5-11-25 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

Yesterday, I spent some time talking about players that I don’t feel the Pirates can afford to not trade this year, regardless of who is making the calls. You can read that here if you like.

I broke this out into two distinct categories because while I feel they have to act on those few I spoke to yesterday, today’s list is going to be more about guys they could potentially afford to wait until they make a change at GM.

This is my own personal wish. It certainly doesn’t mean that the Pirates will agree with either the guys I choose, or that Cherington shouldn’t get to play with things like this at this point.

And frankly, I’m ignoring all together the small potatoes type things they could do. Dealing a reliever on a one year deal for instance, like Borucki or Ferguson, go ahead, or don’t, we all know that’s not returning a haul, and it isn’t sending one out either. In other words, you don’t need me to write about those.

Let’s go, and as I did yesterday, I’ll explain why, what I think we could get in return, and anything else I can think of that pertains.

Mitch Keller

With a young staff forming, I love the idea of a seasoned veteran starter that was homegrown and chose to extend here as the leader of the staff.

Thing is, I don’t thing Keller has, or will become that.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good pitcher, a solid 3-4 starter, you know, exactly what I said he was when I wanted them to extend him. And Extending him was absolutely the right move, had they not, we’d likely have seen him dealt in 2024 with one more year of arb attached. Now, you’re selling a guy with 3 more full seasons of control. That’s an answer for someone for a few years, and it really should net you an answer of your own.

The years of control, and AAV around 15 Million for his contract make him extremely tradeable, and more than that, they make him attractive to teams who are in it, think they’re close to being in it in the next couple years or even just trying to prepare for losing someone comparable in stature from their own roster to the FA board.

The Pirates have to, well, not miss here.

In fact, they need to see his salary not as something to dump, but something that allows them to seek salary in return.

This could be a deal with a team like the Orioles who have young offensive talent, some of which is at the MLB level, some almost there. They don’t have a direct contract swap deal the Pirates could look for here, but they do have some guys like Ryan Mountcastle, Coby Mayo, Heston Kjerstad types, and honestly, I’d think Keller should probably get you 2 of those.

Two are unproven commodities who haven’t broken through, one is established but established as not being a huge star, just a competent bat. Offensive help for pitching help, a real honest to God baseball trade.

The Dodgers always seem stacked (gee I wonder why) but they also come up short on pitching as the season wears on, at least as it comes to their comfort level with what they have. They’ve got some prospects that wouldn’t be blocked anywhere else, like Daulton Rushing. We’ve already seen them have to deal off Michael Busch and Gavin Lux to keep adding veteran free agents, and you could see them have to do even a bit more of that. It could afford you an opportunity to really get something out of them and they certainly won’t care about eating his salary.

The Red Sox make a lot of sense too, with more and more young talent coming such as Roman Anthony, Marcello Mayer they might need to get creative to make room and while they’ve invested in their rotation, Keller would slot right in and solidify their unit.

The Pirates could eat some salary, but not as much as it would take to get Devers or Story, not without the Sox eating a decent amount themselves, but there could be a match here.

Anything that brings back MLB ready bats, is a good marriage for a Mitch Keller deal and to me, he is their biggest chip that I’m comfortable selling. Truth be told, if they’d developed bats I’d never suggest this, I’m just rolling the dice that I can use him to help balance the scales and praying that they finish the job of developing one of their young pitchers into a capable replacement.

Joey Bart

Joey has 2 more years of arbitration, and no, he’s not going to get super expensive. Problem is, he isn’t going to get super expensive because while Joey hits the ball, he isn’t a very good defensive catcher, which ultimately effects his value. For instance, if you’re a WAR believer, well, lets put it this way, Joey Bart has a 0.6 WAR for 2025 right now, accumulated in 31 games, Henry Davis, a far superior defender, and less so with the bat so far, has a 0.3 WAR, in only 12 games.

See where I’m going?

Now, Bart hits, but DH is kinda taken here and he isn’t capable of playing other positions. First base was tried way back in San Francisco and it was not a good experience for anyone involved. So much so it never progressed beyond a 2 week attempt in practice before it was entirely shut down.

I’m not saying they should trade him lightly, but a catcher who can hit, backed by two catchers who should hit and for sure defend batter sounds like movable to me.

I’m just not sure he brings back a “today” bat, and honestly, if he doesn’t I’m not sure you have room to do it. He is a stick, in a lineup that needs more, so I hesitate to move him unless…

…Henry or Endy really start to hit. If they do, this is a no brainer and you just get the best you can. I suppose if Andrew McCutchen were to announce plans to retire, you would have another reason to want to hold onto him, but to me, he’s on a track to lose his starting catcher gig regardless, you can’t build a team with a backbone of starting pitching and then make your starting catcher a defensive liability. Well, not if you want to win anyway.

Tricky one here, chalk full of conditions that need to evolve, and conditions as to how interested in moving him I’d be. But it has to be considered.

Jared Triolo

This isn’t a big trade. I mean, he has a lot of control, he’s cheap, he’s a hell of a fielder, Gold Glove winner and all and he has all the measurables that make him look like someone a smart team could find more offense in.

He’d get some interest, even if he’s intended to be a Kike Hernandez type who sits on the bench, fills in literally anywhere and that’s just if they can’t manage to get his bat turned into something.

You’re selling defensive excellence and versatility here. A Skeleton key for your defense and bench.

But the return is tricky. I can’t see you getting MLB players back, but you could score some decent prospects in return, and while I won’t claim they’re the same player or as defensively capable, the Pirates do have Malcom Nunez and Jack Brannigan on the way who can both play a very capable 3B. In other words, don’t keep this guy around just because Ke’Bryan Hayes’ back scares the hell out of you.

Ke’Bryan Hayes

I’m putting him here, but not because I think he’d get a lot of interest. He’s a hell of a glove, but nobody wants a starting 3B that hits like he does, especially one with a chronic back problem.

The league won’t forget just because he has a healthy season, and even if they did, they won’t forget what he brings to the plate.

This one would wind up feeling like a salary dump, and bluntly, he doesn’t make enough for it to be true. That said, the return could reflect that you’re asking a team to take on a commitment for the next 4 years with a guy who is sure to underwhelm at the plate and likely to not play half your games over that span.

I’m sure you could get some prospects but not anyone’s top guys. In fact, you’d likely get someone else’s project, maybe a couple of them.

And, this isn’t as simple as some World Series bound unit having their 3B go down to injury, because you’re not buying a rental that you get by with for a run, you’re buying someone you have to be ok with having around for 4 more years, and making a bit more than you’d like to pay a bench player, yes, even the Dodgers don’t like wasting money on their bench.

OK, you got me, I put this one on here because frankly, I can’t see the market. I’m of the belief we’ll have to at least get to the point he only has 1-2 years left on his deal.

Closing

There are some guys I’ve seen some of you mention, and let me rapid fire through them.

Oneil Cruz – No, he’s your best offensive weapon, he’s just figuring out CF and you simply won’t replace his production. Even as he enters arbitration next year, this is not a guy this team should be considering dealing at this stage.

Bryan Reynolds – No, he’s off to a terrible start, but guys, he almost always is until it warms up, and when he’s going, his switch hitting bat is crucial. Again, they won’t replace his production.

Andrew McCutchen – No. Not only was it an understanding when he signed here that he wouldn’t be dealt, that understanding is with the owner, not the GM. Andrew is here until they decide he has nothing left to give or he does. Period. He’s not going to wake up in July and want to suddenly go play for a playoff team. To think that is to not understand why he keeps coming back for 5 million when he could get 6-8 on the market.

Jack Suwinski – Sure, but to me, this is the type of guy you toss into a deal when you are eating salary. This isn’t going to happen, but let’s just pretend for some reason the Twins want to dump a contract like Carlos Correa or Byron Buxton, well, the Pirates would probably want to offset that risk by offering back some “issues” of their own that look like shots at help. Players like Jack or Bae, well, their failure to launch makes them toss in types, to sweeten a deal or make it look more palatable to a fan base. So you’d get Buxton and send back say Braxton Ashcraft, Jack Suwinski and maybe a Jared Triolo type. One real prospect, one MLB player who can at least take a 26 man spot and play good defense and one AAAA looking guy who you can sell as “not getting a chance”. Thin market to say the least.

Look, when you’re a losing team, you don’t get to cringe about moving on from just about anyone.

That said, in general, the goal here needs to be to add offensive talent.

Not subtract it. And for those of you thinking you can trade Skenes, well, you’d never recoup value, it’s WAY too early for one thing. Nobody has a prospect package they’d offer that comes close, and frankly this is probably the chief reason to not consider it, his mere existence is the only reason we’re pretending it’s time to win anyway. Trade him away and you’re left with a handful of awesome looking risks. I’ll just keep the ace here and wait for the river.

They have prospect depth on the mound, they can deal some of it, but the only path the pirates development system has provided to reach “special” is if this pitching staff becomes Skenes, Barco, Chandler, Jones, Harrington, Keller, or whomever but you get what I mean, if this is 1992 Braves on the hill, they have a chance here even if the offense never becomes exceptional. And no, I don’t mean in 2025, I mean in the immediate 3-4 season stretch here.

If they can move some of this, like Keller, or one of the prospects should they prefer to keep their signed anchor, and have it return actual MLB bats, they have a chance.

If Spencer Horwitz winds up being an MLB bat, which he’s shown signs of in Toronto, even if it’s only against righties, and it cost them one starter, I’m ok with that. And frankly, I think I and you, need to be ok with it again.

My issue is I just can’t feel good about Cherington doing it. I just have not liked his eye for offensive talent and bluntly, that’s just about the only thing left to do. Add offense.

5-10-25 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The Pirates will have to make an honest effort to do things differently than they have historically. No, not to save 2025, but to pull this thing from the tailspin its grown into.

You aren’t going to get the one you want. Bob Nutting won’t sell, so if you can’t bring yourself beyond “nothing will change until Nutting is gone”, you might as well just check out, cause that’s not what this piece is going to focus on.

Spending or not, there is absolutely no reason this franchise shouldn’t have themselves in a position where the team they’ve built internally can sustain and produce a roughly .500 record.

They’ve built enough pitching to ensure they can make that happen, and beyond that, they could have spent the dollars they did spend more wisely.

The rest of 2025, this team should improve. I know, I know, stick with me…

They will get infusions of more of the young pitching we were excited to see. Jones, Chandler, Oviedo, Moreta, Ashcraft, Burrows, Harrington, Barco now is very much so in that conversation.

They’ll get Spencer Horwitz back, and nobody knows what that’ll be, but I think his opportunity with Toronto was positive. Gonzales will return, IKF will return too. None of them are Vladdy Jr, but they’ll all help.

Guys like Cook and Yorke, and Nunez, lots of those types, hell maybe even Jack again, look, Bae’s here for a minute waiting on Horwitz to finish his rehab.

Point is, they should get better. And I didn’t even mention Bryan Reynolds, who always heats up when the thermometer does, and his wife delivers…IYKYK.

That’s just internally, and while I don’t want Ben Cherington making large trades here, this start has ensured they have a few trades he needs to execute well.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

First, how about his recent quote after the Shelton firing.

“Everything that could have gone wrong in the organization these first two months has gone wrong,” “You’re talking about things that are happening outside our control. This is not what I envisioned coming into getting traded here last year. This year, so far, has been extremely disappointing for me.”

Yeah, he’s caught Bucco Fever, and boy, it didn’t take all that long. This trade was going to have to happen, but not being in the race, it’s something they better start planning and laying track for now.

He’s a nice bench pickup on a pro-rated contract that isn’t all that expensive in the first place, so you should be able to do ok here. He has no control beyond this year, so you can’t get crazy but you should be able to get yourself a top 10-20 prospect if he continues to play reasonably well. Nobody will be acquiring him to be their SS though, so they can just use him as intended if you ask me. Either way, can’t miss here, even if the player they get is far away, it needs to be a quality, and preferably offensive oriented pick up.

He’ll be a free agent, you won’t offer him a qualifying offer, you aren’t in anything, move him, whenever it presents itself for the best return you think you can get.

Andrew Heaney

This was just about always going to be the plan, even if they were in a heated race. The hope was the pitching would grow him out of space to find sunshine anyway or push him to the pen. Now you just don’t need to act like it was a painful last second decision.

We’ll see how Heaney does for a while here before we decide what kind of return you should look for. He’s hit a little road bump lately after a very hot start. Chances are though, he looks a lot like the Free agent signing he was, and vet arms especially lefties at the deadline usually will net you a decent prospect. Maybe just about what you would be looking for with IKF, or, you might be able to flip him into a reliever with some team control left, that’s been a nice return option for this team with rentals a few times now, Moreta, Holderman, Oviedo, you know, different degrees of success, couple injuries, but that’s a smart way to build out a bullpen with options for a couple years.

Lottery ticket is fine here too. But he gone.

David Bednar

David went to the minors, figured some stuff out, and right now he’s humming.

Thank god, because he wasn’t tradeable before, now he is.

He has one more year of arbitration, and frankly, the Pirates should not even entertain picking it up. We’ve already tasted how quickly it can fall apart and at his age, I don’t want to pay him what figures to be over 7 million only to turn around and have to trade him at next year’s deadline for a lesser return.

I have no interest in extending him, I just don’t believe he’s going to trend in the right direction for that.

But you could be selling a dare I say dominant back end reliever, should he continue to pitch like this anyway. With a year of control on top.

That, might just return a prospect who has had a hard time making a stacked team, or a blocked prospect who should have gotten a shot by now. That would be my hope anyway.

Bullpens win championships, and teams will pay for it, to me it’s a gigantic waste of a resource to hold onto him.

If there’s a PR hit, honestly, Bob is likely gonna fire this GM anyway, just blame him. lol

This needs to happen.

These are all trades I think absolutely have to happen, tomorrow, I’ll write about some moves I’d make if I trusted this GM to do them well.

5-6-25 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

As a writer, podcaster, fake media, whatever you call me anymore, I’ve started to find it difficult to fully take a lot of mental trails I start down.

Let me give you a for instance.

Last night, I sat down to start writing a piece about Oneil Cruz being wasted too, you know what I mean? Like we keep talking about Skenes, and rightfully so, but Cruz is the one who is going to start costing money very soon, and Cruz is on pace for some pretty astounding numbers if you’ve followed this particular team for any length of time.

So I was going to go down the trail of explaining where he is, compare him to others, try to come up with a figure that makes sense and see if it sounds reasonable.

Then inevitably, I have to stop. I reach a dead end in my happy little trail and the sign almost always says the same thing.

How can you think about or talk about THIS GM doing anything at this point that effects a regime he likely won’t be here for?

See what I’m saying?

I’ve had similar thoughts about Paul Skenes, and yes, even Bubba Chandler. But how can I really explore that? I can’t get past that sign in the woods.

If I feel that way, how does anyone on the team or working for the team approach their day to day? Think about it for a second. We’re talking about something as simple as transferring someone to the 60-day IL, you honestly don’t know if you’ll be there to see the guy come off the list.

What if Cherington wants to trade a top prospect for some right now offensive help? I wonder, would Bob let him? Not because Bob weighs in on baseball decisions, I’ve been told and it’s been reported a hundred times he doesn’t, but because, If I’m Bob, I’m looking at what this dude has done and asking myself before I let him pull a big lever, realistically, is he going to be here to deal with the fallout?

Now, some of you are for the first time ever in your head, go Bob! Cause you don’t want him making any big deals either.

I’m guessing of course. Perhaps in baseball, the egos are just so massive that even when their seat is too hot to sit in they feel total ability to do what they see fit under their purview and their assumption at all times is that they’ll be here, they’ll be right, it’ll all work out. I’d imagine you don’t get a job like that without a certain level of hubris.

If you’re a player though, like Oneil Cruz for instance, you’re just breaking out, at least showing real signs of it, this team is literally performing worse than they did when you debuted, you can do math and see that adding what you want probably ensures Skenes isn’t extended, if you felt it was ever possible. I don’t know what I’d think. Again, as a player, you probably at some level simply believe whatever you think you can do is more than enough to win something, so maybe this tornado in the front office stuff just happens completely out of sight and mind for them.

All I know is, a lame duck is a hard situation to be in with management, and that’s if you truly believe and have some evidence that shows you should keep your job. This situation is worse in a way, because we can all see what’s broken, and we can’t really even shop for supplies to repair it until someone tells us it’ll still be here to be repaired.

The fans feel it too.

It’s not just impatience for the same old stuff like “look at the kids”, “the future is bright”, that stuff may all be true, and sure, fans are tired of hearing it, but this year there’s an added layer of simply having no idea where anything is headed. Who will be here. What will a new regime do?

The entire franchise is paralyzed.

Draft preparation, trade deadline preparation, extension talk, when to and not to care about Super 2 or service clock, all that stuff.

I can’t even talk about what “they never” or “they always” do, because honestly, a cornered animal won’t always react how you’d think or as to their nature.

I remember this feeling, and it was 2019.

Arguably the most truly sad part of all of it, Bob Nutting replaced a group that thought they were smarter than everyone else, picked high almost every year and pulled through very little in the way of internally developed talent, which was the entire premise of their regime. And he brought in another entirely new group that did all those things worse, except this one can’t trade either.

I’d like to think he would have at least retained some of the warning signs coming that he missed from 2016-2019 so that perhaps he could prevent total disaster from taking place this time, unfortunately, it seems he did the same play with different actors.

If Bob is truly going to not sell, and again, as of now, he certainly isn’t planning on it. Someone needs to get to this dude and make him understand, it’s not necessarily about being capable of paying 350 million a year in salary, it’s about making sure you’re always right around 100, even when bottoming out, if only to continue to have worthwhile pieces to sell off as you go.

Oh, and if you develop players well, you’ll be happy to be selling them off. In fact, if you really develop well, you’ll have enough to replenish and yes, sell for established pieces you need to fill the team.

If you’re baseline is 100 and your peak is 140, nothing will change about how the league laughs at you. The fans won’t be satisfied to the point where they shrug and accept losing cause you spent. It’ll always take some magic tricks to win divisions or playoff series, but you’ll get more regular bites at the apple.

You’d be Milwaukee.

Even when you want to “rebuild” wouldn’t it be better to be selling off say Luis Arraez with a couple years left of arbitration a few years ago as opposed to trying to find a taker for Rich Hill or Carlos Santana? Carry more payroll every year, have better things to sell in your “store”, get better prospects in return, develop them and keep the ball rolling.

Sure, extend guys when it makes sense, but this CAN be done in this market, without even asking Bob Nutting to become some altruistic figure here.

It takes his willingness to spend up front once, and smart people to run it.

The alternative is the cage of their own making I started this whole thing with. Cherington had very little to sell when he got here, didn’t do very well selling them, then proceeded to never bring in or develop anything he could afford to sell while still pretending he was building something.

So here we are. Sitting in a cage we watched them build around the franchise, incapable of doing much more than argue with each other about hating and blaming the right or wrong people, and hoping that next time they’ll get lucky and find someone smart, passionate or influential enough to finally do things differently, or the CBA to shut the game down, take away everyone’s toys and make competing at least financially the law of the land.

This stuff predates Bob Nutting, whomever has owned this team since at least 1986 had little to no interest in spending money to make money here, and seemingly were incapable of hiring executives who could find a way to function under it. Maybe it’s impossible, but something tells me there is a better way to do things, even with admitted restraints.

No matter what, it’s hard to even look past the All Star break and pretend you know where this thing is headed.

Ok, maybe you can with the record.