2019 Pittsburgh Pirates Season Thread

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:01 pm

Clint Hurdle has been relieved of his duties.

Postby **willeyeam** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:03 pm

Had to be done. A little bittersweet, the only manager since I was 3 years old that I've seen take my Buccos to the postseason.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:05 pm

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:07 pm

So what was that nonsense from earlier in the week? Also, **** HUNTINGTON.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:15 pm

Postby **NailedPenguin** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:25 pm

So what was that nonsense from earlier in the week?

Pittsburgh sports media

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:43 pm

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:54 pm

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:57 pm

Good to know that Blass’ last broadcast will have to deal with this. Did they consult with Steve Peterson before making that move?

Postby **iamjs** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:14 pm

If I was still getting paid by the Pirates and no longer had to coach that team, I'd have that same look on my face.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:37 pm

I’ll believe it when I see it. That would require GMNH to go against everything he’s done for a decade here.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 6:52 pm

I am not a hurdle apologist. If the real reason behind this move was “our relief pitchers are punching each other” than so be it. The on field performance has way, way more to do with crappy player development, not game day decisions.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 7:27 pm

The whole Vazquez thing throws the team into quite a maelstrom. I think the right move would probably be to dump Huntington as well then do a full rebuild. Trade bell, marte and musgrove now, try and squeeze some value from polanco and the relievers during the course of 2020, throw Hayes and tucker out in 2020, gotta see what they have in these guys.

Considering the other option is to bring in two actual starters and a back end bullpen piece this offseason, might as well be honest.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 8:17 pm

Cleaning house all the way up to Nutting would be the best move, but that didn’t happen. I guess Nutting doesn’t want to pay two people not to work for him or break a new GM in on how things work for the Pirates.

It’s a shame, it really is. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that I doubt the Pirates will win another World Series in my lifetime. At this point, and Nutting’s plan to pass the franchise down to his kids, I doubt my kids will see the Buccos win in their lifetimes.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 7:20 am

Good to know that Blass’ last broadcast will have to deal with this. Did they consult with Steve Peterson before making that move?

This was my thought. They really couldn't wait until after the last game of the effing season? Was there a need to do this then?

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:19 am

Speaking of the Nutting, here is a gr8 "Nutting is cheap and doesn't give two shts about the fans" anecdote:

Went to the game on Saturday. I had $50 of gift cards for the team store so I decided to buy myself a new hat.

While browsing, the kangaroo and kangaroo's gf noticed that it was fan appreciation day in the team store and all jerseys, majestic, and under armour apparel were 50% off. Pretty gr8, eh? Because even under armour t shirts are really expensive. So I go and look at the UA t shirts and notice that they the cost is $39.99 per the tag on the shirt. keep in mind that this is one of those sticker tags that goes on top of a tag that it usually placed on the original price during a markdown. So I say to myself, that doesn't sound right, what kind of normal t shirt is marked down to $39.99? So I looked closer, and could see through the tag that the original price was $34.99. Those dadholes actually marked up a tshirt by $5 so that it could be discounted 50% off. what a ballsy, low rent, jagoff move to pull on fans that had to suffer through a 90 loss season. especially under the guise of "fan appreciation"

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:24 am

I can't type up a response that defines my distaste for this franchise. KtK's post is not even surprising to me anymore, it's to be expected.

Postby **Morkle** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:40 am

The team is dead to me, imo. I'll only continue griping about their moves, but out of sight, out of mind. I have no desire to go there, support them, or really watch them on TV anymore.

I wouldn't even consider changing until they clean house top to bottom.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:49 am

No mention of Hoka Hey in this column, so it shouldn't trigger anyone. It's a good read:

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2019 ... nchise-dk/

My guess is that Nutting and his various corporate entities donate to many of the politicians in Pennsylvania. That's one reason why no one of consequence speaks out about how the franchise has been run into the ground. The other reason is they have bigger fish to fry.

Postby **RonnieFranchise** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:51 am

I already didn’t go this season. Did not really follow the season except when Bell made things interesting for awhile. Might have tuned to a few games if I became aware that it was close late.

Nutting and Dan Snyder should go pump each other. Hell at least Snyder apparently cares, he’s just utterly clueless.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:00 am

No mention of Hoka Hey in this column, so it shouldn't trigger anyone. It's a good read:

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2019 ... nchise-dk/

My guess is that Nutting and his various corporate entities donate to many of the politicians in Pennsylvania. That's one reason why no one of consequence speaks out about how the franchise has been run into the ground. The other reason is they have bigger fish to fry.

I started reading it and couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.

I am of the opinion that Hurdle and Searage are the main culprits. Huntington is not good, but I'm not sure how it's NH's fault that they messed up Glasnow. I think the Cole trade was all NH, but that was short term vs long term thing. and Musgrove has pitched two good seasons here, and Cole will be a 200M contract man next year.

I know that trading Glasnow looks like an NH thing, but I can't imagine that trade didn't go through without Hurlde's blessing. I don't think NH trades the guy unless Searage and Hurdle have no clue that this is what they were giving up.They are two oafs that had no capacity for adapting to the recent changes in the game. NH didn't give them a ton to work with, but they had Glasnow for three seasons and couldn't get anything from him, he was a stud basically upon moving to Tampa.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:06 am

Dejan's argument - and he does take a while to get there - is it's time for political force to be used in getting Nutting to sell. Evidently, this happened in Milwaukee a few years ago to get the Selig family out of ownership. Basically, dragged him and his family through public testimonies until they sold the team to the current owner, who seems to actually care about winning and building a team the city supports.

Postby **iamjs** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:12 am

The team is dead to me, imo. I'll only continue griping about their moves, but out of sight, out of mind. I have no desire to go there, support them, or really watch them on TV anymore.

I wouldn't even consider changing until they clean house top to bottom.

I went to one game this year. My sister and her husband came to town for our birthday. Neither of them had been to the park before, so he agreed to buy tickets. We did have decent seats and did at least get to see a Skyblast night. How much did I spend at the park that night? Zero.

Friend of mine said tickets were going for $4 after fees on Stubhub yesterday. If you wanted to sit lower level, there was stuff near the dugouts going for $12. That was by far the cheapest that I've seen tickets being resold.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:19 am

TL, your argument about Glasnow seems reasonable, but if you zoom out you'll see that there's an issue in getting guys to be successful at the ML level. Prospects tend to do rather well until they hit AAA and sometimes the major league level, and it didn't start or end with Glasnow.

I think it has to do with having "stuff" to get guys out and to be successful as a hitter only getting you so far. Once you hit the upper levels, you need advanced scouting and more of the strategic side of things to be successful.