Weekly Mailbag: Offseason plans, Henry Davis, Iron City Beer

Our offseason mailbag runs through the gauntlet of questions

Photo Credit: WTM

I’ve wanted to do some mailbag type of article for a while, and master procrastinator that I am - here we are a couple of months later.

To kick things off, I started with a very in-depth email from AdministrativeSky236. It covers many things; I thought it was a great starting point.

For those who sent questions that I didn’t get to here, don’t worry. I have a second article made up already inputting them and they will be answered next week.

If you want to jump in and ask a question, email bucsondeckqa@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter (@__Murphy88).

What would make your dream offseason, your disaster offseason, and one out of left field move that you would love?

I think the emphasis needs to be on pitching. If they want to compete, they can’t have what happened to them last year happen again. Whatever they have to do to avoid that, they need to do.

The disaster would be not getting enough pitching and rolling with two starting pitchers down the stretch again. An out-of-left-field move is something I mentioned previously, but bring in a free-agent second baseman/veteran shortstop to push the kids, and not a Chris Owings type.

At this point, I’m not overly sold that anyone on the 40-man is the undisputed answer at second. I’d love someone to push them, maybe looking to rebuild their value. That’d be a win-win in my eyes.

Who will take home the pierogi crown next year?

I’ll take the one with the highest odds against it to look like a genius at the end of the year.

FMK: Iron city, iron city light, Iron city mango

I’m going to cheat here and say Iron City. I don’t do light beer, and fruit-flavored beer is a crime against nature.

What would you do with Henry Davis if you were GM, and how would that affect the rest of your offseason? 

I’m keeping him in the outfield, and that’s just because I think Endy Rodriguez is that much better behind the plate and proved it last year. I also like Davis’ bat long-term more, and I would rather have it in the outfield than catching.

I’d bring in a defensive specialist in the outfield for late-game situations and sign another catcher. I think I would rather have Jason Delay as the third catcher in AAA in case of emergencies.

What is the wildest rumor you've heard from Bmac's sources recently?

It’s not a wild rumor if they are all true, right?

Who was one prospect that all of you were all-in on and then flopped?

I was fairly confident Carmen Mlodzinski would be a starter, as Nola will be more than likely to bring up. I don’t think I’ve been covering the system long enough to have a complete flop from that perspective. There are probably a few trending that way, but no one I’m ‘all-in’ on.

Before my writing days, I was convinced that Zach Von Rosenberg would be something. Something Tim wrote about him on P2 stuck with me, and I just went with it. That was my prospect at the time.

Why is Ryan Borucki the greatest pitcher to come to Pittsburgh since Steven Brault?

As a former left-handed pitcher, I will say all southpaws are better.

Who is your choice for color commentary and why?

I usually listen to games on mute unless my girlfriend also watches. That’s even more the case when I’m watching two or three games at a time, it is hard to focus with that much noise going on.

When I listen, Neil Walker is the best of the bunch for color commentary. Broadcasting-wise, I enjoyed Spenser Smith when he was with Bradenton, and Ben Pokorny - his replacement - brings great energy to the games.

Do you prefer Skivvy or Lenes as the couple name for Pittsburgh's power couple?

It has to be Skivvy, right? Sounds more Pirate-like?

What is your favorite offseason hobby?

Sleeping? This feels like a great opportunity to thank my girlfriend for understanding what I do during the season. The hours I put into writing and other stuff don’t leave much time for anything else. I literally go, go, go all season. I rarely even have a moment to myself to collect my thoughts.

So, in the last couple of years, as I’ve gotten more serious about writing, I make it a point when the season isn’t going on to make up time with her, which is usually just watching movies/cooking shows.

Who would have won the celebrity boxing match, Martin Maldonado or Russell Martin?

It’s required to side with the former Pirate, right?

Why did PNC park never do a free lunchbox promotion for Travis Snyder?

Whoever was in charge of that needed to be fired because that was too easy to come up with, and it was perfect. Bring him back to throw out the first pitch and do it then?

What is your position on an offseason superlative post for commenters? Snarkiest? Funniest? Most off the wall? Best comments? Silliest idea?

I’m all for anything that gets you guys in the comments involved. It would probably take someone from the comments to spearhead this, but you guys have an email and my Twitter now, so fire away.

Where would you get a BoD Squad tattoo and why?

First, we would need a legit logo, right? Which is something I keep meaning to get to. I don’t know why this made me think of my former boss at T-Mobile, who always insisted that he would get a face tattoo with Mike Tyson’s face (tattoo included) on it.

I guess the best spot would be wherever would make it the most notable to help generate some traffic here, right? Can’t have hidden advertisements?