Twixt draft signings and trade deadline...
Notes:
- RHP Nick Mears and RHP Max Kranick were recalled from Indy while RHP Chase De Jong (knee inflammation after being hit by a comeback liner Monday) was placed on the 10-day IL on Tuesday. For Kranick, it was a double bonus - he got the starting nod Wednesday, his 24th b-day. The glow didn't last long for Max; he was sent back to Indy on Friday as RHP Luis Oviedo finished his rehab assignment and was taken off the IL.
- The Pirates bought 28-year-old LHP Dillon Peters from the Los Angeles Angels and assigned him Indy. To make room on the 40-man roster for Peters, RHP Kyle Crick has been DFA'ed. Peters, a AAA starter, had been DFA'ed by the Halos and for Crick, his inconsistency here finally cost him.
- This has been an abnormally quiet trade period; the only Bucco rumor with legs seems to involve Seattle, which has a highly regarded minor league stockpile, sniffing around Adam Frazier. So far, no other leaks have been forthcoming, just a lot of "this team is a match for..." speculation.
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| Big John - Pirates image |
- The Big John Nogowski saga continues: he hit his first MLB homer Tuesday.
- The Pirates were swept by the worst team in baseball, Arizona, and then turned around and beat the team with the best record, the Giants. A couple of notes from that win: the Pirates scored three times in the seventh without a hit (three walks, fielders choice, error and Fraze mad dash); it was payback time as ex-Giant prospect Bryan Reynolds homered and ex-Bucco prospect Alex Dickerson did the same, and finally, the Bucs are 18-8 in their last 26 games in San Francisco.
- Steve Brault went 12 up, 12 down for Indy during his Friday rehab start with six K on 58 pitches.
- 1B Colin Moran (hand) is starting to take swings while LHP Steven Brault (lat strain) is slated for at least one more rehab start before returning. LF Ka'ai Tom aggravated his back injury while IF Erik Gonzalez (oblique) is ahead of schedule in his recovery. RHP Trevor Cahill (calf) is throwing BP and LHP Sam Howard (knee tendinitis) is tossing on flat ground. In the minors, SS Oneil Cruz (elbow) isn't throwing yet, so that bears watching.
- Cole Tucker, getting a shot in the OF at Indy, injured his thumb during a diving play on a ball; no word on the severity yet.
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| Anthony Solometo is signed, sealed & delivered - photo Pirates |
- Prep LHP Anthony Solometo, the Pirates second round pick in the draft, signed his contract on Tuesday. The bonus was reportedly $2.8M; his slot value is $1,999,300.
- The Bucs signed Clemson commit and third round pick RHP/SS Bubba Chandler to a $3M contract ($870,700 slot value), so they're not stinting on the bonuses this draft.
- C Wyatt Hendrie, a converted OF taken on the seventh round from San Diego State, agreed to a $177,500 deal; his slot value is $244,900. With this pick, the Bucs continue to deepen a thin catcher's roster within the organization while saving a couple of bucks.
- Eighth round selection, Cal RHP Sean Sullivan, signed for $175K; his slot value is $192,900.
- SS Brenden Dixon signed for his max, $125,000. He's a Texas CC product taken in the 20th round.
- OF Starling Marte, who is in his walk year, is likely to be on the move soon after rejecting the Marlin's three-year/$30M contract offer. He also was reported to be involved in a "confrontation" with OF Monte Harrison, so it's not been real smooth sailing in Miami lately.
- The Cleveland Indians will scrap Chief Wahoo and become the Cleveland Guardians next year. the name inspired by some local historic statues. It will be the Cleve's fifth nickname, following the Blues, Broncos, Naps and Indians.
- RHP Will Bednar, David's bro and a Mars HS grad, signed with the Giants for $3.6M.
7 comments:
Kyle Crick did some good work for the Bucs' bullpen, but as you say, has been inconsistent in recent seasons. Even so, getting some mileage out of him for a couple of years while also landing Bryan Reynolds was a pretty good return for Andrew McCutchen. Granted, no one could know if McCutchen's career fade, which had just started at the time he was traded, would continue or not. But in retrospect, that was surely one of Neil Huntington's best trades.
Re: John Nogowski, I went back over his professional career, and he seems to be a guy who just kinda fell through the cracks. Partly this was because he was stuck behind Paul Goldschmidt in St. Louis (very much like another late bloomer 1B, Garrett "G.I." Jones). And partly because while he was pretty consistent, he never really wowed you with his stats while he was coming up through the minors. Even so, he did most of his best work at double-A and triple-A, meaning he didn't plateau or fall back from the pack as he got to the upper minors, and his 2019 season really was pretty good. He hit .295/15/75 in just under 400 at bats. All in all I don't think he has prototypical power for the position, but hey, I'd take .280 with 15-20 HR, more walks than strikeouts, and a reliable glove from my starting first baseman until and unless I got somebody better. I think that's a not-unreasonable description of what we might expect from him in a full season. If Nogowski keeps it up that would appear to be the handwriting on the wall for Redbeard, though he has a reasonably productive track record and it's way early to be making any kind of call on Nogowski's likely career path.
Reynolds was a good get, Will - he and Ke'Bryan I think are the only two untouchables and I'd like to see them extended. I kinda wonder if Crick was a sticky stuff guy; I haven't seen much of him lately to see if his stuff was any different. It's equally plausible is that he's just one of those "let it fly" guys.
I had looked up Nogowski's MiLB lines when they got him; they were good but posted in the hitter-happy PCL, so a little tough to translate. Redbeard and Big John are both 28, and Colin does have an MLB stat line, not Nogo's small sample size. We'll see; neither are big power guys but both seem competent in RBI situations. Moran is the better fielder. Good problem to have; time will sort it out. They really did need another 1B for depth.
I dunno if Nogowski can play the outfield, but it would help if he could. I can't imagine Polanco is going to be in Pittsburgh past the end of this season at the latest, so they will need someone go kind of fake it in right for a year or two until the kids in the minors are ready. Again this is getting ahead of ourselves given Nogowski's very limited MLB track record, but: I really like his approach to hitting, which is very old school and low strikeouts. In and of itself, that is a very refreshing change from so much of the crap we see today from so many swing-from-the-heels types. All that to say, I could live with him and Redbeard splitting first base and right field between them for a season or two if what we've seen from both of them this year is any indication of their true talent level.
I'm going to let Nogo bat around the league e couple of times, Will, before I concede an everyday role to him. Remember when Phil Evans was "Phil the Thrill?"
Big John is pretty much a one-position guy; he played 20 games in the OF during his MiLB career and one inning in MLB; he's about as fast as Moran, and that's not a positive for fly catchers. But he's got time to make his case; Mason Martin at Altoona, a big HR/K guy, looks like the next in line for 1B.
Of course I agree with you that it's too early to make any kind of longer term decision with Nogowski. Just saying that he has a good approach to hitting and that he would be a useful guy to have around in a rebuild if he can keep it up. I thought about sticking him in right because if they hang onto Redbeard for another year or two, that's about the only place other than first where you could get by with a below average defender and in the current situation I don't know that it would make that much difference.
I dunno much about Martin just yet. Do you have a scouting report for him?
Short but sweet Martin report: lots of power, but too aggressive at the plate (I think his K rate is 30%+). So he's trying to sharpen his eye and not chase as much.
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