I agree. I want to keep him too. I'd actually move Dickerson though of the four--not that I don't like him but I think he's the one playing a little over his head at the moment.
My biggest worry is still the rotation. I'm not down on any of the pitchers individually, but as a group they seem pretty bland and mediocre. We need another high-ender or two.
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
Moderators: SammyKhalifa, Doc, Bobster
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
I say we go after deGrom he is in peak form and a solid age for pitchers @ 30, plus he has two more years before FA . We could offer him say $ 110 million for 6 years .He wants long term contract now. Sign and trade deal.
We offer Mets Meadows ,Tucker,Keller and Oneil Cruz.They pick which 3
degrom
Tallion
We offer Mets Meadows ,Tucker,Keller and Oneil Cruz.They pick which 3
degrom
Tallion
-
rucker59@gmail.com
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
The last few games have given us a glimpse of what “the best outfield in baseball” was projected to look like. Frankly, it looked like the best OF in baseball, Devastating.
It raises intriguing possibilities. Building a contending team around Dickerson, Marte and Polanco makes all the sense if their recent play indicates they are finally maturing into the talent we always hoped for. Trading Meadows should bring some good pieces back.
I haven’t checked contract status, but if we could sign Dickerson for four years and actually keep he and Marte and Polanco for at least three years, i’d trade Meadows.
Would $25M a year cover the three outfielders? The Pirates should be able to spend that amount of money.
It raises intriguing possibilities. Building a contending team around Dickerson, Marte and Polanco makes all the sense if their recent play indicates they are finally maturing into the talent we always hoped for. Trading Meadows should bring some good pieces back.
I haven’t checked contract status, but if we could sign Dickerson for four years and actually keep he and Marte and Polanco for at least three years, i’d trade Meadows.
Would $25M a year cover the three outfielders? The Pirates should be able to spend that amount of money.
-
DemDog
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
3209030824600 wrote: I say we go after deGrom he is in peak form and a solid age for pitchers @ 30, plus he has two more years before FA . We could offer him say $ 110 million for 6 years .He wants long term contract now. Sign and trade deal.
We offer Mets Meadows ,Tucker,Keller and Oneil Cruz.They pick which 3
degrom
Tallion
I leave Cruz out of the mix right now. Find some other young kid for his place in a trade.
We offer Mets Meadows ,Tucker,Keller and Oneil Cruz.They pick which 3
degrom
Tallion
I leave Cruz out of the mix right now. Find some other young kid for his place in a trade.
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
I think this team desperately needs three things to become a genuine playoff contender.
1. Some elite talent. Preferably in the starting rotation. Obviously with current ownership unwilling to take on the expense of an established top pitcher through free agency or trade that will require one of our plethora of young starters to step up. Taillon, Musgrove, Glasnow and Keller would seem to be the candidates with the type of pedigree needed, but of course there are no guarantees. The remarkable success Gerrit Cole has had after arriving in Houston doesn't give me the greatest confidence that the Pirates have the right management and coaching personnel to develop young pitchers to their full potential but they desperately need to.
2. Better defense. The Pirates are bad defensively. Only Marte gives us a plus defender in CF. Combine that with a young pitching staff and you have a formula for disaster. Our young pitchers who need to build confidence in order to attain consistency on the mound are being undermined by defenders extending innings and pitch counts instead of being bailed out of jams.
Bell at 1B and Moran at 3B are pylons. Neither is good enough offensively at this point to say they should be fixtures at those positions. Diaz at C (while Cervelli's future at C is uncertain) is raking offensively which is great, but his defensive miscues are too frequent to ignore and his pitch framing has been roundly criticized which is an additional liability that a young pitching staff shouldn't have to deal with. He may be the next Mickey Tettleton, but even with Mickey's great bat he only averaged about 70 games caught per year in his career. Polanco has the power we've been looking for from a corner outfielder but his glove has always been frustratingly inconsistent at best. Dickerson and Meadows are decent defensively, but lack Polanco's power. The mostly reliable Mercer and Harrison will be gone by the start of next season, and their replacements at 2B and SS need to have better than average MLB gloves to help counterbalance the two corner infield positions. Are Moroff or The Kevins capable when what is really needed is Maz and Ozzie Smith? Kang at SS? Surely not because he most certainly would not be a plus defender at that position. Put him where he belongs at 3B where he is a plus defender.
3. A better field manager. Clint Hurdle has become an impediment to winning. His inexplicable strategies and personnel decisions have confused and angered players. His infuriatingly nonchalant attitude about losing is the antithesis of what young players should be seeing in a leader or role model. He needed to walk the plank yesterday.
1. Some elite talent. Preferably in the starting rotation. Obviously with current ownership unwilling to take on the expense of an established top pitcher through free agency or trade that will require one of our plethora of young starters to step up. Taillon, Musgrove, Glasnow and Keller would seem to be the candidates with the type of pedigree needed, but of course there are no guarantees. The remarkable success Gerrit Cole has had after arriving in Houston doesn't give me the greatest confidence that the Pirates have the right management and coaching personnel to develop young pitchers to their full potential but they desperately need to.
2. Better defense. The Pirates are bad defensively. Only Marte gives us a plus defender in CF. Combine that with a young pitching staff and you have a formula for disaster. Our young pitchers who need to build confidence in order to attain consistency on the mound are being undermined by defenders extending innings and pitch counts instead of being bailed out of jams.
Bell at 1B and Moran at 3B are pylons. Neither is good enough offensively at this point to say they should be fixtures at those positions. Diaz at C (while Cervelli's future at C is uncertain) is raking offensively which is great, but his defensive miscues are too frequent to ignore and his pitch framing has been roundly criticized which is an additional liability that a young pitching staff shouldn't have to deal with. He may be the next Mickey Tettleton, but even with Mickey's great bat he only averaged about 70 games caught per year in his career. Polanco has the power we've been looking for from a corner outfielder but his glove has always been frustratingly inconsistent at best. Dickerson and Meadows are decent defensively, but lack Polanco's power. The mostly reliable Mercer and Harrison will be gone by the start of next season, and their replacements at 2B and SS need to have better than average MLB gloves to help counterbalance the two corner infield positions. Are Moroff or The Kevins capable when what is really needed is Maz and Ozzie Smith? Kang at SS? Surely not because he most certainly would not be a plus defender at that position. Put him where he belongs at 3B where he is a plus defender.
3. A better field manager. Clint Hurdle has become an impediment to winning. His inexplicable strategies and personnel decisions have confused and angered players. His infuriatingly nonchalant attitude about losing is the antithesis of what young players should be seeing in a leader or role model. He needed to walk the plank yesterday.
-
skinnyhorse
- Posts: 926
- Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:19 am
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
486C787075190 wrote: I think this team desperately needs three things to become a genuine playoff contender.
1. Some elite talent. Preferably in the starting rotation. Obviously with current ownership unwilling to take on the expense of an established top pitcher through free agency or trade that will require one of our plethora of young starters to step up. Taillon, Musgrove, Glasnow and Keller would seem to be the candidates with the type of pedigree needed, but of course there are no guarantees. The remarkable success Gerrit Cole has had after arriving in Houston doesn't give me the greatest confidence that the Pirates have the right management and coaching personnel to develop young pitchers to their full potential but they desperately need to.
2. Better defense. The Pirates are bad defensively. Only Marte gives us a plus defender in CF. Combine that with a young pitching staff and you have a formula for disaster. Our young pitchers who need to build confidence in order to attain consistency on the mound are being undermined by defenders extending innings and pitch counts instead of being bailed out of jams.
Bell at 1B and Moran at 3B are pylons. Neither is good enough offensively at this point to say they should be fixtures at those positions. Diaz at C (while Cervelli's future at C is uncertain) is raking offensively which is great, but his defensive miscues are too frequent to ignore and his pitch framing has been roundly criticized which is an additional liability that a young pitching staff shouldn't have to deal with. He may be the next Mickey Tettleton, but even with Mickey's great bat he only averaged about 70 games caught per year in his career. Polanco has the power we've been looking for from a corner outfielder but his glove has always been frustratingly inconsistent at best. Dickerson and Meadows are decent defensively, but lack Polanco's power. The mostly reliable Mercer and Harrison will be gone by the start of next season, and their replacements at 2B and SS need to have better than average MLB gloves to help counterbalance the two corner infield positions. Are Moroff or The Kevins capable when what is really needed is Maz and Ozzie Smith? Kang at SS? Surely not because he most certainly would not be a plus defender at that position. Put him where he belongs at 3B where he is a plus defender.
3. A better field manager. Clint Hurdle has become an impediment to winning. His inexplicable strategies and personnel decisions have confused and angered players. His infuriatingly nonchalant attitude about losing is the antithesis of what young players should be seeing in a leader or role model. He needed to walk the plank yesterday.
Agree on most everything you have said. I think you may be a little to quick to discard Diaz he's had very little playing time needs to be given more of a chance before I decide on him. Marte is an elite talent with not enough smarts to capitalize on it. If he would become what he should then man we'd have something, but the thing is he's been given more than enough chances to prove himself and failed miserably. For about 4 days last week he was unbelievable but I have little faith he will keep it up. Polanco I'm not giving up on just yet but his time is growing short, he's shown signs he could be special but soooooo inconsistent. Pitching what can you say, we had one of the best in baseball and traded him away, who knows what we have, the coaching staff from minors to majors needs to be dismantled and started over by someone who knows baseball talent and can develop it. There's always younger folks who want to prove themselves and we need to find elite coaches and of course a manager.
1. Some elite talent. Preferably in the starting rotation. Obviously with current ownership unwilling to take on the expense of an established top pitcher through free agency or trade that will require one of our plethora of young starters to step up. Taillon, Musgrove, Glasnow and Keller would seem to be the candidates with the type of pedigree needed, but of course there are no guarantees. The remarkable success Gerrit Cole has had after arriving in Houston doesn't give me the greatest confidence that the Pirates have the right management and coaching personnel to develop young pitchers to their full potential but they desperately need to.
2. Better defense. The Pirates are bad defensively. Only Marte gives us a plus defender in CF. Combine that with a young pitching staff and you have a formula for disaster. Our young pitchers who need to build confidence in order to attain consistency on the mound are being undermined by defenders extending innings and pitch counts instead of being bailed out of jams.
Bell at 1B and Moran at 3B are pylons. Neither is good enough offensively at this point to say they should be fixtures at those positions. Diaz at C (while Cervelli's future at C is uncertain) is raking offensively which is great, but his defensive miscues are too frequent to ignore and his pitch framing has been roundly criticized which is an additional liability that a young pitching staff shouldn't have to deal with. He may be the next Mickey Tettleton, but even with Mickey's great bat he only averaged about 70 games caught per year in his career. Polanco has the power we've been looking for from a corner outfielder but his glove has always been frustratingly inconsistent at best. Dickerson and Meadows are decent defensively, but lack Polanco's power. The mostly reliable Mercer and Harrison will be gone by the start of next season, and their replacements at 2B and SS need to have better than average MLB gloves to help counterbalance the two corner infield positions. Are Moroff or The Kevins capable when what is really needed is Maz and Ozzie Smith? Kang at SS? Surely not because he most certainly would not be a plus defender at that position. Put him where he belongs at 3B where he is a plus defender.
3. A better field manager. Clint Hurdle has become an impediment to winning. His inexplicable strategies and personnel decisions have confused and angered players. His infuriatingly nonchalant attitude about losing is the antithesis of what young players should be seeing in a leader or role model. He needed to walk the plank yesterday.
Agree on most everything you have said. I think you may be a little to quick to discard Diaz he's had very little playing time needs to be given more of a chance before I decide on him. Marte is an elite talent with not enough smarts to capitalize on it. If he would become what he should then man we'd have something, but the thing is he's been given more than enough chances to prove himself and failed miserably. For about 4 days last week he was unbelievable but I have little faith he will keep it up. Polanco I'm not giving up on just yet but his time is growing short, he's shown signs he could be special but soooooo inconsistent. Pitching what can you say, we had one of the best in baseball and traded him away, who knows what we have, the coaching staff from minors to majors needs to be dismantled and started over by someone who knows baseball talent and can develop it. There's always younger folks who want to prove themselves and we need to find elite coaches and of course a manager.
-
Bobster21
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
The thing about Dickerson is that he has power but has changed his hitting style to reduce Ks.
2014: 24 HRs in 436 ABs, 101 Ks
2015: 10 HRs in 224 ABs, 56 Ks
2016: 24 HRs in 510 ABs, 134 Ks
2017: 27 HRs in 588 ABs, 152 Ks
2018: 7 HRs in 324 ABs, 44 Ks.
Seems like they could ask him to go for power despite the Ks if they chose.
2014: 24 HRs in 436 ABs, 101 Ks
2015: 10 HRs in 224 ABs, 56 Ks
2016: 24 HRs in 510 ABs, 134 Ks
2017: 27 HRs in 588 ABs, 152 Ks
2018: 7 HRs in 324 ABs, 44 Ks.
Seems like they could ask him to go for power despite the Ks if they chose.
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
5B767B6A6D7C6B2B28190 wrote: The thing about Dickerson is that he has power but has changed his hitting style to reduce Ks.
2014: 24 HRs in 436 ABs, 101 Ks
2015: 10 HRs in 224 ABs, 56 Ks
2016: 24 HRs in 510 ABs, 134 Ks
2017: 27 HRs in 588 ABs, 152 Ks
2018: 7 HRs in 324 ABs, 44 Ks.
Seems like they could ask him to go for power despite the Ks if they chose.
That's intriguing. I was under the impression that his change of approach at the plate was also to help correct the second half problems (which included more than just Ks) he had last year with Tampa. While he hit 10 home runs in the second half, his .282 on base percentage was abysmal. Overall he hit 27 home runs with a slugging percentage of .490. Arguably I think he's more valuable now for the Bucs with a .340 OBP and a .469 SLG, but if there's a chance he could increase his power output without completely ruining his new approach at the plate it might be worth a try.
2014: 24 HRs in 436 ABs, 101 Ks
2015: 10 HRs in 224 ABs, 56 Ks
2016: 24 HRs in 510 ABs, 134 Ks
2017: 27 HRs in 588 ABs, 152 Ks
2018: 7 HRs in 324 ABs, 44 Ks.
Seems like they could ask him to go for power despite the Ks if they chose.
That's intriguing. I was under the impression that his change of approach at the plate was also to help correct the second half problems (which included more than just Ks) he had last year with Tampa. While he hit 10 home runs in the second half, his .282 on base percentage was abysmal. Overall he hit 27 home runs with a slugging percentage of .490. Arguably I think he's more valuable now for the Bucs with a .340 OBP and a .469 SLG, but if there's a chance he could increase his power output without completely ruining his new approach at the plate it might be worth a try.
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
Would you think the Brave would bite on Santana for one of their young starters (Fied, Gohara, Allard)?
Their bullpen is beyond awful
Their bullpen is beyond awful
10 Random Thoughts at the Break
436E63727564733330010 wrote: The thing about Dickerson is that he has power but has changed his hitting style to reduce Ks.
2014: 24 HRs in 436 ABs, 101 Ks
2015: 10 HRs in 224 ABs, 56 Ks
2016: 24 HRs in 510 ABs, 134 Ks
2017: 27 HRs in 588 ABs, 152 Ks
2018: 7 HRs in 324 ABs, 44 Ks.
Seems like they could ask him to go for power despite the Ks if they chose.
Dickerson has turned himself into one of the best two-strike hitters in the NL. I compared him to other two-strike, choke-up artists, Joey Votto, and Anthony Rizzo...and everyone else in the NL.
AB H 2B 3B HR AVG OPS
Dickerson 170 48 7 4 4 .282 .742
Rizzo 137 25 4 0 0 .182 .483
Votto 162 31 6 0 1 .191 .598
NL Average .172 .516
All Counts 2018
Dickerson 324 99 22 5 7 .306 .809
Career with 2 strikes
Dickerson 1323 296 70 14 29 .224 .621
These are some interesting numbers for Dickerson. From what I know, Dickerson just began choking-up on two strike counts this year. The stats pretty much prove he is the best choke-up hitter in the NL. Assuming he always chokes up with two strikes, it shows he has hit 4 HR choking-up, and only 3 otherwise.
I have neither the time nor brain power to process what this all means, but I would think the Pirate analytics team might be studying the effects of these results in greater detail. Such as why does Dickerson hit more home runs percentage wise choking-up? And should other Bucs consider choking up? Maybe Ivan Nova (1 for 86 since the beginning of 2017) should choke-up every pitch?
2014: 24 HRs in 436 ABs, 101 Ks
2015: 10 HRs in 224 ABs, 56 Ks
2016: 24 HRs in 510 ABs, 134 Ks
2017: 27 HRs in 588 ABs, 152 Ks
2018: 7 HRs in 324 ABs, 44 Ks.
Seems like they could ask him to go for power despite the Ks if they chose.
Dickerson has turned himself into one of the best two-strike hitters in the NL. I compared him to other two-strike, choke-up artists, Joey Votto, and Anthony Rizzo...and everyone else in the NL.
AB H 2B 3B HR AVG OPS
Dickerson 170 48 7 4 4 .282 .742
Rizzo 137 25 4 0 0 .182 .483
Votto 162 31 6 0 1 .191 .598
NL Average .172 .516
All Counts 2018
Dickerson 324 99 22 5 7 .306 .809
Career with 2 strikes
Dickerson 1323 296 70 14 29 .224 .621
These are some interesting numbers for Dickerson. From what I know, Dickerson just began choking-up on two strike counts this year. The stats pretty much prove he is the best choke-up hitter in the NL. Assuming he always chokes up with two strikes, it shows he has hit 4 HR choking-up, and only 3 otherwise.
I have neither the time nor brain power to process what this all means, but I would think the Pirate analytics team might be studying the effects of these results in greater detail. Such as why does Dickerson hit more home runs percentage wise choking-up? And should other Bucs consider choking up? Maybe Ivan Nova (1 for 86 since the beginning of 2017) should choke-up every pitch?