning for a team trying to compete. If he hits and forces himself to get at bats elsewhere because of his athleticism that is a wonderful problem. For now, let him get at bats either in MLB likely 3 times a week (Bart 3 or 4 starts at catcher and at least one at DH) or in MiLB continuing to get some rust off. He basically missed an entire year!
Exactly. We need to see what the bats made of against major league pitching before we think about moving him anywhere else. And if he just ends up being a really solid defensive catcher who posts .700ish OPS seasons that’s ok too.
Agree with all of you that Endy will need to come out strong in ST.
A switch hitter he did well in 2023 at AAA as a 23 year old - 271 AB, .771 OPS, 16 doubles, 3 triples, 6 HR, 38 RBI and what I liked the best was the 11.4% BB, 14.9% SO. He put the ball in play! Promoted to MLB, he struggled (612 OPS) in about 55 games , and then missed all but 10 games in 2024 due to an elbow injury.
He will be a 25 year old next year, and this team now and in the future, needs for him to succeed. His primary position is behind the plate, but he has played 1B quite a bit in the minors.
Yes. But guys that have no defensive position (and he apparently does not), and that take up a valuable 40 man roster spot (and they likely will not DFA him until well into the season if they traded a player for him) actually is a negative.
I dont know how much bat speed training takes away that contact ability, I think its been correlated to lower in zone contact, but I dont hate the idea of taking fringe guys with good contact rates and make them spend the offseason swinging those heft poles around. Average in zone contact with better bat speed is probably more valuable with slower speed and above average contact rates, right?
If they're getting to the sweet spot often, then can let them fire off on meatballs, otherwise let them just keep getting hard contact. It's not the best max ev, but it's above average EV
Good point here Wabbit! Ive been thinking in the camp of this dude being easily DFA'd but if they think hes worth a flier then so be it. However, it does make sense if they think hes worth a flier and maybe for some reason are seeing a potential that one or more of the other middle infield options are cut or traded.
Valdez is also left handed and most of our options except bae are right handed so maybe he has a route as a left handed utility bat.
Pirates release Trey Cabbage.
Apparently it was to pursue a foreign opportunity. That's at least what I read on mlbtraderumors.com.
Looks like he is heading to the far East. Just posted on MLBTR.
Still need a clean-up type hitter. 30 hrs, 30 + doubles type guy
There were only 16 players in that club last year and the only ones available are Santander and Alonso…and we aren’t going to sign either
Also I will go on record as saying we already have a guy on our roster that will join the 30-30 group next year: Cruz
We need another to score runs. Brey will come close
AM - Agree that Valdez should not be a platoon option with NG at 2B, however Horwitz played a lot of innings at second base for Toronto last year and his OPS against RHP's was almost 200 points higher than the OPS of NG against RHP's. In his 256 AB against RHP's, Horwitz had an OPS of 864 with 15 doubles and 12 HR, 35 BB/56 SO. That platoon would make a lot of sense. And, if doing that, it opens 1B to Switch Hitting Endy Rodriguez. He lost all but 10 games last year to injury, and he needs to get as many AB as we can find for him.
I like looking at statscast on park factor as well on trying to figure out slugging or OPS expectations. In '23 Endy hit 3 homers, his expected was higher in all parks but 4. PNC was 1 of the 4, several parks only had 1 or 2 more, several had him with 7 or 8.
I'd like to see how the ball comes off his bat in spring training since he added some muscle. I kinda agree with you, there's a chance just a little extra pop could really improve his outlook, might not be in Pittsburgh but certain teams might see hidden value. I mention this do to the Paredes trade that just went down.
I could actually see the Pirates starting the year with Bart and Delay in the majors while Davis and Endy split the catching duties, DH, and 1st base in Indy. It would give Bart a chance to establish himself as the primary catcher, while adding some position flexibility and even service time for the other 2. I think Delay, Davis, and Endy have 2 options remaining.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Bart’s d behind the plate was pretty awful. Rumor has it that the Bucs were monitoring the catching market, seems odd for a team with four catchers on the 40-man. This makes me think one of two things may happen: 1) they move either Davis or Endy, or 2) they make Bart the right side platoon at 1B while still catching a couple games per week against RHP. Under scenario 2, you probably bring in a LH hitting catcher with average or better defense to play about 50-60 games and you keep Delay in the majors to handle similar time/games primarily against LHP.
I like the idea of keeping Davis and Endy in AAA, splitting C duties and adding some positional flexibility. Endy is extremely athletic for a C and seems to have a good baseball IQ and passion for the game. I am really hoping he has a big developmental year. If he can regain his MiLB production with a little more pop, he could be a very instrumental middle of the order bat to this team, ala the Ray’s version of Ben Zobrist, and basically play anywhere on the right side of the diamond including catcher.
It's hard to tell what the pirates will do, they're consistently inconsistent.
Bart's defense isn't great but isn't the worse they've went with. His bat will dictate his playing time. I could see him short side platooning at first though, if his defense isn't horrible.
Endy is the best hope as far as a combination of defense and offense, with the added versatility.
Davis needs his bat to show up and keep improving his defense. His out come is completely unknown, he could end up a DH/emergency catcher, starting catcher, at a different position, or on a different team.
I like this comment. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks in ST post-injury, as pre-injury a lot was made of his middling exit velocity, too much in fact. He was still adjusting to major league pitching, and his plate discipline and launch angle were excellent. Not saying he ends up as a great hitter, the opposite is probably more likely to be true, and that’s ok so long as he has value as a catcher. But we shouldn’t write off the bat just yet.
I am one who pushes back on Endy but not because I am giving up on his bat, more that considering him as a potential starter or even some part of a platoon at positions that typically are offensive positions is just real bad planning for a team trying to compete. If he hits and forces himself to get at bats elsewhere because of his athleticism that is a wonderful problem. For now, let him get at bats either in MLB likely 3 times a week (Bart 3 or 4 starts at catcher and at least one at DH) or in MiLB continuing to get some rust off. He basically missed an entire year!
Exactly. We need to see what the bats made of against major league pitching before we think about moving him anywhere else. And if he just ends up being a really solid defensive catcher who posts .700ish OPS seasons that’s ok too.
A really solid defensive catcher who posts .700ish OPS is a 3–4-win player.
Agree with all of you that Endy will need to come out strong in ST.
A switch hitter he did well in 2023 at AAA as a 23 year old - 271 AB, .771 OPS, 16 doubles, 3 triples, 6 HR, 38 RBI and what I liked the best was the 11.4% BB, 14.9% SO. He put the ball in play! Promoted to MLB, he struggled (612 OPS) in about 55 games , and then missed all but 10 games in 2024 due to an elbow injury.
He will be a 25 year old next year, and this team now and in the future, needs for him to succeed. His primary position is behind the plate, but he has played 1B quite a bit in the minors.
Acquiring a lot of high in-zone contact guys
Maybe they are hoping they can teach more impact rather than higher contact rates? Reaching here
I'd say it's good to see they're getting guys who've shown in-zone contact track records at the big league level.
Yes. But guys that have no defensive position (and he apparently does not), and that take up a valuable 40 man roster spot (and they likely will not DFA him until well into the season if they traded a player for him) actually is a negative.
I dont know how much bat speed training takes away that contact ability, I think its been correlated to lower in zone contact, but I dont hate the idea of taking fringe guys with good contact rates and make them spend the offseason swinging those heft poles around. Average in zone contact with better bat speed is probably more valuable with slower speed and above average contact rates, right?
If they're getting to the sweet spot often, then can let them fire off on meatballs, otherwise let them just keep getting hard contact. It's not the best max ev, but it's above average EV
He who dies with the most middle infielders wins.
And, I gotta believe somebody else is getting traded from the ocean of middle infielders here. Can't make sense of it otherwise.
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"Hossenfeffer, yer Majesty?"
-Wabbit
Unless they're being added in a trade none of them will get you much value.
Good point here Wabbit! Ive been thinking in the camp of this dude being easily DFA'd but if they think hes worth a flier then so be it. However, it does make sense if they think hes worth a flier and maybe for some reason are seeing a potential that one or more of the other middle infield options are cut or traded.
Valdez is also left handed and most of our options except bae are right handed so maybe he has a route as a left handed utility bat.
Would make sense. GMBC is not near done yet.
So many replacement-level players, so little time . . . .
Many throw in players to add to a deal. Plenty of time left in the off season 😁
I am Groot.