Weekly Report: Call Skenes Cy, Kelly's Coaches, Players Move & Pgh Stuff, Ol' Bucs & MLB News

Skenes scene... 

Pirates Stuff: 

• Paul Skenes won the National League's Cy Young on Wednesday, becoming the third Bucco pitcher (Vern Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990 were the others) to take home the honor. He was voted the award unanimously. Paul posted a 10-10/1.97 line with 216 K in 187-2/3 IP (32 starts). The Junior Circuit winner was Detroit's Tarik Skubal for the second straight season. Neither pick was a surprise; the young pair started the All-Star game for their respective leagues.
• Paul also won a spot on the All-MLB team. He was (who'd guess?) the only Pirate rep on the two-team deep squad.

• Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Bucs are about to bring aboard coaches Kristopher Negron as bench coach and Tony Beasley as third base coach. Negron spent the past four years on the Mariners MLB staff while Beasley is coming home. Tony managed in the Pittsburgh farm system from 2001-05 and was the 3B coach from 2007-10. He has been on the Rangers' staff since 2015, the last several seasons coaching third base.
• RHP Dugan Darnell, who was DFA'ed last week, was claimed by Detroit. He was recovering from hip surgery and not expected to return to duty until June or so. The Pirates hoped that would carry him through unscathed, but he pitched for Motown in 2023 and they apparently liked what the saw before he got hurt. 
• The Pirates released 3B/SS Cam Devanney so he could sign with the Hanshin Tigers. Cam, 28, came over in July from KC as the return for Adam Frazier. He debuted with 14 games (11 starts at third) in Pgh and hit just .139.
• A big date approaching for the Bucs - Tuesday, November 18 is the deadline for the 40-man roster; the Pirates have a couple of interesting decisions to make so far as protecting their young guys from Rule 5 poaching and projecting the future core of their lineup. As of Sunday, the roster had 38 players on it.

Esmerlyn Valdez

• One pick that should be easy is adding OF Esmerlyn Valdez. He was named as the Arizona Fall Leagues' Offensive Player of the Year after posting a line of .368/8/27 and a slugging % of .842. 
• BA has selected its Pirates Top 10 Prospects. The article also rates the guys with the top tools and a projected lineup - for 2029!
• On Monday, the City dedicated a street in Homewood to early black baseball star Pete Hill, who hailed from the neighborhood and began his Hall-of Fame pro career with the Pittsburgh Keystones. The speedy lefty played for a dozen clubs in his quarter-century of ball (1899-1925) and posted a .327 lifetime BA.

 MLB Stuff:

• RHP Eddie Yean was signed to a minor league deal by the Washington Nationals. The 24-year-old was 8-5-7/3.06 as a multi-role guy at Indy last year and was was acquired by the Bucs in 2020 as part of the Josh Bell trade with the Nats. Yean became a free agent at the end of the season.
• Oscar Marin, the Bucs recently dismissed pitching coach, skipped to division rival Cincy as their bullpen coach. The Reds pitching & ass't pitching coach slots were filled, so Marin is going back to the the role he had before his Pittsburgh gig.
• LHP Aroldis Chapman, the ex-Bucco closer who made David Bednar expendable before signing with Boston, was named the MLB's AL Reliever of the Year.

Aroldis Chapman - 2024 Topps Golden Mirror

• The already much-traveled RHP Roansy Contreras was granted his release from Colorado to pursue "foreign opportunities;" he signed with the Rakuten Eagles of the Japanese League.
• Shohei Ohtani was named the 2025 NL MVP. He's the defending champion and this was his fourth career MVP. Aaron Judge nosed out Cal Raleigh in a tight vote for the AL title; the duo was 1-2 on every ballot cast.
• The GM Meetings ended Thursday; so the FOs have begun to compare offseason shopping lists and should be getting down to the nitty-gritty for the December 7-10 Winter Meetings.
• WalletHub ranked its Best Sport Cities, and Pittsburgh came in third, driven mainly by football and hockey. The 'Burgh came in 16th as a baseball town, so the Bucco fans have outperformed the Pirates.
• Pat Murphy of the Brewers and Stephen Vogt of the Guardians were chosen Managers of the Year. Both are repeat winners from last season, making it the first time both winners have claimed the honor back-to-back. To tickle the odds a bit more, both skippers are in their first two seasons on the job.