OnlyBucs

No, I agree with your premise. But it'll be interesting to see what directions the clubs go after this because of the TV, Markets, etc. We definitely should have loaded up with at least a pitcher a few seasons ago

The Pirates were where Cleveland and the Astros are right now. They made the Playoffs three straight years. So, they did this already. They just ran into two great pitching performances and were in the toughest division in baseball.



I don't think money is holding them back from doing it again. They need to draft, develop better. Who did you want for the 2015 team? Who did you want to replace? The team was set. They didn't need to add much (they traded for a starting Catcher). That's why the payroll didn't increase much or free agents were brought in.



Yes, more money helps. I agree with that. The biggest problem is guys not developing into stars. The potential assumption with Cole and Taillon coming up together was huge. If those two pitch like #1 and #2 picks, the Pirates will be right back in this. They also need Marte and Polanco to be the players they were projected to be. Can they do it? That's the question that management needs to answer. If they can't, then develop another window of opportunity.



It's not a surprise that the Cubs, Indians, Dodgers, and Astros are top teams. It isn't because of their big free agent signings, its because of their young core. They even brought up last night how all of the Astros top picks made huge impacts (Correa, Bregman, Springer, flipping Appel).

747F777B7E7F642127506971787F7F3E737F100 wrote: The Pirates were where Cleveland and the Astros are right now.  They made the Playoffs three straight years.  So, they did this already.  They just ran into two great pitching performances and were in the toughest division in baseball. 



I don't think money is holding them back from doing it again.  They need to draft, develop better.  Who did you want for the 2015 team?  Who did you want to replace?  The team was set.  They didn't need to add much  (they traded for a starting Catcher).  That's why the payroll didn't increase much or free agents were brought in.



Yes, more money helps.  I agree with that.  The biggest problem is guys not developing into stars.  The potential assumption with Cole and Taillon coming up together was huge.  If those two pitch like #1 and #2 picks, the Pirates will be right back in this.  They also need Marte and Polanco to be the players they were projected to be.  Can they do it?  That's the question that management needs to answer.  If they can't, then develop another window of opportunity.



It's not a surprise that the Cubs, Indians, Dodgers, and Astros are top teams.  It isn't because of their big free agent signings, its because of their young core.  They even brought up last night how all of the Astros top picks made huge impacts (Correa, Bregman, Springer, flipping Appel). 


I agree with this...to an extent. Yes, the Indians and Astros are good because of their young core. The Pirates young core has floundered. The difference is that both the Indians and Astros were and are willing to augment said young core. I don't see the same commitment from the Pirates, sans Martin/Liriano/Burnett/ But that was five years ago. Who are they going to acquire NOW that demonstrates a willingness to field a competitive team?



Slightly tangential, but the Astros have had a very high success rate with their draftees. Bregman, Correa, Springer, McCullers, and as I noted the other day, Keuchel was a 7th round pick. Then, they augmented with IFAs like Altuve and Gurriel. Finally, they finished the team by making a deadline deal to get Verlander.



Right now, the Pirates aren't at a point of needing to do that because their draftees have failed. Going back a few years, it was Bradley, Burnett, Van Benschoten, Bullington. More recently, it's been Sanchez, Alvarez (sort of), and McGuire. Jury's still out on guys like Will Craig and Cole Tucker. But, until our first rounders start hitting like Houston's did, and we find a Keuchel in the later rounds, whatever tinkering we do around the edges is just that--tinkering.

Theoretically Glasnow would be our Keuchel, but that's very very theoretical at this point. :-/

45777B7B6F5D7E777A7F7077160 wrote: Theoretically Glasnow would be our Keuchel, but that's very very theoretical at this point.   :-/


Well, that's just it. Yeah, if Glasnow, a fifth round pick, develops to be a perennial CY contender, then that's equivalent to Keuchel. But, right now, our number one overall pick isn't even at that level.

ESPN Says Bucs are 13th best team going into 2017, but only fourth best in NLC.



Seems drastically optimistic to me.



http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2113 ... -offseason

Agree it seems wildly optimistic. No chance on a second-half call-up for Keller either.

I felt the same way. I was figuring we'd be in range of 18-20.



13th seems high.

363334323A3029343D2E28255C0 wrote: Agree it seems wildly optimistic.  No chance on a second-half call-up for Keller either.


Optimistic, but not wildly.  Mildly?  Heh. 



For this season if we had won 5 more games we would have been 13th overall. Won't necessarily happen but it's not like it's crazy talk.

The off season didn't even start yet?