Steel City Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday Service – 002

Today my friends we gather again to rejoice in the lesson’s we can learn from our glorious baseball history here in Pittsburgh.

Ralph Kiner’s Letter to Brooklyn 5-09 – And then Ralph said unto them, Homerun hitters drive Cadillacs, singles hitters drive Fords; The Cadillacs are down at the end of the bat.

The 1950 Pittsburgh Pirates would finish the season with a paltry 57-96 record. Nobody would confuse them with a contender, but they had one thing uncommon in the game at the time, a charismatic, power hitting, war hero, blue collar superstar. On this day though against the Brooklyn Dodgers, they roared back after falling behind 5-0 in the third to score ten unanswered and bring another victory to the Forbes Field cathedral.

Mr. Kiner drove in seven, yes, seven of those runs. You see just on May 6, he hit a grand slam, so when he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with the bases juiced, there was no way the baseball gods would allow it again. For good measure he had already gone deep earlier in the contest.

Boom! There it went, Ralph Kiner cleared the bases, with the Bucs locked in a tie with Brooklyn he stepped up to the plate and with one mighty swing he put them up 4. It makes total sense if you think about it, you know when you pitch to Kiner, when the bases are loaded, and you have to. This was Kiner’s 5^th year in MLB and the beginning of the fifth year in a row he would win the homerun race. He’d later tack on another two just in case anyone wasn’t paying attention.

When he joined the Pirates in 1946, he was a couple seasons later than expected as a 23-year-old man. For those that don’t know, Ralph had to cut his rise to the Pirates short as duty called. He joined the Navy and acquired his pilots license logging over 12,000 air miles. Let’s just say he didn’t have time to practice what he hoped to return to after the war.

So many of this generation, the greatest generation truly understood dropping everything for duty, for honor, for the country. For their families and all of ours too. He was my grandfather’s favorite player, and I remember him talking to me more about Ralph than about himself. He too answered the bell and restored freedom to the world and went right back to his old life. Successfully.

Nobody said it was easy or fair that these men and countless others sacrificed their youth or in Ralph’s case the early prime of his Hall of Fame career. It wasn’t, and it surely wasn’t easy wondering how or why they were the ones who made it back.

That’s how it was in this era. An already bruised nation still experiencing the hiccups and bumps of implementing new social protections and finding away through the global depression the world was gripped in now faced another enemy only this time it had a face. For the second time in the century America sent our best and brightest to help the peace-loving allies in Europe and Asia.

People still returned with trauma, just like today, we’ve just softened the language a bit. What we call PTSD was simply referred to as shell shock. It must have felt like nothing would ever be the same, many of these folks were old enough to remember the roaring 20’s, they must have assumed nothing would every feel normal again.

But on this day, Ralph Kiner proved to everyone they were right, it would never be normal again, no, Ralph told us right here, it would be better than normal. A new normal.

Friends we too will fight through this troubled time and we’ll look back on it from future years to celebrate those who fought this on the front lines and remember how awkward and scary the whole thing was. We’ll mourn our lost and find our way through the damage we absorbed. More importantly we’ll rise from this, we’ll rise up and be better than ever. Maybe not at first, but through the prism of history we will realize this is where we as a people put our foot in the ground and fought through this, together.

Resist the urge to assign blame to individuals, or politicians with everything you’ve got. There will be time for that once the real common enemy is gone, for now, we truly need to be “All in this together”. When it feels like things will never be right again, think about what men like Ralph Kiner did on the way to his chosen path. He was a force of nature, so were so many in his generation. Let us learn from their example, they paid so much to provide it after all.

Top Ten Pirates Number 1 Picks Who Bombed

The Pirates have had a ton of bad draft picks, and unfortunately for them being a first rounder was never a lock to make it. Also unfortunately for the Pirates, the hardest thing about making this list will be choosing which ones, not coming up with ten. Fortunately for me the draft didn’t begin until 1965.

Chad Hermansen – He was the 1995 Pittsburgh Pirates number one pick. Number 10 to be precise and he was supposed to be the answer in center field heading into the new millennia. In six years he played in 185 total games with a total WAR or -3.5. In 492 at bats he put up a .195 batting average. Unmitigated disaster might still be kind.
Tony Sanchez – Tony had promise. It always felt like we were waiting for some part of his game to catch up to another and for a catcher in many ways that needs to be the bat catching up to the defense. Tony had a tendency to be the opposite. His most significant contribution to the Pirates was probably chugging two beers in the locker room after they clinched a trip to the post season in 2013.
Daniel Moskos – in 2007 he was the 4th overall pick and the Pirates forked over more than 2 million dollars for the right to watch him struggle to get his footing. He appeared in 31 total games in the majors and became a lightning rod for the Pirates inability to draft pitchers.
Bobby Bradley – in 1999 he was chosen to be the next in line for Pirates future aces. In fact from 1998 through 2003 the Pirates chose a pitcher with each of their first round picks. Don’t worry, more will be on this list. The most successful of which was, wait for it, that’s right, traded, Sean Burnett. Sean was actually a teammate of Bobby’s as they both came from Wellington Community High School in Florida. I have to write all this because honestly, who knows what happened to Bobby.
John Van Benschoten – OK, so John wasn’t actually that bad. He showed promise and injuries never let him get a real foothold. That said he holds the record for the highest ERA with at least 75 innings pitched. The Cincinnati native could be a giant conspiracy by the Reds to kill the Buccos.
Bryan Bullington – MLB and the Pirates number one overall pick in the 2002 draft. He was widely panned as a sign-ability selection. He never made an impact for the Pirates or anyone else. Here are some names passed on to take this prize, Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain. He was a poster boy for the draft system being set up unfairly and Dave Littlefield’s ineptitude.
Mark Alan Merchant – I’ve covered him previously, as he is still the highest drafted player (number 2 overall) to never crack the league. Injury played a huge role and Ken Griffey Jr. was number 1. \
Joe Grigas – Drafted number 16 in the 1967 MLB Entry draft by the Pirates. He played four seasons. He never got past Single A. He never played more than 69 games in a season. Not great.
Rich Renteria – Drafted number 20 by the Pirates in the 1980 draft, he never really made his mark. Playing in only 167 total games most successfully with the Marlins in 1993 as a pinch hitter.
Sam Khalifa – He was to be the anchor at SS for the Buccos, and platooned with Raphael Belliard, after struggling he was sent down paving the way for Jay Bell to secure his position as the starter. He quit the game after only playing 167 in the league.

The scariest part of writing a piece like this is how easy it would be to put together a top 20. This must improve to be blunt, but the Pirates have a new sheriff in town, here’s hoping he can find gold in all five rounds the league is giving him.

From The Crows Nest: The Milwaukee Brewers Farm System

In the first two articles I took a more in-depth look at the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds Farm System, which have been ranked as #23 and #24 respectively; the first potentially on its way back up toward the top and the latter on a free fall that may not stop until they are at the bottom of Major League Baseball. Speaking of the bottom of the MLB Pipeline Rankings, let’s talk about the Milwaukee Brewers 30th ranked Farm System.

Currently the Brew Crew does not have one single solitary player on the MLB Pipeline Top 100 after the graduation of 2nd Baseman Keston Hiura during the 2019 season and Short Stop/2nd Baseman Brice Turang dropping from #98 in 2019 to Not Ranked this season. Not only did the Brewers minor leagues take a hit, but their big league club’s talent level took a hit due to free agency (Catcher Yasmani Grandal and 3rd Baseman Mike Moustakas), trades (Pitchers Zach Davies and Chase Chase Anderson), not picking up the option on 1st Baseman Eric Thames and deciding to non-tender 3rd Basemen Travis Shaw. They did make some attempts to fill these holes through the additions of Pitchers Eric Lauer, Brett Anderson and Josh Lindblom, Catcher Omar Narvez, Infielders Eric Sogard, Jedd Gyorko and Luis Urais and 1st Baseman Justin Smoak. However, the did not add any depth to an already depleted farm system, so they have to hope that most if not all of these moves are successful.

Just as it was with the first two systems, the Milwaukee Brewers minor leagues is not completely devoid of talent. The Brewers #9 Prospect, RHP-Drew Rasmussen is poised to join the starting rotation in the upcoming years in spite of the setbacks he experienced while at Oregon State; Tommy John surgery in both 2016 and 2018. Rasmussen climbed three levels during the 2019 due to his fastball (70 grade) that has life and movement in the zone, a slider (55 grade) that drops of the table and a changeup (50 grade) that keeps hitters on their heels. The Pirates and their fans could be seeing a lot of him in the future as he gives our batters fits at Miller and PNC Parks. As I did with the first two systems, I will only be focusing on the Top 5 prospects to avoid from writing a novel or at least less of one than I usually write.

1) Brice Turang-SS/2B

Turang was drafted in the 1st Round (21st Overall) of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from Santiago High School in Corona, California; signing him away from his LSU to the tune of $3.41 million. He played well enough during his first two years to earn promotions through 4 levels, although most may only see it as two, from the Arizona League Brewers to the High A/Advanced Carolina Mudcats. His strengths thus far have been his defense, a consistently high walk rate of 15.55%, an average OBP of .382 and 44 total stolen bases. The only downside of his game is a lack of power that has only resulted in 4 homers in his professional career. Currently Turang is projected to land in Milwaukee in 2022 at the earliest.

2) Ethan Small-LHP

Drafted by the Brewers in the 1st Round (28th Overall) in the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Mississippi State University after an amazing senior season where he he struck out 176 batters in 107 innings, Small saw limited action in his first taste of professional baseball. Pitching only 21 innings in 7 starts he justified the Brew Crew’s 1st round choice as he struck out 36 hitters, walked only 4, posted a .86 ERA and .714 WHIP. Currently slated to move to the High A/Advanced Carolina Mudcats to continue his rise through the system, Small has an ETA in the majors of 2021.

3) Marcio Feliciano-C

Feliciano was selected in the 2nd Round of the 2016 June MLB June Amateur Draft from Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy, he struggled to find his offensive footing in his first three years in the minors because of nagging injuries and ultimately arthroscopic shoulder surgery; hitting only 4 homer runs and batting a lowly .243.Then last season, in his second go around with the High A/Advanced Carolina Mudcats he finally broke out. In 116 games and 440 at bats he crushed 19 homers and 49 extra base hits, while batting .273. Defensively, he as the athleticism to stick behind the plate, but often loses concentration in game. If he can gain this focus, the arm and blocking ability will play.

4) Tristen Lutz-OF

Drafted in the 1st Round (34th Overall) in the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft from James W. Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, Lutz excelled in both Rookie Levels in his first season; batting .331, with a .559 Slugging Percentage and 9 homers. This past two years his power continued to increase, while sacrificing his average and increasing his swing and miss. Both years his batting average was almost identical at .245 and .255 and his strikeout rate increased to 27.6% and 28.7%. However he hit 13 home runs in back to back years and continued to have an above average wRC+ at 110 and 120. Profiling as a right fielder due his strong arm and average to above average speed and fielding ability, Lutz could be on the big league roster as early as 2022.

5) Aaron Ashby-LHP

Ashby was drafted in the 4th Round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur from Crowder College in Missouri after dominating the JUCO circuit to the tune of a strike rate of 18.8 per 9 innings. In the first two years of his professional career he did show some moments of brilliance by posting above 11 K/9 at times during both seasons, but his walk rate ballooned to over 4 per 9 innings. He has 4 pitches that are all average to below average, highlighted by an absolute wipeout slider. As long as he is able to polish up his delivery a little bit and make some adjustments to his complicated delivery he has the potential to be a dominant pitcher for the Brewers in a couple of years.

If I am being completely honest, I have no idea exactly what Daniel Stearns has up his sleeve for the future. He did lock up Christian Yelich through 2028 over the winter and has one of the best closers in the game to shut down opposing batters to secure the win, but the majority of the roster is slightly underwhelming. That coupled with the lowest ranked Farm System according to MLB Pipeline could potentially spell disaster for the upcoming seasons.

The Pirates Top 5 Late Round Draft Picks

By now many, if not all of you, should be aware of the fact that the MLB June Amateur Draft is going to look drastically different this year; to what degree has yet to be determined. As it currently stands the number of rounds could be as few as 5, but discussions are taking place to extend it to as many as 10. Even if this happens, 30 rounds of the draft will be eliminated. This will not only result in repercussions that will leave a permanent scar on the landscape of Minor League Baseball and change the approach that MLB General Managers take in choosing players, as I have discussed in previous articles, but will also affect the lives of countless high school and college baseball players as it pertains to their decisions to hold firm to their commitments to attend their preferred universities or for some, whether or not they will pursue a professional baseball career. In previous years similar decisions have been made, but for some the elimination of 30 rounds could make their choice for them.

In the history of Major League Baseball their are stories of players picked in the later rounds of the draft, many times from obscurity, that have gone on to have very successful and even Hall of Fame careers. The shining example that is often referred to first is the drafting of Mike Piazza in the 62nd Round of the 1988 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. There are many others that could be pointed out and the fact is that there could be many more moving forward as players who would have chosen in rounds that no longer exist will be picked up as free agents after the draft has concluded.

For the purpose of having a little bit of fun surrounding decisions and developments that any one who reads my articles and hears me talk weekly on the Bucs In The Basement podcast knows I am firmly against, I wanted to take a look back at the Top 5 Late Round Draft Picks for the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 11th round being the cutoff for players to qualify. If the draft is ultimately shortened to 5 rounds I will address the Pirates in history who would not have been drafted in a future article and believe me in looking at the 10th round alone it is going to be tough to narrow it down to just five.

For the purpose of this list and impending discussion I set the criteria for the Top 5 Pirates as those who were actually drafted, not just acquired by Pittsburgh, and spent a good portion of their time in the majors with the Pirates. If I lowered the benchmark at all the pool of players would just be too large, but I don’t want to discourage you from bringing them up because believe me, they were all on my original lists. So without further ado, here are my Top 5 Pittsburgh Pirates Late Round Draft Picks of All-Time.

5) Steve Cooke

Cooke was drafted in the 35th Round of the 1989 MLB June Amateur Draft from the College of Southern Idaho and quickly moved through the Pirates Farm System, arriving in Pittsburgh in late July 1992. Cooke became a mainstay in the starting rotation in 1993 and 1994, until he was ultimately sidelined by injury for the entire 1995 season and a large portion of 1996. In 1997 Cooke once again became a staple on the mound for the Pirates before moving on to Cincinnati, where his career came to an abrupt end due to tendinitis. In 5 seasons with the Pirates Cooke accumulated 25 wins, including 5 complete games and a 4.3 career WAR.

4) Randy Tomlin

The Pirates chose Tomlin in the 18th Round of the 1988 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Liberty University in Lynchburg Virginia. For 5 seasons the fiery left hander took the mound for Pittsburgh 106 times, 94 times as a starter; compiling 30 wins, 8 complete games and 3 shutouts, all the while posting a career 3.43 ERA and earning a 6.3 WAR.

3) Zach Duke

Duke was picked by the Pirates in the 20th Round of the 2001 MLB June Amateur Draft from Midway High School in Waco, Texas. By 2005 Duke was seen by many, including myself, as the future ace of the Pirates pitching staff. In his rookie year he posted a 8-2 record (winning his first 6 decisions), with a 1.81. Over the next 5 seasons Duke had ups, such as earning a 2009 All-Star Game appearance, and downs, including an 8-15 record with a 5.72 ERA in his last season in Pittsburgh. However, I have many fond memories of his time with the Pirates and am happy that Duke has been able to play, as it stands now, 9 additional seasons in the MLB, securing a 12.2 career WAR during this time.

2) John Smiley

In the 12th Round of the 1983 MLB June Amateur Draft the tall and lanky left hander, Smiley, was selected by the Pirates out of Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania and was eventually developed into a 20 game winning All-Star in his final season in Pittsburgh in 1991. In his first two seasons with the Pirates he was used exclusively as a reliever before earning a promotion to the starting rotation in 1988. In his three seasons as a starter, Smiley put up a 54-37 record with an overall 3.57 ERA. Smiley would remain in the majors for six additional seasons after leaving Pittsburgh, earning a second All-Star Game appearance as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1995. For his career he accumulated 126 wins and an even 20 WAR.

1) Dave Parker

“The Cobra” became a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 1970 after being picked in the 14th Round of MLB June Amateur Draft. He would go on to spend 11 years a major part of the Pirates “We Are Family” Crew. Earning an NL MVP in 1978, as well as a World Series Championship with Pittsburgh in 1979; he was an All-Star on 4 separate occasions. In his time in a Pirates uniform Parker batted .305 with 166 home runs, leading the league in multiple categories for several seasons. Over what would be an illustrious 19 year MLB career, he would hit a total of 339 homers and earn 40.1. Many believe that Parker is more than deserving of a place in Cooperstown, but that debate can be held another day. However, “The Cobra” is without a doubt the Top Late Round Draft is pick ever selected to be a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization.

I have no doubt that there are other players in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates that could be considered for this particular list, especially if players drafted by the Pirates or acquired by them were added to the mix. I would love to hear from all of you about the changes you would make to the order my choices, the players you feel I unjustly left off the list and of course if you completely agree with my assessments. Let’s have some fun with this was and as always, Let’s Go Bucs!

Friday Focus – Is the Cap Itself a Casualty?

Three of America’s four major sports leagues have a salary cap in place, MLB of course being the outlier. If you’ve read my work for a while now you are no doubt aware how I feel about that, but just in case, I think a salary cap is needed to even the playing field in MLB and not just for the Pirates. I also think it needs to come with a host of other changes to baseball’s economic system. Today however, we’re going to discuss what this shutdown has done to this possibility in the CBA negotiations coming up.

Let’s begin telling the story by looking at the other two leagues that thus far have lost games, the NBA and NHL. As with most capped leagues, the owners and players tend to split the pot in half. OK, that’s not good enough for some people I’m sure but for the sake of this piece and to not dive into the minutia of every dollar allocated, its close to that.

Every season the leagues will look at the revenue generated and typically increase the cap to get back to the agreed upon percentage that players should get. It’s typical for the NHL’s cap to go up 2-4 million a year for instance. If the NHL and NBA seasons are indeed over the revenue loss will be nothing short of transformative. The NHL makes a lion’s share of its revenue during the playoffs, in fact they have next to zero national television coverage in the US during the regular season with the exception of the few contests shown on NBC networks.

When I say transformative, I mean it. If these leagues don’t return the salary caps heading into next season will decreased and probably drastically. This will mean players that fit right under your favorite team’s cap, may very well not and since the majority of teams in both leagues spend pretty close to the cap there isn’t going to be a ton of slots available for cut players to land.

The NFL won’t have nearly the losses of the other two so long as they can play their games and the mammoth TV contract they enjoy, but if no fans can attend, they will take a hit too. It’s far too early to make predictions there but make no mistake, the cap won’t go up.

GM’s of these three sports treat the yearly increases much like you and I treat yearly or cost of living increases we receive. When you know it’s coming every year it has a tendency to become spent money.

Bottom line, players will be asked to take pay cuts. Some will, some won’t. For some sports like the NHL, the players will understand and for the most part cooperate. They are very much so plugged into the partnership. I won’t pretend to have the authority to speak on the NBA.

So back to MLB and the upcoming negotiations. Baseball needs a cap for competitive balance, I firmly believe that, but after watching the cap go down in the other leagues and some players becoming collateral damage for something like this will they be willing to entertain it? OK, so maybe they weren’t going to be willing to entertain it before this either, but that’s why it’s called a negotiation.

Before all this I thought a major issue, the players had in MLB was getting a bigger slice of the pie. Accepting a cap could have been that opportunity, and an opportunity to keep that slice of the pie, percentage wise, always the same. It creates a partnership in which everyone on both sides has incentive to grow the game and keep it healthy.

Long term, everything I just wrote is still true. A cap would still provide exactly that, but can everyone involved look at this situation and realize this unprecedented event is not the fulcrum of negotiation? Can they look past this time and see the benefit to the veteran players they claim to care for who aren’t getting contract offers? Will the Owners realize the long-term health of the game requires less smoke and mirrors as it comes to competitiveness or will they fiercely guard their wallets?

They can look at the few who become cap casualties in the other leagues as martyrs and examples of why they should never consider it, or they could see it as the sole reason the very league’s themselves stayed solvent. At the core of all these talks is the overriding us vs them mentality and some of that is warranted, but at some point, as an employee you need to understand you’re affect on the overall health of your business as well.

Don’t get me wrong, if I’m a player I don’t trust the owners with my livelihood either, not blindly at least. On the other hand, a cap makes you less likely to need that trust. It’s a percentage and it moves, mostly up. Many will say there must be a floor if there is a cap, that has not been the case in any of the other cap leagues but seeing the situation through Nutting glasses you can see the need.

I fear that the event will make a cap negotiation a non-starter, the fear of losing money right now will prevent the players from seeing the money that could be gained in the future. We’ll have no choice but to sit back and watch but make no mistake, professional sports will very much so change from this. Whether it does so in a smart and fruitful way remains to be seen.

Five Pirates Thoughts at Five

Hi everyone, I’d like to take this time to first thank you all for supporting us here at #ITdoubleB. When we launched this site we never imagined we’d spend our entire launch with no baseball to write about. None of that stopped you and we are growing everyday, from two guys who just want to talk and write about baseball, we appreciate each and every one of you.

Now for today’s five thoughts, and I’m going to strive to keep them all baseball!

Last week on Twitter I saw a conversation in which one person claimed his team moving from the AL to NL would destroy his fandom. I didn’t engage but thought I’d bring it here. Would that hurt you’re fandom? Keep in mind the DH is going to be universal sooner than later. How many of you that say it would hurt remember That Milwaukee used to be in the AL and Houston was in the NL? I’m really curious on this because without the DH I think all that’s left is rivalry to get upset over.
If you’re at least my age you remember the old 102.5 WDVE morning show with Scott Paulson and Jim Krenn. They used to have a bit where Confucius would call in and Scott would interview him. Here is my favorite, “Baseball all wrong, man with four balls can not walk” Thought I’d share, and man I like Randy and Bill but I miss Paulson and Krenn worse. Scott was one of the best we’ve ever had on air here in Pittsburgh.
When it comes to MLB rule changes, there must come a point where we accept reality as it comes to opposition. Once it’s in, you have to just decide if it’s a deal breaker or not for you. If it is, sorry, hope you find your way back. Change in sports is nothing new, baseball just has the added component of over a century of history. Study that history closely and you’ll find more uncomfortable changes than you even knew existed. For instance, fans literally sat in the outfield at one time. The official ball was at one point made by the home team, that’s right, the ONE ball.
If you want to understand what will be missing from baseball without fans in attendance, I ask you to watch one of the various comedy shows still producing content today. Try watching Trevor Noah without a laughing audience. He’s still saying funny things, but man it just had no energy. I will find my way through it to see baseball again without hesitation but don’t think for a moment it won’t be weird or worse creepy.
OK, one non-baseball thought, I can’t resist. Has anyone else been standing in line at a store (six feet apart of course) and one of the other line standers feels the need to tell you how ridiculous they feel wearing the mask? Why do this? We’re all here wearing it. I think you’re safe from anyone assuming you chose it as a fashion statement. Nobody thinks you started a cult. You needn’t explain why you’re following the rules to me.

There are my five thoughts today! Have a safe and healthy day everyone.
#ITdoubleB

Bucs In The Basement’s Brilliant Idea: The Perfect Season

We as baseball fans need to start realizing that if Major League Baseball comes back this season it is not going to be a regular year. There are not going to be 162 games, with a minimum of 9 innings a piece. Divisions and leagues as we have come to know them are completely out the window. The designated hitter is coming to all 30 teams in MLB. Robo Umps are going to be used. So why do we keep pretending that everything is going to be the same as it always was or as close as it can be? It is going to be no where near normal. Go ahead and be prepared to put all of your mental asterisks and possibly real marks on all the stats, records, accomplishments and championships. Those distinctions already exist on multiple championships and records throughout the history of the game and I am not just talking about two of the last three championships or the all-time and single season home run records.

So if we all want baseball back as bad as we claim to, why not let go and not just do a slow lean in to the weird? Let’s go full on, head first dive, eyes closed, no holding back into the bizarre world that would be the MLB 2020 season! Of course this is all dependent on being able to ensure the safety of any and all players, coaches, reporters, employees, etc. that would be involved in providing us entertainment by playing a game. So for arguments sake (or really to prevent more arguments), let’s just say that all of that has been taken care of; that way we can get to the heart of the matter, Craig (aka Bucs In The Basement’s) plan for the upcoming season.

There have been many proposals as to how the MLB will look when it comes back as far as divisions, or lack there of, and where games will be played. The most recent idea has been the three division idea with all of the teams playing at their own home ballparks, which mostly led to discussions about whether or not Atlanta was further west than Pittsburgh; it is by the way. It’s not a bad plan per se, however I think mine is much better as a way to prevent such silly arguments and to limit travel.

Why not have 5 divisions, with 6 teams in each one? It would create or rekindle some regional rivalries, it creates a balance of large and small market teams and sets the stage for a pretty unique playoff system. Since the divisions as we previously knew them to be have been laid by the wayside why would you try to keep the playoffs system the same? What I am proposing will be more of an NHL setup in the end.

After the teams have played however many games Rob Manfred rules that they have to in order to earn his bosses their money, the top 2 teams in each division will automatically make the playoffs, in spite of how poor their records may be. The final two teams in the playoffs will be the ones with the best overall records no matter what division they are in. At this point in time things will start to get weird for some people who are primarily MLB fans. The twelve teams that make the playoffs will be ranked from 1 to 12 based on their records and begin to play each other with #1 playing #12, #2 playing #11 and so in a best of 5 game series.

Before the next round begins the teams will be reseeded from the highest seed remaining to the lowest and will once again be played using the 5 game series system. At the end of this round there will be three teams left standing and honestly most of you will have screwed up by not have a semifinal (ALCS and NLCS style). However as you may have forgotten divisions don’t matter anymore, so it is actually set up perfectly for a round robin double elimination tournament culminating in a do-or-die final game or potential double header to be played on a Saturday, as I have always believed the Super Bowl should be.

After reading this brilliantly, well thought out, perfect MLB season I am confident that there is no way that anyone could ever find any holes in this plan. It is obviously better than any of the other ideas that Rob Manfred and his cronies have come up with. For those of you that know me and even those that don’t, I hope you know I am completely joking. This plan has as many holes in it as the Swiss cheese on salami sandwich sitting beside me. That wasn’t the point of this entire exercise. My point was for all of you to temper you expectations of what this potential MLB season could be. Every idea or plan that is proposed is going to be silly to some or all, any rule that is changed could potentially ruin the sanctity of the game and any record or championship will be tainted to some degree. There is no way to get around any of this because there is no way for this MLB season will be normal, so we need to stop pretending that it can or will be.

Will the Real Pirates DH Please Stand Up?

For most of the time I’ve been writing, I’ve begrudgingly told you the DH was coming to the National League. Even as I begin another column with the designated hitter as a main subject, I’m envisioning half the comments being a simple “Nooooooooooooo”.

It very much so is going to happen though. Should baseball actually find its way back to playing games that decision has nearly been universally agreed upon and I’d brace myself if you’re staunchly against it because I don’t see it going away. It was already rumored for 2021 rule change proposals and after some see it didn’t kill their enjoyment entirely in a shortened season, I see little getting in the way of this rolling stone.

There have been some wild predictions out there as to whom the Pirates would use as DH and of course there are myriad ways of going. I think there are two main candidates and I’ll take it further; they are the candidates more so due to the problems that could be solved should they be used as such than overt hitting ability.

I feel like thoughts outside Josh Bell or Colin Moran are probably overthinking this a bit. Josh Bell would be easiest in many ways, one, he’s a switch hitter, meaning you can put him in the four hole all game every game and that’s about it. Josh being taken off the field would provide, at long last, a place for Jose Osuna to play which in this case would actually be the extra bat in the lineup. Going even further, Colin himself could perhaps platoon at first to accommodate the right-left matchups.

The other low hanging fruit is to get Colin off the field and make him predominantly a DH. I think this would have to be split time with Jose too in my opinion, but Ke’Bryan Hayes would take the everyday reps at third. I truly believe if Moran didn’t play the field and hadn’t been part of the Gerrit Cole sell off he’d have a bit more favorable of a view. If for some reason, Hayes isn’t ready, Osuna could play there as well, but I’m not entirely convinced there will be many days you’d want both of those guys in the lineup at the same time.

None of this sounds like David Ortiz ripping 35 homeruns a season while he jokes with everyone in the dugout. We have a sample size look at this every season as interleague play has taken hold, let’s just hope Derek Shelton is not like Clint Hurdle was and feels someone like Sean Rodriguez can fill the role. Like any position it takes a unique skill set to sit on the bench all game long and come up 4 or 5 times a game to contribute in the one way you can.

Josh Bell, while not a virtuoso over there at first, takes great pride in his defensive game and after 2017 reportedly spent more time on that facet of his game than in the batter’s box. As he felt more comfortable going through 2018, he refocused on the bat and, well, we all saw 2019.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying oh he worked hard let’s leave him there, I’m just saying it’s a part of the game that many people grew up with. Being a DH is not the same as going out on that field and trying to save runs every half inning, and one of the biggest concerns with Josh as a hitter has been his tendency to tinker and overthink. A move to DH could put that into overdrive. It could also devalue him in the market, which might not make Mr. Boras very happy.

Point is, even though Bell makes the most sense academically these are real players and there are very real reasons it won’t work for everyone.

I leave Gregory Polanco off this list not for his defensive excellence (excuse me while I clean up the coffee I just spit on the screen laughing), ok I’m back, no, I leave him off because the Bucs simply don’t have the outfield depth to cut El Coffee out of the mix and again he isn’t the guy you want as a DH against Chris Sale or Clayton Kershaw.

I’d love to tell you Will Craig could finally have a home, but his numbers just don’t get me excited. If he has truly become an option in the outfield as he was working on last season maybe there is a platoon option there, but I’d prefer Osuna or even Martin get those at bats right now. The guy is only 25 years old but at the same time he’s 25. As my grandpa loved to say, time to poop or get off the pot.

I’ll stretch it a bit here and propose one more, Kevin Newman. This would put the defensively superior Cole Tucker in the everyday lineup and allow Kevin to focus on nothing more than table setting at the top of the lineup.

15 teams are going to go through this. Most of them will welcome the opportunity to remove a poor defender but on the other side of this in the AL, 15 teams will happily watch knowing that’s not necessarily the best way to land on a decision here. As I look just in our division, the NL Central, the Brewers could use it to give Yelich some rest for that back by staying off the field a couple times a week, problem there is he is a premium defender too. Maybe they have a purpose for Braun again. The Cards just shipped Martinez out of town, and he would be an absolutely perfect candidate, but maybe they use it to keep Yadi’s bat in the lineup when he isn’t catching. Cincy signed Moustakas to play a position he quite frankly isn’t great at. I could see him being their candidate or maybe it extends Votto’s usefulness. The Cubs, I can’t go anywhere but Schwarber but they have players like David Bote and Ian Happ who could also fall in that category.

Bottom line is, half the teams aren’t built for this and it probably isn’t going to be smooth per se for anyone. I’m sure the narrative will ultimately turn to the Pirates being woefully prepared, but I’d predict right now at least 10 of these teams won’t be satisfied with who they have to fill the role.

Regardless of who ends up as the DH for Pittsburgh, its important to remember this won’t be decided without cause and effect all up and down the lineup and in the field. It won’t just be the best hitter or the worst defender and more than anything, it won’t happen without hiccups.

Should Pittsburgh be Excited if MLB Lands on 80 Game Season

Friends, I’m not going to relitigate all the plans, ideas, nagging thoughts, proposals and wet dreams of every person involved with MLB and the players union to restart playing the game. First, most of them are crap, worse, unrealistic crap. Second, none of them have threatened happening.

On Sunday it was reported the latest concepts would be to start in late June or early July, and have each team play roughly 80 games which would be played in home ballparks. This is the most realistic outcome I’ve seen but even this faces some rather troubling obstacles. New York minimally is going to struggle to be cleared for that to take place, and I’m leaving it there with the obvious.

For a moment though, let’s wash away all the what ifs and maybes. Let’s pretend this is a done deal, should we as Pirates fans be perhaps a bit excited? I ask this for a couple reasons. First, this has been a pretty damn good first half team despite finishing with less than acceptable records. And second, say they win it all, would you feel it was a real win? I mean, sure, the Astros straight up cheated and won, so winning in a shortened and bastardized season should at least be better than that right?

I’m struggling with this if I’m honest. I’ve been an aware Pirates fan since 1984 or so, and I’ve obviously never seen a championship. So, part of me says, hell yeah, I’ll take it. The pragmatist in me however feels like if any other team I didn’t really believe had the goods to get it done pulled it off, I’d consider it tainted or at the very least an oddball.

Another thing that scares me about this potential success is the false perception it could create within the organization about how close they really are. After 80 games, the Pirates and Dodgers will have vastly closer records than after 162. That’s just math.

I want baseball at the end of the day, I’ll take it in any form they can make it happen, but this side effect is something I just can’t get out of my mind. To be clear, I don’t think saying we’re only playing 80 games makes the Pirates a lock or favorite, nothing like that. I’m just saying, championship teams are typically built for marathons, while the lesser lights are traditionally geared up for sprints. Time that sprint right and there is a very real possibility a Pirates or Rockies club squeaks into the conversation.

So, Pittsburgh, if the improbable takes place how would you take it? Would you attend the parade (no matter what that looks like at this point), or would you feel like yet again the Bucs had become All Star Break champions?

Might as well make the best of it, because if we do in fact move forward with a season that short, I see no way they have a trade deadline at all. If they can’t trade Chris Archer I don’t know what many fans will have to root for besides a short season championship.

No way there isn’t an asterisk, even if the expected happens and the Dodgers win, they’ve lost how many now? The rub would be they needed the short season to pull It off. It’s probably time to realize 2020 is simply going to be the year of weird, next Seattle will have to play with the roof closed permanently to protect players from the murder hornet invasion.

Go to bed 2020, you’re drunk.

Ke’Bryan Hayes – Expectation vs Reality

For such a long time watching the Pirates, one of the best players on the roster perception-wise well, wasn’t on the roster. The top prospect is always expected to be the next answer for who will lead the Pirates back. Sometimes the faith is well placed and other times it’s a stretch at best.

The latest example is Ke’Bryan Hayes. He’s going to be a good player; I firmly believe that. He works hard and his defensive game is superior to many perennial starters in MLB already, but he’s a work in progress. Hayes is not going to be a star immediately and quite honestly, that’s ok. Neither was Barry Bonds.

Remember how badly we all wanted Kris Benson to be the savior? He was a fine pitcher and viewed in a bubble he did a great job for the Pirates, but he was never the Johnny Cueto, or Adam Wainwright this team needed. Gerrit Cole actually was all those things and didn’t stay because he was the “wrong” kind of good for Pittsburgh. Gerrit was everything Pirates fans dream of for a top prospect and exactly what played out is going to be the norm for a player like that while baseball remains the only major sports league without a cap.

Back to Hayes because I can already tell the fan base at large is going to pile expectation on him, just comments alone about what a travesty is would be should he not make the club out of Spring Training this year showed me that. Again, I think he’s going to be a fine player and as a defender he’s as close to a finished product I’ve seen preparing to enter the league as a rookie. That part of the game is traditionally not the first to come together, he’s to be commended for that and I’m not saying the kid is swinging a Wiffle ball bat.

That said, looking at where he’s been and what he’s put together thus far, its hard to fathom he will exceed the numbers of say, Colin Moran at third. Yes, yes, defense could very well be so damn improved that the move should still be made. Yes, of course, his bat isn’t so far behind Colin that it shouldn’t happen. Expectation seems to be he’ll be better in every single way though, and I don’t see that as reality. Keep in mind Colin isn’t a 35-year-old vet himself, he too will improve. Maybe not on defense although he can make improvements in things like his first step and decision making, his range will never equal Hayes and his skill set. Hayes may very well never equal where Colin is right this second with the bat.

Again, we could be ok with that, probably will be in the end, and this in no way is to say we shouldn’t be excited about him but enjoy the ride a bit. He isn’t going to look like Terry Pendleton out there, especially not at first.

We set ourselves up for disappointment and eliminate the possibility of being pleasantly surprised when we anticipate any rookie being a superstar from minute one. Because it’s right in my wheelhouse, I’ll go back to Benson. There was little doubt in the fan base that Kris was going to be the next Drabek, the hopes of everyone, sky high. More importantly that what we, the fans think is the organization itself. See, the management itself believed the hype about Benson. Seeing him as a transformative talent to the point of counting on it and it influenced moves made in that era, directly contributing to the 20 years of losing.

They learned little from it however, making the same mistake with Brad Lincoln. Difference there was simple, as soon as he wasn’t the dyed in the wool number one starter, ace type they hyped him to be, he was essentially busted out. Very quickly making his way to the pen and ultimately out of town. They forgot that most of us remembered how excited the organization was about him to the point they literally held his first start in MLB back in the hopes of showcasing him against Stephen Strasburg. THAT is where they saw this guy fitting into the conversation.

That was a different time, with different management and learning from it is important. The Pirates have had as many number one picks as every other club and the excuse of being priced out of picks was eliminated quite some time ago now. Now the problem is simple, the number one picks by in large just haven’t been good enough. I fear Travis Swaggerty could very well wind up proving that fact out.

Bottom line, it is a rare athlete in MLB that makes impact as a rookie, and sometimes you can’t even see it coming (cough, Bryan Reynolds, cough). When these young men make their way to the diamond at the height of their sport, we, and indeed the Pirates would do well to remember the call up is the next step in development, not the time to prove the pick was right. Most prospects struggle when making the jump from every level to the next, that’s just fact, all I’m saying is remember the jump to MLB is no different.