OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: We're the Pirates, bro

[Gallatin]

I think the approach to pitching was a systematic weakness as well. Searage deserves a lot of blame, but I think it also come from the top, and combined with getting lapped on the player development stuff, put us too much at a disadvantage.

For all the attention on the low payroll right now, I hope there has been a substantial investment into tech and staff as the foundation for the "build." I don't think that's sufficient, but I'd much rather just stand pat on things while pouring money into that than I would scratch off another FA or two. The MLB payroll will need to expand significantly in order to be a bonafide division contender in 22 or 23, but the elements are in place for Cherington to pull that off, I think.

You should feel heartened that BC spent a ton of his time in Toronto researching and evaluating new development philosophies for pitchers. And then applying them throughout the Jay's organization.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I think Cruz's defense is a huge story to keep an eye on this year, although I'd put it behind the development of his hit tool in terms of importance. Obviously, it's something of an artificial separation, as it's becoming clear that he's probably the main organizational focus for this year from a fan perspective... just because the perspective is so high. If he stays at SS, he will have a chance to be one of the most valuable players in the league if the offense keeps going.

It's an interesting kind of dilemma, since you obviously don't want to miss out on his potential at SS while at the same time perhaps already having a number of solid options at the position right now. If you were looking to accelerate your window, you could probably just stick him in an outfield corner and have his bat in the lineup by next June. I think patience will be worth it, and he should just continue to stick at SS for the time being. If you have to make a switch, I'd start by considering CF actually. His athleticism is going to allow him to play a valuable position when he breaks in, so that's probably where I'd pivot to. But for now, SS and developing at the AA level, and his performance will be interesting to track. He's so young that I think patience is a real key, but he might have the kind of soaring stock to start penciling him in – somewhere – by next June or so no matter what.

Btw, I do think some deserved praise is due to Huntington on this front, and not quite as an anomaly. I'm not sure if everyone saw it or not, but Nesbitt mentioned the other day that Huntington was working under a mandate to make the team into as close to a playoff contender as possible, which I think partially helps to explain his conservatism in the Cole trade. I'm pretty firmly convinced that he wasn't the driver behind the Archer deal, but regardless, I think Huntington had a pretty good ability to ask for the right players in lesser deals. We don't know if Cruz or Tahnaj will really blow up, but he got both of them for spare parts, did the same for multiple closers, etc.

Littlefield will never get a GM job again.

Huntington should have one in the next 2 years.

I don't want to rehash the Archer trade, but I'll say this on Cole:

• He had regressed badly in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 he had an average ERA+. Think about how on earth that is possible.
• At the time the Pirates were not criticized for how they handled pitchers, they still seemed like a pretty good org.
• The narrative that Cole was stuff-over-results went all the way back to his college days and that definitely impeded his value.
• The only other team that we know of that was interested was the Yankees and they were steadfast that even Andujar couldn't be part of the deal. We have to assume that what was offered was something like Clint Frazier + Chance Adams...is that really better than Musgrove? We wouldn't trade Musgrove straight up for that package now, would we?
• Where he and his staff missed horribly was their assessment of Colin Moran's defense which as we all know is comically wrong.
• From the reports they may have gotten misleading spin numbers on Feliz. And besides, he is still interesting as a bullpen arm.

At the end of the day Ray Searage + Gerrit Cole himself tanked his value and NH didn't do that bad aside from the scouting failure on Moran's defense. Though I say all of this with the caveat that I am super duper high on Musgrove.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think the technology might level off some now, and sort of settle into a scenario where it depends on how you integrate things, communicate, etc. I think Shelton and Marin are both good developments on this front, and we'll see. There's a lot of chatter about how the Twins ran things in terms of practices and so on. I think there were a lot of ways the Pirates had stagnated, so in the end it's the right move.

In fact I'd say that Cherington is practically the same as Huntington but has had different/more trying experiences and so is a bit better suited for what we need. It will be interesting to see where Huntington ends up.

On tech, one thing I read was that the Cardinals haven't yet turned to Rhapsodo. It would be useful to have a kind of balance sheet on these matters league wide, because a lot of teams seem to have jumped forward, but maybe not all of them.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Littlefield will never get a GM job again.

Huntington should have one in the next 2 years.

I don't want to rehash the Archer trade, but I'll say this on Cole:

• He had regressed badly in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 he had an average ERA+. Think about how on earth that is possible.
• At the time the Pirates were not criticized for how they handled pitchers, they still seemed like a pretty good org.
• The narrative that Cole was stuff-over-results went all the way back to his college days and that definitely impeded his value.
• The only other team that we know of that was interested was the Yankees and they were steadfast that even Andujar couldn't be part of the deal. We have to assume that what was offered was something like Clint Frazier + Chance Adams...is that really better than Musgrove? We wouldn't trade Musgrove straight up for that package now, would we?
• Where he and his staff missed horribly was their assessment of Colin Moran's defense which as we all know is comically wrong.
• From the reports they may have gotten misleading spin numbers on Feliz. And besides, he is still interesting as a bullpen arm.

At the end of the day Ray Searage + Gerrit Cole himself tanked his value and NH didn't do that bad aside from the scouting failure on Moran's defense. Though I say all of this with the caveat that I am super duper high on Musgrove.

Yeah, I think that NH ran into some bad luck with how a lot of things unfolded, in terms of performances, when injuries happened, etc. I am not as high on Musgrove but I do think that there weren't many other great offers out there. Another one of his faults by the end was that he seemed to have exhausted his leverage in a lot of the bigger deals. There are probably a few reasons for that, but worth noting.

Going forward, I think Cherington will have an interesting challenge. He needs to do some roster churning still, ideally adding as much talent as he can. There's also a point where a trade doesn't make as much sense, and if we see some internal improvements and a few prospects emerge forcefully, then a scrappy division run in 2021 isn't totally out of the question. I'd love to see Kela just extended, but I think he probably goes no matter what, and presumably Dyson if anyone will have him, then it's all up for grabs. Plenty of time to debate and go back and forth, but I think the call won't be able to be made until we get to June and July this year.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Yeah, I think that NH ran into some bad luck with how a lot of things unfolded, in terms of performances, when injuries happened, etc. I am not as high on Musgrove but I do think that there weren't many other great offers out there. Another one of his faults by the end was that he seemed to have exhausted his leverage in a lot of the bigger deals. There are probably a few reasons for that, but worth noting.

Going forward, I think Cherington will have an interesting challenge. He needs to do some roster churning still, ideally adding as much talent as he can. There's also a point where a trade doesn't make as much sense, and if we see some internal improvements and a few prospects emerge forcefully, then a scrappy division run in 2021 isn't totally out of the question. I'd love to see Kela just extended, but I think he probably goes no matter what, and presumably Dyson if anyone will have him, then it's all up for grabs. Plenty of time to debate and go back and forth, but I think the call won't be able to be made until we get to June and July this year.

I think Archer is the only certainty to move. Kela is more likely than not.

You're right that the rest of it is up for grabs. I'm also interested in the DH discussion and the Bell/Polanco race-to-not-DH. I've kinda accepted that if the team is going to sneaky-compete in 2021, Bell's left-handed bat has still got to involved in there.

The optimist in me thinks we're going to look at SP as a strength in 2021 highlighted by Taillon, Musgrove and Keller. I predicted as much!

 

[Gallatin]

I think the technology might level off some now, and sort of settle into a scenario where it depends on how you integrate things, communicate, etc. I think Shelton and Marin are both good developments on this front, and we'll see. There's a lot of chatter about how the Twins ran things in terms of practices and so on. I think there were a lot of ways the Pirates had stagnated, so in the end it's the right move.

In fact I'd say that Cherington is practically the same as Huntington but has had different/more trying experiences and so is a bit better suited for what we need. It will be interesting to see where Huntington ends up.

On tech, one thing I read was that the Cardinals haven't yet turned to Rhapsodo. It would be useful to have a kind of balance sheet on these matters league wide, because a lot of teams seem to have jumped forward, but maybe not all of them.

And there's a lot more out there than just RAPSODO. Maybe the Cards are going a different way.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think Archer is the only certainty to move. Kela is more likely than not.

You're right that the rest of it is up for grabs. I'm also interested in the DH discussion and the Bell/Polanco race-to-not-DH. I've kinda accepted that if the team is going to sneaky-compete in 2021, Bell's left-handed bat has still got to involved in there.

The optimist in me thinks we're going to look at SP as a strength in 2021 highlighted by Taillon, Musgrove and Keller. I predicted as much!

I think that's right, although because of 2021, I am vacillating even on Archer. But I think in all likelihood, the big target for the front office really begins in 2022, so as long as Archer can bring back organizational help in a trade, he's absolutely gone, as is Kela unless he's extended or something.

Musgrove and Frazier are both possibilities, and I'd probably put Bell somewhere between those two and the Kela/Archer likelihood. I'm both a bigger fan of Bell than a lot of the regulars and a way bigger fan of Polanco, so to be honest, I'd kind of be looking at Polanco as the possible DH over Bell. It's certainly in the realm of possibility that Polanco could play well and be traded this summer, but I think the range of possibility for him is a bit more narrow right now: he will either prove his worth and be someone to stick around for at least a little while longer, or he will re-injure himself, struggle significantly with consistency, etc., and we'll stumble through one more year of his contract and then not exercise his option (or send him somewhere with his contract partially paid down).

In any case, re:this deadline vs. competing in 2021 or 2022, I think Bell is just more likely to go. There are also possibilities here, because Bell could still hold a reasonable amount of value in the offseason, or in the craziest scenario we could invest big in him as a face of the franchise. I'd put the odds of the latter at <5%, and that might even be being charitable. Frankly, I think the best possible outcome might be that Bell plays out of his mind this season and Cherington can have a deadline bidding war for him, with teams (particularly: NYY) gunning for a big impact guy immediately who also has some cost-ish controlled value going forward. If the deal isn't there, Cherington shouldn't force it, but big deals for Bell, Archer, and (to an extent) Kela would really sharpen up the "system build" or whatever we want to call it, positioning us to charge forward into 2021 with the core largely coming into focus (maybe you make a big extension for Musgrove and/or Reynolds, even Hayes, perhaps even Cruz in winter 2020, not really signing any FAs to speak of and going with the young team in 2021).

That's the hopeful narrative that's starting to come into focus for me, but there are lots of possible ways things could either go sideways or take a different route. To return to what I said at the beginning of the post, if the assessment is really that we can step up in 2021, then maybe Archer is even kept, but I think his value will be high enough to necessitate a deal, especially if he is able to approximate a front line starter who could be impactful in a playoff series. Honestly, if Cherington/Sanders would be able to get a deal similar to what they got for Stroman, then I don't think you can really hesitate. And, although Archer is highly disliked by lots of people, it's really hard to tank starting pitching value, so I think even a middling, 4-ish ERA Archer is going to be that valuable as a deadline acquisition.

Trying to sum up a bit, I think the possibilities for a surprise 2021 surge make Bell slightly more questionable to deal, whereas with Archer, you'd really have to have an analysis that you can win the playoffs in order to risk keeping him and then pivoting to a deal at the deadline if you are wrong. I'm more optimistic with the sight of baseball now finally on us, but that's a step too far, so yeah, long story short, I agree that Archer and Kela are the two definite deadline auction pieces.

 

[Gallatin]

July 2021 we will know so much more about this team. Bunch of prospects above A+ could break out, with some of that high upside wave following up from Rookie & A-Ball. I hope Bell is still around for that.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, I think the kind of operating logic right now is "staggered rebuild." I think we'll even start knowing a good bit more by July 2020, but organizationally, a lot will come into focus by July 2021. I could go either way on Bell, though personally I lean towards hoping he can get a big ransom, headlined by an impact SP. I would love to look at a deal involving something like Deivi Garcia, Frazier/Andujar, and a bit more from NYY. I don't think I'd look to move Bell no matter what, although in some sense I understand the sentiment. I think I would more look to move him for the right package, or if the assessment is more sober starting in July 2021, heading towards the end of the season, etc., then I'd be looking for the best deal I probably could get in the winter, with the possibility to keep holding til the 2021 deadline to truly cash out.

In other words, I don't think I'd look for a similarly strong system move like Peguero/Malone for Bell, just yet anyways. I might not even look for something similar in an Archer deal, although I think the funny thing for Cherington with Archer is that people don't like him so much that he can kinda do whatever in that deal and people are still going to like it. I wouldn't totally discount NYY for an Archer deal either, and I think if he can actually dial in his performance and improve, he will be able to help us retrieve a strong group with at least one impact player who might be ready come 2021. It's going to go a long way if Archer can demonstrate the ability to have high Ks, even if he still has games where he gets touched up a little bit for 2 dingers and some runs. If he puts up a regular routine of 5-6 IP, huge Ks, often very few hits or runs, then those blow up games will weigh less heavily. That's sorta what I mean by approximating a front line starter. Teams who would go after him will want him to pitch 4-5 playoff games, maybe even only 5 IP at a chunk depending on their bullpen.

 

[dogthateats]

 

[DJ Spinoza]

In "very promising spring training news," Santana is hitting 95mph on the gun tonight against the Yanks. Hartlieb also put up what seems to be a strong inning. I don't know without checking if he has options remaining, but I assume so, and that he might initially be a roster crunch casualty, but I still like him (as well as the more obvious Cederlind) if he can keep refining. I like the Erlin signing and assume he may make the team, though with Brault and potentially Holland, there might be less space/urgency. I'd kind of like to get one more look at Clay Holmes, who definitely is out of options.

If a guy like Holmes has a decent camp, you basically might as well see what he does in middle relief throughout April and May. You can always call up guys with options, but with young RPs especially, you never know when something might click and you have a nice little stretch of production for 2-3 years.

 

[Gallatin]

In "very promising spring training news," Santana is hitting 95mph on the gun tonight against the Yanks. Hartlieb also put up what seems to be a strong inning. I don't know without checking if he has options remaining, but I assume so, and that he might initially be a roster crunch casualty, but I still like him (as well as the more obvious Cederlind) if he can keep refining. I like the Erlin signing and assume he may make the team, though with Brault and potentially Holland, there might be less space/urgency. I'd kind of like to get one more look at Clay Holmes, who definitely is out of options.

If a guy like Holmes has a decent camp, you basically might as well see what he does in middle relief throughout April and May. You can always call up guys with options, but with young RPs especially, you never know when something might click and you have a nice little stretch of production for 2-3 years.

DJ you are always so upbeat, Always wanted to ask you, what don't you like?

 

[DJ Spinoza]

In terms of the current Pirates roster? IMO this is kind of the seal of Huntington, but it's that the sum of all the parts is too middling. I can definitely stand guilty for taking a too positive perspective down to the write with most roster players, but I think when you look at the overall composition of the team, there are a lot of guys who give you solid performance, and in some cases could step up for a really nice season. In fact, I think this was pretty much the overt strategy Huntington had, and you could see it working in various spurts over the years: the big winning streak before the Archer trade is only the most obvious example, and baseball is certainly susceptible to these kind of sample size things, but it was/remains a team where if a lot works on all cylinders, they can be competitive with nearly anyone.

But that's the biggest flaw, especially when you operate with razor thin depth in some areas in order to save money.

More basically, I do not like Moran one bit, and I'm so-so on Musgrove. I think he's a good mid-rotation piece who can flash more occasionally... not sure if that would really count, lol. And in fact, this is the polar opposite of what you are asking me, but one of my moderate takes (bc I am not unique in this idea) is that Stallings is exceedingly underrated. Anyways, I'd definitely say Moran, and we need to find ways to squeeze even better production out of certain areas. But I still believe that the core inherited from Huntington can approximate a WC team for stretches at a team, and especially if we start the season kinda hot or something, wouldn't be surprised to see that again for parts of the 2020 year.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

 

[ChaosAgent]

In "very promising spring training news," Santana is hitting 95mph on the gun tonight against the Yanks. Hartlieb also put up what seems to be a strong inning. I don't know without checking if he has options remaining, but I assume so, and that he might initially be a roster crunch casualty, but I still like him (as well as the more obvious Cederlind) if he can keep refining. I like the Erlin signing and assume he may make the team, though with Brault and potentially Holland, there might be less space/urgency. I'd kind of like to get one more look at Clay Holmes, who definitely is out of options.

If a guy like Holmes has a decent camp, you basically might as well see what he does in middle relief throughout April and May. You can always call up guys with options, but with young RPs especially, you never know when something might click and you have a nice little stretch of production for 2-3 years.

On the topic of Pirates I'm not optimistic on whatsoever, Clay Holmes is at the very tippie top of my list. Ditto Stratton and Hartlieb. Just don't have the location. Williams I have no faith in. I don't think any of the rando backup catchers we signed to compete/platoon with Stallings will pan out. I'm exceedingly skeptical on Polanco. He has earned all the skepticism.

Moran's glove at 3rd (or more specifically, Moran's legs at 3rd) make me shudder in despair. Egon's bat.

I do like Santana, am high on Cederlind and believe there's a 20-30% chance that Brault somehow puts it together. He has really flashed talent at times.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Why don't you like Stratton? His spin rates are elite. Holmes and Hartlieb I can definitely see – I'm not high on those guys at all, I just assume if they show some decent signs in camp, they'll be thrown out as MRP options. I'm maybe a little bit higher on Hartlieb just because he has had less of a chance and basically needs to harness his control and dial it in.

I guess I would also include Williams as someone I'm not optimistic about, but I think unless he's injured, he'll eat a fair amount of innings and they'll see if he can be some type of backend glue. You never want to prefer mediocre to bad backend talent, but there's still something to be said for eating innings. I was once a pretty strong backer of Williams, so I'm sort of in a wait and see mode with him but am obviously pessimistic based on the whole sample of last year.

I guess to take another guy, I'm not sure I am wild about Crick. He seems like the main pundit pick to supplant Kela when he's traded, and while I can see it and he did dominate at times, I just think the way his control leaves him is a huge red flag. Maybe he's a guy who will break out even more when he's in the driver's seat as the closer, but he's another guy I'm wait and see at best on. Though it would be pretty funny if he emerges as a dominant closer for the next 3-4 seasons for us to go along with Reynolds. That Cutch trade would look even sweeter.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Why don't you like Stratton? His spin rates are elite. Holmes and Hartlieb I can definitely see – I'm not high on those guys at all, I just assume if they show some decent signs in camp, they'll be thrown out as MRP options. I'm maybe a little bit higher on Hartlieb just because he has had less of a chance and basically needs to harness his control and dial it in.

I guess I would also include Williams as someone I'm not optimistic about, but I think unless he's injured, he'll eat a fair amount of innings and they'll see if he can be some type of backend glue. You never want to prefer mediocre to bad backend talent, but there's still something to be said for eating innings. I was once a pretty strong backer of Williams, so I'm sort of in a wait and see mode with him but am obviously pessimistic based on the whole sample of last year.

I guess to take another guy, I'm not sure I am wild about Crick. He seems like the main pundit pick to supplant Kela when he's traded, and while I can see it and he did dominate at times, I just think the way his control leaves him is a huge red flag. Maybe he's a guy who will break out even more when he's in the driver's seat as the closer, but he's another guy I'm wait and see at best on. Though it would be pretty funny if he emerges as a dominant closer for the next 3-4 seasons for us to go along with Reynolds. That Cutch trade would look even sweeter.

I just feel like nothing in Stratton's results back up his arm talent. That last year I saw him get tattooed regularly. I don't disagree that the stuff is good, but I put him in a similar category to Holmes.

I'm with you on Williams. I don't think the stuff is there, full-stop. I love his persona...I even love that he's tatted (and not awful tatted like so many other athletes). I just don't have a lot of faith.

I actually totally agree on Crick. When the breaking pitch is on and located, it makes the fastball play up. But if it's not? Sorry but his 4-seamer is extremely average for a righty bullpenner in today's age. He has pedigree so he gets a spot, but I don't feel great about him.

I make up for all of this by being optimistic on Santana, Brubaker, Kuhl and Cederlind.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I hope we'll be wrong about Crick, but we'll see. The slider is definitely wicked and it's possible that Marin can get more out of him than Searage, but Crick just kinda strikes me as a guy who Searage would have been best for.

My vague impression/recollection is that Stratton got a decent amount of results, but I'm curious how he'll be used. I have a pretty boring and obvious opinion about the pitching, which is that we need the sum of it all to rise up some, and then we'll be able to make some better assessments about where the impact lies. It was so awful for so much of last year that by and large, the individual performances only rose up over it on some occasions. We need Archer and Musgrove leading the way, Keller to rise to consistency as quickly as possible, and some kind of pulse from the backend, at least in terms of consistent enough 5 IP starts. Then we'll see what we've got if we have a healthy enough bullpen that isn't crazily overtaxed because the starters are only going 3 innings every 2 or 3 games.

While we're throwing out the bullpen names though, I am in agreement about Santana. I think he's the closer in waiting after Kela, but there could be some logic to seeing if Crick can take the mantle. Crick has a ton of control (through 23) so he could be a longer term factor, but you could also see if he can get 3 months in this year and 3 months next year in order to see what kind of package you could flip him for at the deadline. One of the better things Huntington was able to do, not every single year but also pretty often, was take relievers and turn them into valuable returns. If the staff believes in someone, having a bullpen as a weapon can make a huge difference, but in general I think that's still a good strategy as we keep "building."

 

[ChaosAgent]

I hope we'll be wrong about Crick, but we'll see. The slider is definitely wicked and it's possible that Marin can get more out of him than Searage, but Crick just kinda strikes me as a guy who Searage would have been best for.

My vague impression/recollection is that Stratton got a decent amount of results, but I'm curious how he'll be used. I have a pretty boring and obvious opinion about the pitching, which is that we need the sum of it all to rise up some, and then we'll be able to make some better assessments about where the impact lies. It was so awful for so much of last year that by and large, the individual performances only rose up over it on some occasions. We need Archer and Musgrove leading the way, Keller to rise to consistency as quickly as possible, and some kind of pulse from the backend, at least in terms of consistent enough 5 IP starts. Then we'll see what we've got if we have a healthy enough bullpen that isn't crazily overtaxed because the starters are only going 3 innings every 2 or 3 games.

While we're throwing out the bullpen names though, I am in agreement about Santana. I think he's the closer in waiting after Kela, but there could be some logic to seeing if Crick can take the mantle. Crick has a ton of control (through 23) so he could be a longer term factor, but you could also see if he can get 3 months in this year and 3 months next year in order to see what kind of package you could flip him for at the deadline. One of the better things Huntington was able to do, not every single year but also pretty often, was take relievers and turn them into valuable returns. If the staff believes in someone, having a bullpen as a weapon can make a huge difference, but in general I think that's still a good strategy as we keep "building."

I holistically agree. The general level of the pitching is going to improve. It's hard to see it not improving given where it was last year.

But pitcher-by-pitcher it's going to be different. Some will improve drastically and some will fall off. Some will never make it period. It's the nature of the thing. Everyone aside from maybe Williams and Holland and Dovydas (I can't believe he's still in the org...) has stuff you can dream on.

I think an Archer-Musgrove-Keller step-up would be great and it's something I'm expecting at this point. And for either JT or Kuhl to seize the #4 spot early.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I have a hunch that they are going to give Holland a pretty strong look and that he'll crack the rotation. I think he's a combination of traveled veteran and bounce back candidate who they'll just see what they have with, unless his spring games are pretty disastrous. Since Brubaker and Kuhl will need to have their innings managed, and nobody is definitively right on the horizon, I am assuming they'll give Holland a look even if he loses a roster spot by the end of May.

To be honest, I liked the brief look I got of him in the game the other day, even if in general I agree that his stuff is nothing to write home about. I think taking the stab is not the worst idea in the world – if you get lucky, he'll put together a solid enough season and you can flip him for a B prospect.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I have a hunch that they are going to give Holland a pretty strong look and that he'll crack the rotation. I think he's a combination of traveled veteran and bounce back candidate who they'll just see what they have with, unless his spring games are pretty disastrous. Since Brubaker and Kuhl will need to have their innings managed, and nobody is definitively right on the horizon, I am assuming they'll give Holland a look even if he loses a roster spot by the end of May.

To be honest, I liked the brief look I got of him in the game the other day, even if in general I agree that his stuff is nothing to write home about. I think taking the stab is not the worst idea in the world – if you get lucky, he'll put together a solid enough season and you can flip him for a B prospect.

Holland is definitely *sigh* a contender for that spot. But you'd hope a guy who had 1 good season since 2014 wouldn't be that way. Though a team with contending aspirations paid him to throw baseballs for them last year, so who TF knows. Crafty lefty can still work. And his nickname is "Dutch Oven." Which is fabulous.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah there's nothing too exciting about it but I hope he can throw together 3 months of decent performance at least. I have no expectations at all and don't want him blocking a guy like Kuhl especially, but the depth is kinda suspect so it wouldn't be terrible if he can fill the backend for a little while.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Two quick notes that might be of interest from the broadcast today. Holmes apparently spent all of the offseason doing a dive into analytics, and Musgrove was also interviewed and had a telling comment about the new pitching approach. It sounds like he had access to a lot of information last year but it wasn't really integrated much: he basically said verbatim "we didn't know what half that crap meant."

Obviously, Holmes really just needs to show consistent control – it's not like he doesn't have nasty stuff. But I wonder if Marin will be able to get that from him with mechanical adjustments. He definitely threw some nasty pitches during his inning today, but again, we already know he can do that.

Cederlind is pitching now and he definitely has filthy stuff but needs some further seasoning. I'd anticipate seeing him at some point this summer but wouldn't rush it.

 

[cookthebooks]

how do you best make money betting the pirates are closer to .500 than losing 100?

 

[Winger for Hire]

Swag