And this week's stuff...
- The Pirates finalized the 40-man on Friday. IF Rodolfo Castro and RHP Max Kranick were added to the list; RHP Trevor Williams and UT José Osuna have been DFA'ed. The two adds are now safe from the Rule 5 draft; Joey O may be looking at an Asian gig and Willy was a non-tender candidate. The Pittsburgh 40-man, btw, is full now.
- Big Joe isn't the only Buc hurler drawing trade interest. Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets that Steven Brault is also a pretty shiny toy in the market. Jason Mackey of the Post Gazette adds Trevor Williams (now DFA'ed) and Chad Kuhl to that list.
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| Steven on the market? - Topps Total 2019 |
- Bucco prez Travis Williams told Alex Stumpf of DKSports that he “fully anticipates” Indianapolis, Altoona, Bradenton and Greensboro will be the Pirates’ minor-league affiliates in 2021.
- RHP Dovy Neverauskas signed with Hiroshima of the Japanese League (he was expected to hop the pond after being released) for $625K per Yahoo! Japan.
- RHP Parker Markel, who was with the Bucs in 2019 (0-1/5.71 in 15 outings), signed a minor league deal w/the Padres.
- Ex-Bucs 3B Aramis Ramirez and RHP AJ Burnett are on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, having spent the past five years as retirees. OF Barry Bonds is also on the ballot; he has two more years of eligibility. Results of the vote are released in late January.
5 comments:
Too bad about Williams. He was really good for about a year and a half, and pretty bad other than that run. Seems to be the case with most pitchers that it's not as much about whether they have the stuff to get major league hitters out, but rather how often they are healthy. Williams was obviously never the same after his injury.
Re: Jose Osuna, it would have been interesting to see what he could have done with 400 at bats and semi-regular playing time. If he had come up just a couple years earlier I think he would probably have become the regular 1B. I just hope he doesn't end up coming back to haunt us someday after somebody gives him a full time shot.
Otherwise, I'm not real sure what the new front office is trying to do here. There doesn't yet seem to be much of a discernible plan in place. Maybe they figure they should trade their current rotation now because they'll cost too much by the time the farm system starts graduating the next wave of position player prospects to the bigs? I guess if they want to blow it all up that's their prerogative, and it's not as though they are breaking up the '27 Yankees or even the Pirates' 3 year wildcard team. But if they go full on wrecking ball with what is not a very good squad to begin with, things could get pretty bad, pretty quickly.
Agreed about Osuna; he looks like one of those guys who needs regular at-bats to stay sharp. Willy was a good guy; maybe a clean slate will get him going again.
As far as future plans, looks a lot like youth will be served, so could be a long couple of seasons. The Pirates seem to have mastered keeping their young pitchers and young position guys out of sync. If 2021 is a normal season, maybe we'll get a clearer focus.
"The Pirates seem to have mastered keeping their young pitchers and young position guys out of sync." Yes, which is still another reason I am down on the Huntington Era. I know the front office only has so much control over such things, and obviously there are lots of other factors. Guys get hurt or flame out in the minors or what have you. But the best organizations seem to have more of their players maturing at the same time and thus have a better handle on roster and payroll dynamics. Which is also, I think, why the current GM looks as though he is ready to blow up whatever is left. Might as well reset the entire organizational clock in terms of the likely contract lifetime of the players in Pittsburgh.
PS Is Aramis Ramirez a Hall of Famer? I think a good case can be made that he is. 2,300 hits, 386 HR, 1,400 plus RBI...those are the best numbers for just about any 3B since Mike Schmidt and George Brett retired. Scott Rolen was really good but fell off because of his back, and I don't count Alex Rodriguez because he played half his career at short. A-Ram for Cooperstown? I know Ron Santo was better defensively, but A-Ram wasn't a butcher, and he has better counting stats than Santo did.
2020 was indeed a mulligan, Will, a completely lost year in most ways. Tuff to form a valid opinion on the new regime trying to tread water. As for A-Ram, he was a heckuva ballplayer and a HoF case can be made for him, but I think he's destined for the Hall of the Very Good.
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