OnlyBucs

The month of a December is 2/3 over and the week after Christmas baseball normally does not have any player transactions so I believe the Pirates better soon figure out if they are going to add players for the upcoming season,or if they are going to retool by trading various players. I understand Spring Training is still two months away, but several teams including the Cards, Cubs and Brewers have added players to strengthen their teams for the upcoming season. The Bucs so far have signed a couple minor league free agents and acquired a couple pitchers in the Rule V Draft. As the team is constructed now, it is the fourth best team in the division and it could lose between 90 and 95 games. I would like for them to commit to add to the roster in order to compete this season or to begin make changes in order to strengthen the team in the future.

Looks like they're in sell mode for a variety of reasons, I personally think the 4 year deals for NH & CH signaled that or just a repeat of what they have done last couple years.

Also NH has admitted that they will have trouble competing with Cubs & Cards.



Lastly we know they are "listening" to offers for Cole(Cutch & Harrison too?) so I'd say the direction is a retool at the very least.

Looks like they're in sell mode for a variety of reasons, I personally think the 4 year deals for NH & CH signaled that or just a repeat of what they have done last couple years.

Also NH has admitted that they will have trouble competing with Cubs & Cards.



Lastly we know they are "listening" to offers for Cole(Cutch & Harrison too?) so I'd say the direction is a retool at the very least.

I think they're leaning sell but also (maybe to their detriment) trying to keep their options open still.  It's been a slow developing market in several ways. There are a number of FAs and other targets out there yet and one might suddenly fall.



http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2749 ... =editorial



That's possible but you also don't want to be the last one without a chair when the music stops. 

777B7A2128212924233C26110 wrote: The month of a December is 2/3 over and the week after Christmas baseball normally does not have any player transactions so I believe the Pirates better soon figure out if they are going to add players for the upcoming season,or if they are going to retool by trading various players. I understand Spring Training is still two months away, but several teams including the Cards, Cubs and Brewers have added players to strengthen their teams for the upcoming season. The Bucs so far  have signed a couple minor league free agents and acquired a couple pitchers in the Rule V Draft.  As the team is constructed now, it is the fourth best team in the division and it could lose between 90 and 95 games. I would like for them to commit to add to the roster in order to compete  this season or to begin make changes in order to strengthen the team in the future.


This offseason looks exactly like the last two. Nothing.



They wouldn't add to the 98 win team, they wouldn't add to a 78 win team, there is no indication they add to the 75 win team. Not in a way to truly compete.



Let's hope they sell or else 2018 is simply a lost season.



Not to restart an old discussion, but what the heck kind of plan is this??!!

I've said all along it will be the status quo. They won't admit the failure of "the plan" by starting over with a rebuild. And they won't spend money to compete. So it'll be "we're not that far off" and little will be done.

I expected (and still expect) McCutchen to be traded, and put the odds at 50/50 on Harrison. The Cole talk surprised me, and I believe it will take a killer deal to persuade NH to pull the trigger on one. I expect the team to make a run at it, hoping there is enough improvement (and bounce-back) from last year to make it interesting.

The history of the first rebuild was that they traded vets at the deadline, or at least well into the season. Thus, rebuilding might look remarkably similar to standing pat at the moment.

674A47565140571714250 wrote: I've said all along it will be the status quo. They won't admit the failure of "the plan" by starting over with a rebuild. And they won't spend money to compete. So it'll be "we're not that far off" and little will be done.


I sadly agree, but its goes to the MO of this organization. They look on paper thinking they can compete, but in all reality, they can't. I wish they would seriously come to their senses and stop with the "we are not too far off" comments. They are.

While some note that this year's market has been slow to develop, I would note that as the teams that intend to compete for the playoffs this year (I currently do not include the Pirates in this group) add the parts that they are looking for, that the number of trade options available to NH may be shrinking.



For example, the Giants were identified as one of the team's that could be interested in Cutch. While they shipped out Spann as part of the Longoria deal, does the addition of Longoria (both payroll and talent) potentially reduce their interest in Cutch?



I know that there are different views on this concern ---



1) As contender #1 improves contender #2 suddenly feels more compelled to act and may be willing to overpay when they previously were just surveying the field.



vs.



2) As one team fills its needs there is a lesser number of potential suitors.



Overall, I fall more into camp # 2 vs camp # 1. I prefer to act when there are the maximum number of potential buyers rather than a limited pool of more motivated buyers. This is mostly because trading players is different than just paying more for a product; meaning, if the Red Sox, Mariners and Angles are the only team's left in the pool and I don't like the talent that they have available to trade as much, I am now moving my asset for a return that doesn't meet my needs as well.



I want the team to retool. With the exception of Bell, the young (cheap) starters, young position players like Frazier, Moroff and Luplow (who have limited value) and perhaps Marte and probably Polanco (only because his value is so low), I would be trying to trade them all, including Rivero. Rivero may be the best trade asset that we have and I would prefer to move him while he is at his peak and could garner the most return.



Lastly, I read some of the piece on how the Marlins' new owners are taking heat for reducing the payroll to $85 - $90. I know that the current Pirate payroll is just shy of $100 mil, but isn't the Marlins situation something akin to what the Pirates, Rays and some others have lived with for years?



NH - Time to Sell. Time to Make it Happen!