It’s been a pretty quiet offseason for the Pirates, with their most prominent moves to date including the acquisition of first baseman Spencer Horwitz (in exchange for righty Luis Ortiz) and the re-signing of franchise icon Andrew McCutchen on another one-year, $5MM deal. The Bucs were said last month to be exploring the bullpen and corner outfield markets, and that appears to still be the case. Robert Murray of FanSided more specifically reports that Alex Verdugo is one name in whom the Pirates have interest.
Verdugo, 29 in May, is coming off a down season with the Yankees — his lone season in the Bronx. The former second-rounder and top prospect got out to a big start in his lone Yankees season, slashing .275/.362/.450 through his first 140 plate appearances. He tanked thereafter, posting just a .221/.270/.330 slash over his final 480 trips to the plate. Overall, he finished out the season with a .233/.291/.356 batting line — about 17% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+.
Ugly as those results were, they stand as something of an anomaly in contrast with the rest of Verdugo’s career. While he’s never broken out into stardom, Verdugo was a solid regular in the outfield corners from 2019-23, batting a combined .283/.338/.432 in 2448 plate appearances with the Dodgers and Red Sox from 2019-23. That’s “only” about six percent better than league average, but he coupled that production with quality corner outfield grades (per both Defensive Runs Saved and, to a lesser extent, Outs Above Average). Verdugo has never been a big power bat — he’s reached a career-high 13 home runs in three different seasons, including 2024 — but rarely strikes out (career 15.1%). He’s tied for fifth in the majors in doubles dating back to 2020.
Verdugo’s lack of over-the-fence pop and his middling finish to the 2024 season combine to drag down his earning power in free agency. Given his lackluster ’24 showing and his age, he seems likely to take a one-year deal and return to the market next winter, hopefully on the heels of a steadier and more productive performance. He’d still only be entering his age-30 season, an age at which plenty of outfielders find lucrative multi-year deals.
Bucs fans may be exhausted with the notion of one-year deals for veteran rebound candidates, but that’s the free-agent reality in which the team typically operates under current ownership. Verdugo would fit the bill and fill a position of need. As it stands, Pittsburgh’s outfield projects to include Bryan Reynolds, shortstop-turned-center-fielder Oneil Cruz and perhaps Joshua Palacios, though in-house options like Jack Suwinski and Billy Cook could get consideration this spring as well. Verdugo would more prominently step into an everyday role alongside Reynolds and Cruz.
As things stand, the Pirates’ projected payroll is a paltry $79MM, per RosterResource. That’s about $8MM south of last year’s $87MM mark. Having filled their first base need inexpensively via the Horwitz acquisition, there ought to be additional (albeit modest) spending power to bring an outfielder of Verdugo’s caliber into the fold and perhaps still add a free agent reliever to the mix. Earlier in the offseason, the Phillies signed Max Kepler to a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $10MM. Verdugo is younger but has less power and defensive upside; a contract in that general range seems possible, but he doesn’t seem likely to command more than that.
I like Verdugo, I don’t think he’s some amazing diamond in the rough, but I think he could get back to slightly above league productivity, be an $8M-$14M a year player.
I think a 1 year/$10M deal could be perfect for both player and club.
Here we go. Watch! Wherever he plays he’s going to not shave, and he’s gonna have a bat again like in Boston. They Yankees made him shave and he was playing like a bum.
Who is he Samson? His power comes from his cheesy beard?
What power ? That’s what never came around – on Verdugo, not Samson.
@mel Maybe Gilgamesh
He had a hand infection half the year. All his tats and his dyed batting gloves gave him painful blisters. He’s not my cup of tea but I could see him being a decent supporting player again.
He’s no way a 14 mill a year player anymore. He was when he left Boston. His stint in NY killed his earning potential. He has to take a season with a team like the pirates for under 8 mill and prove that bat and glove again. Then he can sign somewhere 2-3 years for 10-15mil per. But he HAS to hit .280 and has to hit HR’s again like in Boston.
I think, if Verdugo had had the same overall numbers he did in NY, but he hit about 40 points better, we’d be looking at like a 1.5 to 2.5 WAR player and he’d have been scooped up for like 3 years/$45M to 5 years/$80M- also lets be honest, if he’d hit about 3o to 50 points higher, he’d have, by virtue of getting a few extra hits, run into a few extra base hits, a few extra home runs, a few extra RBI’s- but of course that didn’t happen.
I know people say ‘batting average doesn’t matter’ but it absolutely does, depending on peripheral numbers.
Verdugo’s no Mookie Betts, but he ain’t a bad ballplayer.
He was bad in 2024. Was in a slump al season. Also know as just not hitting when it’s all season.
Reset your spellcheck, your 1.78iq is showing!
Pirates would be a great match, Dugie could excel away from the intensity of the big market east coast teams. I wish him the best!
Plus all the gold he’ll bring. Pirates love gold.
OBH – Post of the Day!
Love a good leprechaun joke on a cold winter’s day.
Aye, matey!
Gar.
BTW- the A’s are looking to add another $8M or maybe a tiny bit more and Verdugo is likely looking for a low profile 1 year deal to re-establish himself…. just saying!
“To reestablish himself”…”Doogie” wants to “reestablish” himself as a league average player, who’s been a league average player his whole career.
Verdugo is absolutely an above average player for his career- which is why he got called up, which is why he was always a high profile trade piece, etc.
Verdugo might not be a top tier player who was destined to make $20M-$40M a season and he’s had a couple rough years, but he isn’t certainly not at or below replacement level.
League Average implies about 1.0 WAR value year over year and Verdugo has provided quite a bit more than that, overall.
In a typical year, pro-rated out to a full 162 games, Verdugo’s general numbers indicate a 2.9 WAR.
Verdugo is a player who seems to do much better in smaller spurts and smaller sample sizes. He’s the kind of guy who will often ‘pace’ for like 5 or 6 WAR over a full season, but is only good for that over like 50-ish games.
But plenty of well paid “league average” players profile out like that.
He’s a league average bat with a career 101 OPS+ and wRC+. His value lies in his defense. C’mon… Volpe was “pacing” at 6 WAR to start last season. Verdugo is not a 5 WAR player. Any MLB players can get hot for a few weeks and “pace”.
He is a 2 war player with a career 101 ops+. The very definition of an avg everyday player.
Don’t understand why the Pirates don’t have to add payroll and the A’s do? Is it because their payroll was lower the past few years? Or did the Pirates get less in revenue money??
The Pirates’ 2024 payroll for luxury tax purposes (which is based on AAVs for extended contracts) was actually $123 million, so they are far above the A’s (~$79 million before recent signings) in terms of the payroll calculation. I’m not sure how much they received, but if it was $62 million or less, then they are compliant with the spending rules.
That’s just not a good way of looking at it
Luxory tax payroll is designed to round up across seasons so you can’t out-manuever it.
Pirates are doing the opposite, signing Chapman for 1 year 10 mil a year before Reynolds 10 mil raise kicks in , in no way represents 20 mil in yearly payroll
Bob I can’t just pass this by….where the hell did you get $123M? That’s fantasy.
The Marlins the other team that could be in hot water?
spotrac.com/mlb/tax/_/year/2024/sort/tax_total/dir…
Use 2024 on the pulldown
Thanks for the link!
Yes, it’s because the A’s has been really low for a few seasons.
You don’t have to understand. If there’s one thing Nutting cares about it’s making sure he is eligible to get those mlb checks.
I genuinely don’t understand how there’s any Pirates fans left. If they were my team in such a sports-rich city like they are, I’d be so checked out on their lack of effort. They have a beautiful stadium, loyal fans and the ownership doesn’t put forth any effort whatsoever.
I wish MLB would put in a rule that if your team doesn’t make the playoffs 7 years straight, the team goes up for sale automatically. It’d get these worthless owners out of the game. There’s not a team in the league that should be missing the playoffs for that long, let alone only making the playoffs a couple times in 30 years.
The MLB basically did to the A’s what you’d like them to do to the Pirates. But the Pirate occasionally sign guys to ‘big’ extensions (Hayes and Reynolds) which qualify as ‘big’ money; likely just enough to not be in violation of any kind of competitive efforts policies.
I’ve watched them my whole life and when they are good it’s so damn exciting. And seeing Cutch through his whole career has been a joy.
It really sucks how they operate and I wish they’d realize the urgency while they have the best young pitcher in the world, and a few others.
They aren’t that different from the Guardians, Rays, and A’s of the past, they are all cheap but million times smarter.
How would a team ever be built to compete if it’s management, scouting & minor leagues are reset every 7 years.
This seems like it would send the teams into a constant spin of being bad.
Reset? New ownership doesn’t mean everyone gets wiped out.
If a team can’t make the playoffs for 7 years, they are pathetic, and either the ownership is awful or whomever the ownership hired to run the team is awful. No team should ever have a 7 year playoff drought.
The teams currently that would be either in violation or close:
Angels
Pirates
Rockies
I think everyone would agree that all 3 of those teams have AWFUL ownership.
You’re naive if you don’t think a new owner is not going to bring in a new management staff which would result in a new org philosophy.
No, not everyone agrees with the narrative that people who don’t pay attention to the teams create as a shorthand. The issues are usually much more nuanced than the team isn’t trying.
So the Angels, Pirates and Rockies haven’t made the playoffs because they’ve been trying so hard but have had bad luck? Hmm
The Angels have spent $, but they spend it like fools. The Pirates and Rockies are just pathetic.
If a team can’t make the playoffs in 7 years, something is broken at the top.
Granted but lets play devil’s advocate. It’s really hard to compete with no salary cap and no salary floor. When you have 4-6 teams spending well over $200MM annually how can the lower level teams compete? 4 out of 5 teams in our division are spending less than before with the Cubs being the anomaly.
MLB structure wise is absolutely broken. There is no incentive to win if the “poor” teams are getting millions in revenue just be existing.
Let’s play your game. What can any of those teams do to GUARANTEE making the playoffs in the next 7 years?
Nobody is buying a team to have it taken away over something they can’t control.
Socialism for Billionaires.
Angels try really hard, they are most stupid.
Because of capitalism, MLB would have no authority over any decision for a team to be sold, as a result of a cheap owner
I do agree that the Bucs should be punished for not putting a competitive team on the field, I just don’t know what exactly can be done
Other than framing Nutting for some sort of crime, nothing.
Also the Marlins should have been punished in the past and never were and now their gm is openly mocking it. Making no attempt to field a real team this season.
MLB doesn’t need a rule, they need a Commissioner to kick out owners like this. They got rid of Frank McCourt in Los Angeles. Get rid of Bob Nutting. Force him out.
Unless Nutting is getting divorced and financial mismanagement is disclosed along with questions about the ability to financially support a MLB franchise arise, you’ll have to find a different path.
Nutting committed federal felony extortion against Gregory Polonco to get him to sign a contract. Karma achieved justice but Nutting still committed extortion.
There are lots of crimes they can find if MLB wanted to get rid of Nutting.
7 year rule would be a turnoff for buying a team. You could do everything right and just bad luck or tuff division could make you miss playoffs. Unlikely but possibly. It would happen at some point. As teams get intelligent people running them it will get harder for lesser markets to compete. Tampa Cleveland Milwaukee have just had smart management. If every team has that it’s incredibly difficult for 100m to compete with 200m 300m.
7 year rule is stupid. Owners won’t sign off on that because it could be a issue for any of them. Would turn off potential buyers of expansion teams which they would love to get their share of the fee. Better chance and better plan to have a minimum spending amount increase.
Really though it’s taken care of itself. Americans getting rid of cable got rid of the free $ teams received. Moving forward they will have to actually sell their product to make $. It’s be good or not make $.
The Commissioner is paid for by the owners.
He’s their representative
Why was Frank McCourt removed? The Dodgers were successful while he owned them and no worse then the previous half dozen years before he took over.
Go look it up.
Nutting is a bloodsucker.
I believe McCourt was using funds from his team to live beyond his means which is just mind blowing, and had to borrow money numerous times to make payroll?
They stopped McCourt from getting the TV contract. McCourt owned the Dodgers which includes Dodger Stadium. That’s called collateral. He did not own anything that every other owner does.
All public excuses but none have any merit. Why was McCourt really removed?
Sounds like the Padres debacle. They’re over the MLB debt ratio and majority owners suing each other. Just recently had to borrow $50M.
That’s a stupid rule cause it doesn’t guarantee any change whatsoever. The next ownership could come in and do exactly the same.
This feels like a Pirates kind of signing. Except Verdugo isn’t quite old or bad enough. So hey I guess that means things are looking up?!
I don’t think their fans should be frustrated if they sign him. He’s better than the other 3rd OF options they have and he has a solid track record. Would improve the offensive and defensive profile of the club.
“He’s better than the other”…Every little bit helps. “Doogie” is no superstar, but is definitely better than Pittsburgh’s other in-house options and upgrades them around the edges.
If he hits more to his career norms, his OBP will probably be the best on the team with only Reynolds really challenging him in that regard (and possibly Horwitz if he is for real). Verdugo could realistically operate as a top of the order hitter for this team.
With Horwitz appearing to be a solid 1B addition, they look like they can be an incrementally better team than last year. in a weak NL Central, that might be all they need tbh. The Skenes-Keller-Jones trio can totally carry the team…they just need to hit better. An offensive core of Reynolds, Bart, Horwitz, and Cruz with supporters in Cutch, Verdugo, Gonzales, and Hayes might just be enough.
Jack Suwinski is better. They just need to undo what they did to him last year. It was smart of them to recognize there was a complete player in him. Foolish to think they were capable of developing it.
But they should sign someone because I have zero confidence in them getting Jack back.
Jack is certainly more talented. But he was awful last year, and I’m not sure the Pirates will be able to get the best out of him.
Trading Hayes will be difficult. If he has a solid first half, they should probably flip him somewhere with the rebuilt value.
I also think he’d probably play better elsewhere. Pitt isn’t friendly to righties.
I hope so but he was bad last year. I thought BDLC would be better than the corpse of Suwinski but he was even worse.
How anyone could be interested in Verdugo, either on or off the field, is crazy.
That’s why Pittsburg is interested. Because no one else is.
“How anyone could be interested”..What team wouldn’t be interested in a league-average player with the moxie, swag and arrogance of a HOF bound superstar?
Pittsburgh loves former Yankees. It’s probably a one year deal and traded at the deadline
Trying to figure out which former Yanks went to the Pirates without using google. Right now I can say Santana and German being the most recent. Oh wait, IKF. Chapman.
Nevermind.
AJ and all their catchers from 2013 to 2018 are successful memorable ones. Just because NY didn’t know how to evaluate the catching position and Pirates will take any good arm that you pay enough of the salary.
Nutting will never add anything meaningful without subtraction! Gets old
What is really old and stinks out loud is the human filth who defend him.
Human filth? Really?
Yes, really.
Pure human filth.
That is who and what defend billionaires.
I mean, yeah. But this is a baseball team not a slumlord.
Or is he? snort
Is it? I mean most MLB teams in the Pirates situation are going to try and improve realizing the opportunity! Not the Pirates though. They happy collecting MLB welfare.
And if there is even one other team interested in him, why would Verdugo ever be interested in the Pirates? What a trash franchise this has become thanks to its owner
“why would Verdugo ever be interested in the Pirates”
A seven-figure contract to play in the major leagues, for one.
If he’s gonna get the same somewhere else, though
That was the point
It can be a big if. Look how long it took the Dbacks to sign Montgomery last season. And Brandon Belt never did sign.
There ya go. Why you think they are interested. They were interested in Winker until Mets became interested. I’m sure some other non sure thing playoff team is interested. But those teams don’t have much better playoff odds or deeper pockets.
I would like to be a fly on the wall when McCutchen confronts Verdugo in the dugout after not hustling out a grounder.
Dugie is a poor role model for young and upcoming players. Hide him away on the Angels or A’s where he can make believe that he’s all that and a bag of chips.
You kidding? Not running out grounders is a feature under Shelton’s leadership
Only guy they had that would say something was Santana. Why they didn’t bring him back. Lack of hustle and losing record have been very consistent under Williams Cherington Shelton.
@BeeCarbo
No thanks, we have a tidy young improving outfield. No clowns, please.
He’ll fit right in and find good friends in Cruz and Lazy Days Hayes. Jogging on ground balls, admiring fly balls that drop in for long singles….its the Pirates Way
Why is Hayes part of this? Lazy??? Are you sh’ting me?
You must not watch or go to games
And we’re talking before the back problems
Jogs out grounders, fly balls
Guess you didn’t see the sunflower seed incident.
Incredible
Cutch is a really good dude but he’s not run out grounders hundreds of times.
Yeah, it’s funny you say that. Agreed
I know he is supposed to provide “veteran leadership” but he’s never been the kind of guy like Stargell was or even more recently, Santana apparently was
Most veteran stars don’t run out grounders. I remember when the Braves had Chipper, Andruw, and Gary Sheffield all taking turns jogging down to first base.
Yep. And to be honest, in my late 30s, I’d get rained on instead of running into the house, cuz F that.
McCutchen isn’t confronting anyone.
Don’t think I would want him to “confront” anyone. Cutch is more the kind of leader who makes everyone feel comfortable and happy. That’s cool. I just don’t see him as a guy who’ll pull a young player aside to talk about professionalism
I honestly forgot he was a free agent.
His hand issues seem to be long term, especially if he is allergic to his tattoo ink as has been reported.
I have idea what you are talking about?
This report:
sports.yahoo.com/yankees-of-alex-verdugo-is-report…
He would be a great fit for the Pirates. He makes contact enough, draws enough walks, can play decently on defense, and is better than their current options.
They could offer him 1/10 or 2/18 maybe, probably on the 1 year they’d be able to flip him if they really wanted to as well.
They could, but Bob doesn’t like those multi year deals.
Or the 10m.
It was only a matter of time before you posted your disapproval of Parker and the HOF
You’re like a child who’s favorite record broke and rather than accepting the truth, you whine like a petulant 5 year old
the truth is that Parker deserved to be inducted into the Hall and I am not your buddy
In the words of the late Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?”
I get the Parker hate you read on occasion here. I don’t happen to agree with it though
The guy exhibited a nasty attitude at times and to me at least, wasn’t the clutch kind of hitter you’d hope for
But if you compare him and his numbers to other guys from the same general era, “tiki” (above) is off base
He’s a easy undeniable hall of famer with their rules and how they operate. Your issue should be with the hall and not Parker.
Their hall of fame is a absolute joke. That’s why I don’t pay any attention or recognize them. A bleacher report hall of fame would have the same amount of respect from me.
That’s what he gets for not running out balls or playing hard and having problems with his Managers
Verdugo had pain in his hands and elsewhere on his body due to an allergic reaction to a chemical in his tattoos. I think this contributed to his down year.
If that’s the case– doesn’t that make it a lifelong debilitating issue or are you saying what chemicals were there to leech into his system leeched to completion and he will not have those issues going forward?
That’s precisely the $10M one-year question that BC needs to know the answer.
Pirates need to trade for Heston Kjerstad, they have what Orioles need, pitching, Verduga is ok as a 4th outfielder at best, if he cannot hit in Yankee stadium he surely want hit in Pittsburgh. Go big or stand pat!
There’s a short porch in right field at PNC Park and as a left handed batter he should do well
Are you talking Verduga or Heston Kjerstad?
I doubt again if Verduga can hit better in Pittsburgh than Yankees stadium, one is a pitchers park one a hitters.
Kjerstad isn’t available since Santander is going bye bye.
Might as well just trade Skenes now and get it over with. Get a haul of Kjerstad, Mayo, and Westburg. Shoot for the moon
They’ll trade Skenes when the arbitration money gets to 8 figures….
Because you don’t want to win?
They can’t win as designed, angus. Skenes only has so many starts. Keller and Jones don’t approach his level. And truthfully, how is this team going to score runs? Hard to see them winning more than 70 or 72 games.
It’s early, though
And no, I don’t support the OP’s idea. LOL
They hung around until August with a crappy lineup, then the bullpen imploded and they had 3 reliable starters and it all fell apart.
The Orioles only trade their prospects for crappy pitching, like Trevor Rogers
Seems like a reasonable candidate. A 10m guarantee with team options is a route I would offer. Decent for both sides.
Id rather a more sure thing but still not unreasonable
Yeah, he was allergic to his tattoo and batting gloves with the yanks, i bet he will bounce back nexy year
I liked him but my biggest problem is that he should be better than he is, gleyber vibes with more effort on defense
The dodgers should sign him and complete the Mookie Betts trade full circle.
Still think they should trade for Taylor Ward. Include Ashcraft or one of their other multitude of good young pitchers. They need a right handed power hitter in that lineup. He would lengthen their lineup & he’s under control.
You’re making too much sense, Bucco. The guy had 24 homers last year and hit decently, I guess. And yes, they’d get him for cheap. You’d think it’s perfect recipe
I’d rather have a lefty bat but you can do a lot worse than Ward. But I doubt he approaches 30 dingers as a Buc.
At PNC, who can blame you?
But jeez, they need to do something
Agreed. But Bob won’t sign multi year free agents that are actually good and BC is reluctant to trade his young pitching.
So what can ya do?
As an Angels fan I would like that trade. As much as I like Ward we need prospects.
And he’s under club control for 2 years so the Pirates get good value.
Yes, agreed very much.
Doog it!
“the Pirates’ projected payroll is a paltry $79MM”
So the Athletics have to run a payroll of $105 million but the Pirates don’t?
How does this work?
The payroll will increase before the season starts. We still have to sign the veteran starting pitcher, one or two lefty relievers, and the obligatory glove first veteran outfielder who is a good mentor on the bench. You know, a Pillar type of guy who shouldn’t be in MLB going forward.
I’m really surprised the Blue Jays aren’t interested. They seem to be “in” on anyone that is a light hitter, but has reasonable defensive numbers.
He will end up being like every other player the Pirates were “interested” in last off season that ended up signing elsewhere
Power.
The 2015 Pirates had a record of 98-64 and ranked 11th in MLB in Runs Scored, but they were 23rd in HR, 21st in Slugging Percentage, and 26th in Isolated Power.
Pedro Alvarez led the team in HR with just 27.. Andrew McCutchen, who hit 23 HR, was the only other Pirate to hit more than 20.
So, how did the 2015 Pirates manage to rank 11th in Runs Scored?
They were 9th in MLB in on-base percentage.
The 2015 Pirates, who won 98 games, hit just 140 HR and had an isolated power (Slugging minus batting average) of .136.. The 2024 Pirates hit 160 HR and had an ISO of .137, but they were 26th in on-base percentage and 24th in run scored.
shows: not everythings about power, but simply getting on base and creating opputunites to score. Though I would be fine with a power centric offense, they are more fun for sure.
This news is from 4 days ago but never late than never I suppose.
Just a guy is something. Better than Palacios. The bats they needed they couldn’t afford to give up prospects and aren’t really worth 25m a year. Couldn’t afford to beat Cubs offer on Tucker. Winker seemed like a reasonable fit but if the Mets are interested in him no reason he would want to go to Pittsburg. The bat they need to be a serious contender that is available to them is Suwinski. Pretty much have to wish and hope they get Jack back.
If they sign him they need at least another RH option. Maybe Hays or a minor league deal for a Sheets
The RH option is probably Cook. Which is fine by me. But we need more power than Verdugo in RF imo….
Seems like I always hear that Pirates are interested in someone just before someone else signs them.
As predicted, Verdugo regressed at Yankee Stadium. He doesn’t lift the ball for HRs to short right field, and no longer has Fenway’s easy LF to hit at. He did seem to get along well with his teammates in NY and the glove was solid. Not sure the bat will bounce back. Needs a platoon partner.
Ward is my # 1 choice but Jesus Sanchez from the Marlins is second. Another young guy under control & he mashes. Third would be Adell or Winker. They need to do something !!!!
1. Rooker (Forget that now, plus it was only a dream.)
2.. Ward
3. Winker
4. Adell
5. Sanchez
————–
10. Verdugo – doesnt hustle
Christ, the Pirates owner sucks. He’s a billionaire, but the front office can only shop in the bargain bin, every year. I think Soto & Lindor alone make more than the entire Pirates roster. Embarrassment.
MwUhAhAhaW!i!i!
Bummer, Bob Veale has passed. Fond memories of watching him pitch.. Had a friend back then who would score Veale’s strikeouts as V instead of K
Take a look at Bob Veale’s statistics from the 1965 season.. He may have had the best year of any pitcher in Pirate history. He had a 2,11 FIP and 8.0 WAR. In all of MLB, only Sandy Koufax and Sam McDowell were better in 1965.
Send us your tired, your poor, your washed up masses, your slight of skill, your inexpensive.
The Pittsburgh Pirates
I wanted Verdugo extended after his first year with the RS. I have no idea how he derailed, though his attitude certainly didn’t help.
Pirates will be close but just miss out and many suckers will think it’s true, again.
Come on! “Ugly as those results were” isn’t proper English. You should know this as a professional writer, Adams. Grammar isn’t optional, nor is “as” to begin that sentence.