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By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Email a copy of 'Offseason Outlook: Pittsburgh Pirates' to a friend
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Lunchbox45
Snider vs Lefties last year
.364/.382/.727
small sample size, but encouraging
Jonathan Briggs
What up Travis.
Justin Gray
adding one or two of those starting pitching bargains, going hard after Napoli, and an emergence of some combination of Snider/Marte/Presley/Tabata could make for a strong ballclub. This team collapsed, but it still did win 79 games. Everything is all doom and gloom with the fanbase these days because of the collapse and this big deal about the Navy Seals training for prospects. The pirates will have more than 79 wins next year, and guys like Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon should make their debuts. the good times are starting now, not ending.
ima_robot_beepbeepbeep
Divisional play will be tougher in 2013 with no more Astros to beat up on.
MrCravat
Correct-20 of those 79 wins came against the Astro’s ( 12 ) and Cardinals (8 )…
Joshua Ruga
and the Cardinals will still be there to beat up on, they just need to turn things around against the Brewers, and not collapse against the Cubs like they did, the Reds can be beat
Nick Stolar
The team looks promising with Marte and Cutch. Pedro will keep putting up Adam Dunn like #s if he keeps getting at bats. But the catchers are a concern as well as starting pitching. McDonald fell off the map, and that needs to be solved. I do agree that there is a lot of upside. I am a firm believer that when a team gets that close and they lose some tough games and could taste playoff pressure, they will adapt to it eventually. 2013 looks great. These guys have never been winners, but behind Burnett’s second year with the club I see a cohesive team standing strong past the .500 mark with Hurdle (who can be argued as one of the best managers in baseball if this team does not fall apart, 3rd times the charm for Clint)
Nick Stolar
Also, trade Hanrahan. As much as I love having the best closer in baseball, we need to get to the point of closing a season before we can afford that… Grilli can do it for cheaper.
pirateswillwinin2013
“Hurdle (who can be argued as one of the best managers in baseball if this team does not fall apart”
This can’t be serious? One of the best managers in baseball? He might be one of the worst. His in game strategies and tactics are by far one of the worst in baseball, his bunting, hit and runs, trying to steal bases, use of the right bullpen arms at the right times was all executed extremely poorly last season. The Pirates as a lineup have no clue what to do when their in the box (Their situational hitting was pathetic) and have no clue what to do on the base paths (Atrocious). Their Pitchers have no clue how to hold any runners on and their catchers were the worst at throwing anybody out in baseball (largely because of that). Just a complete lack of care for holding the opponents running game in check was a big reason for the collapse, huge difference having a guy on first instead of always in scoring position.
Andy Taylor
without looking at the contract, would the pirates be willing to trade hanrahan straight up to detroit for a rick porcello or drew smyly type?
BradyAndersonsSideburns
no one wants Porcello
eedwards027
If the Pirates are actually going to spend money and be aggressive this is what they should do. The Pirates don’t need power bats, they need guys to set the table for the middle of the order. Sign Michael Bourn. If Josh Hamilton leaves via free agency trade a package with Starling Marte for Elvis Andrus. A name I absolutely love and really want the Bucs to sign is Shaun Marcum. Then trade package with Hanrahan for Doug Fister. Resign Grilli if not to expensive.
Lineup
Bourn CF
Andrus SS
McCutchen LF
Alvarez 3B
Jones 1B
Walker 2B
Snider RF
McKenry/Tony Sanchez
Rotation
Burnett
Rodriguez
Fister
Marcum
McDonald
Hoosierdaddy92
You’re dreaming if you think the Tigers would trade 4 years of Fister for one year of Hanrahan. Maybe Porcello, but no way Fister goes.
Joshua Ruga
hey buddy, Marte is better than Michael Bourn because of his power potential, and there is no way McCutchen is moving out of CF
eedwards027
Hey buddy McCutchen is not that good defensdefensively
eedwards027
And Marte is terrible at getting on base which is the Pirates biggest problem
Pirates2013
We should try and get Andrus, but I doubt we’ll get Bourn.
James Jamonsta
Joel Hanrahan for Rick Porcello straight up. Porcello would benefit from a better defense and Tigers need a closer…
thegrayrace
I don’t see a reason why the Dodgers would need to pay any salary if they trade Harang or Capuano. Both pitched very well this season, and are worth more than they’re being paid. If the Pirates trade a top prospect, maybe…
Chris Vinnit
Huntington better get something good for Hanrahan. I’m sick of him blowing every trade he makes by going after another team’s top 10 prospect from 2009. We need legit major league talent to get us over the hump. Not more flawed prospects.
I’d like to see them talk to the Sox about swapping Hanny for Bucholz. Or, if Rivera is a question and Soriano opts out, see if the Yanks would go for Hughes.
I like some of those suggestions, esp the Napoli one. I’d rather trade for a SP, though, because they’ve tried dumpster diving for SPs two years in a row and ended up overpaying a 2 year deal for a mediocre 5th starter in Kevin Correia and basically flushing money down the toilet in signing Bedard. I understand you’re just going off what they’ve done in the past but 37 year old washed up noodle arm Kevin Millwood? They’d be better off spending that money on Navy SEALS training. Oh wait…
pirateswillwinin2013
He blows every trade huh?
buccofaningreenecounty
Correia actually was productive and exceeded expectations. I was thrilled with the Correia signing
bucsws2014
While I agree leadoff/tablesetters was a huge issue, Bourn has seen his best season. If the Bucs had an opportunity to get Fowler, that would be a far better move. I think they blew it not going after Choo at the deadline. If Torii Hunter is non-tendered, I’d suggest talking to him about a 2 year deal. He’d be a significant upgrade as a #2 hitter and probably still better defensively at 37 than Snider is now.
Unfortunately I don’t see much help coming at C unless it was a bombshell move for Napoli. I don’t think Grilli can hold up over another full season with the same results – his Aug/Sept were pretty shaky and they’d likely have to pay him $10mil/2 yrs. Morris is likely the closer-in-waiting if Hanny goes.
As for Porcello, worth a look if Tigers want Hanny. He needs a third pitch other than the slider. Velocity was up last year and if Bucs are going to pay Barmes another year, might as well get him more grounders. Porcello probably a #4 on Bucs staff and so far healthy enough to do 175+ innings, which is better than what Bucs have been doing. It’s something. And moving to NL and Searage might help.
Smrtbusnisman04
The Pirates need a hitter who can get on base at a .370 clip. I really want them to pursue IF/UTL Jeff Keppinger. He would be perfect for this team. Last season, only Andrew McCutchen got on base at a .360 clip. The rest of the lineup was over aggressive and tried to hit a 5 run homerun every time they came up to bat.
As for an additional starter, I would go after Ervin Santana or inquire to the Dodgers about Ted Lilly.
Pirates2013
Wouldn’t mind seeing Hanrahan going to the Angels for Ervin Santana or Dan Haren. The Angels need a shutdown closer, and we need a good starting pitcher. Both had disappointing 2012 seasons, but look at Burnett when he came to Pittsburgh.