125 Comments

Unexpected 😲 but exciting!

Hopefully more to come.

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now sign Justin Turner, Bauer and Urias for $ten mil each and trade noone

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No trade the 4 dfa guys to San Diego for a couple of lottery tickets. I like Blake Dickerson a young lefty out of VA Beach from last years draft.

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Very much yes on Dickerson. Good call.

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Trivia time: In 2016, the Cubs included would-be Pirate Billy McKinney in a trade to the Yankees for Chapman.

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I just remember the Cubs trading Gleybar Torres to get Chapman.

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I would think Falter is walking the plank, no?

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Somebody gotta start.

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if they fetch two more starting pitchers then Alika and Canaan are then on their way out

Canaan will succeed somewhere else

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I would hate to see Canaan go. He looked like a completely different player the second half.

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On the list of the top ten things to worry about, whom to dfa is #1,873.

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didnt realize Cutch and Chapman were teammates on the yankees

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I had forgotten that too, but between that and Perez being in the bullpen with him last year, there was opportunity to get feedback if there was any concern about Chapman as a teammate.

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So what's the corresponding roster move? A trade, or a DFA (and if so, who)?

Also, wish I knew details of their RSN contract (which is likely crumbling)-- if they're already exceeding last year's payroll, where's the extra dough coming from? I thought Nutting's pockets only held lint.

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I believe it’s currently estimated to be around $50m per year with annual escalators, but payroll is a really just a function of capital allocation. For years, the Pirates have allocated an inordinate amount of capital into their infrastructure and systems, which had been sorely lacking relative to their contemporaries. My thought, and maybe I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt, is that they have planned to sync their on-the-field product up with their off-the-field product, thus allowing them to shift more capital and resources toward payroll over time. We have seen this shift the last three years or so, with total payroll increasing 10-15% every year since 2022.

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this is the opening day bullpen as i see it

Bednar

Holderman

M Perez

Mlodzinski

Moreta

Chapman

Hernandez

Borucki

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Who is starting if perez in the pen?

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tbd but that dude is lights out in the pen and we should not be converting good relievers to starters

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Perez has been a SP for most of his 11 seasons in MLB.

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maybe Contreras instead of Hernandez because of options

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Bednar wants to start games and stretch it out

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holy smokes

hide your daughters

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My first thought is Chapman is being brought in to replace either Holderman or Bednar, who will be included in a trade for a SP.

Am I crazy?

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I’m guessing…

1. Ben thinks he has a good team & Chapman makes them better.

2. Chapman comes out and pitches lights out in the first half and he flips him for a good prospect or 2.

Either way, it’s not a terrible way to spend 10.5M.

1. Becomes more of a reality if he can get a good starter before ST

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Signing guys like Chapman should have been what they were doing from day 1 when Cherington took over instead of dumping millions on junk free agents with no trade value at the deadline who could only be flipped for more AAAA junk.

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Chapman figures to be extremely tradable at the deadline, so there are two clear branches on this tree.

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I was thinking that as well, Holderman and another piece to Miami for one of their starters, maybe. They're moving Puk to the starting rotation. Maybe Peguero.

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That is the only way that this move makes sense. Otherwise, this is Cherington's Matt Morris moment.

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It’s not THAT bad

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I could see Holderman as part of a deal along with one of our 2B to bring back a decent starter. I'd support that, but it's tempting to think we'd have Borucki, Moreta, Mlod, Holderman, Chapman, and Bednar to take turns pitching the 7th-9th.

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Bednar

Chapman

Holderman

Moreta

That’s a nice backend of a bullpen.

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If Borucki and Mlod keep up with last year or slightly improve, the bullpen has the potential to be lock down.

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Mlod's numbers under the hood werent great right?

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It seemed to me that if Mlod started a clean inning he did very well. He ran into problems when he came in with runners on. Same applied to him in Indy. He's a bulldog but does have some issues when runners are on base.

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Can we trust this group to put him in position to succeed then? Moreta was our fireman last year but tbd if thats a skill of his or just a good run

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i was out walking my xolos

what happened?

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Had to Google xolos. Prob freezing if you are walking them around the Burgh.

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no they dont leave mexico

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Prob why I never heard of them. Never been south of the border.

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Yo Ski. Sources say bmac fainted too. Just wasn't as soft a landing as yours. Shaking out the cobwebs. They are thick as the ones on nuttings wallet.

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Ok, this means the Bucs are obviously signing Montgomery and Snell now, right? BMAC, what does you sources saY?????

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sources say nutting does not give a damn about reputation and Urias and Bauer are next

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I’m in the minority, but I would sign both.

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BC's gotta be working something else, right?

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