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

[Viva la Ben]

Wasn’t Kang the greatest SS in KBO history?

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Free agent SS as of 2/4/18 per mlb dot com:

Shortstops
Manny Machado (26 years old, 6.2 WAR)
Jose Iglesias (29, 2.5)
Freddy Galvis (29, 1.2) -- Signed 1-year deal with TOR (1/29).
Jordy Mercer (32, 1.0) -- Signed 1-year deal with DET (12/14).
Adeiny Hechavarria (30, 0.4)
Alcides Escobar (32, -0.3)
Tim Beckham (28, -0.5) -- Signed 1-year deal with SEA (1/10).
Eric Sogard (33, -0.8) -- Signed MiLB deal with TOR (12/21).
Troy Tulowitzki (34, N/A) -- Signed 1-year deal with NYY (1/4).

[Morkle]

So it's Machado/Iglesias, or bust.

[Troy Loney]

I'm guessing they are trying to sign Iglesias, but that they are waiting for him to accept a one year deal.

[willeyeam]

i know they were in talks to trade for Ahmed, that would still be rad imo

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I'm guessing they are trying to sign Iglesias, but that they are waiting for him to accept a one year deal.

Iglesias probably wont move until machado moves.

[willeyeam]

I'm guessing they are trying to sign Iglesias, but that they are waiting for him to accept a one year deal.

Iglesias probably wont move until machado moves.

Yeah. As of last week over 50% of FAs remained unsigned. Eff Boras

[Viva la Ben]

Melky Cabrera is a bucco.

[willeyeam]

Championship

[willeyeam]

Well maybe, he's a non roster invite so he has to make the team first

[LITT]

TIL melky Cabrera is still in the mlb

[Freddy Rumsen]

It's hilarious watching the "I heard his name on Sportscenter one time" fans praising the move.

[willeyeam]

People are praising this?

[NailedPenguin]

Tim Williams probably.

[Troy Loney]

Folks should stop reading twitter responses. Nobody cares that they signed Cabrera

[NailedPenguin]

I care that they signed Garth Brooks however.

[slappybrown]

what do the above the line bucco fans in this thread say about this quick hit analysis from Espn dot com:

Pittsburgh Pirates: Trevor Williams' sinker. In his second full season, Williams finished 14-10 with a 3.11 ERA, including a remarkable run over his final 13 starts, when he posted a 1.29 ERA and had eight scoreless outings. He doesn't throw hard or rack up the strikeouts, so we'll see if he can repeat his soft-contact success story. If so, maybe the Pirates have a chance of surprising.

Level of excitement: 1. I get the feeling that no fan base is more ticked off these days than Pittsburgh's -- and with good reason after ownership did nothing (again) following an 82-win season while watching other teams in the NL make moves. Attendance was down almost 500,000 in 2018 even though the team was better, and it might decline again. There are ramifications to keeping your money locked up in a bank vault instead of spending it on talent.

[willeyeam]

Nothing much to argue with there. The Buccos are probably an 85ish win team and have the salary room to sign a big FA and still be near their payroll from 3 years ago so it's frustrating watching them do nothing.

[nocera]

Is this fan base really "ticked off?" I've moved into the entirely "apathetic" stage.

[Troy Loney]

what do the above the line bucco fans in this thread say about this quick hit analysis from Espn dot com:

Pittsburgh Pirates: Trevor Williams' sinker. In his second full season, Williams finished 14-10 with a 3.11 ERA, including a remarkable run over his final 13 starts, when he posted a 1.29 ERA and had eight scoreless outings. He doesn't throw hard or rack up the strikeouts, so we'll see if he can repeat his soft-contact success story. If so, maybe the Pirates have a chance of surprising.

Level of excitement: 1. I get the feeling that no fan base is more ticked off these days than Pittsburgh's -- and with good reason after ownership did nothing (again) following an 82-win season while watching other teams in the NL make moves. Attendance was down almost 500,000 in 2018 even though the team was better, and it might decline again. There are ramifications to keeping your money locked up in a bank vault instead of spending it on talent.

I feel like it's almost a point of pride at this point for the Pirates' management to eschew the FA market. The Pirates should be embarrassed to be operating at the same payroll level as the local NHL team.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I prefer to use the term "insulted"

[slappybrown]

Nothing much to argue with there. The Buccos are probably an 85ish win team and have the salary room to sign a big FA and still be near their payroll from 3 years ago so it's frustrating watching them do nothing.

I'm sorry, I asked only for the above the line fans to weigh in.

Mods, please remove these illegal postings.

[Troy Loney]

For context, MLB annual revenues are double that of the NHL.

[slappybrown]

For context, MLB annual revenues are double that of the NHL.

So what do you think the Pirates payroll should be?

[Troy Loney]

115 to 130 million range.