2024 Off-Season Thread

[Wildwoodcoach]

Oviedo has to prove himself after Tommy John.

[3pirates3]

https://www.mlb.com/news/andrew-kittred ... s-contract

[Bobster]

https://x.com/AriA1exander/status/1877399569169895820

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ca01.shtml

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pir ... 2501090081

https://x.com/jonmorosi/status/1877405046096150984

Surprised they didn't try and bring Borucki back. Maybe they still will. Welcome aboard Caleb!

Caleb Ferguson appears on the surface to be a good signing. With the lack of lefty pitching on the roster I am surprised the Pirates are thinking about stretching him out in ST to see if he could start. He would appear to be an asset to the bullpen. Also I would not be surprised if Borucki would sign a minor league contract with an invitation to ST. Since he was out the majority of 2024 I can’t see the Pirates offering him major league contract. Even with a minor league contract they can monitor him in ST to see if he is free from any injuries.

I'm not excited. Looks like a typical Pirates lower tier FA signing. In his best seasons (2020, 2022) he averaged less than an inning per appearance. Career high innings is 60.1, so transitioning to a starter appears unlikely. Combined ERA last year was an unimpressive 4.64. His control isn't bad but it's not good either. Combining walks with an average of about a hit per inning and his WHIP of 1.491 last year was worse than Quinn Priester and Ryder Ryan. It was even worse than Bednar's WHIP in his awful season. Hopefully, he'll be a serviceable reliever with a mix of good and bad outings. I don't expect much more than that.

[Doc]

Surprised they didn't try and bring Borucki back. Maybe they still will. Welcome aboard Caleb!

Caleb Ferguson appears on the surface to be a good signing. With the lack of lefty pitching on the roster I am surprised the Pirates are thinking about stretching him out in ST to see if he could start. He would appear to be an asset to the bullpen. Also I would not be surprised if Borucki would sign a minor league contract with an invitation to ST. Since he was out the majority of 2024 I can’t see the Pirates offering him major league contract. Even with a minor league contract they can monitor him in ST to see if he is free from any injuries.

I'm not excited. Looks like a typical Pirates lower tier FA signing. In his best seasons (2020, 2022) he averaged less than an inning per appearance. Career high innings is 60.1, so transitioning to a starter appears unlikely. Combined ERA last year was an unimpressive 4.64. His control isn't bad but it's not good either. Combining walks with an average of about a hit per inning and his WHIP of 1.491 last year was worse than Quinn Priester and Ryder Ryan. It was even worse than Bednar's WHIP in his awful season. Hopefully, he'll be a serviceable reliever with a mix of good and bad outings. I don't expect much more than that.

That's what makes him the perfect Pirates signing. He'll help the club meet it's unspoken goal of mediocrity.

[UtahPirate2]

Oviedo has to prove himself after Tommy John.

In all the guesswork articles that keep the winter months active with baseball stuff, I continue to be amazed at how Mike Burrows is completely forgotten. I think it was significant that he got the September call up even though it was just for a few innings. I'm sure it depends on ST, but I see him with a shot at #4 starter and would think Oviedo is destined for AAA to take some time to get back to normal after TJ. Not sure about Ferguson being stretched out, but he may be this year's version of Ortiz to start the year.

[Bobster]

Burrows has pitched very little over the last two years. He’ll need to build his innings up in AAA this year.

[fjk090852-7]

Just a guess, but I think the Pirates choices for a corner outfielder are the following players: Verdugo, Grichuk, Hayes, Winker and as a long shots Laureano or Bader. Currently there have not been many rumors as to where these free agents may end up, but as long as they remain on the open market their asking price may decrease. I am sure many fans will be disappointed if one of these players get signed by the Pirates, but at this time the high end players have been signed by other teams.