It goes on...
- The Pirates pulled the trigger on a Big Joe Musgrove swap, and of course San Diego...The Bucs got CF Hudson Head with RHPs David Bednar, Omar Cruz and Drake Fellows from the Padres along with C Endy Rodriguez from Mets (NY received LHP Joey Lucchesi from SD). Musgrove, 28, turned the corner during the 2020 campaign (1-5 but with a 3.86 ERA & 12.5 K per nine), still had two years of team control and the added plus of returning to his hometown. Head, 19, and Rodriguez, 20, are the top rated kids coming back in return, while reliever Bednar (who went to Mars HS) has been up-and-down with the big club as the tear down/rebuild moved forward. Josh Norris and Kyle Glaser of Baseball America have a scouting report of all the guys involved. As a final note, here's Joe's parting message to the Famalee.
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| We'll miss Big Joe - photo Pittsburgh Pirates |
- Bucco members of BA's Top 100 Prospects (behind a paywall): #15: 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes; #50: SS Oneil Cruz; #51: 2B Nick Gonzales and #58: RHP Quinn Priester. Quinn is a newcomer to the list. On the other side of the pillow, Baseball Prospectus just recognized a pair in their Top 101: #7: Ke’Bryan Hayes and #39: Nick Gonzales (also behind a paywall).
- Mason Martin squeaked into MLB Pipeline's Top 10 1B Prospects, a spot the Pirates are pretty thin at right now. They cite his power as his top tool.
- The Pirates hired Phils' minor league coach Christian Marrero as Assistant Hitting Coach. He replaces Mike Rabelo, who became the Bucs Major League Field Coordinator.
- RHP Yacksel Rios signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays with a camp invite. The 27-year-old slashed 1-0/6.28 in 13 2019-20 outings with the Bucs.
- Ex-Pirate LHP JA Happ signed a one-year deal with the Twins.
- RIP to one of the indisputable great players and gentlemen of the game, Hank Aaron. Hammering Hank passed away at age 86
Took a look at the return for Musgrove. An interesting mix. I probably like the young lefthander the most, though the 19 year old OF is generally considered to be the best player of the 5. The other pitchers are fringe guys, I think. The catcher is toolsy but raw.
ReplyDeleteAll in all it reminds me of the Jason Bay deal, which really should have turned out a lot better than it did. Sadly, two of those players had significant physical problems, though one of them (the OF who had 2 or 3 decent years for Oakland later on) managed to right the ship. Just not in a Pittsburgh uniform.
This trade looks like less of a gamble than the Bay version of established younger veteran for prospects, if still nothing that really makes you sit up and take notice.
We'll see, Will. Can't really evaluate these pups-for-vet deals until a bit further down the road. I'd like to see Rodriguez pan out and Head fills a hole, so at least they're smoothing out the system.
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