575B5A0108010904031C06310 wrote: I think there are many fans who will assume the Bucs have signed a player who is on the decline in Cabrera who is 32. He has been a decent hitter the past couple of seasons,but his defense is below average. As a reminder in August of 2013 the Pirates acquired a 36 year old outfielder who still could hit, and his defense was below average. Marlon Byrd helped the Bucs down the stretch in 2013, and hit a huge homer in the Wild Card Game. Maybe Cabrera can do the same in 2019.
Actually, Cabrera will be 35 in August. Let's hope he's got something left.
Bucs Sign Melky
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fjk090852-7
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Bucs Sign Melky
0E232E3F38293E7E7D4C0 wrote: I think there are many fans who will assume the Bucs have signed a player who is on the decline in Cabrera who is 32. He has been a decent hitter the past couple of seasons,but his defense is below average. As a reminder in August of 2013 the Pirates acquired a 36 year old outfielder who still could hit, and his defense was below average. Marlon Byrd helped the Bucs down the stretch in 2013, and hit a huge homer in the Wild Card Game. Maybe Cabrera can do the same in 2019.
Actually, Cabrera will be 35 in August. Let's hope he's got something left.
Sorry for the incorrect information on Cabrera’s age. I too hope he has something left in the tank.
Actually, Cabrera will be 35 in August. Let's hope he's got something left.
Sorry for the incorrect information on Cabrera’s age. I too hope he has something left in the tank.
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Bobster21
Bucs Sign Melky
535F5E050C050D00071802350 wrote: I think there are many fans who will assume the Bucs have signed a player who is on the decline in Cabrera who is 32. He has been a decent hitter the past couple of seasons,but his defense is below average. As a reminder in August of 2013 the Pirates acquired a 36 year old outfielder who still could hit, and his defense was below average. Marlon Byrd helped the Bucs down the stretch in 2013, and hit a huge homer in the Wild Card Game. Maybe Cabrera can do the same in 2019.
Actually, Cabrera will be 35 in August. Let's hope he's got something left.
Sorry for the incorrect information on Cabrera’s age. I too hope he has something left in the tank.
While I'm not a fan of looking for over the hill players, at least Cabrera might be able to lend a veteran presence from the perspective of someone who has played on good teams.
Actually, Cabrera will be 35 in August. Let's hope he's got something left.
Sorry for the incorrect information on Cabrera’s age. I too hope he has something left in the tank.
While I'm not a fan of looking for over the hill players, at least Cabrera might be able to lend a veteran presence from the perspective of someone who has played on good teams.
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ChitownBucco
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Bucs Sign Melky
4D6A61420F0 wrote: The Pirates have always excelled at acquiring "name" players at the end of their careers:
Amos Otis, George Hendrick, Sixto Lezcano, Kirk Gibson, Lonnie Smith, Lance Parrish, Derek Bell, Raul Mondesi, Chris Stynes, Benito Santiago, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Doug Mientkiewicz, Derrek Lee, Rod Barajas, Clint Barmes. That doesn't include pitchers. On the bright side, in another 10 years they will sign both Harper and Machado!
The early 200s were weird. It seemed like every year Littlefield would offer some over the hill vet a one year contract strictly for PR purposes. "Hey, you guys have hear of Kenny Lofton right? He's a Pirate now!"
the Kenny Lofton year was prob the best free agent year a pirate GM has had in the past 30 years. In addition to Lofton the bucs had
Matt Stairs with 20 dingers and a .950 OPS
Reggie Sanders with 31 dingers and .913 OPS
Julian Taverz, Jeff Suppan and Jeff D'amico also were solid pitching additions that year.
Amos Otis, George Hendrick, Sixto Lezcano, Kirk Gibson, Lonnie Smith, Lance Parrish, Derek Bell, Raul Mondesi, Chris Stynes, Benito Santiago, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Doug Mientkiewicz, Derrek Lee, Rod Barajas, Clint Barmes. That doesn't include pitchers. On the bright side, in another 10 years they will sign both Harper and Machado!
The early 200s were weird. It seemed like every year Littlefield would offer some over the hill vet a one year contract strictly for PR purposes. "Hey, you guys have hear of Kenny Lofton right? He's a Pirate now!"
the Kenny Lofton year was prob the best free agent year a pirate GM has had in the past 30 years. In addition to Lofton the bucs had
Matt Stairs with 20 dingers and a .950 OPS
Reggie Sanders with 31 dingers and .913 OPS
Julian Taverz, Jeff Suppan and Jeff D'amico also were solid pitching additions that year.
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SammyKhalifa
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Bucs Sign Melky
Yeah, people mock the Kenny Lofton signing but he was actually pretty good for us. Now the trade and everything that went after that was a different story.
That should have been a pretty good team if you look at the roster and what the players did.
That should have been a pretty good team if you look at the roster and what the players did.
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iwatch
Bucs Sign Melky
Russell Martin was a great FA signing based on the impact he had. I always thought that Sanders, Stairs and Lofton were good signings too.
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Bobster21
Bucs Sign Melky
6D5F53534775565F5257585F3E0 wrote: Yeah, people mock the Kenny Lofton signing but he was actually pretty good for us. Now the trade and everything that went after that was a different story.
That should have been a pretty good team if you look at the roster and what the players did.
Very true. Lofton was very good for the Bucs including a 9 game hitting streak to open the season and then a 26 game streak later. He was 36 then but still played another 4 years and never stopped hitting. He hit .283 in his final season at age 40. His BA from ages 36-40 was .301. As upset as I was about dealing Aram for nothing that year, I was even more upset that a very productive Lofton was thrown in.
Also that year, Matt Stairs was 2nd on the team with 20 HRs. Sanders had 31 HRs and 87 RBIs. Even 39 year old Jeff Reboulet was a useful player. I liked Suppan a lot and he pitched another 9 years with some good seasons winning 16 each of the next 2 years for St.L. What really hurt that team was the pitching. In the 15-team NL, they were 11th in ERA, gave up the 4th most hits and runs allowed, and were just 13th in Ks. The rotation was a problem with Benson pitching poorly until shut down at midseason with an injury and D'Amico and Fogg being weak. And Mike Williams was a horrible closer with his 6.27 ERA and 5 blown saves until traded in mid July.
The 2003 team was just 2 years removed from setting the franchise attendance record of 2.46 mil when PNC Park opened in 2001. But that team lost 100 games and attendance fell to 1.78 mil in 2002. I'm guessing they were still encouraged by the turnout 2 years earlier and increased the payroll by about 12 mil in 2003 expecting big attendance with a better team. That year (2003) the Bucs were 19th (pretty good for the Pirates) of 30 teams in payroll on opening day at 54.8 mil. But the pitching just dragged them down and the highwater mark was being 7 games over .500 (12-5) on April 21. By May 16 they were under .500 where they stayed the rest of the season. The anticipated boon in attendance turned out to be another decrease to 1.6 mil. The story was that the team was in the red for cost/revenue ratio which forced them to start selling off players like Lofton, Aram and Suppan. The following year they got down to an opening day payroll of 32.2 mil (28th).
That should have been a pretty good team if you look at the roster and what the players did.
Very true. Lofton was very good for the Bucs including a 9 game hitting streak to open the season and then a 26 game streak later. He was 36 then but still played another 4 years and never stopped hitting. He hit .283 in his final season at age 40. His BA from ages 36-40 was .301. As upset as I was about dealing Aram for nothing that year, I was even more upset that a very productive Lofton was thrown in.
Also that year, Matt Stairs was 2nd on the team with 20 HRs. Sanders had 31 HRs and 87 RBIs. Even 39 year old Jeff Reboulet was a useful player. I liked Suppan a lot and he pitched another 9 years with some good seasons winning 16 each of the next 2 years for St.L. What really hurt that team was the pitching. In the 15-team NL, they were 11th in ERA, gave up the 4th most hits and runs allowed, and were just 13th in Ks. The rotation was a problem with Benson pitching poorly until shut down at midseason with an injury and D'Amico and Fogg being weak. And Mike Williams was a horrible closer with his 6.27 ERA and 5 blown saves until traded in mid July.
The 2003 team was just 2 years removed from setting the franchise attendance record of 2.46 mil when PNC Park opened in 2001. But that team lost 100 games and attendance fell to 1.78 mil in 2002. I'm guessing they were still encouraged by the turnout 2 years earlier and increased the payroll by about 12 mil in 2003 expecting big attendance with a better team. That year (2003) the Bucs were 19th (pretty good for the Pirates) of 30 teams in payroll on opening day at 54.8 mil. But the pitching just dragged them down and the highwater mark was being 7 games over .500 (12-5) on April 21. By May 16 they were under .500 where they stayed the rest of the season. The anticipated boon in attendance turned out to be another decrease to 1.6 mil. The story was that the team was in the red for cost/revenue ratio which forced them to start selling off players like Lofton, Aram and Suppan. The following year they got down to an opening day payroll of 32.2 mil (28th).
Bucs Sign Melky
One thing to think about though was that 2003 was the height of the steroid era. Everybody (figuratively speaking) was juicing. The numbers that Stairs, Sanders, and Lofton produced look good by today's standards. I'm not sure they were all that great for 2003 though. I'm not saying those three guys were juicing, but Sanders was 35 that year (about to be 36). Guys at that age don't typically hit 31 dingers and put up a .921 OPS.
Bucs Sign Melky
2D21207B727B737E79667C4B0 wrote: I think there are many fans who will assume the Bucs have signed a player who is on the decline in Cabrera who is 32. He has been a decent hitter the past couple of seasons,but his defense is below average. As a reminder in August of 2013 the Pirates acquired a 36 year old outfielder who still could hit, and his defense was below average. Marlon Byrd helped the Bucs down the stretch in 2013, and hit a huge homer in the Wild Card Game. Maybe Cabrera can do the same in 2019.
Dude seems like he is 40 and has been around along time. He can hit, but ... again, another reclamation project of sorts.
Dude seems like he is 40 and has been around along time. He can hit, but ... again, another reclamation project of sorts.
Bucs Sign Melky
I like this signing. He can still hit. I don't think he will see a lot of time in the field but he will probably be first off the bench to PH.