Pirates' moves

[Crimson's Ghost]

Cole and Liriano as a 1-2
Melancon and Watson in the 8th and 9th
Glasnow in June

1. Polanco RF
2. Harrison 2B
3. McCutchen CF
4. Kang 3B
5. Marte LF
6. Some first basemen
7. Cervelli C
8. Mercer SS

Josh Bell and Alen Hanson into the mix at some point too.


I know I'm more optimistic than most generally about the Pirates, BUT I think that's still a pretty good team.

[woninthetrenches]

I dont follow baseball that much so help me understand it. The pirates will have 75% of the same team they had last year? Their losses and additons how do the stack up to what was there. Im sure at first base they will lose some power but increase the defense. Just from what heard their pitching should be pretty solid and in years to come some of the best arms. So with all of that what did they lose that they need to make up for?

[Crimson's Ghost]

The only places they could significantly upgrade the team was at first base and a #3 starting pitcher.

Walker wasn't an ideal extension candidate, but the Pirates are getting crushed for not trying to keep him simply because he's from Pittsburgh.

They let Alvarez go, and his 25 home runs don't really make up for his 200 strikeouts and 25 errors. Still unpopular to a lot of people.

They traded Morton for a prospect, which generally nobody seems to mind.

Jon Niese, Ryan Vogelsong, and Jason Rogers are all that they have brought into the team.

So, they haven't brought in anyone too exciting and they let the Pittsburgh kid go. So it's perceived like the Pirates got a lot worse, but they're still a pretty solid team. I'd like to see them bring in something more this offseason myself. We'll see what they do. Neal Huntington is a very good General Manager with the budget he works with.

[Manfred]

Kang isn't a lock to be back by opening day, we'll see. Vogelsong- anything left in the tank? Hope Searage can make Niese better. You have to get to the 8th and 9th first, CG. MY 83 is a personal conservative guesstimate. It's worth as much as anyone else's.

[knowitall]

Will Melancon be traded?

Alvarez's bat accounted for far more runs than his glove gave up.

Andrew McCutchen was the Pirates' team leader in strike outs in 2015.

If Kang comes back I do not expect him to hit like an adequate clean up guy

[Crimson's Ghost]

I'm not sure about Melancon, but I would guess he brings back a solid return. 

Alvarez still isn't going to play first base for anyone next year more than likely. His defense is what it is.  For a pitching staff that will be ground ball dependent, they are going to need a good infield.  I like Alvarez a lot, but nobody was banging on the walls to acquire him.  

McCutchen probably had the most AB's which led to strikeouts, but he was fourth in the league in On Base percentage so that's kind of a wash. 

I don't know what to expect of Kang, sounds like he is ahead of schedule. Even if he isn't healthy tj start the year, I don't think he would be out long.  It's tough to gauge what he will be like when he returns. He's always been a good power hitter dating back to Korea, but yeah he may not be the ideal cleanup hitter for this team. 


There's still question marks for this team for sure. They still have months to answer them.  I wonder how much hot stove action happens this week over the holidays. 

[voncap]

With the Jaso signing, it looks like our 2016 Pirate team is just about set.   Other than the question of whether or not Melancon will be the closer and who will be the second LH'ed reliever in the pen, the 25 man roster appears to have come together.

SP (5)
Cole
Liriano
Neise
Vogelsong
Locke

RP (7)
Watson
Hughes
Caminero
Niasco
Scahill
Melancon (I think at this point he will be a Bucco at least next year)
??LH'er

Starters (8)
Cervilli - C
Morse - 1st
Harrison - 2nd
Kang - 3rd (once healthy)
Mercer - SS
Marte - LF
McCutchen = CF
Polanco - RF

Bench (5)
Jaso
Rogers
Florimon
Stewart
Rodriguez

Based on this roster the opening day payroll should be in the 90 mill range (with Melancon) which is in line with last year's opening day payroll so I would not expect to see any more big signings.    JMO but the starting pitching is still a big concern, and it does not appear the Pirates are going be 'players' in the competition to sign any of the more appealing FA starting pitchers still available.   The FO appears to have confidence in Glasnow or Taillon's development and is content to wait on one of them to arrive in mid season.

[knowitall]

76-86

[Crimson's Ghost]

I'll say about 90-72. I think the lineup is pretty strong and they have a good 1-2 pitchers and I suspect Niese is better than he's being perceived by this fan base.  

Also, everyone is bummed about Jeff Locke being in the rotation, but they must forget the Pirates have the top pitching prospect in all of baseball being groomed to take his place anyway.  

[Crimson's Ghost]

76-86

I don't know, I'm generally an optimistic Pirates fan but that prediction seems awfully low.  I don't think they got 22 games worse from last season. I could be wrong, just seems like there's too much back from last season's team to take that big of a step backwards.