OnlyBucs

Now that the ridiculous lock-out is over, a number of general managers are now moving quickly to try and bolster their team's chances of winning in 2022. Trades and free agent signings are happening at a blistering pace.



But, no need to get excited in Pirate land regarding players who may be added to an over-matched line-up and starting rotation. As I am trying to get re-energized about real baseball games starting in less than a month, the only news about the Pirates is how other teams want to trade for Brian Reynolds.



I try to tell myself how the current state of affairs in Pittsburgh is okay, and that things will certainly get better next year and several years to come when a plethora of good prospects will suddenly be playing at PNC and ripping the cover off of the ball. Nonetheless, it is a constant state of disappointment to realize that Will Crowe may soon be considered the ace of the staff and that no reinforcements of any substance will be added to this year's team.



Baseball's back, but it looks like the Bucs could be in line to win only 55 games or so.



Also --- with the cancellation of this year's Rule 5 draft, could the Bucs now remove someone like Diego Castillo or Jack Suwinski from the 40 man roster with no fear of losing them?

745850575C7B4C5A4A390 wrote: Now that the ridiculous lock-out is over, a number of general managers are now moving quickly to try and bolster their team's chances of winning in 2022.   Trades and free agent signings are happening at a blistering pace.



But, no need to get excited in Pirate land regarding players who may be added to an over-matched line-up and starting rotation.    As I am trying to get re-energized about real baseball games starting in less than a month, the only news about the Pirates is how other teams want to trade for Brian Reynolds. 



I try to tell myself how the current state of affairs in Pittsburgh is okay, and that things will certainly get better next year and several years to come when a plethora of good prospects will suddenly be playing at PNC and ripping the cover off of the ball.  Nonetheless, it is a constant state of disappointment to realize that Will Crowe may soon be considered the ace of the staff and that no reinforcements of any substance will be added to this year's team. 



Baseball's back, but it looks like the Bucs could be in line to win only 55 games or so.



Also --- with the cancellation of this year's Rule 5 draft, could the Bucs now remove someone like Diego Castillo or Jack Suwinski from the 40 man roster with no fear of losing them?


Whenever a player is removed from the 40 man roster, they must be exposed to waivers so there is a chance of losing them. As far as the 2022 Bucs go, they are not competitive but I'm interested to see how some individuals do. Hopefully Cruz will spend a lot of time with the club. And I hope Yoshi has a big power year. Maybe Hayes will be better than last year. Reynolds is fun to watch and maybe another good OFer will emerge. But the SP looks like a repeat of last year with zero competent pitchers in the rotation and few quality relievers. The pitching looks every bit as brutal as last year. At least Keller gives us a lot to discuss. I wonder if he will again alternate terrible games with acceptable 5 inning starts.

One writer (I'm too lazy to search) picks Cruz Control to become the NL ROY.



In addition.to his talent level, she mentions that, seeing as how he's not exactly blocked by any superstar, he should receive a good amount of playing time.  So, if he shines, he'll shine brighter than the average bear.



My expectations are low, but I remember being down before.  The club came together, ended the 20-year losing season streak, and made the playoffs.  So, you never know.  Stranger things in baseball have happened.

0E222A2D2601362030430 wrote: Now that the ridiculous lock-out is over, a number of general managers are now moving quickly to try and bolster their team's chances of winning in 2022.   Trades and free agent signings are happening at a blistering pace.



But, no need to get excited in Pirate land regarding players who may be added to an over-matched line-up and starting rotation.    As I am trying to get re-energized about real baseball games starting in less than a month, the only news about the Pirates is how other teams want to trade for Brian Reynolds. 



I try to tell myself how the current state of affairs in Pittsburgh is okay, and that things will certainly get better next year and several years to come when a plethora of good prospects will suddenly be playing at PNC and ripping the cover off of the ball.  Nonetheless, it is a constant state of disappointment to realize that Will Crowe may soon be considered the ace of the staff and that no reinforcements of any substance will be added to this year's team. 



Baseball's back, but it looks like the Bucs could be in line to win only 55 games or so.



Also --- with the cancellation of this year's Rule 5 draft, could the Bucs now remove someone like Diego Castillo or Jack Suwinski from the 40 man roster with no fear of losing them?




There’s little to look forward to this season with the Pirates other than those young minor leaguers who might come to Pittsburgh.  There’s not much of a future with the current roster so it’ll be another year of waiting for that wave of players Cherington has acquired.  I’m thinking about driving to Altoona a time or two, and to Harrisburg, Erie, and Akron to see the Curve play in those towns.  It’ll be more interesting.

I'm generally unrealistically optimistic but here are things I'm looking forward to:



Cruz, Reynolds, and Hayes playing together most of the year.



Roansy Contreras.



Possibility of later in the year seeing position players like Nick Gonzales, Matt Fraizier, Travis Swaggerty, Canaan Smith-Njigba. Maybe even Liover Peguero.



Plus, you never know, blah blah blah.

I’d like to see them win more games then last season. I know the team is still not very good but you gotta start making some strides at some point here going into the next 2-3 years where you could potentially contend with all the young talent in the system and having a top 5 Minor League system in baseball. I’d like to see them avoid 100 losses this year and win maybe 7-10 more games which would put them right at or over 90 losses. Pretty low bar to set but I think they need to be able to at least do that and evaluate Shelton a little bit better to make sure he is the right man to manage this team in the next few seasons when this team is expected to contend.