OnlyBucs

616670787661262A53747E727A7F3D707C7E130 wrote: I have to disagree with Dog and PMike - most teams don't have the potential of this Pirates team. 



You hope pieces fall into place when you have no extraordinary expectations.   Teams that believe they have a chance to win a penant try to shore up areas of concern.  If the Pirates only bring in one legit starter then they're not truly trying to win a penant. 



And in any event, the last I saw of Cole I think it's pretty hard to go into this season trusting in some idea that we have a solid 3/5 of a rotation.  Tallion I feel very good about.  Both Cole and Kuhl have legit questions.  I like both but I'm not prepared to say we're locked in with 3 solid starters. 


The rotation rises and falls on Cole. He had a bad year last year. Hopefully injuries played a big part of it. He has a much better and longer track record of MLB success than Taillon and Kuhl combined. If he can't be a dominant pitcher, they will be in trouble.

with all this talk today about Cutch, is it realistic to get Robles, Ross and Taylor?



What if they want Watson? Who else would we get? Giolito?



I don't care one way or anther if they trade the man, I hope they get something in return that makes it worth it.

The Bucs need starting pitching period in my humble opinion. Going out and depending on a guy who was out two years ( Taillon) a guy who had injury issues all 2016 (Cole) and an unproven, but decent looking young pitcher in (Kuhl) to anchor your staff ...and then piecing together a #4 and #5 from uncertainty is going to be a repeat of 2016...If they could resign Nova, get another starter in a deal like a Ross or Deleon that would be a plus. Then we can talk about the likes of Glasnow, Kingham, Williams and Brault as the next rung of starters...It all rises and falls on starting pitching....Neal Huntington's pedigree as GM is going to either sink or swim based on this off season.  If he pulls another bone-headed trade like unloading Liriano, he will be toast in Pittsburgh in my opinion. So Neal, buddy we are counting on you to fill the Bucco coffers, retool the ship, refit the crew, acquire more tools to make our Battling Buccos a contender in 2017! Now get at it Oppie Taylor look a like...Couldn't resist that ding ;D