What I would do as GM at this point

[bbfbl]

I am one of those who is a big believer in building with youth via draft and trade.  However, looking at the progress this team made in the first half of last year, I think to keep any progress moving forward NH needs to continue to sign FA's.  Some people don't like the 1-2 year rentals and I totally get it.  I generally fall in that same camp.  The disappointing year by the core of Alvarez, Cutch, and Walker in 2011 changed my philosophy.  **I am purposely not looking at the avenue for trading for other teams' prospects because we don't know if a team is willing to trade a particular player or what the cost would be for such players.  That would be the ideal situation, but I'm looking solely at FA's because player trades would only speculate the players another team would want in return.**

To me, the future of this organization unfortunately lies in the hands of kids like Taillon, Cole, and Bell developing.  I say that it is unfortunate as I was hoping Pedro and Cutch to have shown that they can be on the verge of stardom by now.  Don't want to get in a huge Cutch debate, but while he is proving to becoming a solid ML'er, he isn't a proven star (yet).  I think by the time Cutch would become a star, the younger core stated earlier will either not be ML ready or be just starting out as rookies.  That would unfortunately mean that Cutch is not on the same developmental timeline and would want out and ask to be traded.  And I'm not completely down on Alvarez as I believe that he has the potential to turn things around in 2012, but his 2011 season plants a serious seed of doubt about his future.

Getting back on track with my thoughts, I think adding more FA's on the short term will help support guys like Cutch and Alvarez perform in 2012 and help possibly bide time for prospect development.  IMO, going forth with the roster as is would already sap the confidence of this team.   Too many holes exist in this existing lineup.

I don't follow the figures as closely as others, but I'm guessing the current 2012 salaries to be around $45-50M.  With that in mind, I would look to drop about $25-27M on 3 particular FA's combined:  Oswalt, Pena, and Edwin Jackson.  I believe these guys would have the best chance to plug some serious holes to keep the team competitive on the short-term.  If these guys have a decent year and the team performs well, attendance will increase and they would be in position later on to decide to whether or not to make a run for the playoffs.  If not, these are some players that should have value and could be flipped for prospects to teams in the playoff hunt.

That's just what I would do.  I would give Jackson and Oswalt 2 year deals and Pena a 1 year deal.  Just me spending other people's money.    Comments and daggers are always welcome.

 

[RJReynolds]

Your key here is "at this point". There are many things I would have done differently this off season to get us to a different point, but we are where we are now. Basically no better, no worse than the 90 loss team we were last year. Still in a holding pattern.

From here, I would like to see them get an Oswalt or Pena for two years. Not big on Jackson...he seems far too hitable even in his good seasons. The problem is that doing this would not make much business sense. This team is already full of one or two year rentals. Adding more will not make the Pirates that much more competitive this year, or next for that matter. Now...had they signed a CJ Wilson and traded Hanrahan for Rizzo and kept Cedeno instead of getting Barmes and maybe offered Doumit $3.5 million to stay...then they would be looking to be in a better position long term and short term. Then I could see them getting a couple of short term rentals and possibly making a run of some sort if the pieces fell right.

But as things stand right now, if I were GM and was saddled with a bunch of youngsters and aging stopgaps, I would just look for bargains in trades and blocked players to add to the overall talent level...and hold my nose most of the year. And I would curse the previous GM who put me in such a position.

RJR

[gorillagogo]

I don't think CJ Wilson would have signed in Pittsburgh under any circumstances. He wanted to pitch for a winning team and he also wanted to play on the West Coast, if possible. He turned down a more lucrative 6 year deal from Miami to sign a 5 year $77M contract with the Angels.

[CentralCABucsFan]

CJ Wilson and Mark Buerhle (and their contracts) are the worse things the Pirates could have considered.  Committing that kind of money and years for pitchers that aren't really #1 starters will cripple the franchise.

I'm all for signing one of Jackson or Oswalt, but for 1-3 years, and only if their price drops.  I'd also rather have D. Lee than Pena.  Pena is too prone to extended slumps and I think we need the righty bat in the short term.

I don't get how keeping Cedeno and Doumit for a year is any different than getting Barmes and Barajas.  I'd prefer Barmes and Barajas, but its somewhat of a sideways move.
I'd trade Hanrahan for Rizzo, maybe.  Rizzo is basically similar to Alvarez in that he can't be counted on this year, but I would do that trade for future years since I don't agree with paying market rates for closers.

In hindsight, I don't see any thing big that we should have done this offseason unless there was a trade out there that we missed out on.  Right now, I'd still rather they put all their eggs in the basket of the best player on the market, Prince Fielder.  He would bring in instant excitement and income and fill the biggest need on the club.  If he really is struggling to find a match, we need to swoop in and make a stab at him.

[gamecckfn]

Why would the Padres trade Rizzo for Hanrahan?

[RJReynolds]

Absolutely agree on Fielder. I liked Wilson and think he will be a very good pitcher of the life of his current contract. He may not be a #1, but he isn't getting paid like one either. I think we have have been able to pry him away for 5 years and $81 million. For someone who will (in my opinion) put up a 130-145 ERA+ over the next 4-5 years, that would be money well spent. Also, he would still be here when Cole and then Taillon show up...making for a potentialy top rotation in MLB.

The Cedeno and Doumit moves would be to save some money for equal production. Pay Cedeno $1.4 million and Doumit $3.5 instead of $9.5 to Barmes and Barajas. Saves $5.6 million that can be used to help pay for Wilson this year or to extend Cutch. That would be another priority for me...sign Cutch to 6 years $60 million. Signing him and Wilson and trading for Rizzo would be a big step for the future, not just the present. Add in the control we have over Alvarez, Cole, Taillon, Walker, Tabata...we would be looking at a tremendous core come 2013 and 2014 at the major league level.

If we can get Fielder, by all means go for it.

RJR

[RJReynolds]

Why would the Padres trade Rizzo for Hanrahan?

They just traded for a guy whose ceiling is Hanrahan. Why not get the real thing instead?

RJR

[gorillagogo]

I think we have have been able to pry him away for 5 years and $81 million.

There's no way he signs in Pittsburgh for that. As I posted earlier, he claims he turned down Miami's 6 year deal for more money in order to sign with his home town Angels.

[ECBucs]

IF I was gm going into this off season I would have wanted to make at least one big splash via a signing or a trade.

This would have the intent of improving the team for 2012 instead of punting or treading water.  The goal would be to win more games, create more excitement and good will among fans.

This would result in increased ticket sales and more revenue and less people (who happen to be big fans of the team) complaining about lack of effort to improve the big league club.

From the outside it is hard to tell what moves are feasible, but some possibilities are:

trading relief pitchers for Rizzo
getting Jed Lowrie from the Red Sox or even marco Scutaro (he was traded to Astros for Melacon
getting a bat like Willingham or Kubel
pitcher like Volstad
getting Bedard
get Doug Slaten
3B Yamaico Navarro for Pounders - think this was good deal
keep Ohlendorff unless certain he is injured
trade Veras for Megehee
keep Maholm if he will sign for 2 years 12 million - perhaps even keep him with option to build depth and look to trade if there is a chance later.
get Steve Lerud back (joke)
kept Jose Ascanio
sign Anderson Hernandez
get Ryan Kelly back (he seems to be in demand as he gets traded every couple of months)
get Todd Redmond back
keep Donnie Veal
get Carroll instead of Barmes for short (could have outbid Twins unless Carrol just didn't want to consider Pirates).
get another starting pitcher: Jackson or Floyd
possibly trade for Chris Ianetto rather than signing Barajas

[bbfbl]

The key point to this thread thread was to address what to do from this point on, not to rehash what the team should have done.  The reason I didn't involve any specific trades is because they can only be based on pure speculation.  Yeah, I would love to acquire Player X or Player Y, but we don't know if such a team is willing to trade that player, and we don't know what that team would want in return.  For all we know the only prospects that team would want is our top prospects, and that would be counter productive to future goals.

I also didn't include unrealistic FA signings.  I don't think there is even the slimmest of chances that Fielder comes to Pgh.  No way, no how.  Players like him want to be on winning teams, and there are much better options for him out there than coming to Pgh.  I also think that if you want to make a FA know that you are serious about winning, you let them know your intentions of signing the other targeted free agents.  I think if you approach them as single moves they are less likely to be interested coming to Pgh.  But if they know they are part of a package idea, I think they would take the team more seriously.  My opinion, of course.

I focus on getting at least 2 SP's because I truly believe SP was more of a reason for the 2nd half collapse last year.  If you look at the SP that was run out in the second half, it was disgraceful.  I would feel much better with a rotation of Oswalt, Bedard, Jackson, Morton (when healthy), and McDonald.  A rotation like that would give them the chance to compete nearly every night.

Unfortunately for the offense, a lot of the improvement is going to have to come from within.  Pedro HAS to turn things around.  He and Cutch have to be the centerpiece of this offense.  Walker, Pressley, and Tabata have to improve and be consistent.  Anything that guys like Barmes and Barajas throw in will be a bonus.  1B looks like it will be a hole again.  Pena is not my ideal choice, but he may be able to provide a little increase in production from that spot on a short term basis. 

[TNbucs]

If I were GM these would be my priorities:

1.  Sign Soler or Cespedes--it's the best way to spend money on amateur talent given the new CBA.

2.  Offer Jackson 20% over the internal value on a 3-year deal recognizing the need to overpay but keeping it at 3 years to limit the risk.  If Jackson says no, then I'd do the same for Oswalt on a 1-year deal.  If they both say no, then I'd see what kind of prospects the Sox want for Floyd, the Rays want for Davis, and whether the Yankees are interested in trading Burnett or the Astros Wandy for salary relief.  This is where I'd go to internal value to see which option is best.

3.  Have Alvarez take plenty of reps at 1B in case our 1B platoon flops while d'Arnaud, Mercer, or Navarro earn their way to playing time.  I think there is a fair chance that one of the above combos will end up being a better option than Alvarez at 3B and a platoon at 1B (though I like Evans).

[Cutch is a Boss]

I would do three things.
1. Hire a personal hitting coach for Pedro
2. Hire a personal trainer for Pedro
3. Hire a personal nutritionalist for Pedro

Have these 3 baby sit him the entire offseason to ensure he shows up at spring training in the best possible position to succeed.  As mention by others in a previous thread, I agree as El Toro goes so do the Buccos.  I think Pedro breaking out will have much bigger impact on the 2012 season than anyone they could've had a realistic chance of signing in the offseason.  This was a team that was tied for 1st late into July and I don't expect a regression from that.

Clint, Rod, & Erik should all at least hold serve for their replacements.

Nasty Nate should be an upgrade over Diaz & his massive helmet.

McGhee/Jones platoon should be more productive than Overbay (it would be hard not to).

Tabata had some injury & So. Slump issues, I expect a higher WAR from him.

I expect both JMac & Electric stuff to improve & at the very least repeat last years production.

Karstens is a guy that everyone assumes will regress, still can't get past that "long relief" lable.  And while I'll admit I'm skeptical that he can repeat that 3.0 WAR, I will say it wouldn't surprise me if he came close. He's one guy on the squad that you can absolutely say has developed his game & became a better player each year.

I have no hope for Kevin in the #5 hole however. Lincoln or Locke will have to step up.

My point of all this rant being, we basically have the same team that was in 1st for a while last year. The thing that will put them over the top will be Pedro, not a FA.

[ECBucs]

right now I would go for Wilson Betemit and Edwin Jackson.  If Jackson was priced to high then try and trade for Floyd.

If it took McFearson, Lincoln and a low level prospect (Gonzalez?) that would be ok.  

[CAfan]

I would:

1) sign soler
2) sign cespedes if the value is under 8 mil annually
3) sign Pena
4) sign Edwin Jackson
5) explore deals that move correia even if we eat 1mil
6) explore deals that move G. Jones
7) Be aggressive in extending cutch, walker, and McDonald
give root sports a call and see if you can do anything to help improve their broadcasts

[McCutchenIsTheTruth]

1. Suspend and gather any resources necessary to resign Cutch.  Aim for two years, but get at least one.  That one year extra (2016), could be a huge year for the Pirates.  That will presumably be Cole's 3rd full year and Taillon's 2nd full year.  Marte and Sanchez should be in their prime, and guys from both the 2012 and 2013 draft could be ready to help depending on who they are.  Overpay if necessary, but not by too much.  I'm talking an extra 2-3 million a year.

2. Trade Hanrahan.  He's great, but he's a reliever, and he's expendable if we can get a young piece that will help from 2014-2016.  Look for a SS or 1B, or even a catcher.  Love Tony, but depth never hurts.

3. Don't trade any of the farm and go out and play some baseball games.

4. 2014 will be the year to sign free agents and trade prospects.  We aren't sure what our holes are right now, so we need to wait to properly address them.  For example, we might look like we need a 1B, but Dickerson could break out this year and become the next Brandon Belt, etc.