You asked, I tried my best to answer.
Hey y’all, sorry that this is a touch late. Once again, my personal life got kind of crazy. Thanks for understanding. Let’s get into it.
“With no true difference maker on the trade market, not yet anyway, should the Bucs just keep developing their young pitchers then pursue FA bats in the offseason?” – greatwhiteangus on BucsDugout
If by “difference maker” you mean there isn’t going to be a Hall of Fame bat in their prime traded this deadline, sure, but useful players will be available. All these arms in the Minors won’t help them improve the offense between now and next year, and they desperately need help there.
There aren’t any bats in AA or AAA who seems poised to help this team down the stretch or ready to help by the start of next season. Free agency will once again be on the weaker side, and they’re not paying premium prices. Many of these arms that we’re talking about won’t be part of the staff in 2025 either. Holding onto them doesn’t really get you anywhere right now or help you win the games directly in front of you. They should be looking to buy no matter what.
“Is Ke’Bryan Hayes’ contract about to become a huge albatross?” – followtheworms on BucsDugout
After a stellar second half that was very real, Ke’Bryan Hayes has once again regressed to being the ground ball machine he was before. I don’t think it’s all on Hayes, I can’t help but wonder if the back issues that have caused him to miss time again this season are starting to add up and drag him down, but a .588 OPS isn’t going to cut it no matter the cause. He’s getting paid $7 million per year through 2027, then $8 million in 2028 and 2029, and then a club option for $12 million in 2030.
Is this production worth what you’re paying? Not at all, but this will only hold the team back if they let it. With where payroll is there isn’t anything that having this money on the books is preventing them from doing, even if they tell themselves that it does.
I also don’t think this story is done being written.
“Watching Pirates personalities already talking about the Pirates window with Paul Skenes is so depressing. What would it take to sign him to a long-term extension, and can we get Bob Nutting to start a GoFundMe now?” – @ToddZinSC on Twitter/X
It’s a little unnerving, isn’t it? Any real conversation has to start with a nine-figure number that begins with 2. If Paul Skenes performs to his abilities and stays healthy, he’s going to break records in arbitration earnings for a pitcher, and it seems very likely he’ll be Super 2 eligible, so there’s less reason for him to be swayed by money now when he’ll probably be making millions of dollars by 2026. I think something like nine-years $250 million could work. For context, the two largest contracts ever for a pitcher are Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year $325 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Gerrit Cole’s nine-year $324 million dollar pact with the Yankees.
You’d be risking an awful lot, but for a talent like Skenes, it’d be worth the risk. But like you said, the whole issue might just be a moot point, I can’t imagine the Pirates ever going as high as it would really take to get this done.
Why are the Pirates so hesitant on bringing up Peguero and Gorski? Are they trade bait and they want good numbers in AAA? – @JTCarr76 on Twitter/X
Because they aren’t good. I mean, sorry to burst your bubble here, but the ship has sailed on Gorski. 26-year-olds who flirt with sub .300 on base percentages while striking out at 33 percent against that level of competition don’t make good Major League players. He’s also not even on the 40-man roster.
As for Peguero, he hasn’t performed well enough to get the call. His line on the year is .268/.328/.416 at AAA, good for an 89 wRC+. He still doesn’t have much of a plate approach, and while he does have some decent tools, the majority of them aren’t exceptional and aren’t enough to overcome his plate discipline issues.
Neither carries significant trade value.
If you had to name a top-five list of trade targets for the Pirates to pursue, who would it be and why? – Ethan Smith (host of the Locked-On Pirates podcast, which you should check out)
Among options that aren’t Luis Robert Jr.?
- Jazz Chisholm
- Taylor Ward
- Randy Arozarena
- Relief help
- Catcher
What the Pirates need is very obvious, more offense. They need help in the OF, particularly in CF. Chisholm plays a competent CF and provides above league average offense (105 wRC+ this year) with some power from the left side (10 home runs so far) and speed on the bases (17 swiped bags in 87 games). He’s currently 26-years-old, won’t be a free agent until after 2026, and it seems increasingly likely that the Miami Marlins are going to trade him at the deadline. I also don’t disagree with the notion that a change of scenery might help him live up to more of his billing. You need help offensively beyond 2024, even if you think this season is a lost cause. With the free agent market once again looking somewhat weak, and the Pirates never being real players in that space, it might make sense to jump the gun for a player like Jazz Chisholm before it’s too late.
Ward makes sense for similar reasons, when not sidelined with freak injuries (like getting hit in the face with a pitch last season) he’s been a productive corner OF bat from right side. He’s 30-years-old, but like Chisholm won’t be a free agent until after 2026. He’s posted a 120 wRC+ for the Los Angeles Angels since the start of 2022.
Arozarena has had a down year, with more swing and miss than usual and some rough BABIP luck but has looked more like his usual All-Star self of late, posting an .859 OPS since June 1. He won’t be a free agent until after 2026, but he’s being paid $8 million this year and will head into his third year of arbitration eligibility in 2025. The Tampa Bay Rays are always looking to retool and might consider trading him at the deadline. Although, a deal would be more likely this upcoming offseason considering his slow start.
The 2024 bullpen is the most expensive in team history, and it’s been marred by inconsistency and injury. They lost Dauri Moreta for the season in camp, Ryan Borucki is still working his way back from an arm issue that landed him on the IL early. Closer David Bednar was feeling the effects of not being able to ramp up properly in camp in April and now he’s on the IL with an oblique injury. Set-up man Aroldis Chapman has been healthy but is as inconsistent as you would expect a reliever who has as much trouble throwing strikes as he does.
Now with the injuries to starters Bailey Falter and Jared Jones, more stress is on this bullpen. You need better middle relief options than having to turn to Daulton Jefferies, Justin Bruihl, Brent Honeywell, or whatever other option is out in the pen every few days, and that’s not hard to find at the deadline or expensive to acquire. Perhaps someone like Derek Law from the Nationals would be a target.
I kind of chickened out with both these last two, didn’t I? It’s partially because I feel the situations at catcher and reliever are in that ‘pick a name out of a hat’ territory but also because I don’t want to spend all day combing through bref pages. Catcher hasn’t been what the Pirates hoped it would be this year. Endy Rodriguez is out for the season. Former number one overall pick Henry Davis has struggled and recently spent time on the IL for a concussion before being optioned to AAA. Jason Delay missed most of the year with a knee injury and has never been much of a hitter. Yasmani Grandal has been a disaster, the 35-year-old missed time early and has put up a miserable .510 OPS in 41 games.
Catchers sneeze and they’ll get positive fWAR for it, but Grandal and Davis both clock in at -0.3. Joey Bart has been the lone bright spot; he was picked up from the San Francisco Giants after being DFA’d and has a .773 OPS in 28 games, but he’s hitting just .189 vs RHP.
Top rental options like old friend Elias Diaz and Carson Kelly are definitely a pipe dream, but if they don’t feel that Davis is ready for another shot at the Majors by the deadline, it isn’t unthinkable they’ll go outside of the organization again for another flier to try and solve their short-term catching woes.