OnlyBucs

The Pirates bench will change several times during this season, but with the signing of Todd Frazier today it appears there is going to be some competition during ST to decide which players will fill out the bench. I am going to assume that the bench will consist of 5 players. At this time I will predict that Moran, Hayes, Stallings, Reynolds and if healthy,Polanco are sure bets to come north for Opening Day. Wolters and Perez will compete for the backup catcher. The following players will compete for the second base, shortstop and utility infield roles. Todd Frazier, Adam Frazier, if not traded, Newman, Tucker, Difo, Gonzalez and Phil Evans. It appears now that Goodwin and Alford will battle for the centerfield and fourth outfielder position. That is 16 players for 8 starting positions and 5 bench players. It seems these situations all eventually work out, so it will be interesting when Grapefruit Games begin.

7874752E272E262B2C33291E0 wrote: The Pirates bench will change several times during this season, but with the signing of Todd Frazier today it appears there is going to be some competition during ST to decide which players will fill out the bench. I am going to assume that the bench will consist of 5 players. At this time I will predict that Moran, Hayes, Stallings, Reynolds and if healthy,Polanco are sure bets to come north for Opening Day. Wolters and Perez will compete for the backup catcher. The following players will compete for the second base, shortstop and utility infield roles. Todd Frazier, Adam Frazier, if not traded, Newman, Tucker, Difo, Gonzalez and Phil Evans. It appears now that Goodwin and Alford will battle for the centerfield and fourth outfielder position. That is 16 players for 8 starting positions and 5 bench players. It seems these situations all eventually work out, so it will be interesting when Grapefruit Games begin.




Frazier, Wolters, Goodwin and Difo are all on minor league contracts. So if they make the team room needs to be made on 40 man for them. It looks like Difo has the toughest row to hoe as the Bucs have plenty of infielders.

0F29283F29394A0 wrote: The Pirates bench will change several times during this season, but with the signing of Todd Frazier today it appears there is going to be some competition during ST to decide which players will fill out the bench. I am going to assume that the bench will consist of 5 players. At this time I will predict that Moran, Hayes, Stallings, Reynolds and if healthy,Polanco are sure bets to come north for Opening Day. Wolters and Perez will compete for the backup catcher. The following players will compete for the second base, shortstop and utility infield roles. Todd Frazier, Adam Frazier, if not traded, Newman, Tucker, Difo, Gonzalez and Phil Evans. It appears now that Goodwin and Alford will battle for the centerfield and fourth outfielder position. That is 16 players for 8 starting positions and 5 bench players. It seems these situations all eventually work out, so it will be interesting when Grapefruit Games begin.




Frazier, Wolters, Goodwin and Difo are all on minor league contracts.  So if they make the team room needs to be made on 40 man for them.  It looks like Difo has the toughest row to hoe as the Bucs have plenty of infielders.


Good point about those 4 players needing to be added to the 40 man roster. I still wonder if an Adam Frazier trade is still in the works, and possibly Feliz, and Stratton may get moved before Opening Day. There are quite a few pitchers who could end up as bullpen candidates, and some of the vets may get pushed off the roster by the younger guys.

We do seem to have a lot of infielders on this team. Another trade might open the room for a few to get experience and develop their skills.

676B6A3138313934332C36010 wrote: The Pirates bench will change several times during this season, but with the signing of Todd Frazier today it appears there is going to be some competition during ST to decide which players will fill out the bench. I am going to assume that the bench will consist of 5 players. At this time I will predict that Moran, Hayes, Stallings, Reynolds and if healthy,Polanco are sure bets to come north for Opening Day. Wolters and Perez will compete for the backup catcher. The following players will compete for the second base, shortstop and utility infield roles. Todd Frazier, Adam Frazier, if not traded, Newman, Tucker, Difo, Gonzalez and Phil Evans. It appears now that Goodwin and Alford will battle for the centerfield and fourth outfielder position. That is 16 players for 8 starting positions and 5 bench players. It seems these situations all eventually work out, so it will be interesting when Grapefruit Games begin.




Frazier, Wolters, Goodwin and Difo are all on minor league contracts.  So if they make the team room needs to be made on 40 man for them.  It looks like Difo has the toughest row to hoe as the Bucs have plenty of infielders.


Good point about those 4 players needing to be added to the 40 man roster. I still wonder if an Adam Frazier trade is still in the works, and possibly Feliz, and Stratton may get moved before Opening Day. There are quite a few pitchers who could end up as bullpen candidates, and some of the vets may get pushed off the roster by the younger guys.


if I counted right, the Bucs have 26 pitchers on 40 man (including Jose Soriano who is on il) so folks like Fulmer, Crick, Austin Davis, Sam Howard need to pitch well to keep jobs. I agree that a couple pitchers will be dealt by end of spring training (even if deal happens because they are designated for assignment). Anyone interested in Feliz can have him as far as I'm concerned.

113736213727540 wrote: The Pirates bench will change several times during this season, but with the signing of Todd Frazier today it appears there is going to be some competition during ST to decide which players will fill out the bench. I am going to assume that the bench will consist of 5 players. At this time I will predict that Moran, Hayes, Stallings, Reynolds and if healthy,Polanco are sure bets to come north for Opening Day. Wolters and Perez will compete for the backup catcher. The following players will compete for the second base, shortstop and utility infield roles. Todd Frazier, Adam Frazier, if not traded, Newman, Tucker, Difo, Gonzalez and Phil Evans. It appears now that Goodwin and Alford will battle for the centerfield and fourth outfielder position. That is 16 players for 8 starting positions and 5 bench players. It seems these situations all eventually work out, so it will be interesting when Grapefruit Games begin.




Frazier, Wolters, Goodwin and Difo are all on minor league contracts.  So if they make the team room needs to be made on 40 man for them.  It looks like Difo has the toughest row to hoe as the Bucs have plenty of infielders.


Good point about those 4 players needing to be added to the 40 man roster. I still wonder if an Adam Frazier trade is still in the works, and possibly Feliz, and Stratton may get moved before Opening Day. There are quite a few pitchers who could end up as bullpen candidates, and some of the vets may get pushed off the roster by the younger guys.


if I counted right, the Bucs have 26 pitchers on 40 man (including Jose Soriano who is on il) so folks like Fulmer, Crick, Austin Davis, Sam Howard need to pitch well to keep jobs.  I agree that a couple pitchers will be dealt by end of spring training (even if deal happens because they are designated for assignment).  Anyone interested in Feliz can have him as far as I'm concerned.
Besides the 26 pitchers on the 40 man roster, there are a couple of non roster pitchers who could break camp with the team. I agree with you Feliz may be traded or designated towards the end of ST.

745253445242310 wrote: The Pirates bench will change several times during this season, but with the signing of Todd Frazier today it appears there is going to be some competition during ST to decide which players will fill out the bench. I am going to assume that the bench will consist of 5 players. At this time I will predict that Moran, Hayes, Stallings, Reynolds and if healthy,Polanco are sure bets to come north for Opening Day. Wolters and Perez will compete for the backup catcher. The following players will compete for the second base, shortstop and utility infield roles. Todd Frazier, Adam Frazier, if not traded, Newman, Tucker, Difo, Gonzalez and Phil Evans. It appears now that Goodwin and Alford will battle for the centerfield and fourth outfielder position. That is 16 players for 8 starting positions and 5 bench players. It seems these situations all eventually work out, so it will be interesting when Grapefruit Games begin.




Frazier, Wolters, Goodwin and Difo are all on minor league contracts.  So if they make the team room needs to be made on 40 man for them.  It looks like Difo has the toughest row to hoe as the Bucs have plenty of infielders.


Good point about those 4 players needing to be added to the 40 man roster. I still wonder if an Adam Frazier trade is still in the works, and possibly Feliz, and Stratton may get moved before Opening Day. There are quite a few pitchers who could end up as bullpen candidates, and some of the vets may get pushed off the roster by the younger guys.


if I counted right, the Bucs have 26 pitchers on 40 man (including Jose Soriano who is on il) so folks like Fulmer, Crick, Austin Davis, Sam Howard need to pitch well to keep jobs.  I agree that a couple pitchers will be dealt by end of spring training (even if deal happens because they are designated for assignment).  Anyone interested in Feliz can have him as far as I'm concerned.


Seems like a given multiple pitchers will be off the roster by the end of spring training. Frazier, Goodwin and Shreve are just about locks to make the team. Wolters is a maybe, but no one else really has much of a shot unless other moves are made first.



Makes no sense to me why they kept Crick and Feliz around.



They only unknown spots for the spring would be 5th starter, backup catcher and the middle of the bullpen.

The only reason I can see to keep Crick or Feliz around would be if you were hoping to flip him for a prospect at the trade deadline if they he has a good start.

727770767E746D70796A6C61180 wrote: The only reason I can see to keep Crick or Feliz around would be if you were hoping to flip him for a prospect at the trade deadline if they he has a good start.
I'm sure it's part of building via a young team to look more at a pitcher's "stuff" than his results. They were enamored with Feliz's FB and the movement on Crick's pitches and want to believe it will translate into effective pitching. But both have had very limited success. Feliz's mediocre 2019 has been the highwater mark of his career. And Crick's 2018 was the only season of his minor and major league career that wasn't plagued with wildness. Both have a few years of control left but Cherington needs to see results or cut bait. Of course knowing when it's the right time to give up on a player has to be a difficult decision.

292C2B2D252F362B2231373A430 wrote: The only reason I can see to keep Crick or Feliz around would be if you were hoping to flip him for a prospect at the trade deadline if they he has a good start.


Hard throwing pitchers that have trouble throwing strikes don't really bring in much. Rodriguez is the only Pirate reliever that would bring anything of note back. He has been effective for a few years now and will have closer experience.



The Pirates have younger and cheaper options that should be able to match what Feliz and Crick have managed to do the last few years.