5C50510A030A020F08170D3A0 wrote: I see that the Twins are going to sign Nelson Cruz to a 14 million dollar contract with a 12 million dollar option in 2020 or a buyout. If the Twins can spend money why can’t the Pirates? The Twins are small market like the Pirates. I hope when the CBA expires after the 2021 season there is a strong push for a salary spending floor. This way teams like the Pirates will have to spend to a certain limit, and bring in additional talented players to fill their major league rosters.
A salary floor would be a big help if it's reasonable. In the NHL the salary floor is set at about 75% of the salary cap. Most of the NHL teams spend very close to the cap limit so that the salary floor in actual practice is about 75% of the average team payroll. If MLB set the floor at 75% of league average payroll which is about $150M then the salary floor would work out to about $112M. I'd love to see that happen!
Come On Pirates Do Something
Moderators: SammyKhalifa, Doc, Bobster
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Bobster21
Come On Pirates Do Something
5D6D617A7A6760436F7D7D0E0 wrote: I think the lack of activity, rumors, etc. shows (again), that the PBC does not and never has really listened to the fans and what they want or what they feel needs to be done to make this team better.
This front office always thinks on their own and right now they must feel they have the team they are comfortable with going into 2019.
True, but comfort is a relative term. I believe they are satisfied that the Pirates will be sufficient to maintain enough fan interest to turn a profit. Last year they were under .500 as late as September 15. But because of the 2 wild card team format, they were still within about 6 games of a WC spot. Of course with 4 teams always ahead of them in that WC chase, their chances were almost nil. Yet there are Pirate fans who talk about how the Pirates were competitive and in the hunt last year. TBMTIB is aware that fans will retain hope even when the team is below .500 in September as long as they are within grasp of .500 and they haven't yet been eliminated from the 2nd WC spot . The 78-82 win goal expressed by NH is alive and well and satisfies their strategy. So I believe they are comfortable that this roster can achieve that. Other organizations would not be satisfied with that situation going into a season. But it's good enough for TBMTIB.
I don't mean for this comment to sound angry or insulting to the Pirates. It's simply an objective observation of how they operate. I don't believe it's realistic to expect more.
This front office always thinks on their own and right now they must feel they have the team they are comfortable with going into 2019.
True, but comfort is a relative term. I believe they are satisfied that the Pirates will be sufficient to maintain enough fan interest to turn a profit. Last year they were under .500 as late as September 15. But because of the 2 wild card team format, they were still within about 6 games of a WC spot. Of course with 4 teams always ahead of them in that WC chase, their chances were almost nil. Yet there are Pirate fans who talk about how the Pirates were competitive and in the hunt last year. TBMTIB is aware that fans will retain hope even when the team is below .500 in September as long as they are within grasp of .500 and they haven't yet been eliminated from the 2nd WC spot . The 78-82 win goal expressed by NH is alive and well and satisfies their strategy. So I believe they are comfortable that this roster can achieve that. Other organizations would not be satisfied with that situation going into a season. But it's good enough for TBMTIB.
I don't mean for this comment to sound angry or insulting to the Pirates. It's simply an objective observation of how they operate. I don't believe it's realistic to expect more.
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OrlandoMerced
Come On Pirates Do Something
I think one thing to think about with regards to the payroll is how 209, structurally, is a low payroll season. Here is the list of players who are completing their final pre-arb season in 2019:
Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Bell, Frazier, Diaz, Gonzalez and Kuhl (the latter two are not going to impact the payroll much I don't believe). They will have Dickerson and Cervelli coming off the payroll, but those first five guys could easily put themselves in position to receive massive raises in 2020. It's hard to imagine that they aren't very cognizant of these future arbitration players.
Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Bell, Frazier, Diaz, Gonzalez and Kuhl (the latter two are not going to impact the payroll much I don't believe). They will have Dickerson and Cervelli coming off the payroll, but those first five guys could easily put themselves in position to receive massive raises in 2020. It's hard to imagine that they aren't very cognizant of these future arbitration players.
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fjk090852-7
- Posts: 3488
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2016 2:52 pm
Come On Pirates Do Something
724F515C53595270584F5E58593D0 wrote: I think one thing to think about with regards to the payroll is how 209, structurally, is a low payroll season. Here is the list of players who are completing their final pre-arb season in 2019:
Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Bell, Frazier, Diaz, Gonzalez and Kuhl (the latter two are not going to impact the payroll much I don't believe). They will have Dickerson and Cervelli coming off the payroll, but those first five guys could easily put themselves in position to receive massive raises in 2020. It's hard to imagine that they aren't very cognizant of these future arbitration players.
I understand that in 2020 many of the current pre arbitration Bucs will enter their first time at arbitration. I am sure the bean counters for the Bucs consider future payrolls. Arbitration and free agency is how the owners and players have negotiated this arrangement. If Nutting does not like the system sell the team, make a profit and run Seven Springs and Hidden Valley.
Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Bell, Frazier, Diaz, Gonzalez and Kuhl (the latter two are not going to impact the payroll much I don't believe). They will have Dickerson and Cervelli coming off the payroll, but those first five guys could easily put themselves in position to receive massive raises in 2020. It's hard to imagine that they aren't very cognizant of these future arbitration players.
I understand that in 2020 many of the current pre arbitration Bucs will enter their first time at arbitration. I am sure the bean counters for the Bucs consider future payrolls. Arbitration and free agency is how the owners and players have negotiated this arrangement. If Nutting does not like the system sell the team, make a profit and run Seven Springs and Hidden Valley.
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SammyKhalifa
- Posts: 3631
- Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2016 4:19 am
Come On Pirates Do Something
614551595C300 wrote: I see that the Twins are going to sign Nelson Cruz to a 14 million dollar contract with a 12 million dollar option in 2020 or a buyout. If the Twins can spend money why can’t the Pirates? The Twins are small market like the Pirates. I hope when the CBA expires after the 2021 season there is a strong push for a salary spending floor. This way teams like the Pirates will have to spend to a certain limit, and bring in additional talented players to fill their major league rosters.
A salary floor would be a big help if it's reasonable. In the NHL the salary floor is set at about 75% of the salary cap. Most of the NHL teams spend very close to the cap limit so that the salary floor in actual practice is about 75% of the average team payroll. If MLB set the floor at 75% of league average payroll which is about $150M then the salary floor would work out to about $112M. I'd love to see that happen!
The issue with that is that unless you see better revenue sharing, you'll end up driving teams out of many markets. Even a team like the Brewers, who many fans are holding up an example of how the Pirates should be doing things, were down around 70MM or so just a few years ago.
A salary floor would be a big help if it's reasonable. In the NHL the salary floor is set at about 75% of the salary cap. Most of the NHL teams spend very close to the cap limit so that the salary floor in actual practice is about 75% of the average team payroll. If MLB set the floor at 75% of league average payroll which is about $150M then the salary floor would work out to about $112M. I'd love to see that happen!
The issue with that is that unless you see better revenue sharing, you'll end up driving teams out of many markets. Even a team like the Brewers, who many fans are holding up an example of how the Pirates should be doing things, were down around 70MM or so just a few years ago.
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Bobster21
Come On Pirates Do Something
626E6F343D343C31362933040 wrote: I think one thing to think about with regards to the payroll is how 209, structurally, is a low payroll season. Here is the list of players who are completing their final pre-arb season in 2019:
Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Bell, Frazier, Diaz, Gonzalez and Kuhl (the latter two are not going to impact the payroll much I don't believe). They will have Dickerson and Cervelli coming off the payroll, but those first five guys could easily put themselves in position to receive massive raises in 2020. It's hard to imagine that they aren't very cognizant of these future arbitration players.
I understand that in 2020 many of the current pre arbitration Bucs will enter their first time at arbitration. I am sure the bean counters for the Bucs consider future payrolls. Arbitration and free agency is how the owners and players have negotiated this arrangement. If Nutting does not like the system sell the team, make a profit and run Seven Springs and Hidden Valley.
But what we know about this organization is that there will not be a significant increase in payroll. Salaries will be dumped and players will be moved in order to remain within their low payroll goal. It's not as if we should expect a spike in payroll in 2020 because of arbitration.
Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Bell, Frazier, Diaz, Gonzalez and Kuhl (the latter two are not going to impact the payroll much I don't believe). They will have Dickerson and Cervelli coming off the payroll, but those first five guys could easily put themselves in position to receive massive raises in 2020. It's hard to imagine that they aren't very cognizant of these future arbitration players.
I understand that in 2020 many of the current pre arbitration Bucs will enter their first time at arbitration. I am sure the bean counters for the Bucs consider future payrolls. Arbitration and free agency is how the owners and players have negotiated this arrangement. If Nutting does not like the system sell the team, make a profit and run Seven Springs and Hidden Valley.
But what we know about this organization is that there will not be a significant increase in payroll. Salaries will be dumped and players will be moved in order to remain within their low payroll goal. It's not as if we should expect a spike in payroll in 2020 because of arbitration.
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OrlandoMerced
Come On Pirates Do Something
As of right now, I would look at the lineup to be something like:
Frazier
Marte
Chisenhall/Polanco
Cervelli/Diaz
Bell
Dickerson
Moran/Kang
Newman/Gonzalez
As long as Chisenhall is healthy, he’ll be productive, so I don’t think there will be an issue with slotting him into that #3 slot, but you could also swap him with Dickerson there. I’m watching Frazier carefully as well. If he were to not be able to handle leadoff duties, I would like them to try Dickerson back there. This will at times be a flaccid lineup, but should Bell pick up where he left off, he could slot back to clean up and extend the lineup well by pushing Cervelli out of that role. Kang is also a wildcard and could force Moran out of the lineup and occupy a high leverage role in the lineup.
Should one of Marte, Chisenhall or Dickerson suffer injury prior to Polanco’s return that creates a headache, as that would force Reyes in to full time duty, and that is not a great option. Otherwise I don’t see any depth concerns as there isn’t that level of dropoff anywhere else in the lineup. I assume they are waiting for Tulowitzki to make his decision before pursuing other SS options. They are not going to go into ST with those two options. I honestly don’t have issue with them just going with a glove first guy and slotting the SS into the #8 slot in the lineup. I think Newman should be sent back down to AAA, let Gonzalez be the backup. Frazier forcing his way back into the picture was a major development heading into the season. Marte, Dickerson and Cervelli are pros and would start on any ML team, Chisenhall is a late career breakout candidate, and Polanco could return to the team. Kang is a decent hedge against Moran potentially stagnating.
So if we’re looking at this lineup and saying we trust Marte, Chisenhall/Polanco, Dickerson and Cervelli to produce consistently, and we feel pretty good about Frazier handling everyday duty. Moran and Bell become the keys to moving this from an ok team, to a playoff contender. I’ll just note that both Bell and Moran can handle the bat, they both got on base at solid clips, and they are both young and likely to improve. Remember, there was a point last year where the offense was tearing up the league, that was a fluke, but this is a collection of guys capable of scoring runs.
I think when we get focused on payroll issues, we lose sight what the team actually has. It would also be constructive to compare the pitching staff heading into 2019 compared to last year.
Rotation 2018: Nova, Taillon, Williams, Kuhl, Brault (until Musgrove returned in the summer)
Rotation 2019: Archer, Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Brault/Lyles/Kingham
Bullpen 2018: Vazquez, Kontos, Feliz, Glasnow, Santana, Neverauskas, Smoker
Bullpen: 2019: Vazquez, Kela, Crick, Rodriguez, Lyles/Brault/Kingham, Feliz
I remember the bullpen throwing away a number of games to start the season as Kontos, Feliz, Neverauskus and Smoker pitched themselves off the team. You are essentially replacing a mediocre Nova with Archer and Kuhl with Musgrove to round out the top 4. They didn’t have a legit #5 last year for a while, and I think a case could be made that letting those three guys compete for the job in ST puts the Pirates in a better place heading into to 2019 opposed to handing the job to Nova. I actually like Kingham winning the job, he clearly hit a wall, but few guys make a seamless transition to the majors and he has the makeup of a good bottom of the rotation guy. Not sure what Lyles is, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem replacing Santana if he’s relegated to the bullpen. I think Brault should see the writing on the wall, and know that his future is in becoming a reliever and he could potentially be an asset as a LH reliever. Either way, we’re seeing young competent guys competing for playing time on the edge of the roster, that’s where the team wants to be. It’s likely a good bet that one of Crick or Rodriguez will play themselves out of the higher leverage roles in the bullpen, but I have faith in Kela and Vazquez, so it’s not going to be a big obstacle for one of the other bullpen guys to step up to fill a 7th inning role, as opposed to the 8th.
The AAA team has a collection of prospects that could see time in the majors next year and provide needed depth. The starting lineup could include, Craig, Kramer, Tucker, Hayes, Reynolds and Martin. And the rotation will have Keller, Brubaker, Holmes and Eppler.
As for the other teams in the division. I don’t care that the Reds collected the runoff from the dodgers. I don’t think they have any pitching that’s worth a damn. The Cubs will need Bryant to come back and return to form, I wouldn’t be surprised if that locker room becomes toxic with all those veterans underperforming their contracts. The Cardinals have the devil magic so they’ll be relevant, but I’m not sure they can count on what Carpenter and Mikolas repeating. For whatever reason, the Pirates had the Brewer’s number last year, not sure how that will play out in 2019, but it’s reason to think that there are some chinks in their armor.
There are a range of outcomes for 2019, there’s reason to think they will improve over 2018, the question will of course be whether that improvement leads to more wins or just a more consistent product on the field. Remember that last year was a good baseball sandwiching a period of crap.
Frazier
Marte
Chisenhall/Polanco
Cervelli/Diaz
Bell
Dickerson
Moran/Kang
Newman/Gonzalez
As long as Chisenhall is healthy, he’ll be productive, so I don’t think there will be an issue with slotting him into that #3 slot, but you could also swap him with Dickerson there. I’m watching Frazier carefully as well. If he were to not be able to handle leadoff duties, I would like them to try Dickerson back there. This will at times be a flaccid lineup, but should Bell pick up where he left off, he could slot back to clean up and extend the lineup well by pushing Cervelli out of that role. Kang is also a wildcard and could force Moran out of the lineup and occupy a high leverage role in the lineup.
Should one of Marte, Chisenhall or Dickerson suffer injury prior to Polanco’s return that creates a headache, as that would force Reyes in to full time duty, and that is not a great option. Otherwise I don’t see any depth concerns as there isn’t that level of dropoff anywhere else in the lineup. I assume they are waiting for Tulowitzki to make his decision before pursuing other SS options. They are not going to go into ST with those two options. I honestly don’t have issue with them just going with a glove first guy and slotting the SS into the #8 slot in the lineup. I think Newman should be sent back down to AAA, let Gonzalez be the backup. Frazier forcing his way back into the picture was a major development heading into the season. Marte, Dickerson and Cervelli are pros and would start on any ML team, Chisenhall is a late career breakout candidate, and Polanco could return to the team. Kang is a decent hedge against Moran potentially stagnating.
So if we’re looking at this lineup and saying we trust Marte, Chisenhall/Polanco, Dickerson and Cervelli to produce consistently, and we feel pretty good about Frazier handling everyday duty. Moran and Bell become the keys to moving this from an ok team, to a playoff contender. I’ll just note that both Bell and Moran can handle the bat, they both got on base at solid clips, and they are both young and likely to improve. Remember, there was a point last year where the offense was tearing up the league, that was a fluke, but this is a collection of guys capable of scoring runs.
I think when we get focused on payroll issues, we lose sight what the team actually has. It would also be constructive to compare the pitching staff heading into 2019 compared to last year.
Rotation 2018: Nova, Taillon, Williams, Kuhl, Brault (until Musgrove returned in the summer)
Rotation 2019: Archer, Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Brault/Lyles/Kingham
Bullpen 2018: Vazquez, Kontos, Feliz, Glasnow, Santana, Neverauskas, Smoker
Bullpen: 2019: Vazquez, Kela, Crick, Rodriguez, Lyles/Brault/Kingham, Feliz
I remember the bullpen throwing away a number of games to start the season as Kontos, Feliz, Neverauskus and Smoker pitched themselves off the team. You are essentially replacing a mediocre Nova with Archer and Kuhl with Musgrove to round out the top 4. They didn’t have a legit #5 last year for a while, and I think a case could be made that letting those three guys compete for the job in ST puts the Pirates in a better place heading into to 2019 opposed to handing the job to Nova. I actually like Kingham winning the job, he clearly hit a wall, but few guys make a seamless transition to the majors and he has the makeup of a good bottom of the rotation guy. Not sure what Lyles is, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem replacing Santana if he’s relegated to the bullpen. I think Brault should see the writing on the wall, and know that his future is in becoming a reliever and he could potentially be an asset as a LH reliever. Either way, we’re seeing young competent guys competing for playing time on the edge of the roster, that’s where the team wants to be. It’s likely a good bet that one of Crick or Rodriguez will play themselves out of the higher leverage roles in the bullpen, but I have faith in Kela and Vazquez, so it’s not going to be a big obstacle for one of the other bullpen guys to step up to fill a 7th inning role, as opposed to the 8th.
The AAA team has a collection of prospects that could see time in the majors next year and provide needed depth. The starting lineup could include, Craig, Kramer, Tucker, Hayes, Reynolds and Martin. And the rotation will have Keller, Brubaker, Holmes and Eppler.
As for the other teams in the division. I don’t care that the Reds collected the runoff from the dodgers. I don’t think they have any pitching that’s worth a damn. The Cubs will need Bryant to come back and return to form, I wouldn’t be surprised if that locker room becomes toxic with all those veterans underperforming their contracts. The Cardinals have the devil magic so they’ll be relevant, but I’m not sure they can count on what Carpenter and Mikolas repeating. For whatever reason, the Pirates had the Brewer’s number last year, not sure how that will play out in 2019, but it’s reason to think that there are some chinks in their armor.
There are a range of outcomes for 2019, there’s reason to think they will improve over 2018, the question will of course be whether that improvement leads to more wins or just a more consistent product on the field. Remember that last year was a good baseball sandwiching a period of crap.
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SammyKhalifa
- Posts: 3631
- Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2016 4:19 am
Come On Pirates Do Something
I want a starter and a shortstop. I don't like the idea of throwing out an uncertain fifth starter in order to make room for an even more-uncertain fifth starter.
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CarolinaBucco
Come On Pirates Do Something
Absolutely. We need a REAL MLB starter (ideally a lefty), a real SS and I still think we need another bat (with power) in the OF.
Come On Pirates Do Something
407D636E616B60426A7D6C6A6B0F0 wrote: As of right now, I would look at the lineup to be something like:
Frazier
Marte
Chisenhall/Polanco
Cervelli/Diaz
Bell
Dickerson
Moran/Kang
Newman/Gonzalez
As long as Chisenhall is healthy, he’ll be productive, so I don’t think there will be an issue with slotting him into that #3 slot, but you could also swap him with Dickerson there. I’m watching Frazier carefully as well. If he were to not be able to handle leadoff duties, I would like them to try Dickerson back there. This will at times be a flaccid lineup, but should Bell pick up where he left off, he could slot back to clean up and extend the lineup well by pushing Cervelli out of that role. Kang is also a wildcard and could force Moran out of the lineup and occupy a high leverage role in the lineup.
Should one of Marte, Chisenhall or Dickerson suffer injury prior to Polanco’s return that creates a headache, as that would force Reyes in to full time duty, and that is not a great option. Otherwise I don’t see any depth concerns as there isn’t that level of dropoff anywhere else in the lineup. I assume they are waiting for Tulowitzki to make his decision before pursuing other SS options. They are not going to go into ST with those two options. I honestly don’t have issue with them just going with a glove first guy and slotting the SS into the #8 slot in the lineup. I think Newman should be sent back down to AAA, let Gonzalez be the backup. Frazier forcing his way back into the picture was a major development heading into the season. Marte, Dickerson and Cervelli are pros and would start on any ML team, Chisenhall is a late career breakout candidate, and Polanco could return to the team. Kang is a decent hedge against Moran potentially stagnating.
So if we’re looking at this lineup and saying we trust Marte, Chisenhall/Polanco, Dickerson and Cervelli to produce consistently, and we feel pretty good about Frazier handling everyday duty. Moran and Bell become the keys to moving this from an ok team, to a playoff contender. I’ll just note that both Bell and Moran can handle the bat, they both got on base at solid clips, and they are both young and likely to improve. Remember, there was a point last year where the offense was tearing up the league, that was a fluke, but this is a collection of guys capable of scoring runs.
I think when we get focused on payroll issues, we lose sight what the team actually has. It would also be constructive to compare the pitching staff heading into 2019 compared to last year.
Rotation 2018: Nova, Taillon, Williams, Kuhl, Brault (until Musgrove returned in the summer)
Rotation 2019: Archer, Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Brault/Lyles/Kingham
Bullpen 2018: Vazquez, Kontos, Feliz, Glasnow, Santana, Neverauskas, Smoker
Bullpen: 2019: Vazquez, Kela, Crick, Rodriguez, Lyles/Brault/Kingham, Feliz
I remember the bullpen throwing away a number of games to start the season as Kontos, Feliz, Neverauskus and Smoker pitched themselves off the team. You are essentially replacing a mediocre Nova with Archer and Kuhl with Musgrove to round out the top 4. They didn’t have a legit #5 last year for a while, and I think a case could be made that letting those three guys compete for the job in ST puts the Pirates in a better place heading into to 2019 opposed to handing the job to Nova. I actually like Kingham winning the job, he clearly hit a wall, but few guys make a seamless transition to the majors and he has the makeup of a good bottom of the rotation guy. Not sure what Lyles is, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem replacing Santana if he’s relegated to the bullpen. I think Brault should see the writing on the wall, and know that his future is in becoming a reliever and he could potentially be an asset as a LH reliever. Either way, we’re seeing young competent guys competing for playing time on the edge of the roster, that’s where the team wants to be. It’s likely a good bet that one of Crick or Rodriguez will play themselves out of the higher leverage roles in the bullpen, but I have faith in Kela and Vazquez, so it’s not going to be a big obstacle for one of the other bullpen guys to step up to fill a 7th inning role, as opposed to the 8th.
The AAA team has a collection of prospects that could see time in the majors next year and provide needed depth. The starting lineup could include, Craig, Kramer, Tucker, Hayes, Reynolds and Martin. And the rotation will have Keller, Brubaker, Holmes and Eppler.
As for the other teams in the division. I don’t care that the Reds collected the runoff from the dodgers. I don’t think they have any pitching that’s worth a damn. The Cubs will need Bryant to come back and return to form, I wouldn’t be surprised if that locker room becomes toxic with all those veterans underperforming their contracts. The Cardinals have the devil magic so they’ll be relevant, but I’m not sure they can count on what Carpenter and Mikolas repeating. For whatever reason, the Pirates had the Brewer’s number last year, not sure how that will play out in 2019, but it’s reason to think that there are some chinks in their armor.
There are a range of outcomes for 2019, there’s reason to think they will improve over 2018, the question will of course be whether that improvement leads to more wins or just a more consistent product on the field. Remember that last year was a good baseball sandwiching a period of crap.
So you think the rotation is better without Nova and one of Brault, Kingham, and Lyles replacing him??? I could care less what we went into 2018 with, I care what we are going into 2019 with. Nova isn't a star by any means but he pitched 161 innings of 4.19 ball in 2018. He chews up innings. Lets not take this lightly, I don't see anyone capable of replacing what he provided on this roster.
Then you go on to make light of what the Reds have done. They added a legit pitcher along with 2 above average OF's. Look I don't think the Pirates are awful but they are clearly behind just about every team in this division, including the Reds.
Frazier
Marte
Chisenhall/Polanco
Cervelli/Diaz
Bell
Dickerson
Moran/Kang
Newman/Gonzalez
As long as Chisenhall is healthy, he’ll be productive, so I don’t think there will be an issue with slotting him into that #3 slot, but you could also swap him with Dickerson there. I’m watching Frazier carefully as well. If he were to not be able to handle leadoff duties, I would like them to try Dickerson back there. This will at times be a flaccid lineup, but should Bell pick up where he left off, he could slot back to clean up and extend the lineup well by pushing Cervelli out of that role. Kang is also a wildcard and could force Moran out of the lineup and occupy a high leverage role in the lineup.
Should one of Marte, Chisenhall or Dickerson suffer injury prior to Polanco’s return that creates a headache, as that would force Reyes in to full time duty, and that is not a great option. Otherwise I don’t see any depth concerns as there isn’t that level of dropoff anywhere else in the lineup. I assume they are waiting for Tulowitzki to make his decision before pursuing other SS options. They are not going to go into ST with those two options. I honestly don’t have issue with them just going with a glove first guy and slotting the SS into the #8 slot in the lineup. I think Newman should be sent back down to AAA, let Gonzalez be the backup. Frazier forcing his way back into the picture was a major development heading into the season. Marte, Dickerson and Cervelli are pros and would start on any ML team, Chisenhall is a late career breakout candidate, and Polanco could return to the team. Kang is a decent hedge against Moran potentially stagnating.
So if we’re looking at this lineup and saying we trust Marte, Chisenhall/Polanco, Dickerson and Cervelli to produce consistently, and we feel pretty good about Frazier handling everyday duty. Moran and Bell become the keys to moving this from an ok team, to a playoff contender. I’ll just note that both Bell and Moran can handle the bat, they both got on base at solid clips, and they are both young and likely to improve. Remember, there was a point last year where the offense was tearing up the league, that was a fluke, but this is a collection of guys capable of scoring runs.
I think when we get focused on payroll issues, we lose sight what the team actually has. It would also be constructive to compare the pitching staff heading into 2019 compared to last year.
Rotation 2018: Nova, Taillon, Williams, Kuhl, Brault (until Musgrove returned in the summer)
Rotation 2019: Archer, Taillon, Williams, Musgrove, Brault/Lyles/Kingham
Bullpen 2018: Vazquez, Kontos, Feliz, Glasnow, Santana, Neverauskas, Smoker
Bullpen: 2019: Vazquez, Kela, Crick, Rodriguez, Lyles/Brault/Kingham, Feliz
I remember the bullpen throwing away a number of games to start the season as Kontos, Feliz, Neverauskus and Smoker pitched themselves off the team. You are essentially replacing a mediocre Nova with Archer and Kuhl with Musgrove to round out the top 4. They didn’t have a legit #5 last year for a while, and I think a case could be made that letting those three guys compete for the job in ST puts the Pirates in a better place heading into to 2019 opposed to handing the job to Nova. I actually like Kingham winning the job, he clearly hit a wall, but few guys make a seamless transition to the majors and he has the makeup of a good bottom of the rotation guy. Not sure what Lyles is, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem replacing Santana if he’s relegated to the bullpen. I think Brault should see the writing on the wall, and know that his future is in becoming a reliever and he could potentially be an asset as a LH reliever. Either way, we’re seeing young competent guys competing for playing time on the edge of the roster, that’s where the team wants to be. It’s likely a good bet that one of Crick or Rodriguez will play themselves out of the higher leverage roles in the bullpen, but I have faith in Kela and Vazquez, so it’s not going to be a big obstacle for one of the other bullpen guys to step up to fill a 7th inning role, as opposed to the 8th.
The AAA team has a collection of prospects that could see time in the majors next year and provide needed depth. The starting lineup could include, Craig, Kramer, Tucker, Hayes, Reynolds and Martin. And the rotation will have Keller, Brubaker, Holmes and Eppler.
As for the other teams in the division. I don’t care that the Reds collected the runoff from the dodgers. I don’t think they have any pitching that’s worth a damn. The Cubs will need Bryant to come back and return to form, I wouldn’t be surprised if that locker room becomes toxic with all those veterans underperforming their contracts. The Cardinals have the devil magic so they’ll be relevant, but I’m not sure they can count on what Carpenter and Mikolas repeating. For whatever reason, the Pirates had the Brewer’s number last year, not sure how that will play out in 2019, but it’s reason to think that there are some chinks in their armor.
There are a range of outcomes for 2019, there’s reason to think they will improve over 2018, the question will of course be whether that improvement leads to more wins or just a more consistent product on the field. Remember that last year was a good baseball sandwiching a period of crap.
So you think the rotation is better without Nova and one of Brault, Kingham, and Lyles replacing him??? I could care less what we went into 2018 with, I care what we are going into 2019 with. Nova isn't a star by any means but he pitched 161 innings of 4.19 ball in 2018. He chews up innings. Lets not take this lightly, I don't see anyone capable of replacing what he provided on this roster.
Then you go on to make light of what the Reds have done. They added a legit pitcher along with 2 above average OF's. Look I don't think the Pirates are awful but they are clearly behind just about every team in this division, including the Reds.