OnlyBucs

4974797E696F74292A231B0 wrote: Tulo can be signed for the league minimum. You never know. He could easily produce 3 war if he's healthy!
He may not be able to play SS anymore. He may not last long before the next injury. But he's got 2 years on his contract which is paid by Toronto for all but the $555,000 minimum salary due from whoever signs him. A lot of teams will be willing to take a flyer on him. If he doesn't work out he can be released with Toronto still on the hook for his salary. I suspect he will choose to go to whichever team offers to give him substantial playing time as long as he remains healthy.

200D00111607105053620 wrote: Tulo can be signed for the league minimum. You never know. He could easily produce 3 war if he's healthy!
He may not be able to play SS anymore. He may not last long before the next injury. But he's got 2 years on his contract which is paid by Toronto for all but the $555,000 minimum salary due from whoever signs him. A lot of teams will be willing to take a flyer on him. If he doesn't work out he can be released with Toronto still on the hook for his salary. I suspect he will choose to go to whichever team offers to give him substantial playing time as long as he remains healthy.


I really believe the Pirates should seriously consider him. What is there to lose if they discover he is still injured? On the other hand if he is healthy what a great move by them, and an additional bat in the lineup.

Rosenthal is saying that the Pirates are in on him.



The Pirates would be stupid to not atleast offer the job to Tulowitzki, which i assume they are. But the dynamics of this situation do no favor the Pirates. Money is not an issue, so he can go to any team he wants. To me, that means he'll somewhere in the AL so he can DH as well as play SS.

I'm not doing cartwheels over Tulowitzki. Rosenthal reported today that the Pirates had reached an agreement with him, but that was 8 hours ago and I haven't seen anything since.



But the guy is 34, didn't play last year, and is probably average or below average defensively. Just wondering what he's got left.



Part of me feels we'd be better with someone like Hechevarria playing Gold Glove SS and hitting .250.



I guess there's no risk at all financially, but I'm much more interesting in the Pirates WINNING than the Pirates saving $$$.

That Rosenthal report on Twitter, saying we came to terms with Tulo, was a farce. This guy has a dummy Rosenthal account and pulls this crap all the time.

Oh ok, i just saw that I didn't catch that is was fake.



Thanks for clarifying.

I view Tulo as our number one option. Number 2 is Ahmed. Tulip has the advantage of not requiring a trade.

Between this reported interest in Tulowitzki, and Ahmad. It is at least clear that the Pirates are seeking an upgrade at SS.



To me that's a positive. It would have been a disaster to anoint Newman a starter after that crap debut.

Tulo is certainly intriguing. On the one hand, you have a guy who is a five-time all-star and a two-time gold glove winner at shortstop, who is available for a league-minimum cost.



But there are red flags galore:



1. If he's anywhere close to the player he's been, why are the Jays not interested? They should have more insight than anyone about him.



2. His last full season was 2016, and he didn't play an inning in 2018. The Pirates already have Jung Ho Kang in an almost identical situation. Betting on both to make it back to cover two critical infield positions seems a real longshot. Wouldn't more certainty at shortstop seem preferable?



3. He's 34 years old; not the player everyone remembers from his glory years. He was a good enough player that perhaps his skills have not eroded past replacement-level, but the last time he took the field his defense was about league average. After more foot surgery last year, how likely is it that his defense will be even average?



I'm not against the Pirates taking a chance on Tulo. Maybe the bat still plays. Maybe he could cover 3rd, 2nd or 1B, even if SS is not realistic. Having Kang and Tulo be mutual safety nets in case one or the other can't cut it could work out nicely. Giving Tulo a tryout is worth the small gamble, but I'd still like to see the Pirates bring in a Hech, Ahmed, Galvis, etc to provide stability.

7E5A4E46432F0 wrote: Tulo is certainly intriguing. On the one hand, you have a guy who is a five-time all-star and a two-time gold glove winner at shortstop, who is available for a league-minimum cost.



But there are red flags galore:



1. If he's anywhere close to the player he's been, why are the Jays not interested? They should have more insight than anyone about him.



2. His last full season was 2016, and he didn't play an inning in 2018. The Pirates already have Jung Ho Kang in an almost identical situation. Betting on both to make it back to cover two critical infield positions seems a real longshot. Wouldn't more certainty at shortstop seem preferable?



3. He's 34 years old; not the player everyone remembers from his glory years. He was a good enough player that perhaps his skills have not eroded past replacement-level, but the last time he took the field his defense was about league average. After more foot surgery last year, how likely is it that his defense will be even average?



I'm not against the Pirates taking a chance on Tulo. Maybe the bat still plays. Maybe he could cover 3rd, 2nd or 1B, even if SS is not realistic. Having Kang and Tulo be mutual safety nets in case one or the other can't cut it could work out nicely. Giving Tulo a tryout is worth the small gamble, but I'd still like to see the Pirates bring in a Hech, Ahmed, Galvis, etc to provide stability.


There's no reason not to try to sign him. But the Pirates certainly realize it's not a sure thing that he can even play at an acceptable level and may not be able to play SS at all. But at minimum salary, he could be signed and quickly released if need be. If he can't play SS it becomes a problem. OTOH, maybe Kang doesn't make the team in ST and Tulo could fill that reserve roll. If he is able to play SS, he could be a mentor for Newman. Nothing is for certain but there's no reason not to take a flyer on him if he's willing to sign.