The Pirates have a new general manager in Ben Cherington, whom they officially introduced as Neal Huntington’s replacement Monday. Pirates owner Bob Nutting indicated then that the Pirates, a few weeks removed from a 69-win season and their fourth straight year without a playoff berth, don’t regard anyone on their roster as untouchable. Even before Nutting made that revelation, many considered high-profile Pirates such as Starling Marte, Chris Archer and Keone Kela as trade candidates. But in the wake of Nutting’s comments, there’s an even bigger name in the mix: first baseman Josh Bell.
Would the Cherington-led Pirates dare shop Bell, who has arguably emerged as their first franchise player since the Andrew McCutchen era came to an end after the 2017 season? Bell, like McCutchen, is a homegrown Pirate made good. A second-round pick of the Pirates in 2011, Bell debuted in 2016 and posted mediocre numbers (relative to his offense-driven position) during the first three years of his career. But the switch-hitting Bell broke out this year during an All-Star season in which he slashed .277/.367/.569 with 37 home runs and 116 runs batted in – an impressive amount even if you regard RBI as an antiquated statistic.
So what’s the problem for Pittsburgh, which seems to have a real building block on its hands at first? As is often the case, it’s about the money. The 27-year-old Bell’s projected to make an affordable $5.9MM via arbitration in 2020, though he has just two more seasons of arbitration control thereafter. And considering their current state, it may be unrealistic on the Pirates’ part to expect they’ll turn back into contenders during Bell’s remaining arb years.
The Pirates could extend Bell in that time span and retain him for the long haul, though as of July, super-agent Scott Boras didn’t sound optimistic about a new deal coming together. Boras took aim at the Pirates for not showing a willingness “to go out and invest in a great young player for a long time,” also criticizing the team for a payroll that has barely climbed (relative to its profits) across the past two decades.
It’s hard to argue with the opinionated Boras regarding the Pirates, especially considering they still haven’t signed anyone for more than the $60MM extension they gave former star catcher Jason Kendall back in November 2000. Bell would likely rake in more on his next pact, but should Pittsburgh make an aggressive push to lock him up at this point? Should the team simply keep Bell and continue going year to year with him? Or maybe now is the time to trade Bell, who’s more appealing than all free-agent first basemen on the open market.
(Poll link for app users)
What should the Pirates do with Josh Bell?
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Trade him 62% (7,036)
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Keep him 38% (4,332)
Total votes: 11,368
Does it even matter
If they are going to do a true rebuild looking towards 22-23 then yes it does matter. Marte, Kela, Bell need to go for the best prospects they can bring. Hope A new pitching coach can turn Archer around and then send him as well
Yes. The Pirates can get prospects or varsity players in trade that can both help them. I’ve proposed that the Padres #1 farm can supply the prospects and the catchers the Pirates desperately need. Varsity catcher Austin Hedges, #26 prospect Blake Hunt and OF Franchy Cordero are a reasonable trade for 1B Josh Bell. This article says the 69-win Pirates aren’t going anywhere soon and suggests trading Bell with two years left on his contract would be a good idea. Well,….yeah. And who better to trade with than the team with the #1 rated farm? Wanna change the names in the trade? The answer is “sure”. Campusano instead of Hunt? My boy Preller will make the right decision on the trade’s components.
And play Hosmer’s $ where?
First, I recommended shortly after the latest postseason beatdown of the Dodgers that they trade the player they universally/chiefly criticized for the whuppin—Clayton Kershaw and his yearly $30M. LA does not want him/blames him for choking every year in October. I say, do the Bums a favor and trade for him to join my Padres. Hosmer $18M and Myers $20M plus one RP (maybe Gerardo Reyes, Matt Strahm or some other) straight-up for Kershaw. Hosmer or Myers can be their 1B. Myers is also a good corner OF. Reyes or Strahm can be late inning options. So yeah, Josh Bell would be our 1B.
The Dodgers aren’t trading Kershaw. Dodger fans blame Roberts more for putting Kershaw in that situation against Rendon and Cole than they do Kershaw. He’s not the dominant ace that he was but he was still one of the top 10 pitchers in the league last season. And if they did trade him, they’re not taking on Hosmer or Myers.
If the Pirates are trading Bell then they are looking to rebuild and I doubt Hedges fits into that plan. Cordero may be a flyer to see if he sticks but if the Pirates are trading Bell and punting for the next couple seasons it better be for a package that fills holes needed for the rebuild. Campusano would be a better fit than Hunt or Hedges in terms of contention timeline and chances of him becoming a MLB regular over Hunt. In that trade the Pirates also should get back an OF possibly Cordero or maybe Edward Olivares both of which are using 40 man spots and viewed as depth. Along with the Padres catcher and replacement OFer they should also receive a pitcher and SS from the teams lower top 30 like LHP Joey Cantillo and SS Gabriel Arias in a Bell trade. The Padres however probably don’t feel they need to give up that much given they already have Hosmer at 1st and their is no DH in the NL. Maybe Marte is a more viable trade candidate for the Padres than Bell. Marte has less value and should only cost them Campusano Cantillo and Cordero or Olivares.
Just go Josh. there are greener pa$ture$
Really sad that they could have had Bell and Meadows in the same lineup during their primes , but will now likely have to settle for neither.
Yet to be seen if Meadows is the real deal or not. Never hit for any power or average in his pro career until the first 2 months this year. Went in to a prolonged slump and evened out to finish the year. Is he what we saw the first 2 months or the middle months of the season or the decent guy at the end? Time will tell which version he is.
Meadows is a good but not great player that is cheap. He’s the perfect fit for a team like the Pirates. Him, Reynolds, and Bell would be a solid core but they’re too cheap to field a real team.
The same can almost be said for Bell. He was a below average player his entire career besides the first half of the 2019 season.
Spoken like a true Pirates fan on Meadows. Hyped the guy like he was going to be the next Willie Mays when he was at Altoona and Indy, but after he gets traded you act like he’s a bum because he slumped in June. Meanwhile, he had a better year than Josh Bell and even got MVP votes…..
Don-Meadows is not a bum,everyone always thought that he would be a good player.Let’s see how he does without a juiced ball though.Don’t put him in the HOF just yet.
Bell had a historic two months at the start of the year then suffered after the AS game.His fielding also regressed.He had a fine rookie year but 2018 was a waste.He must prove himself like Meadows still has to do.
The trades suggested on here are almost always ripe with good young players who still though must prove themselves.Very few suggested trades make any real sense.
Not sure if talking about Meadows or Bell—-regarding the “never did much until first 2 month this year, went into slump, etc.’
From Pittsburgh’s beautiful stadium to San Diego’s.
I’m no expert on the Pirates pipeline. Is it realistic to expect them to contend in 3 yrs and KEEP him? (That’s what it’d take to still have him for a couple campaigns beyond that)
It doesn’t seem so. With the vast amount of control remaining the return should be STEEP.
Plus, cite to Andujar. It’s filed under risk.
Sell high, you should get more moving pieces that make a bigger overall impact than having just him.
Even with all the mismanagement,this teams not far off if they’d spend some money.
Taillon & Polanco back + say SP (Hamels) and 3B (Andrujar).. it’s not crazy to think they’d push in that division or at least wildcard hunt.
Of course everyone’s getting dumped tho. They’ll never put out money like that.(even tho I don’t even have super high salary guys listed )
…. thus why BOB NUTTING must go!!!!
@Freddy H
The problem with your idea is a player like Hamels basically wants to do everything possible he is playing for a contender. So Hamels would have to be a HUGE over pay to get him to think about signing with Pittsburgh.
Nutting doesn’t care if they win or not. That’s why he hired a GM similar to NH.
@Freddy H
Hamels would rather retire than playing for the Pirates. The only free agent SPs that are willing to sign with them are C-listers (like Gio Gonzales, Andrew Cashner) or former star pitchers looking to bounce back with 1-yr prove it deals (like Porcello or King Felix).
Taillion is out for 2020 with Tommy John. And Polanco?? Surely you are kidding. He’s a giant bust. He’s already 28 and none of those 5 tools have ever shown themselves. He’s awful in the field, he can’t steal a base because he never learned to slide, he hits .250 even as a platoon guy, and now he can’t throw. I doubt he ever has an impact on the field after that shoulder surgery.
Cole Hamels goes to a contender like the Phillies, and the Pirates don’t have the pieces to trade for Andujar. The Yankees are set in the majors, and the Pirates have nothing in the minors.
Don- Andujar is injured and will not get a haul back because of that and his fielding.Cashman lost out on a championship when he overvalued Andujar and Frazier for Cole.
Sometimes the trades that you do not make are the ones that kill you but you don’t get criticized for them.
The big question here for the Pirates and Bell is if his breakout season last year is sustainable or a 1 year outlier. If he were younger it would be an easier call to say he’ll definitely continue to improve. But at 27 it’s not like he has a ton more potential to come – his season last year is probably the best he’s got to offer and if he replicates his success then sure, he’s a bona-fide star slugger. But if he regresses at all he’ll go back to being just good – not great. With that in mind and the fact that the Pirates are waaayy more than just a player or two away from contending – I think now might be the time for them to cash in on his monster season. They probably aren’t going to pony up the $ one way or another to keep him and given how weak the FA 1B market it — this might be the perfect time to deal him for the greatest return. And again back to his age — it’s not like he’s 22/23 and has a decade+ in front of him in which the Pirates could afford to wait around and have him be a part of their next contending team. Might as well get what you can for him now before he leaves via FA for more $ or takes a step back next year offensively and leaves them with a lesser asset to trade.
It’s baseball bro.. he has at least a decade infront of him.
Good players may play til 40, but bad players don’t. And most players peak around 29-31. Josh Bell hit .233 with 10 homers in the second half last year. He hit .261 with 12 homers in the entire 2018 season. He had a historic May in 2019 and it was all downhill from there. He’s not as bad as his second half but not as good as his first. His projection is .265 with 25 homers. He is bad on defense. The Pirates would be smart to trade if they get an overpay because this was probably his career year.
Don- good points on Bell
He had one great year, in a homerun heavy season overall, and now he’s a franchise player?!?!
Maybe not.
He’s a switch hitter, with a career 5.1 WAR which is actually better than last seasons 2.9
He just finally showed power last year. Sure, the juiced balls helped everyone , but in Bells case he would’ve seen a huge leap in power regardless due to changes in his approach.
Still not a “franchise player”…
trade him to an a.l. team that can use him as a dh. with such a bad defense he has no place in n.l.
Rockies, DBacks, Nats, Brewers, Rangers, Twins? Can’t see the Rockies, DBacks, or Brewers giving up high end talent for a first basemen. It would be cool to see Bell go home and play for the Rangers.
Archer -> Phillies for something, which is better than the nothing the Phillies have in their rotation and better than the nothing the Pirates are getting out of Archer.
Pirates aren’t trading Archer until he boosts his value.
And unless he does, trust me, you don’t want him.
With the asterisks that they could do dumb things instead, there are only two even slightly viable paths forward for the Pirates…and BOTH paths involve trading Bell.
1. Trade Bell for pitching. Plug Will Craig and a FA 1B (Smoak?) in his place, keep the rest of the team, try to win. They can’t trade Marte if they have any intention to win games. Will they win? No, but if they do try to win, this is their best chance.
2. Trade everyone not named Keller, Hayes, Reynolds and/or Newman. Rebuild.
They will choose #2 because it will allow Nutting to run out $40 million payrolls for a few more years. By then, it will only be a few more until they move to Vegas.
Why not trade Bell to the Yankees for Voit, and a couple of minor league pitchers?
I wouldn’t be opposed to trading him to the Yankees. No interest in Voit though he is an older worse version of Bell.
Stats tell a story but You never know until its done.
I’d take Voit and a pitching prospect. Voit isn’t too much older than Bell, he isn’t going to be an offensive liability. and he comes with 2 more years of control over Bell.
@mlb1225
You need to specify that the pitching prospect would be Deivi Garcia and Voit.
ThebPiratea have to get top 100 prospects for Bell and Marte…but if you are willing to just trade Bell for Voit an a pitching prospect; then my idea of Inciarte, Wright, and Trey Harris for Marte is an overpay. NO I DON’T ACTUALLY THIBK IT IS AN OVERPAY.
Bell would crush it at yankee stadium. I have that feeling yelich is gonna be on the Yankees in 3 years. I dont see the brewers having the money. And the left field porch would only benefit him.
Where is Yelich going to steal signs from if he’s not at Miller Park? Scratch that, I meant American Family Insurance Park.
Look at this crud division.
Add good SP and some ML talent at catcher and hot corner. They could seriously make a push.
This team didn’t have it’s ace pitcher or Polanco last year.
I’m not saying they’re in a great position, but trading Bell definitely isn’t the only option.
Surely Tampa would be all over this? Cheap and controllable, surely they have done nice pieces that would entice the Pirates, maybe the Pirates can do a better job trading with Tampa this time…
While you are correct, Nutting might be wary of trading with TB again after they ruined his entire franchise with the Archer trade.
Pirates could have had Meadows and Bell mashing together, with Glasnow obliterating Archers performance.
I think every franchise has a couple teams that seeing a transaction line makes a fan cringe.
For me its:
* ANY trade from SD
* traded RP from PIT
* FA formerly of TB
You’re an idiot. Proof? Look in the mirror.
Saddest thing in sports might be knowing that pirates couldve had one of the best young teams in the MLB.
Imagine had Neal not made the Archer trade, and actually got a return on G-Cole (Whitley)… would be like a better version of the Blue Jays rn.
what if Whitley was not offered to the Pirates by Houston? Easy for us to say the should have gotten different players. Cole had 2 ugly seasons to end his Pirates career. I can see why Houston would not give up more
In reality it would be Cherington dealing with TB or anyone else. Nutting is not going to stop Cherington from dealing with TB.
Matthew Libretore, Ronaldo Hernandez, and Anthony Banda for Bell. Libretore will eventually become a very good starter for the Pirates, and Hernandez will become their starting catcher. Banda looks more like a future late inning arm rather than starter.
Cheap maybe to teams like the Yankees or the red Sox. To the Rays not really. He had a bad post Allstar home run contest drop off. Can he bounce back? Defense also dropped from passable to downright terrible.
Agree. If you trade him. You trade him now. Get some pitching assests.
I don’t think he’s gonna regress too much. But the value is high enough to get something in return if you flip him. Otherwhys you ride the chance he regresses. And you get not much. Or less. Or have to ride it out till 2 years left. Instead of four…
I’d flip him now. The team is gonna be bad anyway. He’s a trade asset. Not a foundational piece.
Didnt he kind of fall off after the All Star Break?
“To the yankees for Frazier and bird. Who says no?” -yankee fan
I think the Purates say no! I think they would be ok getting Frazier, but with 3 years left it is probably going to take Deivi Garcia.
The Pirates are going to be looking for the best prospects possible that are close if they want to contend in 3 years. If they take an older player back it would need to be someone with a little bit of value that could be flipped for other prospects. Bird does not fit that mold.
No Frazier is a defensive liability by his own admission. He is not lighting the world on fire with his bat in the minors either
He was the second worst 1B in the NL on DRS at -5 in 2019, and the worst on UZR at -7.5. He’s a DH/part-time 1B like an Edward Encarnacion, and should play in the AL.
Cash should come calling! Yankees desperately need stability at first! Luke Void and Greg injury riddled Bird are not the answer!!
The only problem with this is there are only 40 spaces on a 40 man roster, and that applies to the Yankees as well as the other 29 teams. With the Yankees apparently inking Cole and Strasburg (just like they inked Corbin last year, which at the time seemed to be a mere formality because he was a sure lock) in the very near future, as well as a handful of the other top FAs, they’re going to have to make some roster moves. And yes, I’m a Yankee hater, and I’m quite proud of it. Nothing personal, of course.
The Bucs need a systematic rebuild from bottom to top and top to bottom, starting with ownership. Until that happens, they’ll continue to compete on the margins. Current ownership seems unwilling to invest in a quality on field product despite the welfare payments from MLB. How they get away with this is a mystery.
Right on point. More reason for Team’s a min and max salary Team cap in MLB.
Why trade valuable prospect capital for Bell when you can just sign a free agent like Smoak for cheap? Although I believe that the Pirates need to completely tear down and rebuild, I just don’t see much of a return with Bell’s huge defensive limitations. It would be one thing if he had only one year before FA, but I would guess that the asking price is going to be too high with three years of control left.
If the RBI stat is now obsolete, how about a new stat that shows RBI as a percent of RBI opportunities? Or maybe this stat already exists?
This would show how effective a hitter is when the opportunity presents itself.
Interesting idea, RBI Opportunities.
BA/OBP w/ RISP would be the place to start…
It’s not obsolete. Too many nerds think so backwards metric is more important than what actually happens on the field. If you want to win, you have to score, period.
Ha ha. Hilarious.
WAR is literally based on runs scored and runs saved. If you’re going to be wrong, at least be informed enough to make a valid statement.
Halos- or get your nose out of your phone long enough to realize that RBI is still a very important one.
The problem is that it should be / with some % that shows how good the hitter was with hitting with runners in scoring position,That way everyone gets part of the pie.
The statistics revolution should be augmented with ones like that and down time due to injury.Expand further into areas that are practical and reflective of true worth.Use real numbers as much as possible since some of the current ones are made up ones which may or may not be representative of real world worth.
Correct, but RBI’s are 100% reliant on multiple factors outside of one player’s control. Like men on base, or where you are batting in the line-up. If you bat Mike Trout lead-off (like he did in his rookie season), he isn’t going to have as many RBI’s or RBI opportunities if he were to bat 3rd or 4th. Likewise, he wouldn’t have as many RBI opportunities if he were to be on the Royals. Plus, just because you have a high RBI total doesn’t mean you’re a good player. Eric Hosmer had 99 RBI’s despite being below league average in every metric. Same thing with Rougned Odor (93 RBI’s), and Starlin Castro (86 RBI’s).
There’d be a lot left untold. Speed of the baserunners wouldn’t be reflected in that stat.
If you can get back a haul for him, I’d say trade him.
Does an aging first baseman have a lot of demand in the trade market these days?
27 isn’t aging! He’s not a prospect anymore but he’s probably got 4-5 more years of peak production.
Well technically speaking every player is aging. Bell is 27 and far from old. I think he would net a nice return.
Not in Pittsburgh
Would love him in batting in the middle of the order in Mil. Dont think they are going to unload many guys for him so doesnt seem like a fit.
Until the Pirates get serious about spending money and winning games, the answer will always be “just trade him.” The absolute best they can do is try to adapt the Tampa Bay, Oakland, Kansas City method, but they have never even demonstrated any interest in that.
Cleveland Browns of MLB
Before this season, Bell was pretty much garbage offensively and to some degree, defensively. With the juiced balls this year, it helped his numbers and for that reason alone, I am not sold on him. Move him now and see what you can get out of him. There is a guy in Triple A who can jump into Bell’s shoes. He can’t do any worse when Bell first came up
The real battle here is how much Nutting can get away with, by stripping the roster down and going into a full rebuild, which I’m sure he would love to do. 5 years ago, it would have been lauded. But these days, fans recognize a sham when they see one and much more importantly, so does the Union. With the CBA on the horizon, and investigations already begun, he may not be able to get away with it.
Pittsburgh isn’t Tampa; when they were “in it”, they drew 2.5M fans, rather routinely. It’s a historically sound franchise, with a dedicated fan base. In a sense, they’re the perfect paradigm for a salary floor, forcing low-market teams to take advantage of Revenue Sharing in the way it was meant to be used; to build a competitive team.
You can rebuild a player development system without hack-sawing your major league roster. You can improve in many, many areas without sacrificing the major league product. While the Pirates system isn’t “bad”, it’s not especially good either. And that’s anathema for a small market team. Such teams don’t have to be “OK”; they have to lead the way. And then to be ready to splurge when the window opens.
Ultimately, the real danger of years of non-competiveness is damage to the Pirate brand. It’s a great city, and sports-crazy. And the park ranks, by any metric, among the best. In that they’re O’s-like, without, granted, the revenue streams available in Baltimore.
But that doesn’t mean you fold the tent; it means you find a different way to do things.
Who cares about Bell, How is McCuth doing in rehab?
I would definitely see what is available for trading Bell, he seems fit for an AL club. At this point given his cost/power/hype factor I would figure he should net 2 prospects from the Top 100 list as well as 2-3 others in a teams top 30. I see several possible trade partners with a need and prospect capital fitting the Pirates needs to make a trade for Bell. The Blue Jays I would think might have an edge given the Cherington connection but there are also the Twins, Red Sox or even the Rangers in the NL.. It may not lead to a trade if the Pirates don’t get what they want then take the risk of playing him next season and hope he improves on his value to be traded at the deadline or next off season. This off season trading Marte and Kela should give you a jump start to the rebuild with Bell as a kicker this year or next. ,
I agree. It must be a deal that Cherington can’t refuse. Marte and Kela both should not be moved unless they get a good return for them as well. Those that say the must move them now would be the first to complain if the Pirates took a weak offer that was the best that they could get right now just to move them to show that they are doing something. I do not think Cherington would be that stupid to make a move just to make a move without improving the Pirates.
The Pirates have the best stadium in baseball, are in a terrific sports town, and the owner is a piece of crap. The Pirates could be competitive right now, if Nutting would EVER raise payroll. The same could be said of many of the years they had McCutchen. They were never willing to spend the cash necessary to add the complimentary pieces to build a true contender.
Bell’s market is rather limited so getting good value for him would be difficult. There are only a few teams in the AL that would realistically want him unless a contender with a DH who’s contract is running out wants bell his market is really only two or three teams.. unless there is a major bidding war they likely won’t get value his bat deserves. Maybe coming up on the deadline if there are any under performing DH’s or what have you.
Also the biggest issue is they don’t have a great replacement for him. Craig seems to have his bat coming around so a stop gap maybe.. other than that they got Osuna and Moran. Osuna would likely be going into the outfield most of the time if Marte is traded.. and probably even if he is still here given Polanco has issues staying healthy. The upside to moran is that his limited range is less of an issue and generally speaking has decent hands.
But then you run into who plays third.
they start a full on rebuild 60 wins seems optimistic.
Given they are at the tail end of a rebuild already seems like a better idea to add. though those additions could be through trades. Trading Bell for some young MLB mid or back end rotation pitching. Trade Marte for a 1st/3rd basement and sign a catcher…. or something along those lines.
Of course someone wants to give you an amazing deal for Bell or Marte.. you don’t let it go.
WSox could use a proven decent lefty bat to DH against RHPs, though they have much bigger priorities if asking price is high for a player lacking versatility. They have some expendable talented OFs in AA and high draft pick reclamation arms like Hansen/Fulmer who need to develop command.
I think they should listen, as there could always be a team that overwhelms them. But I think keeping him and trying to extend him is the route to go, unless they think last year was an outlier. Generally when teams rebuild, there is 1-2 franchise guys who stick with the team throughout and are the face of the franchise through the rebuild and hopefully, when they return to contention (Altuve, Rizzo, etc.) Sometimes the best you can hope for when trading for a guy like that is simply his replacement.
I could see Rangers as a nice fit, maybe a deal around Nick Solak
They are going to trade everybody anyway just because bob won’t spend any money. I feel sorry for the new gm. Like scot boras stated “the pirates have money, but they won’t spend it”.
Hey, if they move Bell for prospects maybe the Pirates would be open to trading Starling Marte for a package starting with Dom Smith. Smith is showing potential but is blocked by Alonso. I like Smith but the Mets are trying to win now with a need for a right hand hitting CF. Actually might be worth it for both sides.
The Mets have Nimmo Conforto and McNiel Davis Haggerty & Cespedes in the OF. Given the Mets financial restraints Martes 11 million will probably be spent else where for 2020.
The White Sox could center a package around Andrew Vaughn that should be able to make both sides happy. A top-25 prospect with a highly advanced college bat and a completely clean service clock, who is regarded by some as the absolute best 1B prospect in baseball, is a fair headliner for 3 years of arb control on a breakout superstar 1B.
Vaughn wouldn’t be traded by WSox for the reasons you stated. Good, but not elite DH types like Bell, don’t warrant a blue chip headliner.
The White Sox need to pick a lane regarding 2020. Personally, I would be cool with using it as the last “rebuild year” and developing/acquiring as many prospects as possible. Sign Bumgarner to fill that “proven winner” leadership spot in the rotation; fill the open OF spot with a 1-year player like JBJ, Joc Pederson, Kole Calhoun, or Corey Dickerson; get more definitive answers regarding a plethora of young major leaguers; and go all-out for Mookie next winter.
Why? They wont be at .500 for at least 2 more years and another 4 before they compete
They should trade him and begin the rebuild ASAP. Look at a team such as the Padres.. in 2015 decided to go for it instead of beginning the rebuild right then. Fast forward 5 years and they are hoping to finally have a winning record in 2020. Not rebuilding ASAP probably cost them a few extra years of mediocrity.
Like to see Marte to SD for Renfro plus others. Young pitcher and catcher does it for me.
Come on guys. You gotta be smarter then this. You just throw dumb comments around and not watch or follow actual baseball? Bell was only good because of juiced balls? So nobody has any power or talent this past season, was just the balls? A lot of Bells Homer’s didn’t just barely clear the wall. And pnc park is one of if not the worst hitters parks. Oh and he did hit 20 some Homer’s in 2017.
Not a franchise player yet. Could be as a hitter only. Terrible defense wise. Runs good for big man. A lot of players got screwed up after hr derby but does cause concern. Only trade for right deal. Other wise he has a year and half to prove himself more and increase value.
I view it as people undervalue talent to rationalize not giving up their talent while at the same time ignoring the fact that they want to trade for the player they are devaluing as if he weren’t worth trading for all while pining for same said player.
The guy was mediocre in 17 and 18 then had a breakout this year and Boras is sure they can get 100 million somewhere….The guy is also a terrible defensive 1st baseman and he is always hurt. This Pirates fan says trade him…
He’s lead-footed at 1st and has an iron glove, which means he is not an OF’er, either. Ideally, he’s a DH. Good guy and has decent promise at the plate, but yeah, why keep him?
Not sure why you keep Marte, either, but then again, I’m wondering why any team throws him a fastball when he can’t resist a curve ball in the dirt
And Kela? Is there a market for him?
I am remember he was used in the OF at times his first couple seasons but with his weight gain, which is another issue I don’t think he has OF speed anymore. I agree he is best suited as a DH somewhere in the AL. May be a good fit with the Yankees if Encarnacion isn’t back next year and we could get a pitcher for him.