OnlyBucs

There was some buzz on Twitter that the Pirates are shopping McCutchen and Harrison now.



It's been a weird off season so far. Are salaries dropping? Teams are now worried about that luxury tax. Not many free agent signings or mega trades (outside of the salary dump of Stanton).



This is why I feel the Pirates can be buyers and sellers. There are a few third basemen out there and there has to be some decent bullpen arms too. The Pirates can still make their trades in hopes they get some MLB ready returns and compete in my opinion. We will see.

Teams are hoarding the ML ready players, because they want to benefit from the lower salaries. This is the Yankee issue. When even they are finagling to get prospects, it's clear there won't prospects easily available. The market inefficiency this year is in the mid-level veteran. That's the guy having trouble getting a job. Teams are looking to those prospects and early year guys to fill out a roster, while the mid-level guys will have to settle for a lot less or go without a job.

6E6C767066030 wrote: Teams are hoarding the ML ready players, because they want to benefit from the lower salaries. This is the Yankee issue. When even they are finagling to get prospects, it's clear there won't prospects easily available. The market inefficiency this year is in the mid-level veteran. That's the guy having trouble getting a job. Teams are looking to those prospects and early year guys to fill out a roster, while the mid-level guys will have to settle for a lot less or go without a job.


I wonder if players are mad they didn't take that Qualifying Offer with the way the market is going?



The Giants and the Evan Longoria trade opened my eyes. The Giants wanted to get rid of Denard Span so bad that they would rather pay Longoria $20 million instead of signing Todd Frazier or Mike Moustakas.



This is also why I think the Pirates need to strike and sign that actual free agent who can make an impact. Frazier or Moustakas can be had for pretty cheap in baseball terms in my opinion.

050E060A0F0E155056211800090E0E4F020E610 wrote: There was some buzz on Twitter that the Pirates are shopping McCutchen and Harrison now.



It's been a weird off season so far.  Are salaries dropping?  Teams are now worried about that luxury tax.  Not many free agent signings or mega trades (outside of the salary dump of Stanton). 



This is why I feel the Pirates can be buyers and sellers.  There are a few third basemen out there and there has to be some decent bullpen arms too.  The Pirates can still make their trades in hopes they get some MLB ready returns and compete in my opinion.  We will see.    
If you trade both Harrison and McCutchen signing a FA 3rd baseman is useless. There isn't any making up for the offensive loss for 2018. If you trade those 2 you had better trade Cole and everyone else. Play all the young guys at that point and put up the white flag for 2018.

535249584E0E093D0 wrote: There was some buzz on Twitter that the Pirates are shopping McCutchen and Harrison now.



It's been a weird off season so far.  Are salaries dropping?  Teams are now worried about that luxury tax.  Not many free agent signings or mega trades (outside of the salary dump of Stanton). 



This is why I feel the Pirates can be buyers and sellers.  There are a few third basemen out there and there has to be some decent bullpen arms too.  The Pirates can still make their trades in hopes they get some MLB ready returns and compete in my opinion.  We will see.    
If you trade both Harrison and McCutchen signing a FA 3rd baseman is useless. There isn't any making up for the offensive loss for 2018. If you trade those 2 you had better trade Cole and everyone else. Play all the young guys at that point and put up the white flag for 2018.
Yeah, if the Bucs want to compete this year they keep players and sign Frazier or Moose and add an outfielder too.

2A2B3021377770440 wrote: There was some buzz on Twitter that the Pirates are shopping McCutchen and Harrison now.



It's been a weird off season so far.  Are salaries dropping?  Teams are now worried about that luxury tax.  Not many free agent signings or mega trades (outside of the salary dump of Stanton). 



This is why I feel the Pirates can be buyers and sellers.  There are a few third basemen out there and there has to be some decent bullpen arms too.  The Pirates can still make their trades in hopes they get some MLB ready returns and compete in my opinion.  We will see.    
If you trade both Harrison and McCutchen signing a FA 3rd baseman is useless. There isn't any making up for the offensive loss for 2018. If you trade those 2 you had better trade Cole and everyone else. Play all the young guys at that point and put up the white flag for 2018.


I understand that, but the returns can fill in. Yes, it will be hard to replace McCutchen. The rumored Cole trade for Frazier would help. Frazier can step in and hopes Polanco and/or Marte can finally break out. I do think Frazier can provide as much offense as Harrison. Huge downgrade in defense, but offense can be very similar. Someone like Moustakas can replace the McCutchen offense for a cheaper price too.



It is very rare and not sure the last time a team did buy and sell in the same off season. With the current market, I think it is possible. The Pirates have to reinvent themselves. Teams caught up to their strategies, they need to do something outside the box.

Does everybody else here on OBN realize how fortunate we are that Dogknot knows which rumors are true and credible and deserve to be discussed and which rumors are not true, not credible and don't deserve to be discussed?



Quick note: stay away from Jon Heyman tweets until Dog gives us the OK. His tweets, until he tweets something that Dog likes, are not true and don't warrant discussion.

4348404C4948531610675E464F4848094448270 wrote: Frazier can step in and hopes Polanco and/or Marte can finally break out. 


Just what would constitute Marte "finally" breaking out? He's a career .288 hitter with a season high of .311 in 2016. He's also had seasons hitting .280, .287 and .291. he had a 19 HR/80 RBI season in 2015. He's had 4 seasons of 30+ SBs. He's a former All-star and 2 X GG winner. Last year was a waste because of his suspension. But he's already been performing at a high level for several years prior to that.

5F727F6E69786F2F2C1D0 wrote: Frazier can step in and hopes Polanco and/or Marte can finally break out. 


Just what would constitute Marte "finally" breaking out? He's a career .288 hitter with a season high of .311 in 2016. He's also had seasons hitting .280, .287 and .291. he had a 19 HR/80 RBI season in 2015. He's had 4 seasons of 30+ SBs. He's a former All-star and 2 X GG winner. Last year was a waste because of his suspension. But he's already been performing at a high level for several years prior to that. for




Just to build on that. Has he reached his total potential? Maybe get that OPS over .900 and hit that 25 HR plateau. Get in the MVP talks. He is hitting his prime years. I think he can certainly improve. Do you disagree?

5F545C5055544F0A0C7B425A5354541558543B0 wrote: Frazier can step in and hopes Polanco and/or Marte can finally break out. 


Just what would constitute Marte "finally" breaking out? He's a career .288 hitter with a season high of .311 in 2016. He's also had seasons hitting .280, .287 and .291. he had a 19 HR/80 RBI season in 2015. He's had 4 seasons of 30+ SBs. He's a former All-star and 2 X GG winner. Last year was a waste because of his suspension. But he's already been performing at a high level for several years prior to that. for




Just to build on that.  Has he reached his total potential?  Maybe get that OPS over .900 and hit that 25 HR plateau.  Get in the MVP talks.  He is hitting his prime years.  I think he can certainly improve.  Do you disagree?
No, I don't expect him to play at a higher level since he's already been very good. He was not a HR hitter in the minors and I see no reason for him to emerge as a 25 HR guy. But excluding last year, I'm very satisfied with his play with the exception of numerous mental mistakes. That's the only area I think improvement should be expected.