OnlyBucs

I saw a bit of the press conference that introduced Cherington on the MLB channel and then listened to the commentary of their 3 'experts' and the moderator after the clips of the conference.



Several takeaways:



1) All thought that Cherington was a good hire and that he has the respect of others in the baseball industry.



2) One 'expert' particularly noted that the Pirates were an embarrassment off the field last year and that they were irrelevant on the field. I thought that this was a good snap assessment of the state of the franchise.



3) This same 'expert' stated that one of the reasons that Cherington may have been interested in the Pirates' position is because of the few long-term salary commitments. He correctly noted that after 2021, the Pirates have less than $2 mil/year in current salary obligations. He stated that these few commitments will provide Cherington more ability to try and remake the team.



4) This same 'expert' (sorry I can't remember his name, I was ironing at the time and could pay only so much attention to the TV) also pushed back at the moderator when the moderator said that the current team has some talent and included Polanco among the list of talented players. The above 'expert' stated that Polanco has been a major bust; an opinion that I share.



I believe that NH generally did a good job for many of the years that he was with Pittsburgh, however, he was unable to build on the success of the franchise, or to convince Nutting of the need to allocate more money to sustain the success of three year run to respectability. Clearly, it was past time for NH to go.



I've got to hope that Cherington is able to quickly assess the state of the franchise and to have the courage and insight to make productive trades with the few assets that he has. If he does, before spring training arrives, at least Marte and Bell will be playing for other teams and the Bucs will have at least 3 higher end prospects and some prospects with an upside who have promise for the future. And, if by some miracle he can obtain a decent (not overwhelming) return for Archer, no fan should hold him accountable for the travesty of the trade that NH engineered 18 months ago. The past is the past, and tomorrow is what counts now.



Further, if players such as Marte, Bell, and Archer are traded, I could see some one-year free agent stop gaps who have some ability to play the game and who would not be that expensive. For example, I could see someone like Matt Adams being signed to try and boost the home run power at first, with Osuna getting the majority of the reps to see if he can deliver some offense.



Good luck Ben.

393B212731540 wrote: I think the team is in a lot better shape now than it was when NH took over, so it shouldn't take so long. My hope is that the development process is improved.


No Cutch on the horizon line.

And No AJ like to land at the door step.

I think those two guys were the essential keys to the Last run. Without them it will be hard to duplicate that success much less succeed it.

Hope I’m wrong.

133F37303B1C2B3D2D5E0 wrote: I saw a bit of the press conference that introduced Cherington on the MLB channel and then listened to the commentary of their 3 'experts' and the moderator after the clips of the conference.



Several takeaways:



1)  All thought that Cherington was a good hire and that he has the respect of others in the baseball industry.



2)  One 'expert' particularly noted that the Pirates were an embarrassment off the field last year and that they were irrelevant on the field.   I thought that this was a good snap assessment of the state of the franchise. 



3)  This same 'expert' stated that one of the reasons that Cherington may have been interested in the Pirates' position is because of the few long-term salary commitments.   He correctly noted that after 2021, the Pirates have less than $2 mil/year in current salary obligations.  He stated that these few commitments will provide Cherington more ability to try and remake the team.



4)  This same 'expert' (sorry I can't remember his name, I was ironing at the time and could pay only so much attention to the TV) also pushed back at the moderator when the moderator said that the current team has some talent and included Polanco among the list of talented players.  The above 'expert' stated that Polanco has been a major bust; an opinion that I share.



I believe that NH generally did a good job for many of the years that he was with Pittsburgh, however, he was unable to build on the success of the franchise, or to convince Nutting of the need to allocate more money to sustain the success of three year run to respectability.   Clearly, it was past time for NH to go.



I've got to hope that Cherington is able to quickly assess the state of the franchise and to have the courage and insight to make productive trades with the few assets that he has.  If he does, before spring training arrives, at least Marte and Bell will be playing for other teams and the Bucs will have at least 3 higher end prospects and some prospects with an upside who have promise for the future.   And, if by some miracle he can obtain a decent (not overwhelming) return for Archer, no fan should hold him accountable for the travesty of the trade that NH engineered 18 months ago.   The past is the past, and tomorrow is what counts now.



Further, if players such as Marte, Bell, and Archer are traded, I could see some one-year free agent stop gaps who have some ability to play the game and who would not be that expensive.  For example, I could see someone like Matt Adams being signed to try and boost the home run power at first, with Osuna getting the majority of the reps to see if he can deliver some offense.



Good luck Ben.         
Thanks for the update. A few points:



First, no more ironing when watching Pirate related shows. This will go on your Permanent Record!



Cherington will likely be better than NH at obtaining and developing prospects but unless Nutting stops operating on the smallest of budgets it will all be for nought.



I agree that Polanco has been a bust. Doesn't hit for average, a liability in the OF and poor base runner. He can hit 20-25 HRs a year but that comes with a consistent .250 BA and many Ks. His best asset is his arm but who knows how that will be after the shoulder injury. I see him as a weak spot on the team that needs to be upgraded.



They are so short of starting pitchers that there is no one to replace Archer with if Archer was moved. But otherwise, the Archer deal was NH's mess and helped get him fired, and there is no reason for BC to keep him for any face saving reasons as NH might have been inclined to do. So if they could get something decent in return (but I can't imagine he has much trade value anymore) they might just throw some AAAA guy into the rotation to replace him since this is not a team that's going to contend this year.

I believe player development is the MOST important aspect of the GM's job for the Pirates BECAUSE we know payroll won't be raised that much.



I'm sick and tired of watching guys come up through our system that don't know how to run the bases; don't know which base to throw to; and don't have at least 2 pitches they can throw for strikes in any count.



That doesn't take luck or talent - that takes developing players properly in the minors.



Even Cutch couldn't slide right, costing him probably a 10% base stealing success rate - and posters on this board often critiicized him for throwing to the wrong base.



Look at how much better this year's team would have been if we had Cole & Glasnow throw to the top of the zone (instead of forcing them into our one-size-fits-all pitching program), allowing them to blossom with us instead of trading them away. (Yeah, maybe Cole would have been traded this year since this was his last year of control, but we would have received a better package if he pitched as well in '17 & '18 with us as he did with the Astro in '18).



And if we don't trade Glasnow, we also don't trade Meadows or Baz.



So development does have luck involved in the drafting process but there is a LOT that can be done with skill to make each player a little bit better - and if each player is a little better, the team is a lot better.

6C6E747264010 wrote: What I take from this so far is that they intend to do the same things only they hope Cherington will be able to do it better. I guess we'll see.


pretty much this.

7A565E595275425444370 wrote: I saw a bit of the press conference that introduced Cherington on the MLB channel and then listened to the commentary of their 3 'experts' and the moderator after the clips of the conference.



Several takeaways:



1)  All thought that Cherington was a good hire and that he has the respect of others in the baseball industry.



2)  One 'expert' particularly noted that the Pirates were an embarrassment off the field last year and that they were irrelevant on the field.   I thought that this was a good snap assessment of the state of the franchise. 



3)  This same 'expert' stated that one of the reasons that Cherington may have been interested in the Pirates' position is because of the few long-term salary commitments.   He correctly noted that after 2021, the Pirates have less than $2 mil/year in current salary obligations.  He stated that these few commitments will provide Cherington more ability to try and remake the team.



4)  This same 'expert' (sorry I can't remember his name, I was ironing at the time and could pay only so much attention to the TV) also pushed back at the moderator when the moderator said that the current team has some talent and included Polanco among the list of talented players.  The above 'expert' stated that Polanco has been a major bust; an opinion that I share.



I believe that NH generally did a good job for many of the years that he was with Pittsburgh, however, he was unable to build on the success of the franchise, or to convince Nutting of the need to allocate more money to sustain the success of three year run to respectability.   Clearly, it was past time for NH to go.



I've got to hope that Cherington is able to quickly assess the state of the franchise and to have the courage and insight to make productive trades with the few assets that he has.  If he does, before spring training arrives, at least Marte and Bell will be playing for other teams and the Bucs will have at least 3 higher end prospects and some prospects with an upside who have promise for the future.   And, if by some miracle he can obtain a decent (not overwhelming) return for Archer, no fan should hold him accountable for the travesty of the trade that NH engineered 18 months ago.   The past is the past, and tomorrow is what counts now.



Further, if players such as Marte, Bell, and Archer are traded, I could see some one-year free agent stop gaps who have some ability to play the game and who would not be that expensive.  For example, I could see someone like Matt Adams being signed to try and boost the home run power at first, with Osuna getting the majority of the reps to see if he can deliver some offense.



Good luck Ben.         


Mainer, totally agree with this. I can't believe someone put Polanco on the talent list for starters. Dude is an enigma when healthy.



As someone who lives down the road from Phillipsburg PA and know people from there, I know for a fact Matt Adams has zero interest playing in a Pittsburgh. Unless something drastically changes, that ain't happening.

7671676F6176313D446369656D682A676B69040 wrote: I think the team is in a lot better shape now than it was when NH took over, so it shouldn't take so long. My hope is that the development process is improved.


No Cutch on the horizon line. 

And No AJ like to land at the door step. 

I think those two guys were the essential keys to the Last run.  Without them it will be hard to duplicate that success much less succeed it. 

Hope I’m wrong.
Oh I don't know. 



https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxe ... 9300.shtml