MLBTR will be holding live chats specific to each of the 30 teams. Use this link to read the transcript of the chat about the Pirates offseason!
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Get the popcorn out for the Pirates chat. A lot of energy will be emitting from this one.
I’m so mad I missed this.
YES ITS TODAY
Don’t worry, there will be another one in early April.
Phew
Will Cherington again praise the AAA catchers while telling the fans that Nutting won’t be increasing payroll, that we’re 3 years from serious contention and may have to rebuild again to get us there?
Dozens of people are waiting for the chat to start
Pirates Offseason chat actually started in May
Question for Pirates fans:
I know it’s a small sample but what do y’all think about Andujar?
He’s OK, he pops up a lot but I think he’ll be decent as the utility man.
It’s Newman that pops out not Andujar. In addition he averaged at least one RBI in each game he played
With regular playing time, he’ll be an asset to a team starving for runs
Newman hits line drives but I see what your saying.
Utility? He doesn’t really even have ONE position.
He *can* play third and outfield I’m pretty sure first base to.
He’s equally terrible at 3 positions. (Actually particularly bad at third, he’ll kill you if you play him there).
Mmm I don’t know.
Andujar fields like Wilson Betemit.
I can see him maybe at DH.
Chavis was a highly touted prospect at one point too, and he’s gone in and out of the bucs org. Maybe similar fate hear with miguel?
I don’t think so if Shelton has the guts to make that move it’s obvious he up to something I don’t think it’s a dumpster dive also Chavis is still in the organization he’s on the Indianapolis Indians AAA team in Pirates minor league teams.
I thought Chavis declared free agency? Or something like that. I don’t think andujar will be dumped so quickly but i could see him having a subpar season and parting with the organization, as I thought with Chavis. Then again, what do I know?
No, he doesn’t have enough MLB a service time I’m pretty sure.
Thats what I thought too but milb transactions says he declared free agency on 10/06/22, after being DFAd and outrighted to Indianapolis.
Ah, that makes sense now.
Good idea giving a heads up on this. That will give their fan a chance to get ready. Yes, fan. How anyone can continue to follow a team on a perpetual rebuild is beyond me. I’m a Cubs fan and despite a chip in 16 and 5 consecutive years averaging 92 wins I’m pissed off as hell. Can’t imagine what this is like.
It might be sucky right now but at least I have seen twice as many WS championships in my lifetime than you have seen in yours. 5 times as any in the last 113 years……. Many would have said the same thing about the Cubs who went over 108 years in between championships.
If you’re a life long Bucs fan ( since 1966), you’ve seen great seasons and awful ones so to ask how someone could be s fan of a franchise that goes into rebuilds constantly, the answer is within the context of this message
Same way that fans of 1/2 to 2/3 of the league does. Build then tear down and build again. You could ask the same for most franchises. Helps to have a good management/scouting team to limit the deep tear downs but most teams are in the same boat unfortunately. If you love baseball, it is not hard to be a fan throughout. I just don’t like the put down comments of fans like this one was talking about some recent success but had tons of failure behind it. It helps to be in a town that remembers how horrible the Pens and Steelers were prior to the Lemieux years and the 70s Steelers. Great that they won but you have to remember haw bad they were and how easily it is to hit mediocrity again. I never put down other fan bases because of that. We have no control over the fortunes of our teams.
Cubs fan asks how someone can be a fan of a perpetually bad team
This is either a satirical comment by rememberthecoop or some delicious irony
Cubs fan wonders how someone can be a fan of a perpetually bad team
Intentional satire or delicious irony? I’ll let it be the judge
Can we get a schedule of when these chats are going to happen? I’d hate to miss the White Sox one and there are a couple other teams about which I have questions.
it’s going on right now
there’s a link in the article that takes you to the chat
All I learned from this chat was that there are a lot of Pirates fans who are still true believers. Maybe they catch a few games and see the young guys do well. Maybe they listen to Cherington and get excited
One thing is certain; they didn’t watch this team game in and game out
I’m sure the Pirates will be publishing the 2023 Fireworks Night, Pierogi race and Clark’s concert schedule soon to placate them
In the meantime, you’re not going to add to the payroll. I get it. On the surface it appears you are going to stick with the kids for another year of growing pains and in the process, reap even more profits.
What happens if ‘23 is another year of stagnation and very little learning? Will “we” still be contending in ‘24?
Tired, if they aren’t contenders by the trading deadline in 2023, I’ll expect a massive sell off. Reynolds, Bednar and at the least Brubaker will be traded for prospects while Nutting is complaining about lack of attendance which by September, Shelton is rumored to be fired by season’s end
My guess is those true believers are relatively younger than you and are gullible
Gullible people are in every walks of life, even as Bucs fans
I am a fan who fits your handle. Been a fan since the mid 60s so have seen a lot of ugly to go along with greatness. I do watch most al of the games. Don’t get to the ballyard as much as I would like but I still watch. I also pay attention to what happens in the minors. There is a ton to be happy about with what is still to come. I do believe there will be several contending teams coming in the near future based on what I see. They will be at least contending for a wining team in 2023 and should be a post season contender in 24
@gozurman, I’ve read a great many of your postings and appreciate your knowledge and candor. I *don’t* know what is still coming through the minors and only have what I have seen come the big club over the past year plus
To me, the problem is lack of learning and/or lack of instruction. Simply put, I’ll always remember 2022 as confounding thanks to absolutely no illustration of efforts to remediate everything from hitting discipline and mechanics to fielding to pitcher mechanics. Most notably, this young core exhibited no understand of pitch counts, pitcher strategies, spin pitches while at the plate, and how to use all pieces of the plate, the advantage of spin and off speed pitches while on the mound
And a whole lot more
I’m hoping you’re right. A great many of us old timers don’t hold the same optimism after this past season
I agree with you. I’m a old pirate fan since 1965. I see a team close to 500 next year and contending in 2024.
Thanks for the kind words. Actually some good stuff happened this year. with some of the young guys. Keller added a sinker and learned to adjust his attack based on opponent and learned to adjust to keep competing within a game if things were not all firing as they should be. Worked deeper into games and kept the Bucs in the games. Castro adjusted and finished extremely well. Same with Cruz. He first tried to hit anything close that he felt he could reach. Found out that Big League pitchers could make the ball move more than minor league guys. He stopped chasing a lot of the outside pitches and they started pitching him inside. he laid off that stuff too. He finished well too. What you describe about the Pirates young players, you hear fans from other teams saying the same things about their team’s young players. More of a sign of the times. Now you can be a star if you hit .230 but the hits you get are extra base hits and your Slugging % drives up you OPS and you are great even tough you are only hitting .230 and still striking out a lot. Just not the same game we were taught years ago. Now it is about trying to hit HR an getting your launch angle right instead of trying to string hits together as a team and someone hits a bases clearing double or a HR and creating a huge inning. Now. it is more solo shots with most of the team trying launch one every pitch.. Rambling now…..
Dumpster diving has resumed, the Bucs claimed another catcher on the waiver wire
I predict this is the method they’ll again use to fill their 40 man roster
same s**t different season
We need a new owner
Someone to spend some money on this team
We need a new owner. One who is willing to spend some money on this team.
I could see the pirates taking a chance on a younger guy w some upside at 1b, and Dom Smith comes to mind. Has dealt w injuries last two years, but still young enough w decent hit tools where a change of scenery might help. Can’t think it would cost much at all after Mets non tender him
Pirates are in a good position to do well next year. Not great but well.
2022 was a disaster that shouldn’t have happened. Bad signings hurt. One great signing in Jose and another great signing in Perez but then got hurt….. … ..
Pitching was bad overall. Keller’s turn around in the second half was amazing. It is like he got his confidence back. he would have two or three good innings and then get hammered. That extra pitch might have changed everything since he would be less predictable. and man some of those pitches had me swinging out of my shoes from my desk at home… nasty stuff. very encouraged.. not a sure thing but wow he was good there.
they do need to button things up on the pitching staff but there is some good indications that they won’t need much outside help to put together a decent staff.
1b: they have a couple prospects that should get a bunch of time in spring. Martin and Nunez. Martins raw power should get him an extended look in spring and maybe 25man out of spring if that power shows. Nunez is probably a year or two out but getting him a decent amount of time at first would be a good idea. Andujar, i don’t think he is a 1b type, but try it a bit see what happens. now is the time when we don’t have much to lose. a vet or two on minorleague deals or a utility type that has some 1b time on a small mlb deal is probably the most i would do here.
C: get Perez back on the cheap with bonus for time not on the DL and maybe a option if he stays healthy. If Stallings becomes available, go for him first. Fans generally like him and even if he can’t hit, you have decent defense to hold down the fort.
Swag is his make or break year, give him a lot of time early before we let him go.
all looks up for 2023 but it has for a couple years now and it hasn’t panned out….
Prospects for Alejandro Kirk?!?! Is that guy aware that the Pirates have 2 of the top 5 catching prospects in the minors in AAA in Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis. The Pirates need a placeholder there. They don’t need to be spending any prospect capital on a catcher.
They should do some heavy prospect trading in the off season. Way too many valuable candidates for Rule V. Maybe bundle a few Rule V prospects for some of the team they need?
Up the middle they have “extra” talent they can spare. Not sure on their Rule5 status. Peguero would probably draw the most attention and Bae as well. would be a good one to bundle in on some sort of trade
Just occurred to me. Newman had a fine year outside of injury. 1.3fWAR in half a season with a defense that has really come around the past two years. his offense wasn’t holding them back either. He isn’t going to bring in a haul, but bundle him with a prospect or two, might get a reasonable pitcher or a 1b that might be more promising than in house.. Maybe someones backup catcher if the opportunity arises.
whatever they do, they should be getting people who expect to be in the MLB early 2023 to prep for a 2024 run.
Pirates will start to compete around 2038 if the average man lives to be around 76.
Good read. Thanks