Pittsburgh Pirates 2021-2022 Offseason Discussion

[Troy Loney]

The 2020 shutdown cost him what would have been his Florida Complex season and he probably should have been in A-ball at some point in 2021, especially if the Pirates wanted to test his hit tool at a pace that better fits with his Rule 5/40-man timeline, which is 2022. Instead it looks like Nolasco will be subject to the slow cooker developmental approach the Pirates seem to be taking with lots of their young players, putting them further away from the big leagues during their Rule 5 year than teams are typically comfortable entertaining with a possible draft pick.

Interesting note in the Rodolfo blurb. Could be how the Pirates plan to manage the massive glut of prospects set to be rule v exposed next year.

[LeopardLetang]

Mmmm nice I needed something to read on this slow day.

That approach might be slightly useful in a few cases but really not really.

[Troy Loney]

Tumblers
Matt Gorski, RF
Jack Herman, RF
Alexander Mojica, 1B
Braxton Ashcraft, RHP
Andy Maldonado, RHP
Wilkin Ramos, RHP
Luis Tejeda, 3B

These guys fell off the main section of the list, but each has a carrying tool that could conceivably help them play their way back onto it. Gorski is athletic and has all kinds of tools. He’s a plus defender in center and has his fans within the org, but he hasn’t hit. Herman has pop but no position and scary swing-and-miss numbers. Mojica is younger and has even more power, but he’s a first baseman with pitch recognition issues and he didn’t perform in Low-A last season. Ashcraft has backend stuff but will miss 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Maldonado has fringy stuff at present and strike-throwing issues; he’s tall and lean and may just need to grow into his frame more. Ramos is tall and thin with a whippy arm action and a puncher’s chance to develop an average secondary or two if he can stay healthy. Tejeda is still a teenager and has power, but he’s not twitchy and he struggled at the club’s stateside complex.

Humble reminder to yours truly that you can't actually scout the box scores.

[LeopardLetang]

I'm pleasantly stunned with their Fraizer love

[Troy Loney]

60. Tsung-Che Cheng, SS
Cheng can play a fine shortstop. His range and footwork are great, while his actions and arm are fine. He has bottom-of-the-scale raw power and even at this website, where we’ve made an effort to stop overlooking smaller players arguably to the point of overcorrection, he lacks what we consider viable physicality for the majors and doesn’t have the frame to support projecting him as anything more than a bench infielder. But Cheng is a fun little player who performed at an elite level in his only dose of pro ball and he has more high-stakes experience than is typical for a player his age, making him an interesting, advanced sleeper.

New life's purpose, to will Cheng and his 5'7 frame to success and shove it to whoever wrote this.

[willeyeam]

I want him to make it to hear Wehner and Walk try and say his name every night

[LeopardLetang]

Some quotes from fangraphs:

Cruz: ...jaw dropping blend of skills, tools, and upside. It’s very rare to find a player with 80 raw, a 70 arm, and plus wheels.

Davis: ...has titanic, strength-driven power and has hit some epic, arching dingers off of scoreboards, and some lasers that get out on a line.

Priester: ...has one of the best-looking breaking balls on the planet, an absolute hammer

EndyRod: ...When asked about it, he confirmed that he meant to bounce the throw “because he saw the shortstop get a late break” and wanted to give him an extra beat to reach the bag

JJones: ... has the best stuff in the system...slider in particular is a doozy, a mid-to-upper-80s boomerang that he already spots well

Nolasco: ... has an Adonis Starling-like physique, much more physical than the typical pro ballplayer

DeVito: ... now sits 94 and has an incredible mid-80s splitter that bottoms out like the elevator on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror...and is a ticket to the back of a big league bullpen

[Troy Loney]

Some quotes from fangraphs:

Cruz: ...jaw dropping blend of skills, tools, and upside. It’s very rare to find a player with 80 raw, a 70 arm, and plus wheels.

Davis: ...has titanic, strength-driven power and has hit some epic, arching dingers off of scoreboards, and some lasers that get out on a line.

Priester: ...has one of the best-looking breaking balls on the planet, an absolute hammer

EndyRod: ...When asked about it, he confirmed that he meant to bounce the throw “because he saw the shortstop get a late break” and wanted to give him an extra beat to reach the bag

JJones: ... has the best stuff in the system...slider in particular is a doozy, a mid-to-upper-80s boomerang that he already spots well

Nolasco: ... has an Adonis Starling-like physique, much more physical than the typical pro ballplayer

DeVito: ... now sits 94 and has an incredible mid-80s splitter that bottoms out like the elevator on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror...and is a ticket to the back of a big league bullpen

Sounds like Davis is not necessarily going to stay at catcher. Which stinks.
Priester has some work to do, that breaking pitch apparently doesn't play as well as it should. i guess it's too easy to read coming out of his hand.
EndyRod, that's interesting about the D hype, he played a lot of first, maybe they were just keeping his workload light?
JJones probably ends up a top 3-5 prospect on this list after this year

[willeyeam]

Really liked what I read about Jones and Diego Castillo

[DigitalGypsy66]

The Pirates hired someone from Fangraphs as a pro scout:

[Troy Loney]

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/deep-leag ... ker-lynch/

Encouraging bit on Brubaker here, changes my thoughts on him a little bit. I thought he might have just been a SSS guy for the first part of 2021, and not a sustainable rotation piece. But this indicates his stuff is playing, and simply moving from a 5 to 4 pitch mix will help a lot, as batters were smashing his changeup to the tune of a 1.000+ OPS.

There is also a thorough analysis on Roansy's three MLB IP. Seems silly to me.

[robbiestoupe]

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/deep-leag ... ker-lynch/

Encouraging bit on Brubaker here, changes my thoughts on him a little bit. I thought he might have just been a SSS guy for the first part of 2021, and not a sustainable rotation piece. But this indicates his stuff is playing, and simply moving from a 5 to 4 pitch mix will help a lot, as batters were smashing his changeup to the tune of a 1.000+ OPS.

There is also a thorough analysis on Roansy's three MLB IP. Seems silly to me.

Brubaker's 4-seam doesn't look all that impressive either, which isn't good.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

All I ask from JT Brubaker is that his turn in the rotation isn't a complete debacle. That is not too much to ask for 1/5th of a major league rotation, is it?

[willeyeam]

Lol at the 90s/00s

[Morkle]

Jason Kendall popping up on that list reminds me of a peedrop in a toilet. Just a "bloop"

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Bonds did some serious work in Pirate uniform

[count2infinity]

TIL I work with Ryan Vogelsong’s college roommate and teammate.

[Troy Loney]

Fits in nicely with the pdt discussion.

Nobody appreciates the sacrifices that mlb team owners are making.

[robbiestoupe]

A 1% return on $1bn is still $10m.

A 100% return on $100 is just $100

[Troy Loney]

I can’t get over how absolutely insane this is on so many levels.

First off, that they would hire an investment banker to do this analysis. That the idea that anyone should/would care about the opportunity costs these rich dadholes are making by OWNING A MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM.

I think just goes to speak about how **** up and brainwashed we are. Remember when trump was feuding with the gold star family and when asked about what he has sacrificed? And he responded about how he employs people. That sums up the ideology of capital in this country. The level of entitlement is amazing. They are as dysfunctional as inbred royals without the excuse of inbreeding

[DigitalGypsy66]

Wasn't there a revenue report that said MLB teams - some, on average, I'm not sure - get $100m in revenue from TV rights etc., before a ticket is even sold?

[robbiestoupe]

It's somewhere in this topic or the MLB topic, yeah. I think $100m is the floor, too.

[Troy Loney]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/heres-an-un ... statistic/

Wow, this is pretty amazing. The Pirates had both the most plate appearances from negative WAR hitters, and the most batters faced for negative WAR pitchers.

[willeyeam]

sounds like a bad strategy?

[Morkle]

Oh cool, DK is back to the our team not his ****.