I hope others add to this and what they experienced/heard.
I was at Pirates Fest on Saturday, but did miss the first ten minutes or so. It was Huntington, Coonelly, and Hurdle on stage.
Hurdle was asked some stupid questions and had some motivational answers. One question was where will Marte play. He joked as a kid asked the question. Hurdle did say they will discuss with all three outfielders and come up with a plan. My take was that talks are heating up moving MCutchen to a corner.
Huntington explained the Liriano trade as some fan took forever in letting Huntington explain. Huntington said Liriano was a salary dump. He thought the league has figured him out and was not surprised he had success once traded. But he did say the prospects weren't moved in order to dump Liriano. They traded the two prospects for Hutcheson, someone they had their eye on and knew was blocked by other pitchers in Toronto. Liriano was thrown in, not the other way around.
Coonelly said he was tired of hearing how they don't care and just want to make money. He kind of went off on that. The goal is to always win a World Series.
Huntington said it would be a tall order for the young pitchers to carry this team. He said they have about 8-12 guys they are in talks with but the players control the timing. He said players wait for each other to sign so they know their market. I did find that interesting.
Hurdle also said they need pitching. He said they have a very solid starting eight but need to get results from their pitchers.
Huntington explained the draft a little and the bonus money. Someone asked if that was why so many college seniors were drafted. But Huntington did say the system controls the money more than anyone.
Huntington didn't say who the mystery team was in the McCutchen talks, but did say he knew.
Huntington was asked if Meadows was the reason why McCutchen talks started. He said No. He praised Meadows but also said they want their players to get the whole experience at each level. He brought up Polanco and how the fans wanted him up so bad. Polanco went on a tear but only faced guys once. Huntington explained how in the majors players study in how to get hitters outs. That's not always the case in the minors. He wants Meadows to get all the experience he can and to experience all of Triple A.
Question about the bench. Hurdle said he thinks the b nch is strong with Stewart, Frazier, and Jaso/Freese. Hurdle said that maybe Frazier can be moved around the most like Rodriguez.
No mention of Nutting or the payroll.
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I wasn't at Piratefest, but I did have some car time yesterday and listened to interviews with NH and FC.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
Ask Management
677A5E5C52370 wrote: I wasn't at Piratefest, but I did have some car time yesterday and listened to interviews with NH and FC.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
glad to hear the payroll will continue to rise. However, it is a little insulting to fans to say that in a way that means that fans should be satisfied. The payroll needs to rise in relation to other teams too. Overall payroll in MLB has risen since the Bucs had a 45 million dollar payroll. Have the Bucs even kept up with salary inflation during that time?
I also don't understand NH's explanation of the Liriano deal.
If the team would have kept Liriano it would have traded McGuire and Ramierez for Hutchison?
Seems to me if the team wanted to get rid of Liriano so badly that including him in the deal meant they got less back from Toronto.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
glad to hear the payroll will continue to rise. However, it is a little insulting to fans to say that in a way that means that fans should be satisfied. The payroll needs to rise in relation to other teams too. Overall payroll in MLB has risen since the Bucs had a 45 million dollar payroll. Have the Bucs even kept up with salary inflation during that time?
I also don't understand NH's explanation of the Liriano deal.
If the team would have kept Liriano it would have traded McGuire and Ramierez for Hutchison?
Seems to me if the team wanted to get rid of Liriano so badly that including him in the deal meant they got less back from Toronto.
Ask Management
6B4D4C5B4D5D2E0 wrote: I wasn't at Piratefest, but I did have some car time yesterday and listened to interviews with NH and FC.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
glad to hear the payroll will continue to rise. However, it is a little insulting to fans to say that in a way that means that fans should be satisfied. The payroll needs to rise in relation to other teams too. Overall payroll in MLB has risen since the Bucs had a 45 million dollar payroll. Have the Bucs even kept up with salary inflation during that time?
I also don't understand NH's explanation of the Liriano deal.
If the team would have kept Liriano it would have traded McGuire and Ramierez for Hutchison?
Seems to me if the team wanted to get rid of Liriano so badly that including him in the deal meant they got less back from Toronto.
I didn't hear him infer that the fans should feel a certain way in relation to payroll. That part of his response was more nuts and bolts/information.
It's a nice thing to say that the payroll should rise in relation to the rest of MLB. However, if you don't have the money (and I have no idea if that is the case, I'm just making the argument) you can't raise payroll. It's probably akin to those who don't get federal cost of living raises because employers can't pay that much. They give smaller raises.
Regarding Liriano, that's the way I took it. The trade was Hutchinson for the prospects. Liriano was a throw in.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
glad to hear the payroll will continue to rise. However, it is a little insulting to fans to say that in a way that means that fans should be satisfied. The payroll needs to rise in relation to other teams too. Overall payroll in MLB has risen since the Bucs had a 45 million dollar payroll. Have the Bucs even kept up with salary inflation during that time?
I also don't understand NH's explanation of the Liriano deal.
If the team would have kept Liriano it would have traded McGuire and Ramierez for Hutchison?
Seems to me if the team wanted to get rid of Liriano so badly that including him in the deal meant they got less back from Toronto.
I didn't hear him infer that the fans should feel a certain way in relation to payroll. That part of his response was more nuts and bolts/information.
It's a nice thing to say that the payroll should rise in relation to the rest of MLB. However, if you don't have the money (and I have no idea if that is the case, I'm just making the argument) you can't raise payroll. It's probably akin to those who don't get federal cost of living raises because employers can't pay that much. They give smaller raises.
Regarding Liriano, that's the way I took it. The trade was Hutchinson for the prospects. Liriano was a throw in.
Ask Management
1C012527294C0 wrote: I wasn't at Piratefest, but I did have some car time yesterday and listened to interviews with NH and FC.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
Frank Coonelly can spin Pirate payroll any old way he wants but the facts are that the opening day payroll in 2016 was $85.8M while it was $88.2M in 2015. After a 98 win season in 2015 the Pirates chose to lower payroll rather than increase it to try to bring a championship to Pittsburgh. Mr. Coonelly has been quoted as saying that payroll will increase when it's appropriate. Perhaps someone should have asked him what his definition of 'appropriate' might be.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
Frank Coonelly can spin Pirate payroll any old way he wants but the facts are that the opening day payroll in 2016 was $85.8M while it was $88.2M in 2015. After a 98 win season in 2015 the Pirates chose to lower payroll rather than increase it to try to bring a championship to Pittsburgh. Mr. Coonelly has been quoted as saying that payroll will increase when it's appropriate. Perhaps someone should have asked him what his definition of 'appropriate' might be.
Ask Management
0C113537395C0 wrote: I wasn't at Piratefest, but I did have some car time yesterday and listened to interviews with NH and FC.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
glad to hear the payroll will continue to rise. However, it is a little insulting to fans to say that in a way that means that fans should be satisfied. The payroll needs to rise in relation to other teams too. Overall payroll in MLB has risen since the Bucs had a 45 million dollar payroll. Have the Bucs even kept up with salary inflation during that time?
I also don't understand NH's explanation of the Liriano deal.
If the team would have kept Liriano it would have traded McGuire and Ramierez for Hutchison?
Seems to me if the team wanted to get rid of Liriano so badly that including him in the deal meant they got less back from Toronto.
I didn't hear him infer that the fans should feel a certain way in relation to payroll. That part of his response was more nuts and bolts/information.
It's a nice thing to say that the payroll should rise in relation to the rest of MLB. However, if you don't have the money (and I have no idea if that is the case, I'm just making the argument) you can't raise payroll. It's probably akin to those who don't get federal cost of living raises because employers can't pay that much. They give smaller raises.
Regarding Liriano, that's the way I took it. The trade was Hutchinson for the prospects. Liriano was a throw in.
I just don't see how Liriano was a throw in. If the Blue Jays wanted him shouldn't they give up something of value for him?
If the Bucs only wanted Hutchison and could get him for two prospects why not stop there?
It isn't like getting donuts and the baker says here, I'll stick an extra one in the box.
Or are you saying the throw in value was that the Blue Jays saved the Pirates money? Instead of getting a Whitehead back like in the Morton deal the Bucs were just happy to get out of the contract.
If the Pirates don't have the money to increase payroll, they shouldn't be offended at fans questioning their resolve. The increase in payroll is meaningless when it is relative to the league and the team is still at the bottom as the increase doesn't enable them to afford more talent than they could before.
The Coonley interview was awesome. He is really engaging. Colin Dunlap did the interview and he does a good job of embodying the pissed off yinzer. Coonley was a nice blend of laughing off stupid comments, thoughtfully engaging some, and and being insulted with others.
The most memorable part of the interview was about payroll. He said that when he and NH took over, the payroll bottomed out at about $45 million. They promised to raise it. It is now over $100 million and it will continue to rise.
He talked about a number of reasons why the payroll was low and why it was raised and why it would continue to be raised.
He spoke at great length about the incredible character, person, and baseball player that is Andrew McCutchen. He was emphatic that they did not approach this offseason (nor have they ever) with the intent to trade him. He said that they were contacted by a number of teams who were looking to trade when they perceived AM's value to be low. They would have been derelict had they not explored what was offered to them and then asked around the rest of MLB. However, it was/is also their opinion that they would only consider a trade if it was for the MVP value of AM.
glad to hear the payroll will continue to rise. However, it is a little insulting to fans to say that in a way that means that fans should be satisfied. The payroll needs to rise in relation to other teams too. Overall payroll in MLB has risen since the Bucs had a 45 million dollar payroll. Have the Bucs even kept up with salary inflation during that time?
I also don't understand NH's explanation of the Liriano deal.
If the team would have kept Liriano it would have traded McGuire and Ramierez for Hutchison?
Seems to me if the team wanted to get rid of Liriano so badly that including him in the deal meant they got less back from Toronto.
I didn't hear him infer that the fans should feel a certain way in relation to payroll. That part of his response was more nuts and bolts/information.
It's a nice thing to say that the payroll should rise in relation to the rest of MLB. However, if you don't have the money (and I have no idea if that is the case, I'm just making the argument) you can't raise payroll. It's probably akin to those who don't get federal cost of living raises because employers can't pay that much. They give smaller raises.
Regarding Liriano, that's the way I took it. The trade was Hutchinson for the prospects. Liriano was a throw in.
I just don't see how Liriano was a throw in. If the Blue Jays wanted him shouldn't they give up something of value for him?
If the Bucs only wanted Hutchison and could get him for two prospects why not stop there?
It isn't like getting donuts and the baker says here, I'll stick an extra one in the box.
Or are you saying the throw in value was that the Blue Jays saved the Pirates money? Instead of getting a Whitehead back like in the Morton deal the Bucs were just happy to get out of the contract.
If the Pirates don't have the money to increase payroll, they shouldn't be offended at fans questioning their resolve. The increase in payroll is meaningless when it is relative to the league and the team is still at the bottom as the increase doesn't enable them to afford more talent than they could before.
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rucker59@gmail.com
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Re Liriano: one of three things HAS to be true
1) Neal made a reasonable trade (Hutchinson has reasonable potential to be worth 2 top 10 prospects, AND GIVING Frankie away for nothing was both the best the Pirates could do and was better for the origanization than keeping him). "Good" or "bad" trade will be determined a few years down the road.
2) Neal simply made a bad trade.
3) Neal moved salary (whatever the reason) regardless of the "costs".
Given the value the Pirates place on their prospects and the market value of starting pitching does anyone on here genuinely think this was a reasonable baseball move? If not then your left with Neal getting fleeced or Neal dumping (at whatever the cost and for whatever reason).
I do not believe anyone can convince me this was a reasonable baseball move. I think Neal is a darn good baseball man. That seems to leave me with only one remaining choice. But I'd love to hear from others that can defend this "trade" as a reasonable baseball move (or tell me why Neal is not a good GM).
1) Neal made a reasonable trade (Hutchinson has reasonable potential to be worth 2 top 10 prospects, AND GIVING Frankie away for nothing was both the best the Pirates could do and was better for the origanization than keeping him). "Good" or "bad" trade will be determined a few years down the road.
2) Neal simply made a bad trade.
3) Neal moved salary (whatever the reason) regardless of the "costs".
Given the value the Pirates place on their prospects and the market value of starting pitching does anyone on here genuinely think this was a reasonable baseball move? If not then your left with Neal getting fleeced or Neal dumping (at whatever the cost and for whatever reason).
I do not believe anyone can convince me this was a reasonable baseball move. I think Neal is a darn good baseball man. That seems to leave me with only one remaining choice. But I'd love to hear from others that can defend this "trade" as a reasonable baseball move (or tell me why Neal is not a good GM).
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dogknot17@yahoo.co
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I don't think McGuire and Ramirez are as good as some here think. I don't see them as starters anytime soon. Ramirez was blocked. McGuire, who I like, was falling behind.
I did think Liriano would get back a better return, but it seems teams were asking for salary relief too. The Blue Jays accepted the whole contract.
I did think Liriano would get back a better return, but it seems teams were asking for salary relief too. The Blue Jays accepted the whole contract.
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rucker59@gmail.com
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6D666E6267667D383E497068616666276A66090 wrote: I don't think McGuire and Ramirez are as good as some here think. I don't see them as starters anytime soon. Ramirez was blocked. McGuire, who I like, was falling behind.
I did think Liriano would get back a better return, but it seems teams were asking for salary relief too. The Blue Jays accepted the whole contract.
You think this was a reasonable baseball move?
I did think Liriano would get back a better return, but it seems teams were asking for salary relief too. The Blue Jays accepted the whole contract.
You think this was a reasonable baseball move?
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dogknot17@yahoo.co
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I didn't think it was a very good trade. But I was done with Liriano. He was awful, paid too much, and developing an attitude. I would have thought other teams would still have some interest.
Overall, the trade didn't bother me. They did extend Cervelli and Freese and I hope they do sign another pitcher with that money saved.
Overall, the trade didn't bother me. They did extend Cervelli and Freese and I hope they do sign another pitcher with that money saved.