2018-2019 Pittsburgh Pirate Baseball Club Off-Season Thread of Despair

[Troy Loney]

hmm, actual baseball analysis that doesn't involve whining about money and/or ownership. not sure how to respond to this but ill give it a shot:

I see the reasoning behind the decision and it make sense. but by the same token, starting pitching depth is a luxury, and this rotation has two dudes that have had history of injuries (Musgrove, taillon). I get that nova wasn't all that good. but we have no idea if kingham or someone else could be as effective as nova.

Yeah, I don't agree with this either. It's why trying to horde assets is dumb. The risk here is that they put Kingmam on waivers too soon, he's claimed on waivers and becomes a starter elsewhere. Hanson ended up doing this, but then he ended up being just a fringe major leaguer anyway. If a guy hasn't established himself as a regular major leagues by age 25/26, you don't have to make roster decisions in order to not lose the guy.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

yes, but the ghost of jose bautista haunts GMNH

so we have to deal with this ish annually.

[willeyeam]

How about let's not do anything like Sean, Cole https://twitter.com/BrinkPG/status/1096 ... 86752?s=19

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Open ended question:

Looking at this lineup, even when including polanco, what exactly is the plan for this offense? I mean it goes without saying that there ain’t much power in the lineup, but it really seems like this lineup kind of just happened without much thought. It is almost like, “well these are the guys we have so lets roll with it.”

[willeyeam]

"let's hope the staff holds them to 3 or less and we have a shot"

[Troy Loney]

Open ended question:

Looking at this lineup, even when including polanco, what exactly is the plan for this offense? I mean it goes without saying that there ain’t much power in the lineup, but it really seems like this lineup kind of just happened without much thought. It is almost like, “well these are the guys we have so lets roll with it.”

One of Bell, Moran or Kang will need emerge as a middle of the order pillar. If Frazier can’t handle leadoff duties, Dickerson should get another shot. And if Frazier plays himself out of a starting role, Kramer needs to win the starting job.

I think they will have a hot streak at some point during the season which then convinces everyone that they are for real and the team chases that hit streak indefinitely. So essentially, it’s just rolling over from last year. Unless of course somehow bell and Moran become 800 plus iOS guys

[willeyeam]

Moran lol

[LITT]

Moran lol

[DigitalGypsy66]

I read somewhere that "Moran worked on his quickness and range" this offseason. What meaningful improvements can be made at this stage in his life?

[Morkle]

I read somewhere that "Moran worked on his quickness and range" this offseason. What meaningful improvements can be made at this stage in his life?

Steroids, and even then - he's probably already used performance enhancers.

[shafnutz05]

"let's hope the staff holds them to 3 or less and we have a shot"

lol, pretty much. If the starter gives up 3+ runs in the first five or six innings you can probably turn the set off.

[willeyeam]

On a serious note I have a good idea what their plan is, I just don't quite agree with it. They're banking on a very good staff (I agree the staff will be above average, rotation through the 9th). They're also banking on Bell breaking out, Polanco coming back soon and being 100%, Kang to be his old self, and Dickerson to repeat what he did last year. I can see maybe two of those happening.. the stars would really have to align for them to succeed. Not that they can't, but everything has to go right.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

The problem with the lineup isnt that the options that they are banking on are *bad* it is just that they aren’t, in fact, good. Even if polanco bounces back I’m not sure he is good enough to be a top tier threat in the middle of the lineup. Even if Dickerson repeats and Frazier follows through with his 2018 performance and bell is better, i dont know if that lineup is enough of a threat.

What is more concerning to me though is that there isnt a lot of hitting in the short term minor league pipeline with the exception of Hayes. Hayes is the reason that i dont care if jung ho or Moran are any good, becuase Hayes is more or less the only interesting position prospect in the higher levels of the system.

[willeyeam]

Tucker is starting to intrigue me

[Troy Loney]

The problem with the lineup isnt that the options that they are banking on are *bad* it is just that they aren’t, in fact, good. Even if polanco bounces back I’m not sure he is good enough to be a top tier threat in the middle of the lineup. Even if Dickerson repeats and Frazier follows through with his 2018 performance and bell is better, i dont know if that lineup is enough of a threat.

What is more concerning to me though is that there isnt a lot of hitting in the short term minor league pipeline with the exception of Hayes. Hayes is the reason that i dont care if jung ho or Moran are any good, becuase Hayes is more or less the only interesting position prospect in the higher levels of the system.

I think Kramer could be good, and tucker should still make an impact when he reaches the big club. It also seems like he bulked up some finally. Craig, Martin and Reynolds all need to take big leaps this year, but all have potential.

[Troy Loney]

https://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/list/#tab:overall

If the Padres can afford Machado with a revenue stream close to that of the Pirates'. The Pirates could have afforded Machado, they just choose not to do that. This team needs new ownership and I think that the press lackeys should be pummeling the FO with these questions everyday. And while they don't have access to the financials, they can just point to the Forbes valuation of the team. They were purchased in 1996 for 92mm and the team is now worth more than a billion.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

the thing is, the pirates don't need to go as far as signing machado, they just need to do something, anything even remotely resembling an attempt to win and the fans will respond favorably.

[dodint]

I don't even get mad. They had Cutch in his prime and did zippo with it. One guy won't make a difference, the culture needs to change.

[Troy Loney]

I think the frustrating part is that the Pirate mentality won out. The days of Jason Werth getting 100 million in FA is over. The Pirates have so bought in to their FA-Bad mentality that they have completely blindfolded themselves. So while Machado is a bad example because he just got a ton of money, the FA market should no longer be treated as the enemy.

[willeyeam]

Nutting selling would probably be the biggest sports celebration in Pittsburgh outside of championship parades.