Apparently It’s Not All About The Benjamins For Cherington

When I hear general managers from around Major League Baseball talk, I always take much of what they say with a grain of salt; all while trying to read between the lines or concentrating on key words in an attempt to interpret the message they might be trying to convey. Sometimes they give you a pretty clear message, but even then it is hard to not be skeptical. So, it is no surprise that when Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington speaks I find myself doing this little dance, trying to decipher the truths through perceived inconsistencies.

When Cherington came on the scene during the past off-season, shortly after the Starling Marte trade, he was quoted as saying, “A good chunk of players who were on the team last year will be on the team this year, and they really do have a chance to be part of that next winning team. We’re just trying to build toward that.”. He continued with, “The way I look at it, the way we’re looking at it — and I really believe this — is there’s a group of young players here who are either already on the team or close to being on the team that we truly believe will be part of our next winning team. So our focus is really to build with that group,”.

No specific players were mentioned by Cherington at the time, however, a whole lot of speculation as to who he could be thinking of when he made these statements; mostly consisting of Pirates who were on the Major League Roster at the time. Could he mean Josh Bell and Joe Musgrove? Or, it had to be Mitch Keller and Bryan Reynolds he was talking about. Ke’Bryan Hayes’ name was also mentioned in passing at the time due to him being on the cusp of joining the big league team.

Now, just a couple of days ago Cherington sat down with the media following the trade of Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres, and not even a month removed from the Christmas Eve trade of Josh Bell to the Washington Nationals, to attempt to provide us with some details surrounding the decisions that have been made thus far. Right way some fans’ memories jumped back to the previous quotes by Cherington about a young core, that obviously no longer included Bell or Musgrove, as it was clear that he had blatantly lied to us. But did he really? With no names uttered and a pile full of assumptions, it may never be known exactly who Cherington had in mind, if the 2020 season, albeit shortened, had changed his perception or at least caused the evaluation process to be updated; while the remaining portion of the quote about being a part of the next winning team is pure GM speak. I mean, there isn’t any MLB General Manager alive, or dead, that hasn’t talked about victories, championship or something as truly vague as winning.

However, the focus did not remain partially in past for very long as the conversations concerning finances and payroll emerged; which somewhat justifiably, almost always seems to dominate the discussions when it comes to the Pirates, Cherington and especially Bob Nutting. During this same press conference Cherington reported to those present that, “Coming into the offseason, there was no need to move money, no need to move payroll for the sake of moving payroll. There was no request for that. We haven’t made a single move for financial considerations.” Some immediately made the assertion that this was an outright lie on the part of Cherington, however, this is extremely hard to prove with 100% certainty. Sure it’s something that can be hypothesized based on the current payroll of approximately $42 million when compared to the $74 million it was at the beginning of 2019, but its far from a given, especially since at least a few of the moves are ones we all saw coming, with a few being ones that many of us agreed with.

As the current off-season began it was apparent that the Pirates payroll was going to decrease; and did so pretty much immediately. Chris Archer had a $11 million team option, which the Pirates decided to buy out for a mere $250K. After having undergone surgery in the beginning of June 2020 to relieve symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), it was almost a foregone conclusion that Pittsburgh would not pick up the option; a decision most conceded was the correct call. Only a few weeks later Trevor Williams, who was discussed a potential non-tender candidate due to his recent struggles and estimated $3.2-$4.4 million arbitration salary for 2021, was designated for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster in order to protect player(s) from the then upcoming Rule 5 Draft. Once again, it was acknowledged that this was more than likely the appropriate determination. That’s $14.2-$15.4 million off the payroll, just in those two moves alone.

Now, after jumping past some minor moves, that brings us to the approximate $10.85 million the Pirates saved by trading Bell and Musgrove during the past month; minus any of the salaries coming back of course. As hard as I try, I can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt these trades weren’t made to preserve money, even if I honestly believe they were ultimately the right moves; just like it is impossible to prove with absolute certainty that they were salary dumps, plain and simple. And ultimately this is where the disagreement comes in concerning Cherington’s original statement.

Could it be a lie or a twisting of the truth at the very least? Yes. Could it be the honest to goodness truth? Also, yes. Unfortunately, as with many things almost every MLB GM says, Cherington included, it is often almost impossible to determine the absolute truths from the boldfaced lies; if it is even that black and white to begin with.

Believe It or Not The Pirates Might Sign a Free Agent or Two

We’ve focused on the biggest moves and those happen to be trades. I don’t see those being done yet as I can’t see a logical way they head into Spring with Adam Frazier as part of the mix.

Now, when I talk about free agent possibilities it doesn’t seem to jive with the full rebuild does it? Well, hear me out a bit and judge for yourself.

First, they have very real holes and the most significant is in the outfield. Part of the rebuild process is about not forcing players into the line of fire before they’re ready and on top of that, outside Anthony Alford, who is still not a sure thing they’ve really only got Jared Oliva with an outside shot Travis Swaggerty as a September call up player, and I’ll be honest, even that is a bit of a stretch.

Second, the team showed us last season they understood another one of those sneaky ways to acquire talent by signing Jarrod Dyson and flipping him for international pool space at the deadline.

I can already hear you thinking this is just the wishful thinking of some blogger boy, and hey, you might end up being right, but check out Dejan Kovacevic’s Daily shot today. And just in case you don’t, he asked Ben Cherington if he’d consider signing some established free agents by way of flipping them, to which he essentially said yes, it’s on the table.

He also said players are smart and there’s no reason to hide it from them as they know what’s going on anyway.

In most years I’d tell you that adds up to exactly what they picked up last year in the form of Dyson. This year though, the market is just not moving and reality is, the Pirates might not have to be the most attractive landing spot, in fact they might even be spoiled for choice, now, do they choose to make one?

Let’s have a look at some players who could fit the mold, and keep in mind, this isn’t about pretending they’ll compete, this is about buying an asset to potentially insulate the system and ultimately continue to bolster it.

Ben Gamel

Most Pirate fans will remember this shaggy haired dude always cropping up at a bad time to help the Brewers beat our Buccos.

He’s 29 years old, listed as a Right Fielder but he can play Center if he has to. Nothing flashy, in fact if you look at his stats you’d swear he got most of his numbers playing the Pirates, but he is a 0.7 WAR player.

Again, nothing to get excited about but a perfect candidate to still be there for the Pirates, remain affordable (more important for flipping than the Pirates payroll) and if nothing else provides an option who can play all over the outfield, and well.

I believe he can be had for 2.5 Million or less, but I might be inclined to go as high as 3.

Delino DeShields

The speedy outfielder is 28 years old and played most of his career with the Rangers before a short stint in Cleveland for 2020 which to be kind didn’t go well.

His batting average is not good, not just last year, but career clocking in at .246 but his OBP of .326 is more than passable. The Pirates have no real leadoff hitter and he might fill that role well combining his OBP with his 106 career stolen bases.

He’s never played more than 121 games in a single season but he is a 5.6 career WAR player.

There aren’t a lot of positions he can’t play, the very definition of a super utility, his versatility could help the Pirates and their ability to move him.

I see him requiring 3 million max.

Jake Marisnick

He’ll be 30 before the season starts and for his career is a 0.2 WAR player. He’s a glove, nothing really impressive about his hitting and he’s never played more than 133 games in a single season. He has some pop displayed from 2017-2019 hitting 16, 10 and 10 over the fence while never getting more than 316 at bats, so a bit more plate appearances could produce a bit more.

Listed as a center fielder, he can more than handle any position they play him in, but his .995 fielding percentage and 8.6 defensive WAR make him valuable in the middle of the field.

Now, he made a little over 3.3 million last season and I can’t see paying more than 2 or 2.5.

Julio Teheran

Don’t get enamored by the name this isn’t the same pitcher you remember as the future ace in Atlanta, in fact he’s only a career -1.0 WAR pitcher but he could compete for the fifth spot in the rotation much like Derek Holland did last year.

He’s probably good for a high 4’s ERA but he still has good strikeout numbers which could help him slot in as a swing man in the pen or the back end of a piggyback starting scenario. With Jameson Taillon slotted as a starter the chances are they will need to at least early on back him up and that’s if you believe he’ll make it through the season unscathed.

He signed a 9 million dollar one year deal with the pitching hungry Angels last season and let’s just say, he earned himself a pay cut.

If the Pirates could get him for 5 million it might be a worthy risk, hey, pitching costs money, that’s why they need to develop it.

Now, I’m not going to cover everyone they could look at of course, but these are the types of players that should be out there, and these are the types of signings that could turn into really nice flips.

Again, that’s the goal. If they help now a bit, great, but more importantly they show enough to make themselves attractive for someone else. Jarrod Dyson scarcely played and brought back enough pool space to acquire Po-Yu Chen.

It’s all about finding ways to continue to flood the system with talent, and sometimes much like paying 2.3 million to a 16 year old, you need to pay 2 or 3 million to a veteran to reach the same end.

Either way, I fully expect the club to bring in a bit more, even as they actively send players packing.

The Pirates Will Just Trade These Guys Anyway!

Well, yeah, they just might.

Now, some of you might be screaming “That’s what I’ve been saying!” and yeah, many of you have been, but you see that as a negative, and I’m going to try to explain why this or a hybrid approach makes sense.

It’s too simple to say look at Tampa, but let’s start by looking at Tampa. They have a very small fan base and their method almost requires that. Here’s what I mean by that, see they trade Blake Snell to the Padres for a haul of prospects (arguably not much more than the Pirates got for Musgrove BTW) and there is more outrage from the national baseball writers than their own fan base.

Transplant that to the Pirates, they move a player like Josh Bell, nowhere near the level of Snell or even Cutch for that matter and there is uproar in the streets. Now, maybe that’s because Bell was the first domino to fall this off season and not everyone had braced themselves because I have to admit, I was damn near proud of the overwhelmingly positive way most received the Musgrove trade.

Maybe that’s because quantity is more powerful a factor than potential. Maybe it’s because this deal had both. Maybe it’s because we were more honest about what Joe was than what Josh was. Most likely it’s because many of you have finally embraced that this isn’t just a facelift, it’s a full on remodel.

The Never Ending Cycle

Well, not to again opine on Tampa, but yeah, it kinda is, or at least it can be. That doesn’t mean you never sign anyone or extend guys where appropriate, but if this system is done correctly you almost always have guys pushing their way into the lineup or knocking on the door of MLB. Genuine competition we don’t see here in Pittsburgh. For instance, from the time Pedro Alvarez was drafted he was going to be our starting Third Baseman, there was nobody he’d have to fight past, nobody at any level to compete with. He was the guy and while he didn’t turn into the monster he could have he certainly was successful enough to be a good pick. But nothing ever came behind him. It was Pedro or bust until they signed David Friese to cure his yips.

Who is competing with Travis Swaggerty for his playing time? How about Cruz? Mason Martin? Well, those types of questions are just starting to get answers because that’s exactly what they’re bringing in.

We often look at the depth chart in the minors and start looking at the potential lineup in 2024 or worry about having 3 guys who could be the short stop of the future. This is not a problem. This is the goal.

You shouldn’t be able to look at your system and pick out 5 pitchers and pencil them in for 3 years from now, instead you should have a crop of 10-15 who could all very well end up contributing. If someday you’re looking at the minors and a player like Quinn Priester is seen as someone who might break in as a bullpen arm to start his career that’s a win.

Now if the Pirates do in fact draft Kumar Rocker, in all likelihood he will not resign with Pittsburgh. He’ll come up and be a big part of the team and if everything goes right he’ll even be part of a winner, but under this system, yes they’ll move him and again, if done well for another haul that dwarfs what they just got for Joe. By then, the hope is you have more of those pitchers who were ready, step up and the cycle keeps going.

That’s not fun to think about as a fan. It hurts in fact, but I’m never going to be a guy who’s going to tell you what you want to hear on this.

Again, it doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t extend some guys. For instance they may feel really strongly that Bryan Reynolds is a guy they need to build around and it may be more about the lack of depth in the outfield than his star power. At some point though, he too will most likely be moved.

Sure you could go the Reds or Brewers route too, get yourself a star and lock them up for years to come like Votto or Yelich, I won’t knock going that way either but for the most part, it doesn’t lead to sustained competitiveness either. Probably sells more tickets. Probably makes the talk show hosts happier. Hell, it probably makes some of the fans happier, but it doesn’t get the job done any more efficiently.

Nutting is Padding His Wallet

Sure.

But right now, knowing what the plan is, and clearly so, look at the moves, who cares? I loathe the guy but the payroll means absolutely nothing right now.

I’d love to see him looking like the monopoly man after paying the 200 buck penalty on the chance card but what I’m rooting for most is that the owner is just about rendered inconsequential by the GM’s moves.

His money will matter at some point though, rest assured when this team does get the window open, they’ll either need to fill a hole that never got filled in the first place or injury caused and it’s then that he’ll need to step up. That’s the part nobody has faith in, I think most of you are smart enough to get the concept, and I also think most of you have seen this same scenario happen and he failed to do so.

So what’s different? Well, the system. See when you make the entirely logical decision to move an aging Andrew McCutchen, you’d like to think you have some prospects waiting in the wings, and if you do you don’t turn around and flip them for an aging pitcher along with a couple other top prospects.

You don’t trade Gerrit Cole for a bunch of “MLB ready” talent. The moves are about the ceiling of the prospects, not their basements.

It’s not fair to expect anyone to accept this as the right path and at the end of the day there is no PR effort that will work short of winning.

I mean, I respect the hell out of Bob Pompeani but…

That’s really what this all boils down to. Hold your breath for Bob Nutting to ignore his nature and MLBs economic structure or face the reality that Tampa has provided a map and they don’t have a patent.

We’ve been rebuilding forever it seems, maybe it’s time we do it right.

You don’t have to like it, hey I don’t even like watching Joe or Josh go and I’m painfully aware the team right this second got worse, but I’m 44 and don’t have a single memory of my team in the Series, this is where I slide my chips in.

Big Joe Musgrove Goes Home for a Haul of Prospects

By now you all heard the news, Joe Musgrove has been traded to the San Diego Padres in a three team deal that brought 5 prospects back to the Pirates. I’m not going to sugar coat it, this doesn’t help the 2021 Pirates in any way, in fact it’s a big blow. That said, I’ll equally state strongly, this was not a decent return, this was an excellent return.

Before we get into breaking down who’s coming let’s take a moment to talk about what the Pirates gave up. Joe Musgrove was an inconsistent starting pitcher who had a five pitch mix and struggled to have 4 in one game most of the time. When he did though, look out, because he was tough to hit.

Toward the end of 2020 after returning from injury we really got to see the best of Joe and importantly so did the league. To be very clear, I saw Joe as someone the team could have potentially extended to act as the veteran leader of the staff if not the team through the next window, but it’s hard to deny this move made that window a whole lot more of an expectation than a hope.

He was always going to be the Pirates biggest chip this Winter, yes bigger than Josh Bell, pitching almost always is unless the power is so consistent you can’t ignore it.

So, a hearty thank you to Joe Musgrove, I loved his attitude, his moxie and mostly I just loved watching him compete, because no matter the results he never cheated you for effort. Good luck as a Padre!

Now onto the trade.

Pirates Got a Legit Haul for Joe

I mean, where do I begin?

Perhaps this breakdown from Dejan Kovacavic is the right place to start.

That’s right, three of the top 20 prospects from the Padres system but wait there’s more.

OK, I’ve let the genuine news men tell you what happened now let me dig in and tell you a little more to bring this to life.

The Bucs Got that Catching Prospect

Let’s start with Endy Rodriguez from the Mets who technically came from the Padres moving Joey Lucchesi as part of this deal. The assumption here is that the Padres were unwilling to part with one of their catchers, at least one the Pirates wanted so a third team was brought in to get what Cherington was looking for.

He’s 20, ok almost 21 and he just spend his first season in MiLB in 2019, obviously didn’t play last year. A switch hitter, he has racked up between his time in the Gulf Coast league and the DSL an .840 OPS and a .389 OBP. Endy was the Mets number 14 prospect and fills the bill for catcher of the future potentially, though I’d be shocked if the Pirates rested in that knowledge.

This part of the deal took some imagination, and while he’s young he’s also exactly the type of prospect the club needed at the catching position.

From the Padres

First and foremost, you have to toss Lucchesi in because he was part of the deal initially and that led to Rodriguez, but I’ll not dwell on him much because he’s the Mets end of this deal now and we’ll let them handle talking him up.

The headliner is undoubtedly Hudson Head. The young lefty is a centerfielder and the Padres third round selection in the 2019 draft and he’s been ranked as high as number 7 in their system.

It’s just a swing but take a look by all means.

This was a good get, and the club certainly needs more talent in the outfield even if he’s nowhere near MLB. The Padres paid a 3 million dollar bonus to secure him after drafting him in the third round, and that had never been done before that which alone means nothing, remember the Pirates did much the same for Josh Bell in the second round too.

The next one is Omar Cruz who I must say, Craig and I both have coveted since we started looking at the Padres as a trade partner. The 6 foot lefty has been ranked as high as 15 in their list of prospects and has an ETA of 2023-24 for making the show. None of his pitches jump off the page but he fills the zone and shows signs of understanding his craft. Also did I mention he was a lefty? Like this shouldn’t be that big of a deal but c’mon all we have are righties.

Next up is the hometown kid David Bednar who is from Mars, PA and he is no prospect, he’s an actual MLB reliever with a 96 MPH fastball. He’s thrown roughly 16 innings in the majors and 14 of them were very good with two outings blowing his ERA out of control. We’ll have to wait to see what the Pirates want to do with him but at 26 it’s likely he sticks with the big club.

Last but not least Drake Fellows

This video is about all I can show you. He was drafted in the 6th round out of Vanderbilt and he has nothing for me to tell you about in the Padres system. Hey, it’s an arm.

So What Do We Think?

I said at the beginning, no smoke, this is a fantastic return. The chances these 5 players in some combination provide more than Joe would have in his two remaining years coupled with the timing of when they’d provide it make this exactly what the Bucs were looking for. Again, it doesn’t help this year, nor should you have expected it to, but it will add to the chances this window opens and when it does they continue to add depth to the system that will prop in in the right position for a while.

When you consider what the Pirates lacked in the system, its fair to call this a surgical transaction as it hits three of the four most dire areas right in the mouth.

I’ll miss watching Joe in Black and Gold but I have nothing bad to say about this deal.

And, I still don’t think they’re done.

Five Pirates Thoughts at Five 1-18-21

We’ve had just a terrific week of conversation with most of you last week and I’m truly looking forward to another as baseball inches closer to a return and news starts to pick up.

I’d also like to add something to this feature starting this week, I’m going to take one reader question and address it right here. So as you think of things you’d like to ask about, fire them at me on social media (Facebook: @insideThePiratesGary or Twitter: @garymo2007) I should also say, this won’t mean I won’t answer there too, but some of the answers and conversation are worth others seeing too.

OK, let’s have some fun.

1. The Art of the Series

I was watching the Penguins this week as they started their 2021 NHL campaign and because of the COVID forced realignment the teams will all be playing mini series of two games for each stop they make. It made me really think about baseball. The regular season series have always been unique to baseball and it really ups the rivalries and familiarity breeds contempt. More so it’s something that most sports don’t get to experience prior to the playoffs.

It’s part of why so many including me hated the idea of a one game wild card, because nothing could be more foreign to baseball. It destroys the concept of the best team by allowing one lineup or pitcher to dictate the outcome. Have a team that struggles against lefties? Well, you don’t get another game, so tough. Have a strong 1-3 starting pitcher room but no ace? Tough, the other team does.

The only good thing that came from 2020 in my mind was the fact that Wild Cards became mini series and while that will need collectively bargained, I’d love to see it stick. It’s just not baseball without it.

2. Someone Woke Up and Looked Around in the NL Central

They reportedly floated Gleyber Torres plus as part of a return for him from the Yankees and upon being told no have decided they intend to keep Castillo. I think this also means Suarez isn’t going anywhere.

I wondered which of the pseudo rebuild bound teams would wake up first.

Nobody in the NL Central is a real threat to win the World Series this season, but opening a window is more about getting a ticket to the dance than it is insurance that you’ll dance with the prettiest girl.

3. Wilmer Difo is Not a Guarantee of Any Decision Forthcoming

I believe the Pirates when they say they want open competition, and you can’t have it if you don’t have options. Say what you will about the guy, but he has MLB experience, can handle multiple positions and on an MiLB deal they aren’t forced into any choice.

I look at him as insurance they don’t want to under any circumstances force themselves to rush anyone up who isn’t ready. There is a fine line between a logjam and a shortage in baseball and if all he does is provide competition for the Phil Evans’ of the world, I’m cool.

I’d personally like to see Cole Tucker get a shot at Short, because quite frankly he’s running out of time. To me, if he isn’t the starter there on opening day, start him in AAA at whatever position you want to try him at and work on the bat. Getting Newman over to second base makes sense too.

Let’s just say, the mix they have now can’t all be part of the team and someone won’t be here, traded or not.

4. It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Baseball

A little while back the league started leaking that they had some interest in potentially pushing the start date back to May and behind the scenes the players took notice and put the kibosh to it. They have no interest in taking another pro rated pay cut, and would rather deal with the COVID situation than wait for a vaccine or fans to be universally allowed back in.

I’m sure this won’t go entirely smooth, and so is MLB, so already the decision has been just about made that 7 inning doubleheaders and baserunners starting at second will be back. I wish the DH was wrapped into this conversation or they would at least make a decision, because as it stands right now, should they decide there is one the Pirates might very well have to use Will Craig at first and put Moran in the DH role. Maybe they’d have to anyway, I mean they aren’t going to go get one right? It just seems the rules should be hammered out by now.

5. The Starting Rotation Can Survive a Move

As you look at what the Pirates have penciled in for the starting rotation, Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon, Steven Brault, Chad Kuhl, and Mitch Keller it doesn’t look that bad, and the fact is without injury that probably would have been the case last season too. But what about JT Brubaker, who I think really showed he was ready last season? How about Will Crowe or Cody Ponce.

When we first started looking at the rotation for this season the Pirates were in real danger of the possibility of needed to rush Cody Bolton into the mix, but they’ve since brought in enough depth (note I’m not saying long term answers) that they’ll survive a move or two without having to force prospects into the firing line.

This is important for the timing of a potential window and simply for not embarrassing themselves the way we saw in 2020. I feel the need to again say I’m not pretending moving Joe or Jamo wouldn’t be felt but I am saying they have a whole lot more MLB ready arms than in past seasons.

Question of the Week

This week comes from Denny Hennessy in response to my piece about developing prospects and the changes to the analytics department in particular playing a role “I’d like to get excited about this, but the long term disappointment that is the Pittsburgh Pirates always makes me temper my enthusiasm. But back to the article, are you saying analytics can help this team develop young talent?

I answered Denny already but here is a bit of an expanded answer for everyone.

Yes. The very first thing GMBC added when he arrived were 8 new nerds in the front office and all new equipment for measuring the analytics of each mechanic in the batters box and mound. The past regime was loathed to embrace this and it led to mechanical issues rampant through the organization and injury risk especially pitchers. Ask any player and they’ll tell you there is nothing more useful than understanding the numbers, like the exact right arm slot to maximize their spin rate on a breaking ball vs fastball. Batters want to understand how bat speed plays off plate coverage. How launch angle is impacting their ability to cover the top of the zone. These aren’t the same analytics as this guy hits to the right side 60% of the time, these are training tools and for a decade the Pirates have been behind.

We probably undersold these changes because they were anything but sexy at the time, this fan base rightly wanted much bigger changes, but from a foundation standpoint this is playing catchup to all their competition. We also haven’t had the benefit of seeing much of it in practice because the fact is all this stuff has been available at the MLB level for quite some time, problem is for many Pirates prospects they were seeing it for the first time as a Bucco when they got here.

In fact some players left college and took a step back technologically speaking. And that’s from the players, not an assumption.

If you’re tired of Tyler Glasnow types leaving here and talking about how someone at the new place helped them unlock something obvious, go ahead and be excited to watch this bloom.

Thanks everyone and Denny for the great question. Talk to you soon.

-Gary

Spend Nutting, Win Nutting! Am I Right?

For years it has been a rallying cry for some within the Pirates Fanbase; plastered on social media, echoed in response to almost every transaction made by the team and even placed onto t-shirts to wear into PNC Park. The financial shortcomings of Pittsburgh Pirates Owner and Chairman of The Board, Robert “Billionaire Bob” Nutting are known far and wide, mostly recently punctuated in a satirical jab by The Onion concerning the possibility of the team being a front for the mob. Much of this criticism has roots in the Pirates salary ranking, which has often sits in the bottom five across all of Major League Baseball, ever since he became the principal owner of the Pirates back in January of 2007; although he and his family had taken a more active role with the team beginning in 2002 and acquired controlling interest some time in 2005. It is also built on the implications that many of Pittsburgh’s player transactions are made in order to pad his wallet and build up Seven Springs because the Pirates are just giving players away, won’t ever sign anyone with talent to an extension or refuse to bring in a free agent that is worth anything. Each of these beliefs, not the ones that deal with his pocketbook or a ski resort, are based on some extremely real examples that took place during Nutting’s tenure. None of this can be disputed. It is a fact that at times Nutting has been a very cheap owner or at the very least didn’t do enough when he possibly could have. However, this doesn’t mean he has never spent or is going to be unwilling to do so in the future; and the manner in which General Manager Ben Cherington has gotten him to open up, even in the slightest thus far, gives me hope.

Following his arrival in November of 2019 it became well known that Cherington was almost certain to move the Pirates most valuable trade chip at the time, Starling Marte; which ultimately came to be on January 27, 2020. Marte, who’s $11.5 million option had been picked up earlier in the off-season, was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for high upside prospects Brennan Malone and Liover Pegeuro. Tied into the deal, aside from the Pirates agreement to retain $1.5 million of Marte’s 2020 salary, was $250K of international bonus pool space for Pittsburgh. Now I know that as soon dollar signs are mentioned, many believe this is actual currency, being exchanged, whereas it is truthfully only the ability to spend this money; and very quickly this is exactly what Cherington, but more accurately Nutting, did.

After having spent near the majority of their international bonus pool for the 2019-20 signing period, listed at $6,481,200, the additional space was invested in bringing 16 year-old Australian outfielder, Solomon Maguire, into the organization to the tune of a $594K signing bonus. With the bulk, and possibly all of their funds depleted it seemed as if this could be the last international player for the Pirates before the originally scheduled closing date of June 15, 2020. However, after it was extended to October 15th, Cherington looked to take full advantage of the situation, as long as he had permission from Nutting.

Prior to the in-season trade deadline Cherington was able to find a suitor for an unlikely trade chip in the form of Jarrod Dyson. His asking price for the speedy, defensive minded, aging outfielder was the ability to spend more international bonus pool space; $243,000 to be exact. Approximately a month later he sent Minor Leaguers, left-handed pitcher Domingo Robles to St. Louis and right-hander Conner Loeprich to Baltimore, for more space. His end goal was $1.25 million, which he put to use in signing 19-year-old Taiwanese right-hander Po-Yu Chen, who according to Fangraphs was the 22nd ranked international prospect in his class and was the last member of their top 40 yet to be signed.

In all it was estimated that the Pirates spent over $8 million total, on 49 players, with the final $1.5 million plus being acquired from teams that chose not to spend to their limit. Now I know that this may fall on deaf ears because this amount of money is just a small drop in the bucket of what many would like the Pirates, and Nutting more specifically, to spend, but to me it’s a start. He didn’t have to invest any of this money and Cherington got him to. That’s a win in my books; no matter how insignificant it may seem. And to build upon my small sliver of hope, just a few days ago, Cherington, got Nutting to pony up again in a major way as they gave Shalin Polanco the second largest signing bonus of any international amateur free agent in the ball club’s history, coming in at $2.35 million. Add in the two other two known contracts (Darlin Diaz and John Zorilla) and that total grows to $3.3 million or already over half of their allotted $5,899,600.

For those of you that fall squarely in the “Spend Nutting, Win Nutting” camp, I am sure that all of this doesn’t do much, if anything, for you because it is money that the Pirates are supposed to use anyway. However, at least in some small way, it chips away at the first half of your mantra as Nutting did in fact spend.

Mostly Smooth Sailing For Pirates As They Pass The Arbitration Deadline

Friday at 1 PM was a deadline of sorts, but not the hard cutoff that many perceive it to be. It was simply the set time in which teams and arbitration eligible players, who had been tendered a contract back on December 2nd, were required to present their respective salaries to the Major League Baseball Front Office in an attempt to come to an agreement on contract for the upcoming season.

As we have seen before, as recent as this year with Jameson Taillon, Eric Gonzalez and Michael Feliz, these negotiations can be worked out anytime between the beginning of the off-season up until a scheduled arbitration hearing in February. So, even the 13 players, who have yet to come to an agreement with their team, can still avoid arbitration up until the point where both sides decide to walk into a room to face off against each other; letting an panel of arbitrators decide exactly what the players service is worth. Many players, and team alike, try to avoid this final step due to the unpleasant nature of trying to prove your worth, while listening to your employer talk about all your shortcomings.

As the off-season began the Pirates were estimated to have as many as 20 arbitration eligible players. This overwhelming number was methodically whittled down through designations for assignment, along with the three previously mentioned agreements to get the a manageable figure of nine. While there were some arguments as to how this amount could have been lowered even further, such as questions surrounding Kyle Crick’s decreased velo last season, Cherington chose tender contracts to the remaining players.

As it came to be, General Manager Ben Cherington and the nine remaining arb-eligible Pirates players were no different than most in this situation as the worked together to come to a compromise on contract for the 2021 season; avoiding an arbitration hearing for at least one more year. In all the Pirates handed out contracts totaling $20.63 million, with Joe Musgrove ($4.45 million) and Adam Frazier ($4.3 million) receiving the highest deals in their second year of arbitration. Ultimately Pittsburgh fell toward the top of MLB Trade Rumors original estimates of between $14.9-$22.8 million, which is a little surprising based on the unknown ramifications of a quirky 2020 season. Nevertheless, the Pirates and Cherington have jumped over that proverbial hurdle and can now put more focus on the roster decisions that have to be, or could be, made leading up to Spring Training, which is scheduled to begin in approximately a little over a month.

Some moves that Cherington will make are necessary in the sense that they will need enough players available to perform drills and workouts in Pirate City, while others are simply for potential depth on the Major and Minor League rosters; specifically AAA Indianapolis as their season is currently set to begin on time as well. In fact Cherington made on such move on Friday by signing an experienced utility player, Wilmer Difo, formerly of the Washington Nationals to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training. Of course he has the opportunity to make the club to begin the year, but I believe it was a slight overreaction by some to say that this signifies the end of Adam Frazier in Pittsburgh. Could he still be gone? Yes, but the signing of Difo will have little or nothing to do with it. He isn’t even guaranteed a spot on the Open Day Roster yet. To me this is more of a JB Shuck type move (no offense to JB), where you are looking for guys that could ultimately fill out the lineup in Indianapolis , than it is to find replacement for Frazier or Erik Gonzalez, Cole Tucker or Kevin Newman. This is also not the last one of its kind you will see over the next few days and weeks as their are still a vast number of available free agents on the open market. Add in the non-roster invitations to Spring Training for players already in the Pirates Organization and you have the makings of a busy month for transactions page.

Needless to say there are other types of moves that could happen soon, but are totally not necessities, including a trade (or two or three) and the signing of free agent(s) to big league deals. As an example, even before the ink dried on Joe Musgrove’s contract the continued possibility of an impending acquisition of Musgrove, most likely by a perceived contender, was being dangled in front of Pirates Fans.

While I still see this as a likely scenario, it is far from a guarantee. As is the decision to bring in a free agent that will do little more than compete for a spot on the team. It is unquestionable that there are holes in this roster, however, I don’t look for them to be filled in the next month or so; more like patched and sanded down with position battles set at several key positions, especially up the middle.

Busy Day for the Pirates Yesterday

The Bucs were busy yesterday and they continued to show a change in philosophy on multiple fronts. Not that it matters to many of you, because of course everyone they acquire will only be traded later for more prospects.

I honestly don’t care to argue the point anymore, remember the past however you like, ignore that the regime and entire system have changed, if it’s all about Nutting for you, cool.

For those of you ready and willing to live in reality let’s go over some of the moves from yesterday and discuss.

On the International Front

First, we should take a moment and thank Adam Berry for his time on the Pirates beat. He’s announced he’s moving on to cover the Tampa Bay Rays for MLB.com.

The Pirates signed 15 international prospects yesterday and the approach was very much so quality vs quantity. Misconceptions of how this system works and an overall hatred that Bob Nutting has earned for himself tend to ignore the fact that the Pirates spend more money in this front than any other team year over year.

The big difference since Ben Cherington came in has been the targeting of higher value players. Neal Huntington would typically try to get as many as he could under his allotment while Ben has focused on acquiring top end talent.

That’s not to say he’s spending more, the rules haven’t changed, but it does mean if he can get one Shalin Polanco (No relation, ho ho ho) for 2.35 million, rather than 15 other players, he’ll go for the number 11 ranked prospect on the market.

This philosophy dates back to last season where he traded for extra pool space, meaning no money changed hands, just ability to spend. Gasp, he traded for the actual right to spend more of Bob Nutting’s money, hard to believe I know. This led to top talent like Solomon Maguire or Po Yu Chen.

All in all good stuff.

A Minor League Signing

The Pirates picked up a free agent. I know, I know, but it’s a minor league deal, Wilmer Difo comes from the Washington Nationals and is a classic utility infielder. His glove is more valuable than his bat and he provides depth. Probably insurance for trading Frazier, but could also be an excuse to start Tucker in AAA. We’ll see, I honestly get the impression they’ll let the group fight this out in Spring.

Difo isn’t worth getting excited about, but he gives them more options, and puts a death nail in Cruz making the club out of spring at least as an infielder in my mind.

Arbitration Awards

It’s not exactly a surprise. We knew they’d sign all of these guys and if anything it takes the guess work out of what they might earn this year for trades.

We also learned yesterday that the arbitration process was not affected by the MLB narrative that every team is poor after 2020, which is starting to show itself false in the free agent market as well.

They may have lost money, but they won’t let that allow them to stop spending. Expect some dominoes to start falling now.

The Pirates Can’t Develop Prospects!

People love to scream this at me on social media and they puff out their chests so proud of themselves for having example after example of the Pirates failures over the years to get prospects across the finish line.

Problem is, nobody including me has an example of this management team failing or for that matter succeeding to develop anyone.

I have to be honest, when you immerse yourself into covering a team as closely as I have, some things that you consider common knowledge just aren’t for everyday fans. For instance, to me its impossible to know how the changes to the development system will take effect because we didn’t get to see one pitch in MiLB last year, yet I still have fans frustrated a player hasn’t moved up a level since 2019.

You just don’t think about the fact that not everyone is as into the minutia the way you are and perhaps for that reason we tend to not mention some of these things and the sad thing is there is little of more importance.

Every bit of Ben Cherington’s plan is to bring in prospects and build up the system to eventually become damn near self sustaining. Nobody is going to bat 1000 on prospects, but suffice to say he has to do better.

I mean, we haven’t seen a single player improve in any way really but we also just got our first taste of an acquired player talking about the team’s analytics guys and staff working with him, Wil Crowe.

Make no mistake, Crowe is a bonus if he gets right, Yean was the prize in that Josh Bell trade. But I found this noteworthy because I can’t remember the last time a player was traded to Pittsburgh and they mentioned being worked with before pitchers and catchers even reported.

The specific mention of the analytics guys is important too, because it means for the first time, well, ever, the Pirates are letting analytics lead the charge on development.

That’s a good thing, I’ll go further, that’s what any other competent organization does. Best case we’ve seen players come here and say ‘they’re working on some things with me’ or the like but we never hear something as specific as the analytics guys have identified some things in my game.

For a team that has little choice but to build by developing prospects one would think they’d have found a way to excel at the task over the years but as we often say, there is a reason Neal was fired along with literally everyone else who had anything to do with player development in the franchise.

As the season unfolds and we start to gain an understanding of how these changes will affect players up and down the organization, we’ll be able to start critiquing this staff, but right now any criticisms are based on the past, and the only holdover, Nutting himself isn’t teaching guys how to hit to the opposite field.

The Pirates Need To Explore Every Avenue

Tomorrow begins the International Signing Period, which was postponed from its originally scheduled start date of July 2, 2020. Prior to the delay, and even since then, the Pirates have found themselves linked to Former Top 10 International Prospect, #11 OF Shalin Polanco, who is estimated to receive a $2.5 million signing bonus. There have also been reports attaching Pittsburgh to Darlin Diaz, a right handed pitcher from the Dominican, along with five other outfielders and a left handed pitcher. Other than Polanco, Diaz is the only other player with a potential signing bonus listed; coming in at $500,000, although Ruben Vizcaya, an outfielder from Venezuela, could also command a fairly hefty price tag.

For the Pirates these types of signings are not historically the norm, as the $850,000 spent on right handed pitcher Christopher Cruz to lead off the 2019-20 period was seen as the exception and not the rule during then General Manager Neal Huntington’s time with the ball club. This type of signing and the ones projected for current General Manager Ben Cherington over the next couple of days are clearly a step in the right direction, however, they are not the complete answer to what has been an ongoing issue for the Pirates; creating a pipeline for foreign born players to enter the organization. Just look at the Chicago White Sox, who have been all but guaranteed as a landing spot for the Top 2 International Free Agents in this class; one of whom,Oscar Colas, could be waiting an entire year for Chicago to have the funds available to sign him. This shouldn’t be an aspiration for the Pirates, it is a need, or absolute must if I am being totally honest. It is one of, if not the only option to acquire players on an almost level playing field with the other 29 teams around Major League Baseball, without having to lose an exorbitant amount of games to make it become a reality.

Of course there are alternative paths for teams like the Pirates, that obviously aren’t going to bring in a high profile free agent, two of which are usually frowned upon by many within the fanbase. This was evident by the reaction to Pittsburgh’s acquisition of Troy Stokes Jr. off of waivers from the Detroit Tigers, as well as the Andrew Benintendi rumor that began to circulate, Josh Bell’s recent trade to the Nationals and the possibility of Joe Musgrove being moved before the beginning of the season.

In the first instance the Pirates claimed a 24 year old Minor League outfielder from the Tigers, while choosing to DFA 31 year old left handed relief pitcher Nik Turley, who posted a 4.98 ERA , a 1.108 WHIP and a 90 ERA+ with 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings of work. To his credit Stokes Jr. was a MiLB Gold Glover in 2018 when he was with the AA Biloxi Shuckers in the Milwaukee Brewers Farm System. During that season he also blasted 19 home runs and 48 extra base hits, including 6 triples. This was a nice encore after hitting 20 homers between Advanced A and AA the previous year; so there is obviously some power potential. Unfortunately struggles in 2019, while with AAA San Antonio, and a broken right hand with the Tigers in August of 2020 led to him being waived.

Now, I will concede that the addition of Stokes Jr. is not one that has anyone dancing in the streets or planning a parade as Dejan Kovacevic jokingly alluded to in his Daily Shot of Pirates. However, it isn’t a bad move either, and is most likely the type of move Cherington will continue to make. In all actuality this is very similar to the manner in which Anthony Alford was brought to the club and not that far off from how Phillip Evans became member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both players were castoffs from their former teams and are now penciled in by many as contributors for the upcoming season, and possibly beyond.

The other three transactions, only one that has officially come to fruition, involve a dreaded concept among Pirates Fans, which I can’t totally blame them for. The idea of trading brings back a flood of terrible memories, mostly due to the success that former Pirates players have experienced in different uniforms, as well as the sometimes less than ideal returns. Nevertheless, I am more than fine with Cherington listening on every offer and/or proposal, including Benintendi, and pulling the trigger when he feels he has the best offer that benefits the future of the Pirates; and I sure won’t snap to a judgement on a move that hasn’t even been made. This is especially true with the Benintendi rumor since no one can know for sure if he is the only piece that is a part of the potential offer from the Red Sox, who the Pirates would have to give up, what Cherington’s ultimate goal for Benintendi would be or how realistic this possibility is. People automatically assume the Pirates are going to get burned or already have been in the Cherington Era, with no way to change their minds.

This feeling and others, justified or not, are unfortunately part of the culture that surrounds the Pittsburgh Pirates; at least for now. Only time will tell if Ben Cherington and the rest of the Pirates Front Office can help make a change by searching for new approaches to acquiring players, improving on the old ones and attempting to build a channel in the international market; while ultimately implementing a different organizational philosophy that will hopefully take the team in a unfamiliar direction for many Pirates Fans.