Weekend Notes: Hot Stove; Off Season Sidebars; Minors In the News; Look Back at Cole Deal

Over the weekend:

• Three storylines to watch: Jacob Stallings, Adam Frazier and Jordy Mercer. Jake is out of options (he could declare for MiLB free agency, too), and the question is will the Bucs carry him on the active roster as insurance for an injury-bitten Fran Cervelli, who could then get some corner infield play. Fraze's status also may be up in the air pending Gregory Polanco's rehab. He's the likeliest in-house candidate to replace El Coffee if his recovery carries into the summer. The coin flip is do the Bucs want to take away Adam's reps at second, a position he's the front-runner for after his 2018 campaign, start Jordan Luplow, or look for a fourth OF'er/temp starter? And the written-off Mercer could be brought back as a mentor/bench piece if one of the Kevins is handed the SS spot. The position is relatively weak in the market place starter-wise, and Jordy may or may not find a sweet deal awaiting him in free agency, cracking the door to his return as a reserve.
• The first wisps of smoke from the Hot Stove are rising. The Yankees have said RHP Sonny Gray is on the block. The Pirates have been associated with efforts to land Gray as recently as last winter, he's still got two years of control, his splits away from Yankee Stadium are encouraging, and there is a history of deals between the Pirates and NYY. While Pittsburgh's rotation is full, there are still questions regarding depth, Joe Musgrove's injury and Ivan Nova's status. It's not a hot & heavy topic yet, but does bear watching.

A reminder that you play the whole City when you play Pittsburgh
via Arch, Big Joe & Jamo (photo mu59grove Instagram)

• MLB Pipeline named its Pirates prospects of the year. They're IF Kevin Kramer (.311/15 HR/59 RBI at Indy) and RHP Mitch Keller (12-4/3.48 w/Altoona & Indy).
• Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic has been covering bonus baby Ji-Hwan Bae's assault charges (story behind a paywall) in South Korea and writes: "Pirates minor league shortstop Ji-hwan Bae this week was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, and was fined by South Korean officials. It remains unclear whether Bae also will be disciplined by either the Pirates or MLB." Stay tuned for further developments...
• Indy's attendance dropped a little bit this year, but it was still the #2 crowd-pleaser in all of minor league baseball.
• Ken Davidoff of the NY Post looks in hindsight at the dynamics of the fizzled Gerrit Cole talks with the Yankees last offseason. The Bucs held out for Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar, which the Bronx Bombers felt was too dear a price. Nice look at a deal from the other side...