OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Down The Drain

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Well he did just pass Pedro Alvarez(36 was his highest total) with that 37th HR last night being first Pirate in more than decade to hit that many. Also only 4 HRs away from 41 that will pass Giles(38 and 39 in 2001 and 2003 ) and Ralph Kiner(40) that goes all the way back to 1948. Even 40 would tie him as the first Pirate since then. That'd be impressive with not even Bonds doing that(until a year later with the Giants lol).

Also 15 RBIs away from tying Paul Waner record of 131. Ifnhe didnt go on that long poor strech he def would have had it. But 17 games left....we will see. Facing some bad pitchers coming up too
Back on topic.....he meant bout time Crick is out of pen rotation. Guy wants to be closer but couldnt find the plate this year then had the nerve to call out Vaz for getting special treatment. Maybe he would have earned daytime naps too if he pitched better.

 

[Coastal Kev]

I'm not a smart man Jenny, but the one man I wouldn't fight on that team is Vasquez.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Reminds me of Major League. The old white dude hating Pedro....

 

[Pens1566]

Reminds me of Major League. The old white dude hating Pedro....

"You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball?"

 

[ImporterExporter]

"You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball?"

"You better lock that rum up around this group"

 

[cookthebooks]

are the pirates uniquely terrible at drafting college hitters?

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

are the pirates uniquely terrible at drafting college hitters?

They've avoided them after watching Littlefield mess up going that route for years. Daniel Moskos over Kershaw and Scherzer? Oops. Brad Lincoln over MadBum? Damn. And to make it worse....analysts had Kershaw going to us.

Then while NH got Cole and Taillon right as in they succeeded. Not taking Machado likely cost us at least 1 WS. He was already playing at a high level during 2012-15. Imagine him instead of Barmes/Mercer. Or actually could have kept those 2 there and moved Pedro to first. Regardless it would have given us a top bat to protect Cutch in the line up. We wouldn't have even been forced to play those WC games.

So yeah i get why. Its not easy picking a #5-10 ranked College pitcher in the draft ...and you being the team that picked right. Unless hes a Cole type...its tough. They only have a few seasons to go off of.

Theyve done welll recently in mid to late rounds. We'll see if those guys can do something in MLB but a ton having great careers so far in the minors. Def more than we've seen jn the past. And the more you have the bettter the odds.

But still say its Searage. Hes great with recreclamation....not home grown. Especially in this era. While Cards land on every 20th-30th ocerall pitcher taken

 

[Winger for Hire]

It's official, the Crick/Vazquez fight is one of the stupid fights ever... over music.

Just fold this team already.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

I like this lineup....

SS Newman
CF Reynolds
3B Moran
1B Bell
RF Osuna
2B Frazier
C Diaz
LF Kramer

Second innjng....Osuna with leadoff Double(since hes the opposite of Moran...if he hits the ball in play its either a double or HR. 16 2B and 10 HR now in his limited ABs). Frazier knocks him in with single. Moved to 2B on error. Diaz grounded out. Then Kramer knocks in Frazier.

Kramer has already been apart of 3 9th inning come back wins. 2 leadoff walks leading to runs...a single last night and Newman knocked him in.

And in his 2nd start tonight..first RBI .

Make that 18 doubles and 10 Hrs for Osuna in 198 ABs. Him and Kramer should be our utility players next season.

Kramer can play 3B/SS/2B/OF
Osuna can play 1B/3B/OF

 

[Prominence Problem]

Fantasy question,

Is Marte done for the season?

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Fantasy question,

Is Marte done for the season?

Not sure but he should be. No need to risk a player whos hurt to further injury .

Losing two key players in Polanco and Santana late in season.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Feliz officially ....arrived. Always had great stuff but couldnt control it. And even after walking the first batter to load them up...he Ks the next. Walks in a run which usually leads to a mess after(at least a 2 run single) but Ks the next batter then gets a ground out to end inning. Only 1 run after Dario letting up two and leaving two on with no outs.

Hes been great at stranding runners for our SPs this whole 2nd half.

Trade Crick...we have Feliz now

Reynolds and Newman with nothing so far yet still up 5-3 due to Osuna, Tucker, and Kramer. Ok Moran/Frazier too.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Fantasy question,

Is Marte done for the season?

If it helps you make a decision, I dropped him the other day because I'm in the playoffs now. It's so hard to get real info in September, but I would imagine that there's a very small chance he'll appear as a pinch hitter next week or something, and maybe go from there, but a better overall chance that he's completely shut down, and a still reasonably strong chance that he's functionally useless because he will get almost no at-bats even if he plays a bit.

It's always a tough call this time of the year, but unless you need him for a keeper, I'd drop him and get someone who will play.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Agrazal lets up 3 in 4 innings. The pen let up nothing rest of way. With each of the 5 guys going 1 inning each...our 5 best relievers. Feliz then Kela then Rich Rod then Liriano then Vazquez(for b2b nights).

While our opponents keep putting their worse relievers in...

Just hope we dont fall all way down to 13th pick when we had 6th-8th locked up. We sweep Rockies in Colorado..4 games..moving them past us in draft. Swept Cincy and will again to finally Put them past us. Angels are 3 games behind us in draft but literally toughest finish I've ever seen. Count them to pass us.

So just better hope we dont miss out on that sure thing blue chip bat/pitcher ....

Tho the draft is deep...i just wanted HS top pitcher in Mick Abel 6'6. Comps to Glasnow with better stuff . After seeing us pass on both HS pitchers in Matt Liberatore and Grayson Rodriguez (to take another OF in Swag) who have both been the best of that class behind Mize. To losing Baz. As well as Lodolo not signing when we took him in the 2nd, now went to Cincy at 7 overall....

I wanted that top HS Pitcher to go with Priester. Not just any HS Pitcher but one who has 4 plus pitches already and dominates each time he goes up against other top HS bats in summer ball.

There's others we can get....but would have been a sure thing.

 

[Winger for Hire]

There's no such thing as a sure thing with this team and their development process, especially with a pitcher

 

[Goalie_Bob]

There is no such thing as a sure thing in baseball period.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

There's no such thing as a sure thing with this team and their development process, especially with a pitcher

In some drafts there are. I Look at whos #1 at their position. The top college pitcher is Emerson Hancock..hes supposed to be as safe as a pick as Mize..even Cole. And as for Abel...he would go top of draft in some of the weaker classes. We didnt miss on Taillon.hes great. Just so much bad luck with injury after injury..to cancer. Getting Abel would be like getting him again. Tno ive seen comps to Glasnow and AJ Burnett. There's no Machado we would be passing on this time. That's Austin Martin(3b/SS/2B for Vandy) whos going 3rd.

What I wouldnt trust is the group of college pitchers who usually get taken in bunches... I dont want the 5th or 6th ranked college pitcher. Its hard picking the right one. Landing the top player at their position works out best.

RHP college = Emerson Hancock
LHP college = Asa Lacy
HS RHP = Mick Abel

Only exception id make other than those 3 is for JT Ginn who was taken out of HS last year draft 30th overall to Dodgers. And had a solid freshman season worthy of being a top 10 selection.

That's for pitching....

Bats have plenty of OFs...but so does our system. This year completely stacked tho. Dylan Crews, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Austin Hendrick are the HS OFs. Hendrick rising up the board after what he did in summer league. Also from Pittsburgh..alot of raw power as a LHB . He has franchise player type potential but again...we have so many OFs and there's so many good players at other positions.

Catchers...Patrick Bailey in college. If he has a great junior season it will solidify his #1 C status of this class. But HS Drew Romo is getting comps to Yadier Molina. Already doing amazing things behind the plate while also being a switch hitter who has power and can hit for avg. Riskier pick being out of HS but we will find out more as the year goes on.

Then Blaze Jordan who has 40-50 HR potential. But doesn't offer much else.

Could wait til 2nd round for a catcher and take Austin Wells(Arizona) who is rising up the rankings too. Then theres HS Tyler Soderstrom. Hes more offense than D but his bat is crazy good. That's 4 top C prospects that I hope we get one of.

2020 MLB Draft | FanGraphs Baseball

This mock gives you an idea of who will be likely first rounders...wtih some moving up or down of course.

2020 MLB Mock Draft | 2020 MLB Draft | MLB Draft |

 

[Beauner]

was anyone aware we had a "sportsbook" here on HF? you start with 200k. I just put 75k on the Pirates tonight. Go Bucs!

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

was anyone aware we had a "sportsbook" here on HF? you start with 200k. I just put 75k on the Pirates tonight. Go Bucs!

Im pissed I live in Mich. We have 3 casinos downtown Detroit and no sportsbook.

I want to make a bet on the Superbowl winner(with odds giving a return of 25k) but cant here.

 

[Beauner]

Im pissed I live in Mich. We have 3 casinos downtown Detroit and no sportsbook.

I want to make a bet on the Superbowl winner(with odds giving a return of 25k) but cant here.

That's rough. I'm sure it'll come eventually with how things are playing out across the country. I wanna get into it but haven't taken the plunge yet. I guess betting fake money on HF is better than wagering (and losing) real money haha.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Hey Siri, can you show me the quickest way for me to turn into a fulltime Astros fan?




Thanks, love.

 

[wheelz87]

lol like maddon would come here.

Not that I’d want him to.

 

[cookthebooks]

joke is you dont want a high profile manager, you want someone who is adept at managing personalities (not just veterans) and doesnt have enough ego/juice to go against doing what the analytics people are telling him to do

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

joke is you dont want a high profile manager, you want someone who is adept at managing personalities (not just veterans) and doesnt have enough ego/juice to go against doing what the analytics people are telling him to do

4-24 stretch with Hurdle doing his typical ...predictable decisions that continued the losing streak. Finally the national media talks about Pirates needing a change and hes on the hot seat....

He suddenly starts to use the pen the way he should...taking starters out before they lose the game in one inning(instead of making them finish it since going 6 is more important of course),not leaving cold bats in the lineup or same order in it, and so on....

And we go 15-7 .

Vazquez used in all 3 out of the 4 wins in this past series btw. Never did that all seaso(and yes we did win a 4 game series 3-1 lol...twice to Cards and Padres).

Anyway he is now making right moves. Even using Osuna, Tucker, Kramer more....whoever is hot basically. And the best pen arms instead of trying to get Hartlieb experience..and the other RL that were a mess

Has.he finally adapted? Or is this just a tease heading into next season?

It better be the former since its gonna cost us to drop down to 12-13 in draft instead of possibly getting top 5 with the pace we were on before this.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

There was no possible way this team could continue the pace out of the All-Star break. It's just not possible with the talent on the team. And did you expect the players to just tank?

Should Reynolds not go for the batting title, or Bell the RBI title? The team is full of guys that haven't made any serious money. If I'm them I am trying my damnedest to get better and make my money.

Whether the Pirates pick 7th or 13th isn't the issue.