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Monday, May 14, 2012
The reality of it all.....
The Pirates are having an OK season, but will it be anything more than that? I sincerely doubt it. The fact of the matter is, the Pirates have the worst offense in Baseball. They have exactly one position player minor league talent that may be ready this season. They have a few good bats, and roughly two dozen AAA hitters that are all interchangeable parts. Is a fire sale coming? Maybe, but not in the sense of what is usually means for the Pirates. If you take a look down on the farm, its no secret the Pirates have plenty of pitching depth teamed up with a few promising hitters. Take a look at the current roster, the four best bats happen to be twenty-six years old or younger. That is where it all begins.
The reality of it all is this: The Pirates time to turn it around is very close, but it is not this year. Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Jose Tabata look to be the three catalysts in the outfield for years to come. Marte will be here soon, and has the potential to be another McCutchen. That is just a scary thought having two of those guys roaming PNC Park's outfield. Pedro Alvarez will be the corner stone of this lineup whether people would like to admit it or not. He is 30 Home Run guy waiting to happen, and possibly in the process of it happening this season. Neil Walker should be an easy sign if they so chose, and he will be a consistent hitter that you can virtually bat him anywhere in the order. That leaves you without a First Basemen, Shortstop, and a Catcher. How will the Pirates address that problem? The answer obviously isn't signing lower level free agents as they are finding out this season, but rather trade some of their good AAA pitching prospects for some good AAA hitting prospects. The Pirates are absolutely loaded in the lower ends of organization with pitching. Those guys will not take very long to get here. Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon will be here by 2014, and will make a huge splash. Other guys like Luis Heredia, Clay Holmes, Colton Cain, and Stetson Allie are also progressing nicely. James McDonald and Charlie Morton and some stop gap veterans can hold things together until these guys are ready. The influx of A talent makes AAA guys like Jeff Locke, Rudy Owens, and Justin Wilson expendable. The Pirates also should throw in Joel Hanranhan to the trade mix, and the Pirates can bring a few solid returns. The past trade deadlines have seen the Pirates having a fire sale of all their good players, but now all the Pirates good players are young and factor into the future. The Pirates have a plan and if you look at it, it is not hard to see. The Nutter and Huntingdon haters can scream all they want, but for once I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope some other people do too.
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There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the jury is still out as to where this team ends up.
ReplyDeleteThe Pirates have added a wealth of legitimate prospects to the team, but they're still a while from knowing exactly what they might have. Stetson Allie and Colton Cain, for example, are struggling miserably in different levels of A ball.
And while Cole and Taillon are pitching well, they're still only in A ball themselves. I hope they can keep it up throughout AA and AAA. And even if they get here by 2014, being effective as a major leaguer is another situation in itself. Baseball is littered with the classic AAAA player (see Chad Hermansen), a guy that can have success in AAA, but not in the majors.
And all of that is only on the pitching side, where the Pirates have been reasonably well. The Pirates are a few bats away from having even a respectable offense. And a guy such as Tabata, considered a cornerstone by some, doesn't have close to the amount of power of a prototypical corner outfielder.
I am hopeful for this team to be ready by 2014, but a lot of things have to fall in place for that to happen.
Without a doubt....2014 is the hope, but by no means will it fall into place how everyone has it pegged. They need to add pieces, but my point is they don't need to add MLB veterans or anything of that nature this year or next year, They should restock AA and AAA. They have movable pieces that should carry a better than average return. The Huntingdon regime hasn't always hauled in the best returns on trades. They need to evaluate better for things to work.
ReplyDeleteAlso for the Pirates moving forward offensively. Yes Tabata is lacking in power from a corner Outfielder, and likely Marte won't be hitting Homers at a rapid pace either. That is why so much of the team's future rests on Pedro and the future first basemen. Heck, even Tony Sanchez was supposed to be in the mold of an offensive catcher. The Pirates outfield is talented and fast, but has no power. The team need to bring in another middle of the order bat. Is it a guy like Matt Curry or Alex Dickerson way down on the farm? Who knows?
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