3:29PM: The Pirates have actually released Polanco, as the team issued a correction to their initial announcement.
3:03PM: The Pirates have designated outfielder Gregory Polanco for assignment. According to the team’s official media release, infielder Cole Tucker “is expected” to be called up from Triple-A to take Polanco’s spot on the active roster.
The move comes less than a week after Polanco was placed on outright waivers, though he remained in the organization after no other teams claimed him. Today’s release officially cuts ties between Polanco and the Bucs, and the team will remain on the hook for the roughly $5.28MM still owed to Polanco — his remaining 2021 salary, and the $3MM buyout of his $12.5MM club option for 2022.
“Gregory has been a true professional throughout his entire Pirates career, including in our conversation with him regarding today’s roster move,” Pirates GM Ben Cherington said. “He has been a great teammate who always handled himself with class and took a great deal of pride in representing the Pirates and the city of Pittsburgh. We wish him nothing but success moving forward.”
After rising through the minor league ranks as one of baseball’s top prospects, Polanco had some stops and starts in his efforts to establish himself as a productive Major League regular, though that didn’t stop the Bucs from locking him up on a five-year, $35MM contract extension in April 2016. Strong seasons in both 2016 and 2018 (the latter a 23-homer, .839 OPS campaign over 535 plate appearances) seemed to indicate that the Pirates had made a wise investment, yet shoulder surgery in September 2018 ended up essentially derailing Polanco’s career.
Recurring shoulder problems limited him to only 42 games in 2019. In 723 PA since the start of the 2019 season, Polanco has hit only .203/.270/.364 with 24 home runs. Between this dropoff and increasing annual salaries in the latter years of the extension, Polanco became something of an untradeable albatross as the Pirates entered another rebuilding phase.
Though Polanco is a veteran of eight MLB seasons, he still doesn’t turn 30 years old until September. It stands to reason that another team will take a flier on Polanco to see if a change of scenery could get his career back on track, since that new team would only owe Polanco the prorated portion of the minimum salary (the Pirates would pay the rest of the money owed).
LOL DFA a bad player for an even worse one to fill the spot. Just keep on embarrassing yourself Pirates.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Tucker isn’t the next DFA candidate. This looks more like an early 40 man house cleaning than anything else. Prune the dead wood.
Yeah Tucker doesn’t have a long term future here, especially with all of the middle infielders we’ve been stockpiling. He is a total bust.
Yeah, just as I was about to agree, he strikes out almost falling over lmao. Feels like this is his last chance. He sucked at Indy anyways.
Go to another board! He’ll get claimed and help someone! Take up another sport you don’t know baseball..
Polanco is awful. What stats are you basing your nonsense upon? He’s not helping anyone. I’d be very surprised if he gets claimed at all, much less be put on a contending roster. -1.4 WAR, 72 OPS+. He’s beyond done.
Someone will claim him watch! New start may help him.
he was literally just passed through waivers…
What is this thinking? Magic? A new start will make him a completely different player? What absurdity is this?
Someone might sign him, sure. But it’ll probably be a minor league deal because he’s done nothing for a few years. He definitely won’t be getting claimed with his current contract though.
what is the medical report long-term on his sholder?
Yea, but that means he’s free to sign a minor league deal and the other teams aren’t on the hook for that contract.
I agree with you. The talent is there, his head is messed up. He’ll never be what he could’ve been, but he’ll help someone. Good luck to him.
But at that time someone would have had to take on his salary. Now the Pirates will be paying it and they’ll pay prorated league minimum
He’ll get signed somewhere but unless he gets his game right he’s a AAA hitter
The 2900 at bats on his resume and 8 years with MLB appearances before the age of 30 suggest his talent is not just that of a AAA hitter
It is astounding how fast people here write athletes off after a major injury if they’re not instantly the same player. He’s still 29!
Polanco is moving on from an extreme pitcher’s park (over the years). There’s worse 4th OFs out there and in a platoon he’s worthwhile on most teams.
PNC is not an “extreme pitcher’s park”, particularly for a LH batter.
Polanco’s talent has always been a little overstated in my opinion. And certainly
in-game aspects such as base running , routes on fly balls, etc has never been a strong suit.
Question? Puzzlement? Inquiry? Perplexing?
Great question, and I think that’s the key to whether another team takes a chance on him…
Exclamation! Emphasis! Blah blah you don’t know baseball!
I find it both funny and sad when people trash the Pirates organization. If you look at the cumulative records for the last decade (2011-202), the Pirates have the 15th best record in MLB. Given how poorly they are playing this year, they’ll probably drop four spots. The best five records over the last decade? In order, Dodgers, Yankees, Cards, Nats and Indians. The worst, 26th to 30th? Twins, Rockies, White Sox, Padres, and Marlins.
Who cares? Is the difference between Polanco and whoever else gonna get the Pirates to the playoffs? Not this year boys! I know you guys have a cheap owner and 0 top prospects (somehow) .. but have a little faith in Ben
I think they have 5 top 100 prospects and 9 guys with a future rating of 50+
I think that would qualify as top prospects
0 in the top 30
I would consider that 0 “TOP” prospects
If you think Henry Davis or Quinn Priester is gonna come up and save the day.. Well good for you.
You sound like the baldphoenix pirate hater
Braves perhaps
Why?
Better him than Guillermo Heredia.
No no no no. Heredia is an excellent defensive OFielder.. You have Pedersen, Duvall, Soler & Rosario to kick the hits.
Heredia, Duvall & Pedersen have been excellent in the OF.. What have you been watching? Pedersen made a game saving catch in RF last night.. ?????
Polanco: -1.3 WAR. Heredia: 0.1… basic arithmetic here. Heredia is better. By quite a bit.
Yes yes yes yes. Blah. What game have you been watching…
?????
like the braves need ANOTHER of
He would replace Heredia. Apparently that’s too much for you to comprehend.
Heredia is better. Comprehend that. A simple BRef check will confirm this. Plus Polanco doesn’t play CF, barely plays RF. Nice try though.
Lmfao. 330 AB in a career with nearly 2900 AB means a 29 year old still recovering from a massive surgery is done?
What’s the lotto numbers cosmo? You’re so sure of this, might as well try your luck.
Let me guess, you also think Verlander will be worth 19M next year, right?
Idk man I’m 29 coming off massive surgery myself and I don’t feel too great not gonna lie lol.
Your body can and will betray you and when you play a position like Greg’s with a skillset like his it doesn’t age very well generally.
He’s been terrible for years, McCourt. Look it up. And he’s the kind of bad now that can’t be explained by injury. Doesn’t work like that.
8ManLineupNoPitcherNoDH –
Thankfully you’ll never be in charge of the Braves or any MLB club. Your takes are continuously awful.
the next big papi once he goes the land dh
That’s why I don’t like the DH. Save some big lug who couldn’t field his position with a plaster of paris glove, Please keep the DH in the AL. It belongs in the “it’s not really baseball” league.
Somehow it’s the soul of purity to want to watch pitchers pretend to be hitters? Might as well pick a fan out of the stands for all the skill the average pitcher shows with a bat in his hands
@Curly Then I guess no one will really be playing baseball when the NL likely gets the DH implemented in one of the upcoming seasons.
IMO the DH is more interesting when only one of the two leagues use it, so I would prefer things stay that way for that reason and then some.
ClevelandSpidersFromMars, Braves have 2 pitchers alone hitting over .300 with 20 hits 2 hrs & 11 RBI in 2021. Some teams use their pitchers as pinch hitters. Pitchers that can hit raise their worth 2 fold. Take your wash up DH’s & put them on the bench. I still like the strategy of hitting pitchers.
You’re so full of it. Greinke is considered one of the best hitting pitchers of this generation and has a sub 600 career OPS
That’s worse than Nick Punto. And he’s an ELITE hitting pitcher. Grow up
The average pitcher this year has a -22 wRC+, making them 122% worse than the average batter. Sure you have your outliers each year, but aside from Shohei Ohtani, there’s no pitcher who hits enough to truly make that much of a difference in the line-up.
I think most fans watch baseball in part because of the element of surprise. There is nothing like watching a pitcher turn a game around with his bat. Preserve that feature of the game.
*eyeroll*
Yes, watching someone who can’t hit his own weight at the plate is enjoyable. The DH isn’t the issue in baseball. The problem is that less balls are in play, and that isn’t an AL thing only, you chowder head 🙂
The only reason it’s not in both leagues is a couple random owners in ~1950s
I didn’t realize half the league has been playing fake baseball for the last 70 years. Stupid me
Yup, stupid you
It’s hilarious. You think you’re fighting for “tradition”. Yet you couldn’t explain how that tradition came to be nor who fought for it to be that way nor why it actually happened, if your life depended on it
‘Merica in a nutshell, right?
Been following your back and forth with court and I have this thought. Why not actually post something original instead of an insult to someone elses thought?
Yes because watching pitchers take wild hacks or try to bunt is so fun
As opposed to watching guys like Edgar Martinez or David Ortiz hit
Big Papi was a good hitter and had a 108 ops+ before becoming a member of the Boston Red Sox. Polanco hasn’t been a good hitter since 2018 and has a 93 ops+ for his career.
still better then Adell
@6″5″ and 240, he’s a perfect fit for the Yankees OF. Where’s the beef? In the Yanks OF. Tons of fun
ok?
Good for Cole. A superstar in waiting. Very excited to see him back.
…superstar?
I think he is referring to the movie Superstar.
More like a superbust
The closest he will get to a superstar is the one he’s dating
Couldn’t hurt to see what he can do for the Mets.
You’ve got to be kidding…. He. is. terrible!. …enough with this already. Look at his stats.
Anybody would be approvement for Mets.
Not Polanco. No one on the Mets is as bad as he is. Reality.
He can’t be traded though right? It’s either outright waivers or release waivers at this point?
Correct.
Writing was on the wall!
Oakland needs him. Maybe a change of scenery will help him!
Sarcasm?
I believe he’s a Athletics fan so definitely sarcasm they need better then Polonco to hold off Seattle
Why would it matter if they hold off Seattle? Both wc’s are coming from the East.
We still have a month you never know one might crash land probably Boston at this point
I’d laugh if Seattle grabs him as a Fraley replacement honestly it be a change of scenery as there in a battle for the wild card
that would be Hilariousto see polanco, marte and harrson on the same team
He’s due to be the 28th man on somebody else’s roster. Doesn’t mean he’ll be any better than any other 28th man.
So many arm chair fans on here putting him down and other players down on this site. At least they made it to the show. So sorry the rest of you are butt hurt that you never made it.
Posts like this are a dumb take! Of course none of us (i assume) made it to the show, that’s why we’re here surely there’s been at least one time in your life you’ve said “Don’t want that guy on my fave team for x reasons” making jokes about the guy might be a stretch but it’s not unreasonable to say you don’t want him on your team. And to what someone said earlier who can this guy help out? I can’t think of a team in contention that needs OF help or depth so badly that they’d place a -1.4WAR player on the roster rather than plucking someone from the farm.
Ive been saying the same thing for awhile. Just like albert said. Nerds who never played the game get on here with their trashing of players. With their analytical BS. If any of you ever played any kind of organized sports you wouldnt spout off all your nonsense. Polanco had had a bad break. Tucker had not lived up to his reputation. So what. Do you know how many people make it to professional sports???? Snd you geeks sit their and post moronic crap.
none of this comment makes sense, go to therapy instead of this
Asfan you make no sense. Get a dose of reality
Ghost, all you do is troll with nonsense. I’ve played baseball. There goes your whole theory. Oops.
Ghost I’ve played baseball as well maybe your trolling ass needs to go to TA n get a real clue before you embarrass yourself as you have no theory. Oops
Cosmo played baseball in his grandmama basement
NERDS!!!!!- Ogre
The use of “butt hurt” is always such a brilliant way to engage others and stimulate conversation. Thank you for your intelligence and sophistication.
I guess we should be thankful you didn’t toss in a “y’all”.
Glad I was able to engage your sophisticated intelligence @Unicorndog. Can I ask a favor of your above intelligence? If so, then please ask your wife to make my bed the next time I am in the shower. She is slacking.
Al’s cork,
I’ll definitely tell her to tighten it up when she gets home from an unplanned, last minute business trip she left for on Friday afternoon. Weird, huh?
“Unless you are in NASCAR, you are never allowed to honk your horn at another driver on your way to work or the store or wherever!”
FWJBT, as much as I hate to see NASCAR mentioned on a sports site, well done indeed.
I hate to say it but… man, it’s about time.
I’m guessing Polanco recently venting to the press about being unhappy and hurt by the negative reaction he received on nightly basis got this done. Cherington does not seem like a guy who is going to let dissatisfied attitudes linger in the clubhouse.
Best of luck to Polanco, hope he finds a way to put it all together.
Good point, that makes sense. I did see those comments. When you are hitting and fielding the way he’s been all year, you don’t say “I don’t like it when they boo”, you say “I can understand why they’re frustrated and I’m trying to do better”. Whatever it was he meant to say, it didn’t seem to come across very well.
Polanco has actually gone 6/11 since clearing waivers so naturally now that he’s hitting they release him
He publicly called out fans that were mercilessly heckling him. He seemed genuinely hurt by it. That probably sealed his fate. Hope he catches on elsewhere to re-establish himself
Sucks that he’s getting heckled but he’s done. Absolutely no reason to think otherwise. Seems like a good guy though.
He needs to start fresh somewhere. Not a good sign that he was letting things get to him here. Though I don’t agree with all of the heckling from last week. He’s a good guy who tries but just hasn’t been able to get anything going since his shoulder injury.
I agree with others, could see him becoming a decent DH once he can stop worrying about fielding (since he’s a pretty bad defender).
I just don’t get the inability to make basic assessments on players. He’s a ~70 OPS+ hitter. He’s not gonna DH for anyone.
his reaction to the fans may have been the straw that broke…and
players may be added to post season roster before the 1st
just spitballing.
me and socrates know one thing for fact
nothing
Had nothing to do with the fans. They are giving him every chance to land on his feet. Releasing him a few days before September 1, releasing him after a mini hit streak, talking up his work ethic in the press. I did think he was going to stay all year and get buried on the bench, but I guess with only 28 not 34 or 35 like September’s of the past that wasn’t going to happen.
The team with the 2nd best record in baseball is carrying a guy with a 59 OPS+ for them…
Your over the top assertions are hardly based in fact
Why so negative about other posters! Heads up: This is a site for fans, not nitpickers!
Someone is going to sign him but it’ll be a waste of time because they didn’t consult an armchair scout like you before deciding. Baseball will decide he’s done when he can’t get another job.
Despite the 59 OPS+ in his limited time with the Dodgers, McKinney has an 80 OPS+ on the season, and a .683 OPS, 83 OPS+ the last three years. He also sports a .313/.395/.344/.738 (.279/.396/.326/.722 career) as a pinch hitter, the main role he fills in LA
Polanco has a .634 OPS, 69 OPS+ the last three and is 154/.267/.154/.421 as a PH this season
Can you yet figure out why McKinney has a job while Polanco doesn’t?
What’s your point McCourt? 59 OPS+ is acceptable? Does said player have a good glove? You’re talking nonsense. No one is carrying a terrible hitting corner OFr who can’t field. There are tons of better options in every organization. What are you Polanco’s agent? His mother?
Cubs
Actually, having gone to law school- I can believe it that he would post 30 times a day. Classic procrastination- anything to avoid the Torts case book. And Taco Bell would be waaay too crazy busy
blue jays sign polanco and so he is eligible for post season
me and socrates know something indeed
There’s like 3500 fans at the home games. There is no mass of fans heckling Polanco. Just because the stadium is empty and you can hear a dozen or so fans heckling him doesnt mean you should go cry to the media and say everyone is booing you. Its simply not true.
Polanco was liked by his Pirates teammates because he was the biggest cheerleader on the team.
Unfortunately,that is not what he was getting paid a lot of money to do.
Bucsfan-3500 paid,35 at the game,all sitting in right field seats heckling Polanco.He was right,all of the fans were booing him!
His career average is .240. Bad year, yes. A contender might want a lefty bat on the bench. Especially as rosters expand. The Pirates need to move forward obviously
He would be an intriguing DH option somewhere. I wouldn’t want to rely on his fielding though.
A 70 OPS+ is an intriguing DH? What are you smoking?
I think maybe a good AL bench player. Decent base stealer, some pop if you are losing late. His arms gone but PNC is a hard place to play right field, so I think he can play at least sometimes in left or right for someone. I don’t think he’s nowhere near an every day DH. I have seen Oakland come up that might be a decent spot.
Chavis just got hurt out there. Tsutugo looked lost last night. His fielding is not as bad as one may think.
Teams don’t need base stealers off the bench or poor fielding left fielders on their bench. There are better players in every teams minor leagues. You’re fixating on name recognition here.
He plays right field? I said he COULD play left field. Jarrod Dyson just got picked up by Toronto and they are going to pay him over 300k for a month, so one would think he has a market for half of that. Of course teams want base stealers off the bench, especially if it’s the playoffs where they will likely carry a pitcher or 2 less.
His base stealing % is an anomaly that will not last.
He cannot play either right field or left field.
We will see if anyone wants to waste a roster space on him.
Yes he can play LF (poorly). Who cares? No, base stealing off the bench isn’t very valuable and Polanco isn’t that type player anyway. That would be Hamilton, Gore, etc.
I’m pulling for him. Seems like a great guy and great teammate.
Hopefully he can turn it around with another team.
A Baseball America top 10 prospect, whiffff
I wish Polanco the best. He’s an awesom guy from everything I’ve heard. Never heard one negative thing about him as a person. Makes you feel kind of bad he could never produce. Wish things worked out for him here in Pittsburgh.
Well said.
He passed through waivers because of money. A rebuilding team should give him another chance. Texas Rangers have had some success with these types (Danny Santana, Hunter Pence). Now he’s cheap
Too bad Tucker is a mediocre outfielder that can’t hit worth a lick. As a matter of fact, the Pirates are replacing a poorly performing player with an even worse one, only to save the garbage ownership a few bucks. Total clown franchise.
I’m not even sure Vanessa can improve his game at this point
Waldfee-The Pirates saves a grand total of $0 on this transaction.
They are giving Tucker a chance even though he has been underwhelming in AAA.
Newman’s excellent fielding this year and being a better hitter than Tucker has helped to cement his job at least for the rest of this year.
Your post was a total clown post.
They still have to pay whatever Polanco is owed. Unless you’re saying them saving the $3 million to buy him out at the end of 2021 makes them cheap.
The Pirates are responsible for that.Any GM who pays Gregory Polanco $3M for 35 games would get fired on the spot.
Didn’t know they were fully resonsible for that too. Thanks for clarifying.
Next Pirate Press Release: ” Pirates Claim Gregory Polonco off Waivers”.
If they want him, he’ll sign with the A’s to rejoin Marte.
So you spoke to Polonco and he told you this? Literally don’t understand the comments on here sometimes. Oh btw, pujols will be signing with the Cardinals in the off-season if they will have him so he can play with Yadi. Hosmer is headed to the Reds to play with moose,Betts has to obviously be headed back to Boston and the rest of the dodgers are heading to Atlanta because Pederson misses his buddies
Cardsfan-Please lighten up.You know as well as I do that the comments on this site are by people interested in MLB and are not meant to address the meaning of life.They are a diversion to real life.
Polanco will go to anyone who will have him,which are not many.He was a reasonably good player before his injury but was always awkward with that type of body.I think that the Pirates were cutting him a break by releasing him now so that he may have a chance to join a playoff seeking team before the deadline.His very recent play was certainly decent and perhaps some team with a need will consider adding him.
Or maybe not.
I emailed Bill Gates and asked him to fire up the old hidden microchip brain scan and he replied “A’s”.
It’s called a guess, Mr. Fun.
“We should only wait and nod until things happen…and then, wait and nod some more.”
Im sure he’d trade some of his cash for a better career if he could. Sometimes players just fail
Have you watched Cody bellinger lately?
Bellinger is having a horrific year. For him right now the three true outcomes are K, pop-up, or fly out. At some point the man has to cut down on his swing to at least make contact.
I think that that has been Polanco’s problem also but I doubt that he will ever do much about it.
Now he’s officially cheap. The outright waivers was just a Hail Mary attempt to avoid paying him. He probably would have been buried on the bench if allowed up to 40 on the bench like all other years. With 28, they just had to let him go. Of course someone will take a chance. Plenty of guys have sucked in Pittsburgh and turned it around somewhere else. It does not have to be a contender. Maybe some mediocre team will be intrigued.
Come to SF and revive your career! Just like everyone else on the team except yaz! Batting .216
Cosmo kramer
Last 14 games:
.275 average
.686 OPS
4 doubles
4 RBIs
11 Hits
5 Runs
Pretty good if you think that he is on the Pirates.
The Polanco play I’ll never forget was when he lost the game on the final out for the Pirates against the Cubs by dropping an easy lazy fly out, falling and crawling and still not getting it.
It looked like he was shot with a tranquilizer dart.
I prefer to remember 7/12/2015 when Polanco won it in the tenth with a single off Rosenthal.
Was listening to the post game show on the radio, I think it was Craig Riley. Whoever it was said the Pirates are paying Polanco 5 million to get lost, basically trying to say they arent being cheap with players not living up to their contracts. First off, they have the lowest payroll in mlb in 6 years lmao. Second, they really are paying him about 2 million 5 weeks early. The 3 million is next year’s money, no one alive expected them to pick up his option, and 30 of 30 teams would decline it in the same situation. I actually think the Pirates have handled this situation pretty good, but’s let’s not act like Bob Nutting is making it rain now.
I thought they handled it poorly, pretty classless. Granted Polanco was playing poorly . He was gone after this year. However, to dump him at this time probably hurt the team more. Polanco, by all accounts, was a popular player in the clubhouse. Removing a popular player, especially in this manner, can damage team dynamics and team morale. Notice how lifeless they played today? Sure, one might say that the Pirates still stink. True, but it is levels of odor. Maybe now they will stink just a little more and work their way closer to the number one pick. If you’re really cynical, you might argue that is Cherington’s hope. But who could be that cynical in today’s society?
No doubt it effected them last night. They also lost 9-0 after Adam Frazier was traded. Something you are not realizing is that Polanco is going to get signed. He has to be signed by Tuesday to be able to be a on playoff roster potentially. If they had a full 40 man roster like years past, it would have been shameless to dump him now. They can add 2 more Wednesday. There was zero chance he was going to be there next year. Maybe he goes somewhere and has a good month and maybe even does something in the playoffs. I have no doubt the pirates will play worse without him in the dugout but at this point that doesn’t really matter. The only guy who is pretty much a lock to be on a real team is K Bryan Hayes, not even Reynolds who is a FA in 26. He could realistically be dealt as early as 24 and that’s iffy if they are competitive by then.
Skeptical-Or even skeptical.
It really depends on whether one sees the glass half full or half empty.
Damaging team dynamics and team morale….bahahahahaha, this guy. We are talking about the Pirates, right with Shelton as the manager. I don’t think we need to worry about morale or dynamics at this point.
Wow released
I hope Polanco has a bunch of his money saved up so he can invest in some serious rehab therapy for his shoulder. I he can get a honest shot at being health6 again, maybe he can get back to having a productive (and lucrative) career.
Polanco’s shoulder injury was devastating to his career. He can’t throw or catch up to a fastball anymore. He had a decent career and made a bunch of money. I think his playing days are over. Best of luck to him.
Would you rather have Billy McKinney or Polanco?
Asking for a Friedman.
Oakland – to replace Piscotty…
I can see the Angels taking a chance on him. They need another OFder. I know that Trout is going to play KF whenever he comes back, but don’t forget that Polanco can also play CF.
Polonco can not play CF. He may however hit somewhere else with a change of teams.
Upton, Adell, Trout, Ward, Marsh and even Walsh and Ohtani have played the outfield.
The angels need to replace SS Iglesias before taking a chance on a reclamation project in the outfield.
Were the Pirates going to move on from Polanco…absolutely but to do it now just shows what a classless and pathetic organization the Pirates Baseball Club is…
Releasing him now allows to hook on with a contender. If any want him.
Far better for him than riding the Pirate bench for another month.
By letting him catch on with a contender is the class thing to do. He is a great guy but have you watched him in the past two years? I probably watch 80% of all the games. They have to give at bats to other guys.
Ras-See the other two posts also.
They easily could have kept him as the try to dump his salary was weak.No one would take him unless for almost free.
Dropping him now gives him a chance to find out what he is worth and one to possibly join a contending team.
What a classy and thoughtful thing to do.
The problem for this site is all of the classless and pathetic negative trolls who think that their opinions have any merit.
One last comment: I am very happy over the passion you guys show for the Pirates. Despite too much negative talk about other posters, you guys really love the Bucs!!
Lot of noise and back and forth about a mkddling franchise. Maybe all yall need a catchy jingle to get you in the right mood. Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Allegheny what do you know, the Cubs are going to win today.
Dumpster-Pirates fans are doomed because of it.
We cannot help ourselves by creating much of the noise back and forth because fate has caused us to be in your words a “ middling franchise”.
It has been 42 years since the city called itself the City of Champions.
It could very well be 66 more to equal the longest WS championship drought in history.
The Pirates have a top 5 ballpark in all of baseball (it’s tops on my list of all that I’ve visited), but it’s sad that their ownership does nothing to field a competitive team. I’ve seen 8 games at that stadium and not once was there even 20,000 fans; and for good reason. I bet it would be amazing to catch a game there with a competitive team and a packed house.
Scrap-The place was jumping during the 2013-2015 period.
Small market teams have their ups and downs.
It seems like BC has put together a good minor league roster.We will see if they can be taught better than the previous minor league coaching staffs did.
The Phillies have begun to understand what many teams have known for awhile.Even the teams with lots of money need to have good drafting and coaching personnel to be able to draw good players from the minor leagues at a continuous clip.
Nutting will not pay for big name free agents,nor for declining team stars,especially injury prone ones.He will add,though,if they have a good team that can get better with a few additions.
He’ll add fringe guys if they are close. Even when they were good they took fliers on guys and it worked out. He may try and lock in players they already have like they did with Cutch, Marte, and Polanco. I really think this is still like 3 years away, anything remotely competitive. 22/23 I can’t see anything but more of the same that we have now.
Any of the competitive teams have at least one or two or three superstars.This is where the Pirates will fall short.They should lock up Reynolds now so that they tell the fans something and maybe they will get more than 3000 people there.This is the worst that I have seen attendance in my 60 years of following them.Their only hope is that BC is as good as many say in drafting and developing players.
Definitely your prototypical change of scenery type player here. Given his age, there will be opportunities out there. The 14 steals in 15 tries isn’t too shabby either. One other positive — his walk-rate and SO% are the best they’ve been since 2018, his last good year. Not to say he’s going to flip a switch and mash, but he’s well worth a flier.