2024 Off-Season Thread

[Doc]

Pirates just hired Danield Vogelbach as "an assistant to the hitting department." I didn't know they had a hitting department. You couldn't tell by watching the games. But Vogelbach's .186 BA last year must have convinced Cherington that he had a wealth of knowledge to impart about hitting.
https://www.si.com/mlb/pirates/news/pit ... -assistant

Proof once again that wining isn’t the priority.

[3pirates3]

https://www.espn.com.au/mlb/story/_/id/ ... al-red-sox

[Surgnbuck]

That is one tremendous deal Bregman landed.

[Dutton]

I'm probably clutching at straws, but I see a benefit to Horwitz's injury. Even if our new first baseman is healthy, we'll need someone to play against lefty pitching. I've already read that Triolo is one candidate. Joey Bart should also be given a lot of time at 1B in ST to learn the position. Endy Rodriguez is probably the better defensive catcher, and 1B gives Bart a spot in the lineup vs. lefties. It wouldn't hurt to see Henry Davis see time at 1B either. We have an opportunity to teach a bunch of righty hitters how to play 1B. Let's not waste the chance.

Speaking of wasting chances, Nick Yorke and Billy Cook would've been solid choices but the inexplicable addition of Adam Frazier has, barring injury, cost them their spot on the 26-man roster. Gets my vote for dumbest move of the off-season.

[3pirates3]

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pir ... 2502130050

[Bobster]

Joe Starkey wrote a scathing article today in the PG about the Pirates offseason. titled, "Bad news Pirates outdid themselves on Day 1."

Some excerpts:
It’s the blooper reel that never ends, my friends, and the Pirates got started bright and early this year, confirming Wednesday that their prized offseason acquisition has only one functional arm.

[Cherington] said the team knew of Horwitz’s chronic issues when it traded for him in December, which might prompt one to ask, “Why did you trade for him, then?” But everybody knows the answer.

All together now ... because we’re the Pirates.

Last July, the Pirates traded for their alleged cleanup hitter of the future only to release him a few months later after realizing that he doesn’t know how to play baseball.

Look around the diamond, and this is what you might see on a given day: a one-armed first baseman, a permanently injured third baseman, a shortstop who isn't a shortstop, a center fielder who is a shortstop, a right fielder who’s a left fielder, and a left fielder who’s practically as old as Clint Hurdle and whose biggest hit in recent memory was slapping a rival player in the face over a fantasy football dispute.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old Pham played for three teams last season and batted .248 with nine home runs in 440 at-bats. But at least he’s functional, which is more than you can say for the new first baseman.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe ... 2502130056

[Ecbucs]

Joe Starkey wrote a scathing article today in the PG about the Pirates offseason. titled, "Bad news Pirates outdid themselves on Day 1."

Some excerpts:
It’s the blooper reel that never ends, my friends, and the Pirates got started bright and early this year, confirming Wednesday that their prized offseason acquisition has only one functional arm.

[Cherington] said the team knew of Horwitz’s chronic issues when it traded for him in December, which might prompt one to ask, “Why did you trade for him, then?” But everybody knows the answer.

All together now ... because we’re the Pirates.

Last July, the Pirates traded for their alleged cleanup hitter of the future only to release him a few months later after realizing that he doesn’t know how to play baseball.

Look around the diamond, and this is what you might see on a given day: a one-armed first baseman, a permanently injured third baseman, a shortstop who isn't a shortstop, a center fielder who is a shortstop, a right fielder who’s a left fielder, and a left fielder who’s practically as old as Clint Hurdle and whose biggest hit in recent memory was slapping a rival player in the face over a fantasy football dispute.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old Pham played for three teams last season and batted .248 with nine home runs in 440 at-bats. But at least he’s functional, which is more than you can say for the new first baseman.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe ... 2502130056

saying at this stage of the season that Pham is a starting outfielder is damning.

[Doc]

Joe Starkey wrote a scathing article today in the PG about the Pirates offseason. titled, "Bad news Pirates outdid themselves on Day 1."

Some excerpts:
It’s the blooper reel that never ends, my friends, and the Pirates got started bright and early this year, confirming Wednesday that their prized offseason acquisition has only one functional arm.

[Cherington] said the team knew of Horwitz’s chronic issues when it traded for him in December, which might prompt one to ask, “Why did you trade for him, then?” But everybody knows the answer.

All together now ... because we’re the Pirates.

Last July, the Pirates traded for their alleged cleanup hitter of the future only to release him a few months later after realizing that he doesn’t know how to play baseball.

Look around the diamond, and this is what you might see on a given day: a one-armed first baseman, a permanently injured third baseman, a shortstop who isn't a shortstop, a center fielder who is a shortstop, a right fielder who’s a left fielder, and a left fielder who’s practically as old as Clint Hurdle and whose biggest hit in recent memory was slapping a rival player in the face over a fantasy football dispute.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old Pham played for three teams last season and batted .248 with nine home runs in 440 at-bats. But at least he’s functional, which is more than you can say for the new first baseman.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe ... 2502130056

Sadly, this won’t embarrass the owner into any sort of positive action. It’s a flawed human being who feels no shame.

[Doc]

Joe Starkey wrote a scathing article today in the PG about the Pirates offseason. titled, "Bad news Pirates outdid themselves on Day 1."

Some excerpts:
It’s the blooper reel that never ends, my friends, and the Pirates got started bright and early this year, confirming Wednesday that their prized offseason acquisition has only one functional arm.

[Cherington] said the team knew of Horwitz’s chronic issues when it traded for him in December, which might prompt one to ask, “Why did you trade for him, then?” But everybody knows the answer.

All together now ... because we’re the Pirates.

Last July, the Pirates traded for their alleged cleanup hitter of the future only to release him a few months later after realizing that he doesn’t know how to play baseball.

Look around the diamond, and this is what you might see on a given day: a one-armed first baseman, a permanently injured third baseman, a shortstop who isn't a shortstop, a center fielder who is a shortstop, a right fielder who’s a left fielder, and a left fielder who’s practically as old as Clint Hurdle and whose biggest hit in recent memory was slapping a rival player in the face over a fantasy football dispute.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old Pham played for three teams last season and batted .248 with nine home runs in 440 at-bats. But at least he’s functional, which is more than you can say for the new first baseman.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe ... 2502130056

saying at this stage of the season that Pham is a starting outfielder is damning.

Is this the worst thing that happened this offseason? If not, that tells us how bad the past four months have been.

[Javy]

Joe Starkey wrote a scathing article today in the PG about the Pirates offseason. titled, "Bad news Pirates outdid themselves on Day 1."

Some excerpts:
It’s the blooper reel that never ends, my friends, and the Pirates got started bright and early this year, confirming Wednesday that their prized offseason acquisition has only one functional arm.

[Cherington] said the team knew of Horwitz’s chronic issues when it traded for him in December, which might prompt one to ask, “Why did you trade for him, then?” But everybody knows the answer.

All together now ... because we’re the Pirates.

Last July, the Pirates traded for their alleged cleanup hitter of the future only to release him a few months later after realizing that he doesn’t know how to play baseball.

Look around the diamond, and this is what you might see on a given day: a one-armed first baseman, a permanently injured third baseman, a shortstop who isn't a shortstop, a center fielder who is a shortstop, a right fielder who’s a left fielder, and a left fielder who’s practically as old as Clint Hurdle and whose biggest hit in recent memory was slapping a rival player in the face over a fantasy football dispute.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old Pham played for three teams last season and batted .248 with nine home runs in 440 at-bats. But at least he’s functional, which is more than you can say for the new first baseman.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe ... 2502130056

saying at this stage of the season that Pham is a starting outfielder is damning.

Is this the worst thing that happened this offseason? If not, that tells us how bad the past four months have been.

don't just stop with this offseason or the last 4 months...try the last 4 decades+