OnlyBucs

1. Josh Harrison (R) 2B

2. Adam Frazier (L) RF

3. Andrew McCutchen (R) CF

4. Josh Bell (S) 1B

5. David Freese (R) 3B

6. Sean Rodriguez (R) LF

7. Elias Diaz (R) C

8. Jordy Mercer (R) SS

9. Chad Kuhl (R) P

Kuhl wants to demonstrate the opposite of pitch efficiency today.

Time for Bucs to score some runs.

Sanchez with poor debut. Need to figure out which of the guys at Indy this season can contribute next year though.



Definitely some potential bullpen arms there.

I don't think Brault has done well out of the pen this year. He seems to give up runs.

I am anxious to see how Glasnow does when he returns, and how Kingham does when he arrives sometime in September.

I know it's old news now and doesn't matter any more and I am just venting, but ...



* I'm still ticked about Granderson. I also predicted that he would hit at least 2 homers during this series, and sure enough ... Why the Pirates weren't willing to pay 2 months of his salary and give up a Conner Joe type prospect is beyond me.



* Another example: The Red Sox get Rajai Davis and have to give up essentially nothing ... an 18-year-old outfielder. That was exactly the kind of trade I was begging the Pirates to make. Just get a competent major league outfielder. Blows my mind that they were content with TWO healthy outfielders with a team that, at the time, was still in contention. Blows my mind.

5173607D7E7B7C73506771717D120 wrote: I know it's old news now and doesn't matter any more and I am just venting, but ...



* I'm still ticked about Granderson. I also predicted that he would hit at least 2 homers during this series, and sure enough ... Why the Pirates weren't willing to pay 2 months of his salary and give up a Conner Joe type prospect is beyond me.



* Another example: The Red Sox get Rajai Davis and have to give up essentially nothing ... an 18-year-old outfielder. That was exactly the kind of trade I was begging the Pirates to make. Just get a competent major league outfielder. Blows my mind that they were content with TWO healthy outfielders with a team that, at the time, was still in contention. Blows my mind.
From a baseball sense, there's no rational explanation for the seemingly indifferent attitude of the FO this year. Apparently, they had priorities greater than building a competitive roster.

002D20313627307073420 wrote: I know it's old news now and doesn't matter any more and I am just venting, but ...



* I'm still ticked about Granderson. I also predicted that he would hit at least 2 homers during this series, and sure enough ... Why the Pirates weren't willing to pay 2 months of his salary and give up a Conner Joe type prospect is beyond me.



* Another example: The Red Sox get Rajai Davis and have to give up essentially nothing ... an 18-year-old outfielder. That was exactly the kind of trade I was begging the Pirates to make. Just get a competent major league outfielder. Blows my mind that they were content with TWO healthy outfielders with a team that, at the time, was still in contention. Blows my mind.
From a baseball sense, there's no rational explanation for the seemingly indifferent attitude of the FO this year. Apparently, they had priorities greater than building a competitive roster.
I agree Granderson was the easy move. He was known to be available and wouldn't cost much of anything.

Someone on here suggested the brain trust gave up on the season when Kang failed to get a Visa and Marte had his issue. It certainly appears that is the case.

686A707660050 wrote: Someone on here suggested the brain trust gave up on the season when Kang failed to get a Visa and Marte had his issue. It certainly appears that is the case.
It sure looks that way. Seems they decided to just get by with whatever internal options they had either on the bench or at AAA. And at that time, they had also handed a starter's spot to Glasnow despite his ST ERA/WHIP of 6.23 and 1.85 even tho Williams completely outpitched him in ST with a 2.04 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in what turned out to be a fictional "competition." So the FO had already decided to just let Glasnow try to learn on the job rather than giving that slot to someone who provided a better chance to win games. And the opening day roster didn't even include a legit 4th outfielder, as that job was to be handled by Jaso and Frazier. And even when Polanco's injuries took him out of the OF, they still just looked to internal options while already shorthanded in the OF.



IMHO, the evidence points to the FO having decided before the season even began that this was one of their "bridge years," they didn't expect to compete and therefore losing Kang and Marte wasn't that big a blow to a team not expected to achieve anything away. They got a lucky break when the rest of the division didn't pull away, letting fans get excited about "being in the hunt" even when that only required a sub- .500 record. But the Pirates never got more than 1 game over .500 and that only happened twice. They were never serious contenders despite what fans wanted to believe. Getting S-Rod and Kontos seems to be more about 2018 than 2017. Benoit was just a body to fill in. It sure doesn't look like a team that would make a splash at the trade deadline. They could even move others (Nicasio?) by 8/31.