OnlyBucs

First impression. Glad to get rid of Cole. I always thought he was a Kip Wells type pitcher with a sour attitude. Stomped around like he thought he was A.J. Burnett but didn't have the moxie to back it up. All bark and no bite!! That said...... he will likely turn into Jason Schmidt in the 3rd or 4th slot in Houston's rotation. He will do well in that spot in a rotation. He is not a #1. May one day be a #1 but isn't right now.



As far as the return....... meh

I do love getting Moran back. Martin seems to have some power, but he isn't ranked very high by the experts. Feliz will probably go right to the bullpen, which is a need.



I did want a different pitcher than Musgrove. He seems to be the question mark. He struggled last year as a Starter. Will he start for the Pirates?

5F747568736B725E697F7F731C0 wrote: Gotta hope that Feliz becomes close to being a righthanded Rivero, Musgrove a decent starter, and that Moran can be regular at third.



Jason Martin is other player, young outfielder with good bat but not a lot of power yet.



My take is that the Bucs didn't get anyone back that has good chance of being an all star type player.






really?



first glance at his stats and he seems to have very intriguing power with some speed.



for a guy about Cutch size




He certainly could have power and based on last two seasons he has hit homers. His profile on the Astros prospect site though says this:



Martin's hitting ability stands out more than his pop, as he works counts while using a compact left-handed swing to hit line drives to all fields. He does have at least average raw power and is starting to turn on more pitches, so he could become a 15-homer threat in the big leagues. He has solid speed and is improving as a basestealer.

I like Moran. But I Liked Andy LaRoche too.... (at least Moran bats lefty).



The other three pieces look pretty fungible.



The Astros are getting good marks on this deal. I’ve not seen anyone comment on the Pirates.

CBS sports comments on players the Bucs received:



https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb- ... -for-cole/



Do you think the Pirates got fair value for Cole?

I don't. Yes, Cole struggled for large portions of 2017 and outside of 2015 hasn't looked like the pitcher who was the first overall pick in 2011. He's still a hurler who can miss bats and won't be 28 until September. A player of this talent should have gotten top prospects. I don't think they did.



Moran has been a polarizing prospect -- what's your take on him?

This is your definition of a backup corner infielder. His approach has gone backward -- it was a calling-card when he was at UNC -- and there just isn't a ton of power here. He's also not a terrific defender at third, so you're really talking about a guy who shouldn't be playing every day

won't know who won deal for years of course





first blush, we are usually wrong.





considering the realities of both teams and where they are and how they operate. prob a win for both.





by and large over the last decade, when Pirates were in sell mode. We never got what we expected back for sell offs.



and the guys we sold off never amounted to much. Bay might have been the only guy to have a very good year after he was dumped from the bucs in the past 10 years.



problem was, that we also seemed to never get guys in return that panned out unless we traded a closer.



McClouth trade was a big exception.

I have no problem with the trade. I was not enamored with Cole. They weren't trading Kershaw. Cole was a huge disappointment these last 2 years yet still netted four decent players or prospects in exchanged for the potential he demonstrated in 2015 but not since. Moran and Musgrove were 1st round picks. Both are 25. Moran could be a quality bat at 3B. Too soon to tell about Musgrove. Feliz has not had success and may just be a throw in. But the Pirates are usually satisfied with older reclamation projects like Hudson so Feliz won't be worse and might turn out better. Martin is just 22 and looks like he could become a quality bat in the OF. Pretty apparent the Bucs don't plan to contend in 2018 so another year of Cole wouldn't accomplish much. Especially if he has another declining year coming up. These 4 players need seasoning but could make an impact in a year or two. IMHO, not a bad haul for a pitcher who's supposed to be a lot better than he's shown in the past 2 seasons.

I'm surprised about that take on Moran by Christopher Crawford, who I never heard of. Moran was the future before Bregman had a great year. I thought Moran would get his at bats at 1B in 2018 as a little platoon too.



I never heard of him as a back up infielder as his future. The Pirates have enough of those guys.

Does this return help the Pirates contend in the future?



If Moran can become a quality 3rd, then the pirates probably improved. If not, this trade does little I suspect.

As far as the punditry and those who believe the prospect lists, NH just got his clock cleaned....  BAD



I don't subscribe to those prospects lists.   A guide and not much more as we see over and over again.   



But for those that do, the Astros #5 is the headliner.   So that has to be a pretty epic fail



I have no idea if it's good or bad. Moran seems like a risky bet at 25.



Bravo to NH for doing something. World Series 2027 here we come