Teams best positioned to spend more on players this season

Quail · Post by **Quail** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 1:44 pm

An article published in The Athletic today, written by Eno Sarris titled: Which Teams Are Best Positioned to Spend More On Players This Season has some interesting observations especially for us Pirates fans.

First, Sarris states this:

One answer is: all of them. Baseball is flush with record profits after selling off parts of MLBAM, and signing a new national television deal — enough so that they’re reportedly eyeing expansion — so that answer is good enough for many. And hard to argue with.

Next, he presents a chart showing the top teams who are projected to have winning seasons with the most money to spend based on past payroll levels:

These are good teams that have money to spend compared to what they’ve spent in the past. These are the top 5 with the additional money to spend listed:

Twins $36.7M

Indians $23.6M

Rays $20.6M

Pirates $19.5M

Astros $17.2M

Specifically regarding the Pirates Sarris writes:

The Pirates just traded a bunch of young players for Chris Archer and projected to be .500 in a division that suddenly looks attainable. Yes, the Cubs and Cardinals are projected to be six games better than the Bucs. But Chicago and St. Louis are both over their payrolls from last year, as well as their three-year averages. If the Pirates would be willing to go back to their three-year average, they could have as much as $30 million to spend.

If the Pirates spent that $30 million on, say, getting Manny Machado, they could jump right into the fray at the top of their division.

That’s the essence of a mystery team — a decent team, with money to spend, and a hole that could be filled by one of the best two free agents on the market, one of the youngest free agent superstars in years.

The Pirates could spend. They should spend. But will they?

Unfortunately, I think we all know the answer to that last question.

BenM · Post by **BenM** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:03 pm

If the Pirates spent that $30 million on, say, getting Manny Machado, they could jump right into the fray at the top of their division.

That’s the essence of a mystery team — a decent team, with money to spend, and a hole that could be filled by one of the best two free agents on the market, one of the youngest free agent superstars in years.

The Pirates could spend. They should spend. But will they?

This writer is trolling Pirates fans. He knows that will NEVER happen. (Not to mention I can't see Machdo wanting to come here.)

OrlandoMerced · Post by **OrlandoMerced** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:09 pm

Joel Sheehan, I think was saying the same thing. Even if the Pirates offered Machado 30 million, someone else is offering 30M and he'd rather play there.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:15 pm

Any journalist who writes that the Pirates are 1 of the best positioned teams to increase spending and could sign Machado and compete for the division needs to have his credentials revoked. Maybe somebody in Poofster's Froth, Wyoming reads that article and does the math and thinks, "Wow, yeah, sure, maybe the Pirates will add 30 million to their payroll and sign Machado." But anyone with a remote knowledge of how the Pirates operate does not include them in the conversation and for good reason. Eno Sarris seems to be completely unfamiliar with what he's writing about and would be no less credible if he wrote that there is still a chance that monkeys will fly out of Nutting's butt. As they said in "Dumb & Dumber," "So you're saying there's a chance!"

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:52 pm

Add in that the guy's judgment, if this is a legit example, is questionable. Does this division suddenly seem attainable? I think the Cards have improved, the Brewers have improved, and the Cubs are certain for a bounce back. If anything, I would suggest this division has now become clearly *unattainable.*

SCBucco · Post by **SCBucco** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:40 pm

22203A3C2A4F0 wrote: Add in that the guy's judgment, if this is a legit example, is questionable. Does this division suddenly seem attainable? I think the Cards have improved, the Brewers have improved, and the Cubs are certain for a bounce back. If anything, I would suggest this division has now become clearly *unattainable.*

Meanwhile the Brewers are in seriously talks with SF for MadBum.

ArnoldRothstein · Post by **ArnoldRothstein** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:48 pm

It's not just $30 million, it's $30 million per year. What's the longest competitive contract they've given out - three years? Liriano and Nova?

JollyRoger · Post by **JollyRoger** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:06 am

70435F5E5D55635E4559424554585F310 wrote: It's not just $30 million, it's $30 million per year. What's the longest competitive contract they've given out - three years? Liriano and Nova?

The answer is that they have never given out a fair market contract to a high end Free Agent. They did IIRC extend Jason Kendall to a 6 year 60 million dollar contract when PNC Park opened.

Even if the Bucs spent another 30 million they would still just barely crest the 100M mark which is still 40-50M below the league average.

I don’t understand the logic of acquiring Archer and not upgrading the offense. We have a competitive pitching staff but in no way can we keep pace with the rest of the Central Division line ups.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 2:03 pm

6B4E4D4D58734E464453210 wrote: It's not just $30 million, it's $30 million per year. What's the longest competitive contract they've given out - three years? Liriano and Nova?

The answer is that they have never given out a fair market contract to a high end Free Agent. They did IIRC extend Jason Kendall to a 6 year 60 million dollar contract when PNC Park opened.

Even if the Bucs spent another 30 million they would still just barely crest the 100M mark which is still 40-50M below the league average.

I don’t understand the logic of acquiring Archer and not upgrading the offense. We have a competitive pitching staff but in no way can we keep pace with the rest of the Central Division line ups.

That's what's so frustrating about how this organization operates. For most teams, trading top prospects to acquire Archer would be part of a plan to upgrade the team to make them competitive. But for TBMTIB, it's an isolated move to appease the fans who accuse them of not doing anything. By itself, it's not enough. But it provides them with a talking point to fend off accusations of not doing anything.

IABucFan · Post by **IABucFan** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 2:13 pm

The Pirates and Machado in the same sentence? Unless separated by the word "not," it's nothing more than a pipe dream. Laughable, really, which is good, as I needed a good laugh this morning. And I agree with the others...this division is not "attainable." If things break right, the Pirates can compete for the Wild Card. But with the Reds making a big splash, the Cards getting Goldschmidt, the Brewers apparently looking to get Bumgarner, and the Cubs probably looking at a bounce back year from Bryant, the Bucs could well find themselves in fifth place come September.

It would be nice if once, just once, the FO gave fans something to be genuinely excited about on Opening Day. Instead, we get Lonnie Chisenhall.