2014 Pirates

[thecrow124]

just thought harrisons position coming up was 2B, and walkers was 3B till alvarez came.

harrison seems to have a lot more range so can play at 2B, where walker seems to have no range, so would be better at 3B and assume he has some arm as he was a catcher initially.

doesn't make sense to put the slower guy at 2B and the quicker guy at 3B,
or the weaker arm(if he came up as a 2B means he didn't have the arm for SS usually) at 3B, and the stronger arm at 2B.

Harrison has the arm for SS, but not the range or agility. He has pretty good straight forward speed, but not so great lateral movement.

 

[element1286]

why not move him to third,
he isn't a good 2b.
harrison is a 2B.
would upgrade 2 positions defensively.

Not sure you would be upgrading both positions, because Harrison is better than Neil at both positions, maybe better use of their skill sets.

 

[Illinest]

Must admit that Harrison is finally starting to change my opinion about his future. It might be safe to call him a starter at either 3B or 2B.
I still think we're thin in the infield. If Harrison is a starter then we need to have a backup who can do something similar to what Harrison used to do. If Hanson can contribute meaningfully by 2015 or 2016 then that's fine, but we need at least one more player on top of that if Walker and Alvarez are on their way out around that time.

 

[Darkstone42]

We've claimed John Axford off waivers. Interesting move, he could be alright if he works in the zone. He can still miss bats. Certainly worth a try at least.

 

[Darkstone42]

Also, he often has an excellent mustache, which is an obvious plus.

 

[HammerDown]

We've claimed John Axford off waivers. Interesting move, he could be alright if he works in the zone. He can still miss bats. Certainly worth a try at least.

Being reported as a straight waiver claim. I love seeing these deals that work out well for both teams involved.

 

[thedddd]

I don't mind the move in yet another throw s**t at the wall and hope it sticks bullpen.

Truly hoping for Grilli 2.0 and not Frieri 2.0.

On a side note what does Mazzaro have to do? He should be in the major league bullpen over Gomez and now with Pimental on the DL.

BTW....They DFA'ed Hague.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

Mercer may be the next player headed to the DL. He left yesterday's game with forearm pain.

 

[dare2be]

I think the bubble is finally about to burst.

 

[element1286]

I think the bubble is finally about to burst.

Yeah, so says talk radio in the offseason, in April, in May, in June, in July, in August, when McCutchen got hurt, when Cole got hurt, when Liriano got, when Lirano was ineffective.

Familiar refrain, really don't get why it constantly needs to be called out, and subsequently proven wrong.

 

[dare2be]

I hope I'm proven wrong, but I changed my season prediction to 81-81 before the start of the season, and I don't have or listen to any talking heads here in FL.

 

[thecrow124]

Yeah, so says talk radio in the offseason, in April, in May, in June, in July, in August, when McCutchen got hurt, when Cole got hurt, when Liriano got, when Lirano was ineffective.

Familiar refrain, really don't get why it constantly needs to be called out, and subsequently proven wrong.

20 years of losing......man that is a long time. Tends to give everything around you a negative outlook. That and at this point in the season teams are getting their players back and we continue to pile up injuries.

I am not saying I feel this way, I actually think we will be fine. I was just pointing out a couple reasons for negativity.

 

[Darkstone42]

Morton's on the DL now...

 

[sychmd]

cole, liriano, volquez, worley, and kingham.
let the boy play and see what he can do.

if we make the playoffs, we aren't going very far.
milwaukee is a good team and their hitting overwhelms our hitters.
LAD are too much when they are healthy and we won't miss kershaw this time around.
wash has too much pitching for us
st louis has wainwright and too much other pitching.
the only 2 we would win a series from is SF and Cin.

so test our guys, and get them ready for next year.
let alvarez play 1B thru the rest of the year and see if that allows him to focus on Offense.
let kingham pitch. we know what cumpton can do and sadler has had a little indoctrination. let him throw out of the pen a bit.

we need to figure out how many starting pitchers we have to pursue next year and whether we need a whole 1B, half of one, or none at all.

who is our IF backup assuming harrison plays 3B and barnes is gone. is it martinez or someone else in AAA or do we need to sign one.

C - resign martin for big $ or see if t sanchez can handle it. probably not much else of any better value than martin anyways.

 

[thecrow124]

In addition to the overwhelming support to re-sign Martin, I think they need to seriously consider signing Edinson Volquez. I don't care what we have in the minors, and I love our prospects, but not one minor leaguer that we currently have can give us what Volquez does. Sure once in a while he throws a clunker, but he is still going to give us close to 200 innings and he is getting better and stronger as the season progresses. Because of the name factor, Liriano has likely pitched himself out of our price range, but Volquez has not. You can look at his advanced metrics and say he is due for regression, but the way he is currently pitching, regression still makes him a #3 or strong #4, and that has a lot of value, especially since the arm itself is still capable of throwing #2 type pitches, which is what he is currently doing.

BTW, I am not going to be jumping off this train anytime soon, the man is pitching phenomenally and should be rewarded by us for it.

 

[sychmd]

In addition to the overwhelming support to re-sign Martin, I think they need to seriously consider signing Edinson Volquez. I don't care what we have in the minors, and I love our prospects, but not one minor leaguer that we currently have can give us what Volquez does. Sure once in a while he throws a clunker, but he is still going to give us close to 200 innings and he is getting better and stronger as the season progresses. Because of the name factor, Liriano has likely pitched himself out of our price range, but Volquez has not. You can look at his advanced metrics and say he is due for regression, but the way he is currently pitching, regression still makes him a #3 or strong #4, and that has a lot of value, especially since the arm itself is still capable of throwing #2 type pitches, which is what he is currently doing.

BTW, I am not going to be jumping off this train anytime soon, the man is pitching phenomenally and should be rewarded by us for it.

agree, volquez has been a real find this year and obviously our steadiest and most reliable starter. hopefully he will have gratitude for what the pirates did for him and like the potential of our team next year and not gouge as we took a chance on him and extended a bit, now hopefully he will reciprocate.

 

[thedddd]

If the cost of resigning Martin and Volquez would be letting Liriano walk I would be all for it.

 

[thedddd]

The rumored clubhouse "cancer" is on his way back:

Pirates Designate Jayson Nix For Assignment ? MLB Trade Rumors

Anyway Nix was as pointless as Martinez and Tabata's bat is better servered for the team right now. Polanco to the minors for a few days until Sept 1 hopefully will help him out of the slump.

 

[thedddd]

Why would NH let Morneau get past:

Morneau Claimed By Brewers, Pulled Back By Rockies ? MLB Trade Rumors

At least the Rockies had no plans to deal him.

 

[Darkstone42]

Two games out of the division entering September. Two games out of the second Wild Card, too.

Let's do this!