OnlyBucs

0F222F3E39283F7F7C4D0 wrote: I’m VERY skeptical that Kang can ever be a good MLB player again, but he might make a great platoon partner for Moran. It’s convenient that Moran hits lefty. I also always thought that Kang offered elite level defense at third base. I think Moran is passable...he’s like Mercer. He’ll generally make the plays he’s supposed to, but nothing flashy. I always felt like Kang could really pick it, and has the arm of a SS.



Personally, I’m ok with Moran as the starter in 2019. I really, really doubt Kang offers anything more than a slight upgrade over Rodriguez at this stage. But, I’m willing to find out.
I recall seeing Moran make a number of errors this year on balls hit right to him. And he has no range for the others. I liked it when they acquired him but I've been very disappointed in his fielding. Baseball reference includes a Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Avg stat. Two leap off the page among NL 3Bmen. The first is Nolan Arenado's incredible +16. Travis Shaw is 2nd at +9. Most range from -5 to +5. Except one. Moran jumps out at -25. The next worse is Wil Myers (-8) and he's not even a full time 3Bman.



Mercer is a very steady SS limited only by his range. His zone rating is -4. The 3 best are Nick Ahmed at +23 (wow), Orlando Arcia at +9 and JT Riddle at +7. The rest fall in the range of -8 to +6. So Mercer is passable, falling into the range most SSs are in. But Moran's chance of even making routine plays is not good and no other team has a 3Bman with such an off the chart negative rating. MLB history is full of poor fielding 3Bmen whose hitting was worth more than their bad glove work. Moran isn't a bad hitter and can still improve. But right now his hitting doesn't compensate for his fielding.



https://www.baseball-reference.com/leag ... ding.shtml
Moran, Feliz, Musgrove for Cole again shows how poor our FO evaluation of players. Musgrove may eventially be servicable but the rest are not worth there salary. The 4 year contract for NH and CH has doomed this city's baseball hopes for years to come. Sooooooo sad.

60787A7D7D6A7B7C616076130 wrote: I’m VERY skeptical that Kang can ever be a good MLB player again, but he might make a great platoon partner for Moran. It’s convenient that Moran hits lefty. I also always thought that Kang offered elite level defense at third base. I think Moran is passable...he’s like Mercer. He’ll generally make the plays he’s supposed to, but nothing flashy. I always felt like Kang could really pick it, and has the arm of a SS.



Personally, I’m ok with Moran as the starter in 2019. I really, really doubt Kang offers anything more than a slight upgrade over Rodriguez at this stage. But, I’m willing to find out.
I recall seeing Moran make a number of errors this year on balls hit right to him. And he has no range for the others. I liked it when they acquired him but I've been very disappointed in his fielding. Baseball reference includes a Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Avg stat. Two leap off the page among NL 3Bmen. The first is Nolan Arenado's incredible +16. Travis Shaw is 2nd at +9. Most range from -5 to +5. Except one. Moran jumps out at -25. The next worse is Wil Myers (-8) and he's not even a full time 3Bman.



Mercer is a very steady SS limited only by his range. His zone rating is -4. The 3 best are Nick Ahmed at +23 (wow), Orlando Arcia at +9 and JT Riddle at +7. The rest fall in the range of -8 to +6. So Mercer is passable, falling into the range most SSs are in. But Moran's chance of even making routine plays is not good and no other team has a 3Bman with such an off the chart negative rating. MLB history is full of poor fielding 3Bmen whose hitting was worth more than their bad glove work. Moran isn't a bad hitter and can still improve. But right now his hitting doesn't compensate for his fielding.



https://www.baseball-reference.com/leag ... ding.shtml
Moran, Feliz, Musgrove for Cole again shows how poor our FO evaluation of players.  Musgrove may eventially be servicable but the rest are not worth there salary.  The 4 year contract for NH and CH has doomed this city's baseball hopes for years to come.  Sooooooo sad.


For the record, the Pirates also received OF Jason Martin in that trade. He's 23 and hit .325 for Altoona in the first half this year but just .211 for Indy in the second half. We'll have to see how he turns out before we can really evaluate the trade. I'm less concerned with what they received in the trade than I am with their failure to get the most out of Cole when they had him. The Cole we're seeing this year for Houston is the Cole we always expected for the Pirates. But the pitcher they traded to the Astros was underachieving and had regressed to mediocrity the previous 2 seasons. It occurs to me that Trevor Williams is a guy who doesn't have great stuff but was more effective this year than Cole was in all but one of his Pirate seasons. Yet Cole had great stuff that Williams could only dream of. Cole said he got advice from the Astros that changed the way he was pitching and the improvement was drastic and immediate. I always get the impression the Pirates' brass think they are smarter than everyone else. Seems like they didn't want Cole to use his stuff the way he wanted to. Maybe they wanted him to pitch the way Williams pitches. It's great for Williams but not so much for Cole.

I saw 2 of Jung Ho's AB's yesterday. The single and a ground out to 3rd. I am very impressed that he doesn't look overmatched. It's a tough chore to come off injury, after being out of baseball for so long and step right in. I am optimistic that Kang can make it back. I really hope the Pirates either pick up the option or bring him back with an incentive laden deal.

IF he's even close to the Kang of old he would be a great addition. One more bat then would be good.