Fifth Avenue Forum

Since games in Spring Training are beginning times for the season thread.

Put your guesses as to win-loss record and I'll try and collate them in this post.

Freddy Rumsen - 78-84
willeyeam - 85-77
count2infinity - 90-72
KtK - 79-83
shafnutz05 - 77-85
Ad@am - 75-87
Morkle - 76-86
Troy Loney - 80-82
Beveridge - 73-89
DigitalGypsy - 75-87
iamjs - 85-79

I think they should be a few games better than last year's team.

85-77

90-72

Source: RHP Rookie Davis has reached an agreement with the Pirates for a minor league deal with invite to Big League camp.

https://twitter.com/EmilyCWaldon/status ... 9622019073

what a baseball name. that dude was born to throw 100 mph

79-83

I’m going full wannstedt on this season and punting on this season before it even sets started. Things that can happen for everyone to be excited about 2020:

1. Kebryan hayes gets meaningful time in September.

2. Mitch Keller gets meaningful time at some point

3. Josh bell gets good. His fangraphs war least season was 0.9, 17th out of 24 qualified first basemen. Maybe this team has a chance if they add a bonafide bat to the middle of the lineup.

Interesting question:

This is the last guaranteed year in Marte’s contract; he has a team option of about $11 million in 2020 and $12 in 2021. Does he get traded at the deadline?

kenneth,

the Pirates won 82 games last year, do you think they overperformed or is your prediction a result of the rest of the division improving and not getting to play the AL Central in 2019?

This is the last guaranteed year in Marte’s contract; he has a team option of about $11 million in 2020 and $12 in 2021. Does he get traded at the deadline?

I'd hope no. He's well worth it compared to JHay or Cervelli at 10-11 mil. But I could see them pulling the trigger on an overwhelming offer, because it's a very team friendly contract. It would ruin any relationship with what is left of the fanbase.

77-85.

I think take a slight step back based on the following items in no particular order

-Trevor Williams will regress
-this isnt a deep starting rotation
-the division is better
-i think they did indeed over perform.
-based on their inaction in the offseason, i find it unlikely that they will make a meaningful impact at the trade deadline.

75-87

Dumb title.

76-86. The rotation is going to be touted as the bright spot, but they'll be average, and with no impact scoring, they'll regress and kick the can down the road.

Side bet; 11-4: over or under?

Under the 11-4.

I think they have an 80-82 win floor, which I find encouraging, but also frustrating as they aren't doing anything to raise the floor or push their ceiling. The division getting better is also going to squeeze them and should the Cardinals and Reds improve significantly, that would work to lower the floor. (there is a difference between improving on paper and actually improving, it is possible that these moves by the reds and cardinals don't actually do much to improve their team from 2018).

As with every year, they have a lot of questions, and need the majority of them to turn out right for them. I think they can count on the following:

OF production - Marte and Dickerson are productive assets, Chisenhall and Cabrera will be fine in Polanco's absence and can act as insurance should Polanco go off the rails. Overall, with LF and CF covered, they should be fine.
Catcher - Diaz's batted ball numbers back up his WAR and OPS, he should be fine should Cervelli be injury riddled again.
Starting rotation - I'm less concerned about some questions marks in the 5th spot than others. Liriano could even step into that role if needed because it's a spot where they will only be asking a guy to be able to get through the 5th inning to hand it over to the bullpen in the 6th inning of a close game.
Bullpen - Crick will likely be less effective, but Rodriguez's peripherals back up his 2018 breakout. If Brault doesn't win the rotation spot, he made some adjustments to his delivery that should improve his control and allow him to fill a role on the staff. The Kela/Vazquez back end gives them some space to allow the other pieces to work themselves out.

Questions:
The four IF spots. Bell has to not be **** shitty first baseman and hit like he belongs in the majors. Frazier needs to prove he's an everyday player. Gonzalez needs to back up the random scouting reports the Pirates had on him that made him a target to acquire. Moran needs to add power without sacrificing anything from his average and OBP.

73 - 89

i would just like to go on record again and state Diaz is better than Cervelli

https://triblive.com/sports/nine-inning ... -chairman/

Does anyone even want to take a stab at this?

https://triblive.com/sports/nine-inning ... -chairman/

Does anyone even want to take a stab at this?

I got halfway through and had to stop.

while he speaks 90% total BS this quote was somewhat interesting

but he has a strong belief that if you have an overweight with one player in the payroll and an imbalanced payroll, that you have a much more challenging team dynamic, a much more challenging clubhouse dynamic,

I almost want to say the opposite would be true in the Pirates case. The players have pretty much publicly complained every deadline they don't do anything, so splurging might get them fired up. I do wonder if you play for a historically cheap team and someone is signed for $20+ mil if the pressure of being the savior and other players resenting you for making 5x more than them might lead to some weird clubhouse chemistry

barf

The expectation of the fan base should be that we put a competitive team on the field that is built to win. That’s what their expectations deserve to be. Frankly, I think that a seven-game improvement last year was a meaningful step forward, and we are absolutely positioned to take another meaningful step forward and get us back into that range where we have a very good shot at playoffs and, once you get into the playoffs, of moving down the pike.

lolz

There is an excitement building that you would hope carries over to that number (attendance). I’m starting to hear, and you’re starting to hear how much excitement there is for this team. There is a lot of engagement and excitement around this young team.

EXCITEMENT IS BUILDING

I can get behind this. MiLB players make less than minimum wage and most live with host families through the summer

In this case, I think it’s critical that we really do look at how we treat our minor league players. I think it’s important that we treat them as the professional athletes that they are. I think it’s important that we find, whether it’s a living wage, whether it’s nutrition, whether it’s the facilities that are provided to them by their minor league operators, all of those have fallen behind the standards that I think are critical.

I hate the term living wage and I wish it would die in a fire.

Though I do agree they are way underpaid. I have a friend who has been a host family in Charleston, WV for a long time. They really enjoy it and got to be real good friends with Jameson Taillon's family.

while he speaks 90% total BS this quote was somewhat interesting

but he has a strong belief that if you have an overweight with one player in the payroll and an imbalanced payroll, that you have a much more challenging team dynamic, a much more challenging clubhouse dynamic,

I almost want to say the opposite would be true in the Pirates case. The players have pretty much publicly complained every deadline they don't do anything, so splurging might get them fired up. I do wonder if you play for a historically cheap team and someone is signed for $20+ mil if the pressure of being the savior and other players resenting you for making 5x more than them might lead to some weird clubhouse chemistry

That was a part of the major problem of the Littlefield years. Except he would sign over the hill guys to bad contracts and then they'd be a cancer/bad influence on the younger players. #welcometohell

my brother worked with Victor Martinez's host family when he was with the Scrappers. They usually end up being great experiences. every time V-Mart is in Cleveland he hooks him up.. but come on, pay them enough to afford an apartment or provide some housing for the guys.