OnlyBucs

mlbtr's offseason outlook for the Pirates is now available --

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/10/ ... es-11.html



Looks bleak no matter how it's displayed.

thanks for posting. Interesting read. Unfortunately, it looks like NH didn't leave the franchise in much better shape than he found it.

Hopefully the Bucs could find a trading partner for Josh Bell, unless the dh is going to be implemented in both leagues. He will continue to kill us defensively if he plays defense. I could see both he and Musgrove being moved. This winter, mlb baseball is going to be even more questionable with the virus being in the forefront. I can see many upcoming free agents not being signed over the winter, with many signing for much less money and one year contracts. Not having fans again for 2021 will greatly affect baseball. That, and the final year on the owners/players contract expiring hopefully will finally correct the issue of not having a true, hard salary cap, minimum and maximum.

As bad as many of the Pirates performed this year, a lot of players throughout MLB had uncharacteristically bad seasons. The impact of the virus can't be ignored. ST was cut short. There were fewer Grapefruit League games. The season was reduced to 37% of normal, giving little chance to rebound from a poor start. And players had to be distracted by the threat of the virus to their families.



With that in mind, I don't believe the return on players like Bell, Frazier, Musgrove or Williams would be based on their 2020 stats. All MLB GMs saw the impact of the virus on the performance of their own players and opponents. I don't think any GM will be trading players for a return based on their 2020 stats when there is an established track record of much better performance for several years prior to that. If that were the case, this would be an ideal time to trade for Christian Yelich who followed up seasons of .326 and .329 with a 2020 BA of .205.



BC should have a chance to move some players this off season without the dismal stats of 2020 dictating the return.

True, but he's not in a position of strength, either. He'll get what he's offered. He can pass if he wants.

556077777C4577777C7B77120 wrote: True, but he's not in a position of strength, either.  He'll get what he's offered.  He can pass if he wants.
No, he's not in a position of strength. But the article linked at the top of the thread suggests BC would be selling very low because of the miserable season most of those players just had. I don't think that's the case. All GMs experienced the effect of the crazy mini-season on their players and saw many players suffer through bad a bad season not representative of their proven abilities. I think if BC wants to trade some of his players the return won't be much different from what he could have received before 2020, other than another year of control having just been used up.

Agree.



I heard yesterday that the average BA was .245. That makes a difference in how hitters are evaluated, too.

I would think this would be a good off-season for signing one-year deals. With the cutbacks in the minor leagues and the expected cut-back in offerings to arb eligible, potential free agents, there should be some talent looking for a place to wait out MLB's rough times. Who knows, Ben might be able to snag one or two.

"Years of control" seemed to be the mantra in days of old. Let's see if any of that's changed under the new guys.

7E4B5C5C576E5C5C57505C390 wrote: "Years of control" seemed to be the mantra in days of old.  Let's see if any of that's changed under the new guys.
It's always an issue for all teams. It's certainly one of the factors that determines the return on a trade. A GM trading for a player with 2 or more years of control will value that player more than a player he will likely lose after 1 season. It's actually less an issue for the Pirates because they usually trade for prospects who have all their years of control ahead of them.



Bell will draw interest from some teams. Had he been traded prior to 2020 his new team would have had 3 years of control. If he's traded this off season his new team will have 2 years of control. That likely lessens what the Pirates get in return. That will also be a factor in trades of Frazier, Williams or Musgrove.