Offseason Outlook: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates had a Murphy’s Law season in 2019, finishing what they hoped would be a competitive campaign with a 69-93 record that landed them in the NL Central cellar. Thanks to their ever-present payroll issues, they’ll face several tough decisions this winter.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Gregory Polanco, OF: $22MM through 2021 (including buyout of 2022 option; contract also contains 2023 option)
- Felipe Vazquez, LHP: $13.5MM through 2021 (including buyout of 2022 options; contract also contains 2023 option)
Arbitration-Eligible Players (salary projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Keone Kela – $3.4MM projected salary
- Michael Feliz – $1.2MM
- Jameson Taillon – $2.3MM
- Elias Diaz – $1.4MM
- Chad Kuhl – $1.4MM
- Adam Frazier – $3.2MM
- Joe Musgrove – $3.4MM
- Josh Bell – $5.9MM
- Trevor Williams – $3.0MM
- Erik Gonzalez – $800K
Option Decisions
- Starling Marte, CF: $11.5MM club option with a $2MM buyout (contract also includes 2021 option)
- Chris Archer, RHP: $9MM club option with a $1.75MM buyout (contract also includes 2021 option)
Free Agents
Like more than one quarter of the teams in baseball, the Pirates’ offseason began with the search for a new manager. Clint Hurdle, just days after publicly stating that he’d been assured of his return in 2020, was fired with two years remaining on his contract. The Pirates, who haven’t been in the market for a new manager in a decade, have reportedly interviewed Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, Athletics bench coach Ryan Christensen and Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp — each of whom has managed in the minors but not the big leagues. Former Rangers manager Jeff Banister is reported to be under consideration, too, as are Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay, Diamondbacks director of player development Mike Bell and Astros bench coach Joe Espada.
A new team president will need to be brought into the fold as well following this week’s announcement that Frank Coonelly will depart after 13 seasons. That search won’t be as exhaustive, it seems, as the Bucs are reportedly set to name a replacement as soon as next Monday.
The departure of Hurdle came not only after another disappointing season in terms of wins and losses but on the heels of reported discord in the clubhouse. Kyle Crick injured his finger in a fistfight that broke out with closer Felipe Vazquez, but that was only the beginning of the team’s Vazquez troubles.
A bombshell report in September brought forth charges of statutory sexual assault of a minor against Vazquez. A criminal complaint released by Westmoreland County shortly thereafter revealed, even more abhorrently, that during conversations with the police, Vazquez admitted to prior sexual contact with the alleged victim — a minor. Precisely what will happen with the remaining $13.5MM he’s owed by the Pirates will depend on the course of criminal and immigration proceedings along with any ensuing league discipline. Whether or not the contract will be voided entirely isn’t known; what is clear is that Vazquez will not receive his salary while he’s not a member of the roster. Given what has been reported to this point, it’s difficult to imagine him pitching for the the Pirates again — or for any other MLB team.
The altercation between Crick and Vazquez wasn’t the only instance of a behind-the-scenes clubhouse problem in 2019, though. Setup man Keone Kela was suspended by the team after a reported altercation with bullpen coach Euclides Rojas. Kela had also previously butted heads with and been disciplined by the Rangers, who traded him to the Pirates in 2018. Still just 26 years old, Kela has struck out 30 percent of the hitters he has faced in the Majors and is clearly a high-end talent, but he’ll likely be on the trade block this winter. The Pirates, after all, also explored the possibility of moving him back in July. That series of off-field issues won’t do his trade value any favors, but Kela, who is entering his final season of club control, is an obvious change-of-scenery candidate.
As is typical with the low-budget Pirates, there will be more trade scenarios to explore, but the extent to which they’re motivated to make a deal is dependent on where ownership sets the payroll threshold. Pittsburgh opened 2019 with a meager $74.8MM on the books, and at present they’re projected to come in around $71.4MM (assuming no non-tenders and assuming the options of both Starling Marte and Chris Archer are exercised). Take away Vazquez’s $5.75MM salary but add in another $6-7MM to round out the roster with pre-arbitration players, and the Buccos are close to the payroll with which they opened last season after an 82-79 finish. Despite their dip in record, the Pirates did somehow manage to slightly outdraw their 2018 total of 1.464 million fans (1.491 million). However, they also still ranked 14th in 2019 National League attendance — ahead of only the Marlins.
Pittsburgh’s Opening Day payroll topped $90MM each season from 2015-17 before sliding to $86MM in 2018 and the aforementioned $74.8MM in 2019. Put another way, the Bucs can afford to increase payroll. Ownership’s willingness to do so in a season with diminished expectations of winning, however, is far from a given. So, if payroll is pared back further — or if a more long-term outlook is adopted after a 93-loss season — who could GM Neal Huntington look to move?
The Bucs reportedly aren’t shopping Marte, although even if they were, it wouldn’t behoove them to broadcast that intention. More importantly, they may not find a better time to move him. Marte still has two affordable years remaining on his contract at a time when it’s extremely difficult to see Pittsburgh contending in the NL Central and at a time when several hopeful contenders need center fielders. The Phillies, Braves, D-backs, Padres, Giants, White Sox and Rangers are all among the clubs who could realistically look for an impactful center fielder this winter. Philadelphia’s need is particularly glaring.
Despite a lack of certainty in the Pirates’ rotation — more on that later — it also strikes me as worth pondering whether the club will look to find a change of scenery for Archer as well. Selling low on a pitcher for whom they paid an exorbitant price in the first place would sting, but things haven’t panned out for Archer in Pittsburgh. The Pirates didn’t have success trying to push Archer back into throwing a two-seam fastball — a pitch he’d already abandoned once in his career — and they were unable to help him curb his home-run troubles even after kicking the two-seamer to the curb once again in mid-June.
However, after cutting bait on that lackluster sinker, Archer struck out a whopping 31.3 percent of the hitters he faced and induced swinging strikes at a 13.4 percent clip. Those are encouraging signs from a pitcher who also has above-average spin on his breaking ball, above-average velocity on his heater and two years and $20MM remaining on his contract. That’s an eminently affordable rate for most teams, but it’s perhaps more than the Pirates care to commit to a pitcher who now looks like a reclamation project after struggling to fit into Pittsburgh’s mold. Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows aren’t walking back through the door, but the Pirates could definitely still extract some value if Archer is shipped elsewhere. That the offseason trade market is light on intriguing pitchers only enhances Archer’s appeal.
The question for the Bucs would be what to target in these theoretical trade scenarios. Embarking on a full rebuild would mean simply prioritizing the best available young talent, but they haven’t indicated that they’ll be going down that road. In terms of immediate roster needs, the Pirates are largely set in the infield. Kevin Newman impressed at shortstop in his rookie season, Adam Frazier enjoyed a solid year and Josh Bell finally tapped into the power that made him such a touted prospect. Jacob Stallings had a terrific defensive year behind the plate but didn’t offer much offense. Fellow catcher Elias Diaz, who missed the beginning of the season due to a viral infection, had a lost year all around.
In the outfield, Bryan Reynolds — acquired in what was at the time an unpopular Andrew McCutchen trade — is going to garner Rookie of the Year consideration and looks like a potential long-term piece. Gregory Polanco’s first year back from shoulder surgery was a dud, but he’s signed for at least two more seasons and only a year removed from a solid 2018 showing.
The points of upgrade in the lineup seem clear: the Pirates could use help at third base, behind the plate and (if they trade Marte) at one outfield spot.
At the hot corner, Colin Moran has been serviceable but unspectacular when hitting against right-handed pitching and virtually unplayable against lefties in his career. He’s not a great defender, but Moran has yet to even reach arbitration eligibility, so he’ll be back as an option. The Pirates have top prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes, one of the game’s elite defensive prospects, looming in Triple-A. He could push for a big league roster spot by next summer, so a stopgap at third base or a platoon partner for Moran is all that’s really needed. That can be found in free agency (e.g. Logan Forsythe, Todd Frazier or Tim Beckham, assuming the latter is non-tendered).
In the outfield, the Pirates currently have Reynolds, Marte and Polanco, making them likelier to add depth pieces than a starting-caliber name — if they keep Marte. If he’s moved, the club could look to get a young outfielder back, but the free-agent market will also have ample corner options. Avisail Garcia and Kole Calhoun (assuming his option is bought out) could fit the bill, or the Pirates could simply re-sign Melky Cabrera, who was productive early in 2019 before his offense cratered later in the year.
Things are trickier behind the plate. Diaz looked like a potential option following a quietly productive 2018 campaign, but his illness-shortened season makes him more of a question mark. Stallings showed great defensive aptitude, but he’ll soon turn 30 and has just 282 MLB plate appearances under his belt. Catching help would be a logical area of focus in trades. Even if the Pirates hang onto their top chips, it should be addressed in free agency. Yasmani Grandal is going to be too expensive, but a second-tier option like Jason Castro, Travis d’Arnaud or Robinson Chirinos would likely fit into their price range.
The bigger questions for the Pirates come on the pitching staff. Jameson Taillon’s second career Tommy John surgery, paired with Archer’s struggles, was a massive blow to the Pirates’ 2020 hopes. Add in the fact that uber-prospect Mitch Keller was shelled in 48 MLB innings, and the rotation outlook is unexpectedly bleak. (To Keller’s credit, he was plagued by a ridiculous .475 average on balls in play and did rack up 65 strikeouts, so there’s cause for optimism moving forward.) The rest of Pittsburgh’s rotation includes team innings leader Joe Musgrove, who profiles as a mid-rotation arm, and two pitchers who posted ERAs north of 5.00 in 2019 (Trevor Williams and Steven Brault).
In the bullpen, things are similarly cloudy — particularly with Vazquez likely out of the picture and Kela standing out as a trade candidate. Richard Rodriguez and Michael Feliz turned in solid ERAs with more questionable secondary stats. The rest of the relief corps was a revolving door of shrug emojis. Pirates relievers ranked 23rd in the Majors in ERA, 22nd in FIP and 20th in xFIP as a collective unit in 2019, and that was with Vazquez and Kela combining for 89 2/3 innings. The incumbent group offers minimal hope for improvement.
Whether the Pirates move their most desirable assets now or reload and make another run in 2020, they’re going to need multiple arms added to the pitching staff, some catching help and some infield depth. If they keep Marte and Archer, they’ll likely be limited to low-cost fliers on rebound candidates, given that they’ll already be within $9MM of last year’s Opening Day payroll mark. If one or both of that pair is moved to another club, Pittsburgh could technically spend more aggressively, but the urgency to do so would be diminished, as dealing Marte and/or Archer would in many ways signal a step back.
Barring an unexpected payroll hike, the Pirates don’t look like major players in free agency (as usual). Contending in next year’s NL Central looks like a significant long shot, and the extent to which they believe that possible will have a direct impact on the future of players like Marte and Archer.
Pirates Outright Three Players
The Pirates have outrighted a trio of players, per the International League transactions page. Catcher Steven Baron and infielders Corban Joseph and Jake Elmore were all dropped from the Pittsburgh 40-man roster.
It’s not at all surprising to see this group of names exiting the premises. They’re all reliable hands to have around, but not valuable enough to hold a roster spot through the offseason. Each will have the right to elect free agency, though certainly a return to the Pirates organization can’t be ruled out.
The 28-year-old Baron has enjoyed three cups of coffee in the majors but doesn’t have anything approaching a statistically significant track record at the game’s highest level. The former first-rounder will surely take up another depth spot at Triple-A entering the 2020 campaign.
Joseph received brief time with three big-league clubs last year. He’s a three-year MLB vet but still hasn’t quite cracked the century mark in total plate appearances. Soon to turn 31, he’s a .294/.362/.457 hitter in 1,710 career trips to the dish at the Triple-A level.
Both of those players are on the same general track as the 32-year-old Elmore, who has circled the block a few more times but also will be viewed by the market as a depth option. He has appeared in over two hundred MLB contests over parts of six seasons, slashing a cumulative .215/.292/.275 over 527 plate appearances.
Pirates Interview Matt Quatraro, George Lombard
10:40am: Pittsburgh has also interviewed Dodgers first base, outfield and baserunning coach George Lombard, per SiriusXM’s Craig Mish (Twitter link). Lombard, 44, played parts of six seasons as an outfielder in the Majors and has been in his current role since 2015. He was briefly named the Braves’ minor league field coordinator before accepting his current post with the Dodgers and has also served as a minor league outfield coordinator, hitting coach and manager in the Red Sox organization.
10:04am: The Pirates have interviewed Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as part of their search for a new manager, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Quatraro has also reportedly interviewed with the Giants organization.
Quatraro, who’ll turn 46 next month, served as a minor league hitting coach, manager and hitting coordinator in the Rays’ system before being hired as the Indians’ assistant hitting coach in 2014. Tampa Bay hired him back and installed him as their third base coach a year later, and he ascended to his current position of bench coach once the Blue Jays hired Charlie Montoyo away from the Rays last winter. A former catcher who played parts of seven minor league seasons in the Rays organization, Quatraro has also worked as a catching instructor in the minors with Tampa Bay.
If Quatraro does land with the Pirates (or with the Giants), it’ll mark the third consecutive offseason in which the Rays have had at least one member of their coaching staff hired away by another organization. Manager Kevin Cash enjoyed three years of continuity from 2015-17 but has since seen Rocco Baldelli hired as the Twins’ new skipper in addition to Montoyo’s hiring in Toronto.
Quatraro joins a list of Pirates interviewees that includes Twins bench coach Derek Shelton (also a former Rays coach), Athletics bench coach Ryan Christenson and Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp (as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2020 managerial search tracker). Others rumored to be in consideration include Astros bench coach Joe Espada, D-backs director of player development Mike Bell, Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay and former Pirates bench coach/former Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who is currently a special assistant in the Pittsburgh front office.
Pirates Expected To Hire Travis Williams As Team President
Just hours after announcing the exit of Team President Frank Coonelly, the Pirates have reportedly identified new leadership. Travis Williams, former Chief Operating Officer for the crosstown Pittsburgh Penguins, will be named as Pittsburgh’s new prez within the next week, per a report from Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (link).
Williams has been working as the President of Business Operations for the NHL’s New York Islanders since last November, following eleven years spent working in the Penguins organization (including eight as the club’s COO). According to the Penguins’ website, Williams was chiefly involved with the oversight of “day-to-day business and arena operations”; Mackey indicates that the Pirates organization might expect their new President to focus more on similarly business-centric concerns, which would mark something of a departure from Coonelly’s active hand in day-to-day baseball operations.
Interestingly, Williams’ professional profile with the Penguins also included work as the team’s liaison with building manager (and entertainment monolith) AEG. Williams’ strong background in arena development and event operations could have been viewed as an asset in the eyes of Pirates owner Bob Nutting, who was reportedly dissatisfied with declining attendance under Coonelly’s watch.
Before entering the professional sports industry, Williams was partner at global law firm Reed Smith LLP. The Indianapolis native holds degrees from both Penn State and Duquesne. Mackey suspects that the team will withhold an announcement on Williams’ hiring until Monday.
Pirates Not Believed To Be Shopping Starling Marte
At the moment, the Pirates don’t appear intent on moving Starling Marté this offseason, reports MLB.com’s Adam Berry as part of a reader mailbag. In fact, Berry’s sources believe the standout center fielder will open next season in Pittsburgh.
Marté being marked off limits in trade would be quite the blow to those shopping for a center field upgrade in a very shallow market. The upcoming free agent class doesn’t boast an obvious everyday option to play up the middle on the grass. Brett Gardner and Avisaíl García are each coming off productive seasons in which they logged center field time, but each seems better suited to a corner. Jarrod Dyson and Billy Hamilton (whose team option is sure to be bought out by the Braves) are cleaner defensive fits but neither brings enough offensively to be a high-end option.
Turning to the trade market, Mookie Betts would be any contender’s dream, but it’s still unclear whether the Red Sox would actually move the franchise icon. Boston is more likely to shop Jackie Bradley, Jr., but he’s had three straight mediocre seasons at the plate. Marté, then, seemed to offer the best combination of production and realistic availability on the center field market.
Of course, as Berry notes, any inclination at this stage is hardly set in stone. The organization is looking for a new manager, for one, so perhaps the front office will only turn its attention to player transactions once their search for a clubhouse leader is complete. Berry stops short of calling Marté untouchable, and the organization would presumably listen if a caller bowled them over with an offer. Nothing on Marté is yet definitive, with Pittsburgh’s front office having been tight-lipped about everything since announcing their decision to fire manager Clint Hurdle.
To be honest, it would be quite surprising if Pittsburgh didn’t at least listen on Marté at some point this offseason. The Pirates completely melted down in the second half en route to an NL Central-worst 69-93 record, and there’s little reason to expect an immediate bounce back. Pittsburgh’s position players were below-average both offensively and defensively, per Fangraphs, while ace Jameson Taillon is already believed out for next season after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. Even if the club gets returns to peak form out of starting pitchers Trevor Williams and Chris Archer, it’s difficult to imagine them contending in 2020.
That becomes problematic with Marté’s control window dwindling. Surely, the club will exercise his $11.5MM team option for next year, and he has a similarly appealing $12.5MM option for 2021. While Berry notes it’s more in the organization’s M.O. to trade players before they enter their final season of club control, it seems wise for them to get a head start in Marté’s case. As mentioned, the center field market is extremely shallow this offseason. Holding Marté will only diminish his trade value as his team control shrinks. For all the club’s struggles, Marté was again productive, slashing .295/.342/.503 (119 wRC+) in 2019. In all likelihood, the 31 year-old is probably as good now as he’ll ever be moving forward.
All these factors combined to make Marté, on the surface, one of the offseason’s most obvious trade candidates. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd even identified some potential suitors. While hardly foreclosing the possibility of a deal, Berry’s report certainly adds an interesting wrinkle. How General Manager Neal Huntington and his front office choose to proceed with Marté will be among the top storylines of the Pirates’ winter.
Pirates, Team President Frank Coonelly Part Ways
The Pirates and Team President Frank Coonelly have mutually agreed to part ways, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (The organization has since announced the move). Coonelly, 59, had been with the organization since 2007. The club will name Coonelly’s replacement next Monday, adds Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). While Coonelly was responsible for the hiring of General Manager Neal Huntington just a month after the former came on board, Heyman adds that Huntington’s job remains safe.
Mackey reports that Pirates owner Bob Nutting was, unsurprisingly, significantly involved in today’s move. Nutting has become increasingly dissatisfied with the Pirates’ attendance, Mackey adds, although he also notes it difficult to gauge how much blame Coonelly should shoulder given the team’s underwhelming performance in recent seasons. Nutting himself, of course, has come under fire at times for the club’s payrolls, which consistently sit among the bottom third of the league.
This season was an unmitigated disaster for the organization. Not only did the team fall flat on the field, limping to a 69-93 record, it dealt with significant issues off it. Clubhouse discord bubbled to the surface and was leaked to the public, to say nothing of the heinous criminal acts allegedly committed by one of the organization’s highest-profile players. Coonelly certainly doesn’t deserve blame for all of the franchise’s woes, but it did seem that something of a house cleaning was in order, and Coonelly follows fired manager Clint Hurdle out the door.
It’s not yet clear what ramifications, if any, this will have on the Bucs’ baseball operations. 2020 could certainly be a make-or-break year for Huntington, at least. The organization is making changes both above and below him in the pecking order, so questions about his future as GM figure to persist in the coming months.
Position Players Recently Electing Free Agency
Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.
Here are the position players that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):
- Jim Adduci, OF, Cubs
- Aaron Altherr, OF, Mets
- Rob Brantly, C, Phillies
- Wilkin Castillo, C, Marlins
- Isaac Galloway, OF, Marlins
- Dustin Garneau, C, Athletics
- Juan Graterol, C, Reds
- Gorkys Hernandez, OF, Red Sox
- Oscar Hernandez, C, Red Sox
- Rafael Lopez, C, Braves
- Deven Marrero, INF, Marlins
- Peter O’Brien, OF, Marlins
- Jace Peterson, IF/OF, Orioles
- Yadiel Rivera, 3B, Marlins
- JB Shuck, OF, Pirates
- Jesus Sucre, C, Orioles
- Blake Swihart, C/OF, Diamondbacks
- Beau Taylor, C, Athletics
- Charlie Tilson, OF, White Sox
- Bobby Wilson, C, Tigers
Quick Hits: Minority Stakes, Pirates, Angels
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that MLB will now allow investment funds to take minority stakes in teams–a development which Ben Clemens dissects in a thoughtful piece for Fangraphs (link). The new policy is intended to address the fact that rising valuations of MLB franchises have made it increasingly difficult for limited partners (or minority owners, as they are often referred to) to find qualified buyers for their stakes when they feel the urge to sell. Essentially, as Clemens points out, it’s a rather tough proposition for a minority owner to find someone willing to pay upwards of $1BB just to own 49% or less of a team; the ability to have chief decision-making power over signings and team direction, in general, is likely a motivating factor in many franchise acquisitions. Allowing broader financial interests–which, though details on MLB’s new policy are sparse, could include pension funds, college endowments, or hedge funds–to purchase minority stakes should allow for current LPs to cash in on their franchise stakes more easily.
Clemens, however, foresees some problems in this road to greater liquidity. Primarily, investment funds are engineered to prioritize profit over all other considerations, with fiduciary duties to stakeholders and clients to secure maximum return on investments. Though professional sports franchises, too, care about maximizing profits, they are still, in the words of Clemens, “civic enterprises, competing for titles, and they care about winning for its own sake”. Potential conflicts of interest are obvious, but it is worth noting that there are already explicitly profit-motivated entities controlling major league teams, as seen with Liberty Media’s control over the Braves.
More notes from around the bigs with the sixth game of the ALCS underway…
- The Pirates are one of just three MLB teams to generate a cumulatively negative WAR rating from the pitchers they have drafted and developed over the past eight seasons–a fact that Rob Biertempfel turns a sour eye to in his piece for The Athletic (link). While poor trades, signing, and development have all played a role in the recently thin state of Pittsburgh pitching, the amateur draft, in Biertempfel’s estimation, is the fountainhead of GM Neal Huntington’s trouble. As the writer points out, the Rule IV draft is of critical importance to “small market” clubs like the Pirates, but the team has struggled to locate impact talent there in the last several years. Biertempfel, in a ten-year overview of Pirate drafts from 2008 to 2017, illustrates that Huntington has made some regrettable missteps in his time in the Pittsburgh war room. Notably, the club selected pitcher Brooks Pounders of the second round of the 2009 draft while Dallas Keuchel and Patrick Corbin were still available, and in 2012 the club failed to draft a single pitcher who would ultimately appear in a Pirates uniform.
- Like many other scribes in the baseball world, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins believes the Angels made the “perfect” managerial hire in bringing on Joe Maddon. As far as hot stove implications go, Jenkins speculates that the Maddon-led Angels will make an appealing destination for free agent Gerrit Cole and potential free agent Stephen Strasburg. Of course, the Angels may face some So Cal competition in the form of the Padres, who, if they decide to once again spend big on a free agent, could also offer comfortable confines for Cole (an Orange native) or Strasburg (a San Diego native).
Managerial/Coaching Notes: Openers, Pirates, Phillies
Though the opener concept is less than two years old, it is suddenly unsurprising to see not one, but both teams planning a bullpen day for game 6 of the ALCS. To see juggernauts like the Astros and Yankees turn to relievers to start a game this late in the postseason is a testament to how quickly the game of baseball can change, writes ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Whether this on-field evolution will change the free agent market remains a question, but the Rays acquisition of Nick Anderson at the trade deadline could point to changing valuations regarding relievers. That trade in particular had a lot of moving parts that make it anomalous, including Ryne Stanek‘s inclusion in Miami’s return and Jesus Sanchez‘s struggles in Triple-A prior to the trade. Still, the Marlins acquired a borderline top-50 prospect in exchange for a 29-year-old rookie reliever, and the Rays very well could end up with the better end of the deal. Anderson’s performance in the postseason (5 2/3 innings, 1 earned run, 5 hits, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks) goes a long way in explaining to the casual baseball fan why Anderson might be so highly valued. As we await the first-ever bullpen day in a league championship series, let’s see what else is going on around baseball…
- Astros bench coach Joe Espada surely has enough on his plate ahead of tonight’s game 6, but he’s a man in high demand. The Pirates have joined the list of teams interested in interviewing Espada for their managerial vacancy, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Espada has also received interest from the Giants and Cubs. The Cubs, for one, came away from their interview on Monday “exceptionally impressed” with Espada, per David Kaplan of NBC Sports Chicago (via Twitter).
- The Phillies still have a manager’s seat to fill, but they appear closer to hiring their next Amateur Scouting Director, per Jim Salisbury of NBCSPhilly (via Twitter). Brian Barber, the national crosschecker for the Yankees, appears to be their primary target. Former scouting director Johnny Almarez stepped down in September after serving in the role since October 2014, citing personal reasons.
Pirates’ Jason Martin Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
Pirates outfielder Jason Martin underwent surgery to address a left shoulder labral tear, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to report. Martin is likely in line for a four- to six-month recovery period, which could be cutting it close for the start of the 2020 season.
Next year will be the third in the Pittsburgh organization for Martin, whom the Pirates acquired from the Astros as part of the teams’ trade for right-hander Gerrit Cole in January 2018. As those who follow the game know, the Houston version of Cole has been a pitching demigod, someone who has a legitimate shot at a World Series title, AL Cy Young honors and a $200MM-plus payday in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, no one it received for Cole has come close to making a star-level impact. While righty Joe Musgrove has done respectable work from the Pirates’ rotation, third baseman Colin Moran has been merely a replacement-level performer, reliever Michael Feliz hasn’t developed into a late-game force and Martin has been almost nonexistent in the majors. An eighth-round pick of the Astros in 2013, Martin just wrapped up a difficult season divided between two levels. The 24-year-old hit .259/.312/.419 with eight home runs and nine stolen bases in 406 Triple-A plate appearances, leaving him with an 83 wRC+, and slashed .250/.325/.306 with a pair of steals in his first 40 PA in the bigs.
Despite his struggles in 2019, a healthy Martin could vie for a role next year in an outfield facing some uncertainty as the winter approaches. Rookie sensation Bryan Reynolds is sure to be back in 2020, while Gregory Polanco‘s set to return after an injury-wrecked campaign. On the other hand, Starling Marte looks like a trade candidate and Melky Cabrera is on his way to free agency.