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With the possibility of Jung Ho Kang not playing this year .  How will it impact this years team? Will they make the playoffs.....if they do will it be one and done?  What are your thoughts

Fortunately they re-signed David Freese, they'd be in a bind without him.  

I still think the Pirates have a good team overall, but the Cubs are just in a different world right now. The NL Central seems out of reach.

NL West will be won by either the Dodgers or Giants. With the other competing for a wild card

NL East will be won by either the Nationals or Mets. I can see the Marlins also being in the wild card mix.

NL Central will be won by the Cubs. I can see the Cards, Pirates, and Brew Crew all in the wild card race. 

Maybe I'm an optimistic but I see this team winning 95 wins give or take. Not sure that will be enough with the Cubs in the same divison.

79-83

knowitall wrote:79-83

I'm with you.  somewhere very near .500 either + or -.  Nowhere near the spring training results.  And thats whether OR NOT Kang returns.

My Guess at a 25 man roster on Opening Day
Rotation 
1. Gerrit Cole
2. Ivan Nova
3. Jameson Taillon
4. Chad Kuhl 
5. Drew Hutchison

Bullpen
1. Tony Watson
2. Felipe Rivero
3. Juan Nicasio
4. Antonio Bastardo
5. Daniel Hudson
6. Jarred Hughes
7. Wade LeBlanc

Position Players.

1. Francisco Cervelli
2. Chris Stewart
3. Josh Bell
4. John Jaso
5. Josh Harrison
6. Adam Frazier
7. Jordy Mercer 
8. David Freese 
9. Phil Gosselin
10. Gregpry Polanco
11. Starling Marte
12. Andrew McCutchen
13. Alen Hanson

It's a fairly good roster, but it's one with a lot of question marks.  

--I like the rotation overall, Cole needs to pitch like 2015 not 2016.  Taillon was pretty good last year. Resigning Nova was key. Kuhl is decent.  I'm hopeful Glasnow can pitch up to his expectations. He's had some flashes at times.  It's nice having depth with Brault and Williams waiting in the wings. 
--Since Huntington/Hurdle/Searage have been here, they've always pieced together a good bullpen. I expect them to have another good one this season. I really like Rivero's upside, I could see him being the closer in time.  Watson is solid, but getting older. Nicasio is good.They spent some money on Hudson, and I think they expect big things from him.  Losing Melancon hurts obviously, but getting Rivero in return for the next few seasons is going to be a good trade-off in my opinion. 
-- I'm iffy on the catchers. Cervelli and Stewart were hurt like all of last season.  I don't know if I trust their durability.  Elias Diaz was hurt a lot last year as the top backup.  If Cervelli can stay healthy, I think he's a solid catcher. He was a borderline All-Star in 2015. Is he going to ever play like that again? I'm not sure, but I think he can be better than last season. 
-- Sounds like Josh Bell will get the main crack at First Base. He was pretty good when he was in Pittsburgh last year.  The pedigree is there.  I like giving him the chance however.  Seeing the Cubs win with young guys last year, makes you think the Pirates just need to unleash their young guys as well. 
-- Josh Harrison is OK. You sort of know what you get with him. His OBP is still awful, and he still may be the leadoff hitter this season, and that's concerning. 
-- Freese at third is helpful with Kang being out.  I don't think Freese is great, but I'd rather have him than not. He can hit like .270 and hit 15 homers.  Nothing wrong with that.  Getting Kang back somehow would be huge.
-- Mercer is like Harrison. You know what you get.  .260 8-10 homers, hits lefties well. OK, not spectacular defense. 
-- I expect Polanco's development to keep coming.  He had a really good first 4 months last year, but struggled in August and September.I think he'll continue to grow. He looked great in the WBC. 
-- Marte is probably the best player on the team. I wish he could square up and get a few more homers. But great defense, stealing bases, hitting .300+ are all still very useful. 
-- McCutchen, um well I hope he's better than last year. The team is totally different when he's good. If he regains his All-Star form, they'll be a lot better for it. 
-- The bench should be good.  I'm a big Frazier fan, and I actually hope he takes the second base job from Harrison. Jaso as a bench player seems more ideal than him as a starter. Hanson is fast and versatile, and Gosselin should take on the Sean Rodriguez role. If Kang returns, the bench gets better as well. 

I like the rotation also. Hutchinson has shown some talent and Tyler Glasnow could be up sooner rather than later if one of them isn't performing. Whether Kang is back or not can make an impact, but it doesn't look good. I think Freese is comfortable in Pittsburgh and will have a good year. Harrison has to be better than he was at times last year. The way cutch got hot toward the end of the WBC shows signs that his form could be back. If anyone saw the adjustment he has made with his hands that they talked about, that is a good sign that his bat will be back in action. IF Cervelli can stay healthy, and Josh Bell can make an impact, I expect that they could be over .500 and competing for one of the wild cards. Of course we all know that the bullpen has to stay consistent. That's just baseball! Haha

What's 3A look like for the Bucs? I don't follow the minors that much.