And during the holiday weekend...
- Steamer projections for 2019 are out (position players here; pitchers here). The Pirates have a handful of players rated between 2-4 WAR (good-to-solid players): Chris Archer, 3.8; Starling Marte, 3.4; Gregory Polanco & Fran Cervelli, 2.6; and Jamo at 2.5, with Corey Dickerson on the bubble at 1.9 WAR. Like last year, they still lack a go-to guy per the early projections.
- Mark Feinsand of MLB.com selected each team's top trade chip; for the Pirates, his opinion is that it's Fran Cervelli.
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| Any takers...? (photo Pittsburgh Pirates) |
- JJ Cooper of Baseball America looked at the 2018 Golden Glove winners to see how their leather played in the minors. Corey Dickerson and, oddly enough, the two second basemen, DJ Lemahieu and Ian Kinsler, were the only players who weren't noted for their defense while coming up. So there's hope for Adam Frazier, who, btw, had a +4 DRS last year.
- Craig Edwards of Fangraphs rates the farm systems by potential WAR based on player grades; the Bucs are quite middle-of-the-pack.
- Sheesh, another one: Pirates 18-year-old Dominican League RHP Cristian Charle was suspended for 72 games after testing positive for the PED Stanozolol. He was just signed in April, when he was 17.
- C Ryan Lavarnway signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. With Jake Stallings out of options and Jin-de Jhang now with the Giants, the Pirates may be in the market for a veteran depth guy to stash in AAA to mix in with Christian Kelley, Arden Pabst and Jackson Williams, who are next up.
- Be careful translating everything you read: All sorts of hot takes are out saying the Cubs are shopping Kris Bryant. What GM Theo Epstein really said was that nobody on the roster is untouchable, so while Bryant may be moved for any of several baseball reasons from budget to hole-patching, it's not as if he's being dangled.
- The Cincy Reds will celebrate their 150th anniversary by wearing 15 different throwback unis during the season.
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