Notes: Strom, Hague Hired; Skenes In The News; AFL Year Done; Pittsburgh Clips & Snips

Let the wheelin' & dealin' begin...plz.

Pirates Stuff:

• Matt Hague is leaving the Blue Jays to take the Pirates hitting coach job, replacing Andy Haines. The Hit Collector, 39, was Pittsburgh's ninth-round draft pick in 2008 and played for the Bucs briefly in 2012 & '14. He was Toronto's ass't hitting coach last year after a stint as their minor league HC, and was said to be a popular guy with the players. The Pirates then hired Brent Strom as an assistant pitching coach. He was the D-backs’ pitching coach the past three years and before that  the PC for the Astros from 2014-2021 and pretty highly regarded.

Matt Hague, the Hit Collector - 2012 Topps Chrome

• Ho hum...Paul Skenes is a finalist for the NL Cy Young award, with the winner to be announced November 20. The other guys in the running are the Bravos Chris Sale and the Phils Zack Wheeler, with Sale being the early frontrunner. Paul is also a finalist for the Jackie Robinson NL Rookie of the Year, along with Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio and San Diego's Jackson Merrill. That award winner will be announced on November 18. He stayed in the news as Topps released its Rookie Patch series and the Pirates offered the cardholder of Skenes 1/1 card a treasure boat of goodies for the card to display at PNC Park.
• Bryan Reynolds was up for the NL Silver Slugger award at the utility spot, but the prize went to LA's Mookie Betts, who actually played three positions.
• Jake Mailhot at Fangraphs has the first 2025 team projections and the Bucs are a 78-win team in it. He says the pitching core is there and its time to trade for a couple of bats (duh!).
• The Bucs AFL club, Scottsdale, ended the season hot by winning its last seven games and earned a one-game playoff spot for a finals spot after the to-the-wire race. They were one-and-done after a 13-4 loss to the Surprise Saguaros. The guys did well: Scottsdale AFL stats
• Temarr Johnson's Team USA squad will travel to Tokyo after qualifying for the Premier12 Super Round beginning on November 20. 

Termarr Johnson - 2023 Donruss Double Whammy

• Al "Scoops" Oliver had a street named after him (Al Oliver Way) on Saturday in his hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. He was a basketball & baseball star at PHS; his seven All-Star selections verify he picked the right sport to focus on.
• WalletHub selected Pittsburgh as the third best city for sports in the US. Broken down by sport, the Pirates fans still rank 10th, pretty respectable considering the teams performance.

Other Stuff:

• The deadline for players to be added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft is Tuesday at 6 PM. 
• The Boston Red Sox and LHP Justin Wilson reached agreement on a one-year/$2.25M deal.
• SS Kevin Newman and the LA Angels agreed to a one-year/$2.75M contract with a club option.