The Official 2017 Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Season Thread

Postby **Kovyfalcon27** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:02 pm

Yadi Molina is always crying about something and then loves to act tough. Wish Bell would have squared up with him when he got to first base, see how tough he wants to act to a cat Bell's size.

Postby **NailedPenguin** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:03 pm

Unbelievable this Benoit nonsense wasnt shut down after his first outting in a pirates uniform. Of course #WinningIsHard when this is what you deem worthy of taking the mound

Postby **Kovyfalcon27** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:04 pm

Unbelievable this Benoit nonsense wasnt shut down after his first outting in a pirates uniform. Of course #WinningIsHard when this is what you deem worthy of taking the mound

Yeah but they got those cash considerations bro.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:15 pm

GMNH got LAD to pick up all of Watson's deal and the Phillies to pick up all but 100K of Benoit's. That was his only concern. Financial flexibility baby.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:18 pm

Our battlin Bucs blew a 5-1 lead tonight. Another sht-tier outing for Taillon too. With the exception of that one moment they were one game over .500, they haven't been able to surpass that threshold yet, have they? Damn...so close to being a TL curse.

Postby **Blue Canary** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:31 pm

Right now, part of me want to say, "Just F it all" and call it a season. But I probably won't. So, I guess that makes me the problem.

Postby **Blue Canary** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:06 am

OMG, another 4 runs in the top of the 9th.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:08 am

It is bedtime. Hopefully by the time that this gentleman wakes up and gets to work, Benoit will no longer be a member of the super pirates

Postby **Blue Canary** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:10 am

"Don't call it a comeback..."

Yeah, I think I can resist the urge.

Postby **Blue Canary** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:11 am

It is bedtime. Hopefully by the time that this gentleman wakes up and gets to work, Benoit will no longer be a member of the super pirates

I hope so, too. Goodnight, gentleman.

Postby **Blue Canary** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:14 am

Defensive Indifference would be a good band name. I'm sure it's been thought of before.

Postby **Blue Canary** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:15 am

Bleh. Badnight, Buccos.

Postby **beerman** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:05 am

Left at the beginning of the rain delay, solid choice.

Pirates just sent an email out yesterday to STH saying postseason ticket options and 2018 renewals are on the way soon! Well timed guys.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:22 am

It is bedtime. Hopefully by the time that this gentleman wakes up and gets to work, Benoit will no longer be a member of the super pirates
I hope so, too. Goodnight, gentleman.

time to put the benoit experiement to rest. just dfa this jabroni and call up dovydas or edgar martinez

Postby **dodint** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:03 am

What's the point of being a baseball STH when the stadium is 50% full at best for a given game? Serious question. The discount would have to be like 25% of the public price for it to make sense to me.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:11 am

it is nice to have your own seat. Most of those empty seats still have good views but Kenny the kangaroo's seats (behind home plate, underneath the press box) are really good seats, are on an aisle, and under cover

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:16 am

The decisions made by this team have really confounded me in recent weeks. The lack of Osuna while in AL parks. Polanco gets injured, play with a short bench until putting him on the DL and then you call up a catcher, who was sent to AAA because you didn't want him just sitting on the bench, who just sits on the bench while the corpse of Chris Stewart gets 4 consecutive starts. Finally put Cervelli's broken ass on the DL and then call up Max **** Moroff for what feels like the 100th miserable attempt, leaving you shorthanded in the outfield while Luplow is batting 352/424/574/998 in AAA and is raking at .447 in his last 10 games. The trade for Benoit was a complete joke and last night's performance was met with Hurdle essentially saying he hasn't had a large enough window with the Pirates to make a decision on him yet. In 5.1 innings as a Bucco he has an 11.81 ERA, a WHIP of 2.25, has given up 9 runs, 7 earned runs, and 2 home runs while batters are hitting 400/464/750/1214 against him. If he was just called up from AAA Hurdle would have him executed to ensure he never shows up in his bullpen again. Just moronic stuff. I'm ready for a new manager and management team.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:16 am

NH is going to have to either **** or get off the pot with his MLB roster. With the progression of a lot of prospects, the organizational depth chart going into 2018 is going to be the deepest it's even been in my memory. For example:

OF - McCutchen, Marte, Meadows, Polanco, Luplow
SP: Taillon, Cole, Nova, Kuhl, Williams, Glasnow, Brault, Kingham, Holmes, Keller
IF: Bell, Mercer, Harrison, Freese, Frazier, Newman, Moroff, Tucker

These aren't all bonified ML'ers, but they're all guys that have either had success at AAA or the majors, or are considered bonified MLB prospects (Meadows, Keller, Tucker). That said, having guys that can play in the majors by graduating prospects doesn't automatically bring success. They need to identify the organization pieces that they want to build the roster around which positions then need to upgrade.

Postby **NailedPenguin** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:20 am

Something Slappson P Brown said a while back has been sticking with me. He asked a couple hypotheticals and came to the conclusion "What is the point?"

I had one of the bloggers telling me that Neil Huntington has a job that no one else wants, along with all the other talking points we've heard over and over. You can't expect the Pirates to do this, because thats not how a team like them operates....You can't expect them to do that because market size, baseball economics, etc. It just made me come to the same conclusion, (as a fan) "then what is the point?"

Postby **Troy Loney** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:29 am

The point is that they're competing with teams that have revenues almost double their own, and those teams with resource advantage exploit that. it gives them a natural underdog status that makes winning that much sweeter. So even if they play up their disadvantages a lot by restricting payroll to a level that isn't justified, there's still significant constraints they face that they wealthy organizations don't.

This team was able to derive value from unexpected places, but the other players are too goo and teams have smart people working for them too that can erase those advantages rather quickly. The question is, does the organization have the ability to do that again, or are they going to conclude that those advantages have dried up and have to find other ways to compete.

Postby **Morkle** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:30 am

The point is to be continually excited about the future, while accepting that they won't ever do enough to address the current MLB product.

Meaning, there really is no point.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:32 am

Source of the post it is nice to have your own seat.

Cool. With the Pens, I like to sit all different places to see how things are from different perspectives, concessions, people, etc. But given you've got a ton more games in that me at PNC (subtract "2" from whatever your number is) you've probably done that and found your groove. Cool.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:52 am

Something Slappson P Brown said a while back has been sticking with me. He asked a couple hypotheticals and came to the conclusion "What is the point?"

I had one of the bloggers telling me that Neil Huntington has a job that no one else wants, along with all the other talking points we've heard over and over. You can't expect the Pirates to do this, because thats not how a team like them operates....You can't expect them to do that because market size, baseball economics, etc. It just made me come to the same conclusion, (as a fan) "then what is the point?"

The point is to sustain a viable organization but still consistently win.

GMNH is getting the big picture stuff right. The small picture stuff...as in the decisions that have to be made throughout a season...couldn't be more asstastic this year. Polanco has played in 91 of the pirates 121 games. Marte has played in 41 of those games. They made zero effort to improve the outfield situation. the bench has been a joke all year. the use of osuna has been a joke all year. the bullpen, outside of a rivero and nicasio, has been rife with bad decisions.

they have really big decisions to make this offseason. as @Troy Loney astutely pointed out, this roatation is bursting at the seems with potential starters, but virtually none of those starters are a proven commodity. Cole has been shaky. the polish may be off novas turd, taillon is getting tired or hurt, kuhl Williams glasnow keller brault and kingham all deserve to get a look but is it really smart to have a rotation full of rookies?

As this gentleman said earlier, GMNH has gotten the big picture right, but at the same time, he has painted himself into the corner. he has stocked up on major league ready talent at AAA, but he has been loath to give them a shot while the team is contending. so you have the long-term planners pissed and you have the short term win now types pissed.

Postby **columbia** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:55 am

It takes a special talent to alienate both factions.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 11:43 am

The point is that they're competing with teams that have revenues almost double their own, and those teams with resource advantage exploit that. it gives them a natural underdog status that makes winning that much sweeter. So even if they play up their disadvantages a lot by restricting payroll to a level that isn't justified, there's still significant constraints they face that they wealthy organizations don't.

This team was able to derive value from unexpected places, but the other players are too goo and teams have smart people working for them too that can erase those advantages rather quickly. The question is, does the organization have the ability to do that again, or are they going to conclude that those advantages have dried up and have to find other ways to compete.

The Indians have always been my second favorite team. Maybe it's time to cut bait and root for them. Because your above situation applies to them as well, and they have had much better results.

Your hypothetical also falls to pieces when you talk about teams like the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs pre-Epstein, NYM, Blue Jays, Houston, Texas, Nationals, Phillies, etc. all teams that have "double the revenue of the Pirates" and have had little to no success because of it. What, 6 WS titles out of those teams since the free agency era (47 seasons)?

It boils down to talent and the ability / desire to acquire said talent. The Pirates suck at it, plain and simple.