Re: 2024 Off-Season Thread
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2025 10:05 am
Well, this is a longshot. But, hear me out. There hasn't been much turnover at all, mostly replacing a bit piece with a bit piece. I don't have the time to hunt down every possible interview I've seen a clip of or blurb I heard on the radio. Primarily, it was Skenes, Cutch, and Jones that I recall all of them basically saying the same thing, that they were the ones that blew it. All three of them seemed to almost bristle at the thought the team couldn't win with the core group that has been assembled since BC took over. They all seem to rally behind Shelton.
Maybe it's possible that, perhaps the guys who talked about it's time to be a leader, approached management and asked them to not go out and get high priced dudes. The players that have come up over the last couple of years have all talked about how tight of a group they are, the culture that has been built. Maybe they feel they deserve to prove they do have the chops.
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0JNyZH3Jgw I remember how all of the guys were almost like waiting for each other to be there together to be winners. Kind of like when a friend or a relative dies, and someone always says, "now they'll get to see all their friends and family in heaven."
I know it's just a shot in the dark, but perhaps BC, Shelton, pretty much all the main management are willing to put their jobs on the line and prove what they put together can win, that the semi-collapses were just flukes, that the cratering of guys like Bednar, Holderman, Hayes, Suwinski, Davis, and Bae (along with the departed MAT and Rowdy) will prove to be complete misrepresentations of their abilities, and they'll bring it this year.
I know from hearing and seeing some of the interviews, that it was noticeable how much they bristled about being asked pointed questions about bringing in guys because of the pitching the team appears to have.
I know the players don't make personnel decisions. But maybe there is something to this thought. They know the vast majority of them aren't going to be around long. But they want the reason to be because they excelled, and priced themselves into a new stratosphere, not because they were failures. You bring in a few free agents on big contracts, who's going to play? We've seen what happens when they bring in someone who doesn't perform to the level they were expected, most notably Vogelbach and Tellez. They still keep getting the playing time. Which means, these young guys, the ones who have so much to prove, sit the bench, or play in Indy.
I don't have the data to back me up, but it's my perception that BC has done one thing remarkably different from his predecessor, and that's promote guys and get guys up here. BC has put a lot of faith in his draftees and acquisitions, and I think to a man, they feel it's time they rewarded the faith he had in them. Maybe BC has told Nutting what he probably loves hearing, "We're going to win with these guys, and it's not going to cost you. If I'm wrong, you can fire me, and hire someone cheaper". We know Shelton is probably on the last year of his contract, and I get the feeling it coincides with BC's. However, the Pirates nor BC or DS have disclosed the actual lengths of their contracts.
If you think about it, this actually is a scenario that is quite likely, because especially with Cherington, if he succeeds it puts him in high demand, and the same goes with Shelton.
Let's Go Bucs.
Maybe it's possible that, perhaps the guys who talked about it's time to be a leader, approached management and asked them to not go out and get high priced dudes. The players that have come up over the last couple of years have all talked about how tight of a group they are, the culture that has been built. Maybe they feel they deserve to prove they do have the chops.
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0JNyZH3Jgw I remember how all of the guys were almost like waiting for each other to be there together to be winners. Kind of like when a friend or a relative dies, and someone always says, "now they'll get to see all their friends and family in heaven."
I know it's just a shot in the dark, but perhaps BC, Shelton, pretty much all the main management are willing to put their jobs on the line and prove what they put together can win, that the semi-collapses were just flukes, that the cratering of guys like Bednar, Holderman, Hayes, Suwinski, Davis, and Bae (along with the departed MAT and Rowdy) will prove to be complete misrepresentations of their abilities, and they'll bring it this year.
I know from hearing and seeing some of the interviews, that it was noticeable how much they bristled about being asked pointed questions about bringing in guys because of the pitching the team appears to have.
I know the players don't make personnel decisions. But maybe there is something to this thought. They know the vast majority of them aren't going to be around long. But they want the reason to be because they excelled, and priced themselves into a new stratosphere, not because they were failures. You bring in a few free agents on big contracts, who's going to play? We've seen what happens when they bring in someone who doesn't perform to the level they were expected, most notably Vogelbach and Tellez. They still keep getting the playing time. Which means, these young guys, the ones who have so much to prove, sit the bench, or play in Indy.
I don't have the data to back me up, but it's my perception that BC has done one thing remarkably different from his predecessor, and that's promote guys and get guys up here. BC has put a lot of faith in his draftees and acquisitions, and I think to a man, they feel it's time they rewarded the faith he had in them. Maybe BC has told Nutting what he probably loves hearing, "We're going to win with these guys, and it's not going to cost you. If I'm wrong, you can fire me, and hire someone cheaper". We know Shelton is probably on the last year of his contract, and I get the feeling it coincides with BC's. However, the Pirates nor BC or DS have disclosed the actual lengths of their contracts.
If you think about it, this actually is a scenario that is quite likely, because especially with Cherington, if he succeeds it puts him in high demand, and the same goes with Shelton.
Let's Go Bucs.