2020-2021 Pittsburgh Pirates Off-Season Thread

[Dickie Dunn]

It appears that Josh Bell has figured it out

Heard Walk on the radio pregame talking to the hitting coach about Bell. Going into this game is exit velocity was at 94.1 vs 90.0 last season. Launch angle is up, Barrel % is at 14.8% vs. 7.0% last season, and his Soft/Medium/Hard breakdown is 11.4/45.5/43.2 versus 19.5/46.5/34.0 for his career. So yea, it seems like he's figured something out for sure.

No boys, no he didnt

Getting the best corner outfield prospect in the 2011 draft in the 2nd round, convincing him to skip college despite sending a letter to the commissioner’s office saying he was 100% going to school, and then watching him turn into an absolute **** fielding 1B who puts up dream numbers for half a season out of five years before getting shipped off for a 19 year old no one ever heard of and Geoff Hartlieb 2.0 is the perfect Pirates story.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

84 rbi in before the all star break and finished with 114 in 2019. How is that even possible

[willeyeam]

Ask bobby abreu

[faftorial]

84 rbi in before the all star break and finished with 114 in 2019. How is that even possible

Had to be roids.

[Freddy Rumsen]

[Dickie Dunn]

This might have been discussed previously but in new to me news, per my buddy who is back with the Marlins, revenue sharing was suspended for last season due to the lack of attendance league wide. With no game day revenue of their own, minimal players of interest to inspire merchandise sales, a **** local TV deal, and no revenue sharing I would have to imagine that the Pirates financial situation in 2020 was not great.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Captain Glass strikes again

[willeyeam]

Lol

[Troy Loney]

This might have been discussed previously but in new to me news, per my buddy who is back with the Marlins, revenue sharing was suspended for last season due to the lack of attendance league wide. With no game day revenue of their own, minimal players of interest to inspire merchandise sales, a **** local TV deal, and no revenue sharing I would have to imagine that the Pirates financial situation in 2020 was not great.

Every team lost money, the pirates lost less money than anyone else except probably the a’s and rays. That said, the pirates are likely still seeking to shed money because of how dire their immediate chances are, and if you are going to tank, it’s best to tank properly and get the #1 pick. Bell had downside risk, where his salary could jump to 8 figures after this season, where that makes him an even weaker trade chip. So dumping him now for a body and a potential upside prospect makes some sense.

They are definitely going to gut this team completely. The 2021 roster will basically just be a 4 month audition for trade deadline for everyone not named Keller and Hayes.

[willeyeam]

[willeyeam]

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Plenty of reasons to be skeptical of this move, specifically, I am skeptical of both that first name and that last name.

[Troy Loney]

For context, the largest bonus was ~2.6mm, for Luis Heredia.

[Troy Loney]

That said, the Heredia bonus was a different era. Cherington seems to know what he's doing in the international market, it's an open question when demonstrating competence materially impacts the MLB team performance. It took NH about 5 years of being a competent / actual GM to drag the Pirates out of their 20 year miasma. While BC isn't inheriting a post Littlefield tire fire, a full takedown and rebuild will take at least 5 years, it's of course shorter for teams that can spend money on payroll. But that's not a luxury we have. I'd say we are entering year three of the project, he got a free tank season last year really, I think 2021 will be the worst actual ML team, basically guaranteeing one of the 3 worst records, likely a cake walk to the 1st overall pick in back to back seasons. 2022 results will depend on the progress of top prospects, at this particular moment, it seems hard to imagine the 2022 team, basically taking the current roster and axing guys like Frazier, Taillon and Musgrove wont be worse. But I think this will actually be the worst team of this strip down.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

It is hard to give a specific timeframe on when this current run of suck will end. I don't think anyone can reasonably put a date on it until there are true impact players in the minor league system. During the GMNH era, you could reasonably assume that Cutch would be a star, but he would need bona fide major league talent around him. I'm not ready to do with Rocker yet for obvious reasons.

Hayes looks like he is going to be good, but it remains to be seen if he is Cutch good or just good. If he is just good, then the likelihood of the pirates winning during his tenure with the team is low. If Hayes turns out to be All Star/MVP contention good, and Keller is good (or at least doesn't get multiple arm injuries, testicular cancer, and a hip injury) maybe the time table accelerates. But I doubt that will happen.

[faftorial]

I hope Musgrove is gone by spring training. He sucks.

[willeyeam]

I agree with ktk however am worried with the timeline of things. it appears GMBC is loading up the A level team at the moment, and Hayes and Keller are here now. I think when the next wave of talent arrives, if it arrives, they may be gone?

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I think when the next wave of talent arrives, if it arrives, they may be gone?

this is the way

[Dickie Dunn]

This team sucks but I'm not going to whine about spending millions on a top ranked international prospect. It's at least nice to see them spend money on something.

[King Colby]

I agree with ktk however am worried with the timeline of things. it appears GMBC is loading up the A level team at the moment, and Hayes and Keller are here now. I think when the next wave of talent arrives, if it arrives, they may be gone?

I think so too. The timeline doesn't seem to make much sense. The Rays would be cool with this though and get tremendous value for those guys to keep the pipeline full.

Agree with Troy that this will be the worst major league season but I think thats because they're younger guys who might become good (just good) and win a few more games next year or the year after.

Though I still expect dead last in 2021, bottom 5 in 2022, bottom 10 in 2023.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

This team sucks but I'm not going to whine about spending millions on a top ranked international prospect. It's at least nice to see them spend money on something.

I agree and honestly, I didn't have a problem with GMNH spending on that money in the early 2010s on high school pitchers. Sure, that strategy was an abject failure considering that notable players drafted based on that strategy include Steson Allie (only first basement in the history of baseball that was able to throw 100 mph?), Zack Von Rosenburg (national champion punter) and Hayden hurst (NFL tight end), and brooks pounders (funny name, bad pitcher). But just because the pirates did a crap job of picking who to draft or did a crap job developing these guys doesn't mean it was a bad idea.

[willeyeam]

I mean it makes sense - he doesn't see us competing for 3-4 more years. Which sucks but it is what it is. I suppose what I'm getting at is I wouldn't be shocked to see Keller and Hayes shipped off for a hefty ransom of prospects soon

[robbiestoupe]

Source of the post This team sucks but I'm not going to whine

ah man you had me all excited for a second

[Dickie Dunn]

Source of the post This team sucks but I'm not going to whine

ah man you had me all excited for a second

Hope springs eternal. I look forward to never seeing this kid play above AA.

[King Colby]

Settlements: Musgrove 4.45M, frazier 4.3M