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Bob Nutting Discusses Huntington, Hurdle, McCutchen, Pirates’ 2016 Performance

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Pirates owner Bob Nutting spoke to reporters, including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Biertempfel, Monday morning. Here’s some of what Nutting had to say.

  • Nutting says he is not overly concerned at this point about potential contract extensions for GM Neal Huntington or manager Clint Hurdle, although he adds that he considers them “tremendous talents” and says he’s “very comfortable” with them. Both are signed through 2017 with team options for 2018.
  • Pirates brass has previously offered praise for star outfielder Andrew McCutchen and expressed hope to keep him beyond his current contract (which runs through 2017 with a team option for 2018). Those statements of hope have been vague, however, and the Pirates’ trade talks involving McCutchen this past winter seem to indicate they aren’t planning on extending him — a decision that might be defensible given the Pirates’ apparently limited means and McCutchen’s advancing age and underwhelming 2016 season. Nutting’s comments about McCutchen today seem consistent with the Pirates’ recent approach. “I appreciate him. I could spend the rest of the morning saying nice things and wonderful anecdotes about Andrew,” Nutting says. “If there were a way to keep him, clearly it would be wonderful to see him in a Pirates uniform.” Via Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, however, Nutting added, “If we have the appropriate goal set of making the team better, doing what’s right for Pittsburgh, doing what’s right for the Pirates, then it allows you to make some tough decisions that you know are the right thing to do,” apparently in reference to McCutchen.
  • Nutting says he thought the Pirates’ disappointing 78-win performance in 2016 was due to underperformance rather than to the Bucs’ perennially modest payroll. “We ended up with the season we did (in 2016) because the team and organization underperformed the level of talent that we had,” he says. “I really think it’s far more execution than what we put together.”

NL Notes: Brewers, Pirates, Diamondbacks

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Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun revealed Saturday that he made one change to his no-trade clause during the offseason, though he didn’t offer details, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The only teams to which Braun couldn’t block a trade in 2016 were the Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Marlins and Padres. He nearly ended up with the Dodgers last August, of course, but the Brewers haven’t engaged in serious talks regarding Braun with LA or any other club since, according to Haudricourt. If the Brewers don’t deal Braun by May 24, he’ll gain 10-and-5 rights and have the ability to prevent Milwaukee from sending him to any of the majors’ other 29 teams. Nevertheless, the Brewers feel no urgency to move the longtime franchise cornerstone anytime soon. “He’s signed for four more years, and a lot of these players have a chance to be here for the same period of time, so this group is going to be together and he’s going to be one of them,” declared manager Craig Counsell. The 33-year-old Braun is still due $76MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2021.

More from the National League:

  • The myriad trade rumors centering on Pirates right fielder Andrew McCutchen during the winter were “more smoke than fire,” general manager Neal Huntington informed Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Even if that’s true, Stark is skeptical that the 30-year-old McCutchen will finish 2017 in a Pirates uniform. Huntington, though, hasn’t ruled out retaining the five-time All-Star until at least the expiration of his contract after the 2018 season. “Occasionally, we’ve traded a player like (Neil) Walker or (Mark) Melancon,” Huntington said. “So that’s become the narrative, that we’re always going to trade those players before their contract expires. But that’s just not the case.” McCutchen, for his part, felt “disrespected” at certain times during a down 2016, sources told Stark, but Huntington “would love him to be a Pirate for the rest of his life.” However, Huntington knows that finding “financial common ground” with the former center fielder will be challenging.
  • With a new front office in place, “there’s a sense of urgency” for the Diamondbacks to bounce back from a disastrous 2016 and break their five-year playoff drought, center fielder A.J. Pollock told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Pollock, who missed nearly all of 2016 after fracturing his right elbow April 1, has never reached the postseason and could be running out of chances to accomplish that feat with the D-backs. The 29-year-old is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2018 campaign, which would give him a max of two more seasons to get to the playoffs in Arizona if the team doesn’t re-sign him. He realizes, too, that GM Mike Hazen could decide to rebuild during that period if the club doesn’t show significant improvement this year. “You do think about it,” Pollock admitted. “A lot of guys – we’re talking about it. I think the best record I’ve been a part of on this team is 81-81. We really, really want to do well. We’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously.”
  • Jung Ho Kang’s legal troubles might affect how the Pirates deploy second baseman Josh Harrison this year, writes Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Harrison could go from the team’s top option at the keystone back to a utility role, which he had filled prior to last season, if Kang misses notable time on account of his third DUI arrest. Harrison is open to shifting around the diamond, telling Biertempfel: “Regardless of where I played last year, certain instances might call for me (to move). Who would I be to say, ‘No, I won’t go (to third)?'” Regarding Harrison, manager Clint Hurdle commented that there’s a “buy-in (to move) that’s real with him. I do think his versatility can help him.” Harrison batted a meager .283/.311/.388 last season, though the torn thumb ligament he suffered in 2015 may have contributed to his drop-off. “If it was cold or if I didn’t hit a ball right, just rolling over that joint sometimes would be painful enough to where I would know that it was still there,” said Harrison, who’s now healthy.

Central Notes: Arrieta, Nutting, Royals, Belisle

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Cubs hurler Jake Arrieta still expects to talk to the team about an extension before free agency and believes a deal is possible, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. However, Arrieta noted that extension talks aren’t his No. 1 priority as he focuses on his health and on the team’s chances of replicating last year’s World Series victory. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein, too, said he planned to meet with Arrieta’s agent, Scott Boras, but as Wittenmyer explains, an extension still feels like a long shot. Boras has already compared Arrieta to right-hander Max Scherzer, who signed a seven-year, $210MM contract with the Nationals two winters ago. Wittenmyer writes that the Cubs aren’t likely to be open to a mega-deal — Jon Lester is just two years into his own $155MM pact — which could lead to Arrieta landing elsewhere in the long run. For the time being, Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago tweeted yesterday that there are no talks scheduled between Boras and the Cubs.

Here’s more from the game’s central divisions:

  • Pirates owner Bob Nutting spoke with Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about a host of topics as he looks back on ten years in his current role. Nutting extolled the “transformation in every aspect of the organization” that has occurred in that time, describing the wide-ranging changes that have been undertaken. He also addressed concerns from some quarters with the team’s payroll, explaining that spending on MLB salaries isn’t the sole area where the organization is focused. “It’s how we’re drafting, it’s how we’re funding our international operations,” he said. “How we develop that talent, that broader picture of both investment in facilities, people and systems in our development system, which has completely transformed from what it had been and frankly what many other clubs are still doing. While the headline number of payroll is important, and we will invest there because we need to to win on the field, it’s also really important that that can’t be the sole metric that we use internally.” You’ll want to give the full interview a read to assess Nutting’s comments for yourself.
  • While the Royals traded away several pending free agents, the club kept several others and obviously signaled its intention to compete with its overall offseason approach. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports, Kansas City is still holding out the possibility of finding a way to keep one or more of its remaining players who’ll hit the open market after the 2017 season. Whether that could mean extension talks this spring isn’t clear, but it seems that the Royals will at least consider some kind of play for Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and/or Lorenzo Cain.
  • Righty reliever Matt Belisle landed with the Twins after a bounceback 2016 campaign, due in some part to lobbying efforts from a few noted former teammates. As Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press writes, LaTroy Hawkins and Michael Cuddyer didn’t exactly press the veteran to join the Minnesota organization, but their involvement in the process seemingly helped Belisle gain comfort with the idea of heading to the rebuilding club. “If Cuddy and LaTroy believed in it, I know I would too,” he explains.

Pirates Win Arbitration Hearing Against Tony Watson

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The Pirates have won their arbitration hearing against left-hander Tony Watson, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). As can be seen in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker, Watson had filed for a $6MM salary, while the Pirates filed at $5.6MM. He’ll receive the lesser of those two sums, which comes in about $300K shy of the projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Even with the loss, Watson still receives a healthy raise from last year’s $3.45MM salary.

The 31-year-old Watson stepped into the closer’s gig in Pittsburgh following the trade of Mark Melancon last summer and is the early favorite to reprise that role in 2017. He’s coming off a season in which he saved 15 games and logged a 3.06 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 67 2/3 innings out of manager Clint Hurdle’s bullpen.

Watson didn’t debut in the Majors until his age-26 season, but he quickly established himself as a quality bullpen arm. Since that time, he’s somewhat quietly emerged as one of the more successful setup men in the National League, pitching to an outstanding 2.22 ERA over the life of 292 innings in the past four seasons. Since the 2013 season, no reliever in Major League Baseball has thrown more regular-season innings than Watson’s 292, and no one has topped his 120 holds, either.

One more strong showing for Watson this coming season would be of particular importance for the southpaw, as he’s slated to hit free agency next winter. A strong performance could also make Watson a midseason trade candidate whether the Pirates contend or not, as was the case with Melancon a year ago. Pittsburgh assuredly won’t make a qualifying offer to Watson following the 2017 campaign, so moving him prior to this summer’s non-waiver trade deadline would be their only means of receiving some form of compensation for Watson’s potential departure.

The left-hander was reportedly available this offseason and had his name surface in trade rumors at times. A move this close to the season seems decidedly unlikely, though the Bucs reportedly aren’t completely closed off to the notion of moving veterans this spring.

Reds Claim Nefi Ogando

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The Reds have claimed righty Nefi Ogando off waivers from the Pirates, according to Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). He follows Lisalverto Bonilla in moving from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati via the waiver wire.

Ogando, 27, already swapped jerseys earlier this winter (on paper, at least) when the Pirates grabbed him from the Marlins in another waiver move. Now, he’s on the move to the Bucs’ NL Central rivals, who are obviously still looking to bolster their relief ranks after the unit turned in an unsightly overall effort in 2017.

The righty brings a big fastball and has shown strong groundball results in his limited time in the majors, though he has recorded just ten strikeouts against ten walks over his 19 2/3 MLB frames. Over his 52 2/3 innings at the highest level of the minors, Ogando owns a 3.08 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.

 

Reds Claim Lisalverto Bonilla

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The Reds announced on Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Lisalverto Bonilla off waivers from the division-rival Pirates. The 26-year-old Bonilla had been designated for assignment in Pittsburgh last week after the Bucs acquired righty Pat Light from the Twins.

The 26-year-old Bonilla made his big league debut with the Rangers back in 2014 but missed the 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery. Once a fairly well-regarded prospect in the Phillies and Rangers organizations — the Rangers picked him up from Philadelphia in the trade that sent infielder Michael Young to the Phils — Bonilla spent the 2016 season working his way back to health in the Dodgers’ organization. In 111 innings split between the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers, Bonilla logged a 3.97 earned run average with a 118-to-40 K/BB ratio. In his brief big league stint with Texas back in 2014, Bonilla pitched to a 3.05 ERA and a 17-to-12 K/BB ratio in 20 2/3 innings. The Bucs had signed Bonilla to a Major League deal earlier this offseason.

Pirates Still Willing To Trade Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison

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Pirates general manager Neal Huntington put both right fielder Andrew McCutchen and infielder Josh Harrison on the block earlier this offseason, though he wasn’t able to find a palatable deal for either. With spring training approaching, Huntington remains willing to trade either player, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

After he couldn’t secure a taker for McCutchen at the Winter Meetings in December, Huntington declared that the five-time All-Star would likely continue in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have since decided to shift the longtime center fielder to right, where he’ll attempt to bounce back from a highly disappointing 2016 in which his production declined in the field, at the plate and on the base paths. McCutchen was his typical durable self, having eclipsed the 150-game plateau for the sixth time in seven full seasons, but he logged a career-low fWAR (0.7) across 675 plate appearances. That mostly came on account of mixing a slightly above-average batting line (.256/.336/.430) with a major league-worst minus-28 Defensive Runs Saved.

Despite his stunning drop-off last season, McCutchen still comes with a relatively appealing contract. The 2013 NL MVP has two years and $28.5MM left on his deal, including a $14.5MM club option for 2018. However, the 30-year-old has highly rated outfield prospect Austin Meadows pushing for a spot behind him in Pittsburgh. Baseball America, ESPN’s Keith Law and MLB.com all regard the 21-year-old Meadows as one of the game’s 10 best prospects, and it stands to reason he’s not going to knock either of McCutchen’s fellow starting outfielders, Starling Marte or Gregory Polanco, out of the organization. Marte and Polanco, after all, are younger than McCutchen and under team control at eminently affordable prices through 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Harrison, meanwhile, is controllable for up to four more seasons – including two club options – at a maximum of $39.5MM. Like McCutchen, Harrison endured a rough 2016; unlike McCutchen, though, Harrison doesn’t carry a star-caliber track record, which has surely made it that much more difficult for Huntington to find a quality return for him. Since he earned his lone All-Star nod in 2014 and then inked an extension the next spring, Harrison has slashed a mediocre .285/.318/.389 over 971 trips to the plate. Harrison, to his credit, put up a career-high 19 steals and registered a plus DRS (eight) in 1,077 innings at second base in 2016. Nevertheless, thanks largely to a subpar .283/.311/.388 batting line in 522 PAs, he accounted for a below-average 1.5 fWAR.

Huntington tried in November to jettison Harrison in order to re-sign then-free agent Sean Rodriguez, and failing to do so led Rodriguez to join the Braves. Now, barring a late-winter deal, the 30-year-old Harrison will start 2017 at the keystone in Pittsburgh. It seems an ideal scenario for the club would include dealing him and opening up an everyday job for utilityman Adam Frazier. The 25-year-old impressed as a rookie last season, as he hit .301/.356/.411 in 160 PAs and totaled double-digit appearances at second, left field and right field, and Huntington took notice.

“We believe [Frazier] will evolve into a very versatile defensive player who can swing the bat,” Huntington told Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month. “We also see a role in which he progresses into a regular, where he takes a position, grabs hold and never let’s go. It’s just we have somebody in front of him right now in some places. His opportunity is going to be to bounce around the field and do what he does well.”

Elsewhere on Pittsburgh’s roster, if Rule 5 pick Tyler Webb makes the team, it could could lead Huntington to trade either Tony Watson or Antonio Bastardo, writes Biertempfel. Webb, Watson, Bastardo and Felipe Rivero would give the Pirates four left-handed relievers. While both Watson and Bastardo have come up in trade rumors this offseason, the former would clearly warrant a greater return. Watson last year wasn’t as effective as he had been from 2013-15, as his 4.37 FIP paled in comparison to the combined 2.92 figure he recorded over the previous three years. On the plus side, the former setup man and current closer did exceed the 65-inning mark for the fourth straight season and post a 3.06 ERA. He’s also set to rake in an a reasonable salary in the $6MM neighborhood in 2017, which is his final season of team control. Bastardo is entering a contract year, too, but the Pirates’ reported willingness to eat some of the $6.5MM he’s owed hasn’t paved the way for a trade.

NL Central Notes: Lorenzen, Kang, Gosselin, Cardinals, Gonzales

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Reds righty Michael Lorenzen’s August 19 home run soon after the death of his father Clif was the most notable highlight of the team’s season. But Lorenzen’s father was troubled by substance abuse, and their relationship was complex, as the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Zach Buchanan writes in a long piece about what that home run meant. After Lorenzen’s father left when he was 12, Lorenzen began getting into trouble himself, and his older brother, Jonathan, had his own pro baseball career derailed when the Dodgers released him after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl at their Spring Training site. Michael Lorenzen cites finding faith as a teenager as a turning point in his life. Now, Lorenzen looks back at his home run — which came in the seventh inning of a 9-2 win against the Dodgers — as evidence that his father’s death had a purpose, as he frequently receives messages from fans telling him that moment was an inspiration to them. Here’s more from the NL Central.

  • The Pirates expect that third baseman Jung Ho Kang will not attempt to move his February 22 court date in South Korea and will therefore miss the beginning of Spring Training, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. The Bucs’ acquisition of fellow infielder Phil Gosselin from the Diamondbacks on Friday was made with the expectation that Kang would be out indefinitely as he faces trial for driving drunk and leaving the scene of a DUI crash. Kang’s arrest in early December was his third DUI arrest in South Korea. The Gosselin trade “does serve as insurance (for Kang’s absence) if needed,” says Pirates GM Neal Huntington. “But we also have been looking for an extra right-handed hitter, and Gosselin is a guy who can play multiple positions.”
  • Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is unimpressed by Baseball Prospectus’ recent PECOTA projection that his team would finish a disappointing 76-86 this season, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “That’s unbelievable. Yeah, I saw it. I hope the guys saw it, too,” Matheny says. “I just want to make sure our guys take a good look around and see what we really are and what we have. We’ve got guys who are motivated. Guys have an edge as to how it finished last year. We’ve got the makings of a fun, fun season.” Matheny says his team will pay increased attention to defensive coaching in Spring Training this year, and it seems part of his plan for improving in 2017 will be getting better defensive performances from his infielders. He notes that many of his infielders (such as Aledmys Diaz and Kolten Wong) enter the upcoming season with what could be valuable extra years of experience, and points out that other players, such as Jedd Gyorko and Randal Grichuk, played positions last season at which they had limited big-league experience. Gyorko could return to a roving role this year. The offseason signing of Dexter Fowler will bump Grichuk back to a corner outfield spot.
  • Cardinals lefty Marco Gonzales threw from a mound on Friday for the first time in almost a year, Hummel also notes. Gonzales had Tommy John surgery in April and also missed much of the 2015 season due to injury. The former first-round draft pick hopes to pitch in game action by May. That timeline (which presumably would include a rehab assignment) would have him back on an active roster (whether that’s in Triple-A Memphis or in St. Louis) by early summer.

Pirates Acquire Phil Gosselin, Designate Nefi Ogando For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve traded recently designated infielder Phil Gosselin to the Pirates in exchange for minor league righty Frank Duncan. Right-hander Nefi Ogando has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster, the Pirates announced. (Gosselin was designated for assignment earlier in the week when the D-backs signed Daniel Descalso to a one-year deal with a club option for 2018.)

The 28-year-old Gosselin originally came up with the Braves back in 2013, but he’s spent the majority of the past two seasons with the Diamondbacks. Primarily a second baseman, Gosselin batted .283/.338/.409 in 316 plate appearances with the D-backs over the past two seasons and is a .283/.331/.385 hitter in 501 Major League plate appearances.

Gosselin grades out as a fairly solid second baseman from a defensive standpoint, though despite the fact that it’s been his most frequent position in the Majors, he’s still logged only 487 innings there. He’s also spent some time at shortstop, third base, first base and in the outfield corners as a Major Leaguer.

Gosselin should get a chance to make the Pirates’ roster out of Spring Training, though he could vying for the same utility infield job as the out-of-options Alen Hanson. Hanson’s status could complicate matters for Gosselin, as he still has two minor league options remaining and wouldn’t need to be exposed to waivers in order to be sent down. Even if Gosselin isn’t a fixture on the roster in 2017, the Bucs have the ability to control him through at least the 2020 season, as he has just two years, 85 days of Major League service time to this point in his career.

Duncan, 25, reached Triple-A for the first time in 2016 and posted a combined 2.34 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 55.7 percent ground-ball rate between Double-A and Triple-A. Despite those gaudy numbers, Duncan drew a somewhat lukewarm review from Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen in his review of the Pirates’ farm system. Longenhagen noted that Duncan “fills the zone and eats innings, but his stuff (sinker in the upper-80s, fringe-average breaking ball, below-average changeup) is that of an up-and-down arm more than a big-league mainstay.”

Losing his spot on the roster as a result of this move is the 27-year-old Ogando, whom Pittsburgh claimed off waivers from the Marlins back on Dec. 23. There’s plenty to like about Ogando, who has averaged better than 95 mph on his fastball and induced grounders on 57.6 percent of the balls put into play against him in his brief MLB sample of work (19 2/3 innings, 3.66 ERA). However, despite Ogando’s ability to overpower hitters with his fastball, he’s fanned just 10 hitters in the Majors to go along with 10 walks.

A look at Ogando’s minor league production reveals a similar tale; though he throws in the mid- to upper-90s, he’s averaged 7.4 K/9 in his minor league career and just 7.0 per nine in Triple-A. Walks have been a persistent issue for him in the minors as well, as he’s consistently averaged between four and five walks per nine innings pitched. Ogando has changed hands on waivers three times in the past 14 months, going from Philadelphia to Miami to Pittsburgh, so it’s possible that another club will want to try its hand at harnessing his intriguing velocity.

NL Central Notes: Arb Cases, Kang, Bailey, Hammel, Cubs

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Though the Brewers and righty Chase Anderson participated in an arbitration hearing on Monday, they’ll have to wait a while longer to learn the results. As the Associated Press reports (via USA Today), MLB and the player’s union agreed to request that all first-year arb-eligible starters have their cases heard (or otherwise reach agreement) before any decisions are issued. Other effected players and teams include Michael Wacha of the Cardinals, Collin McHugh of the Astros, Jake Odorizzi of the Rays, Marcus Stroman of the Blue Jays, and Taijuan Walker of the Diamondbacks. The filing gaps in these cases are relatively narrow — McHugh’s case has the most at stake ($3.85MM versus $3.35MM) — but the decision will ensure that one case isn’t able to influence the others. In Anderson’s case, the panel is deciding between his $2.85MM submission and Milwaukee’s $2.45MM counter. You can find all of the filing figures and settlement amounts for this year’s arb class right here.

Here’s the latest out of the NL Central…

  • Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang will stand trial on DUI charges on February 22nd, Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap reports. That’s after the start of Pittsburgh’s spring camp, though it seems the trial itself won’t pose any major limitations on his availability. There are much broader concerns here, of course. Kang is obviously in need of a reevaluation of his decisionmaking — it’s his third such arrest — and it remains to be seen what kind of disciplinary and/or remedial action he might face from the court (if not also the commissioner’s office).
  • The latest surgery for Reds righty Homer Bailey represents yet another setback, but won’t necessarily force the club to make a 40-man roster move, as Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Referencing the team’s group of young rotation candidates, president of baseball operations Dick Williams said that “there will be an opportunity for the guys who are coming to assert themselves.” At the same time, the Reds will likely “at least look around to see if there are some options” available to bolster their depth.
  • The Cubs thought they were doing Jason Hammel a favor when they declined his $12MM option in November, thereby enabling him to reach free agency, but it ended up hurting the right-hander’s value, writes ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required). Hammel agreed to a two-year, $16MM deal with the Royals on Sunday, though it took nearly three months for him to find a job despite being one of the most accomplished starters available in a weak class of free agents. Rival teams inferred from the Cubs’ decision that the Theo Epstein-led franchise didn’t think Hammel was good enough to crack their rotation going forward, Olney suggests, and late-season elbow tightness didn’t help matters. The 34-year-old Hammel didn’t pitch past Sept. 24 — when he allowed six earned runs in a 2 1/3-inning start — meaning he missed the Cubs’ run to the World Series.
  • Meanwhile, Cubs senior VP of player development and amateur scouting Jason McLeod spoke recently about the state of the arms on the Chicago farm, as Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago reports. While the club lacks “impact starters at the upper levels,” he notes, there’s optimism more broadly. “We now feel really good, not just with the depth of the organization but having some major league starting impact guys who are at the the A-ball level and progressing toward Double-A now,” said McLeod, who also discussed the team’s hopes for just-acquired righty Eddie Butler.
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