By Tim Clark / July 7, 2024 / Baseball, Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

I have seen enough.

The big debate of what the Pirates will do at the trade deadline should quietly be put back in the box. Maybe next year Pirates fans can bring that discussion back out. Not this year. It’s over.

The Pirates won Monday afternoon, and fans got their hopes up all over again. Immediately the trade talk heats back up.

“We’re so close.”

”We just need a bat.”

”We are better than our record.”

Nah.

I have seen enough.

It sucks for Bryan Reynolds, who has been superb for the bulk of the season. Reynolds has cold streaks, but he always bounces back and makes you forget he was ever in a slump. He was named to the all star team, a well deserved honor. Reynolds is one of the best outfielders in baseball. Some games he must feel extremely lonely in this offense.

It sucks for Andrew McCutchen, who came back to his hometown team. He is a legend in Pittsburgh, one of the best to put on the black and gold uniform in the last 45 years. He has done about as much as fans should expect for a player in his twilight. He always leads by example and knows what it is like to win in Pittsburgh. Another shot at the playoffs would be fitting for Cutch. He will have to come back for another year to have that chance.

It sucks for Paul Skenes, who became the first player drafted 1-1 the year before making the all star team.

 

 

Skenes is a winner. He won a national title just over a year ago at LSU. He has been amazing to start his career, despite an offense that rarely gives him run support. He will not tolerate being on a losing team. Though he may have a different temperament, Skenes very much reminds me of AJ Burnett and Gerrit Cole. Winners want to win. The Pirates should already be sitting down with Skenes, and Jared Jones for that fact, to see if they can sign them for a few extra seasons past their rookie contract. Kansas City did just that with Bobby Witt. Smart move and money well spent for a small market team.

It sucks for Mitch Keller. Like Reynolds, Keller decided to stay in Pittsburgh. He worked his butt off, without much assistance from Pirates coaches, to straighten out his mechanics. He has turned himself into an all star caliber pitcher. Where is his payoff? He hurled another gem on Monday afternoon, going 8 innings and only giving up two runs.

It sucks for longtime Pirates fans. Oh, how we have suffered. If you love baseball like me, the past 45 years have brought few smiles and fond memories. When Skenes is the scheduled pitcher, Pirates fans show how full and cool PNC Park can be. Don’t tell me they won’t support a winner in Pittsburgh. They are dying for an honest to goodness winning baseball team.

Unfortunately, Pirates fans will have to wait again. When Ben Cherington was hired as the new GM, Bob Nutting gave us the usual song and dance of how Cherington was brought here to build a championship team. Here we are in year 5 of Cherington’s “rebuild”, and well, the numbers speak for themselves. Click the link in the tweet below, read the graphic, and grab a puke bucket.

 

 

If you are Nutting, I am not sure how you can justify moving forward with Cherington and his minions. I have started a low key hashtag of #FireEveryone. Start with the hitting coach, Andy Haines. Have manager Derek Shelton go with him. Cherington has to go, and tell team president Travis Williams to stay hidden in his bunker. Williams keeps the lowest profile I have ever seen.

To get back to the original point, the Pirates will once again be sellers at the trade deadline. It is clear this team has no hope of claiming a wildcard spot. There is no reason to add a rental player. The only add that would make sense is a player, like Luis Roberts, who has multiple years left on his contract.

Lord knows there aren’t any offensive saviors waiting in the wings. I like Liover Peguero, who is at AAA, but he would just be a piece to add to the puzzle. The next potential big bat, Temarr Johnson, is in high A ball.

Adding a bat like Roberts won’t get you to the playoffs this season, but his impact next year could be huge. Often times teams bite on a lesser offer just to get a deal done. The White Sox should not jump on a lesser offer, but they could get caught up in the moment. Plus, the White Sox appear to be poorly run, so possibly Cherington would be on a level playing field dealing with Chicago.

The Pirates should make available anyone not named Temarr Johnson or Bubba Chandler. I have zero faith Cherington can make this happen. I would say there is less than a 5% chance the Pirates land Roberts. Too many contenders, like the Phillies, will be in the market for a guy like Roberts.

 

 

From there, the Pirates should unload as many veterans as they can. The only veterans than would return anything marginally worthwhile are Rowdy Tellez and Aroldis Chapman. In Chapman’s case, I would hold out hope that some team out there bases their decision on his name and ignores his 32 walks in 32 innings pitched.

If nobody wants Michael Taylor, Yasmani Grandal, or Edward Olivares, then cut them. They are useless. In three days, Josh Palacios has brought more production and energy than any of those three guys have all season.

I would also float Ke’Bryan Hayes’ name to teams and see if there is any interest at all. Hayes has officially bottomed out. He is truly not any better than Jared Triolo right now, which is about as damning a statement as one can make about your performance. Hayes makes no positive impact on this team, so if you can get something reasonable for him I wouldn’t hesitate to make that move.

Other than that, the only other thing the Pirates can do is wave a magic wand and hope to fix the young guys who have struggled mightily to this point. Jack Suwinski and Henry Davis are the two biggest fixer uppers. Davis will get every day work in AAA for now. Here is hoping both get straightened out, because there are no two players more easy to root for.

There is one outside the box move I would consider. It is the kind of move a small market team needs to take a chance on. That move would be taking Trevor Bauer up on his offer to play for league minimum. Then negotiate for a second year. Worst case scenario, the Pirates take a small PR hit for a pitcher with questionable character that didn’t work out. It would cost very little. The best case scenario is you get a high level pitcher on the cheap. Remember, the team had no problem signing the questionable character of Aroldis Chapman.

If you are still holding out hope that the Pirates will get in the race over the next three weeks and become buyers, just stop. It isn’t going to happen. Why am I so sure?

 

 

 

 

 

For the record, that picture above may be the last sighting of Travis Williams.

To break down this year’s offense a little further, the Pirates rank 23 in runs scored, 25 in hits, 29 in doubles, 24 in total bases, 24 in batting average, 25 in on base percentage, 27 in slugging, and 27 in ops. Folks, there are only 30 teams and some teams are tanking this year. Not good.

I have seen enough.

The Pirates have the extra good fortune of having Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, and Jared Jones at the top of their rotation. Bailey Falter has been far better than expected as the fourth starter. Luis Ortiz has been spectacular and should have the fifth spot locked up. Even Martin Perez pitched well last time out.

The general manager has been here five years and has not drafted and developed nearly enough offensive players. O’Neil Cruz could become a superstar. The key word is “could”. Nick Gonzalez looks promising. Maybe Endy Rodriguez comes back from his injury next year and takes hold of the catching position. He showed promise last year. But then what becomes of the first pick in the entire draft, Henry Davis? What a failed pick. Teams like the Pirates just can’t afford to whiff on the first pick in the draft. Davis doesnt have to be Paul Skenes, but a solid major leaguer should not be too much to expect.

Then look in the minor leagues. There are very few hitters to get excited about. This is year five for Cherington. It is unacceptable. Forget, just for a second, that the owner is cheap. A decent GM should be able to develop more players than this. And what has become of the Latin American pipeline we were sold on? Anyone? *crickets*…

I thought the Pirates would win 85 games this year.

I was wrong.

As we shuffle towards the all star break, where trade talks will heat up, and as the July 31 trade deadline nears, teams will start to make their plays.

The Pirates just aren’t good enough this year to get in that game. Aside from the long shot of adding a player with multiple years left on his contract, the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates will do what they always do. The Pirates will be sellers with the intent of finding a prospect or two that I’m sure won’t pan out.

It is year five of the Cherington rebuild. It shouldn’t be like this.

I have definitely seen enough.

Two Cent Takes

MLB

~32 first time all stars is like a changing of the guard scenario.

~The all star game has become less and less satisfying each year.

~Why is Pete Alonso on the all star team?

~Paul Skenes should start the game, allowing baseball to capitalize on the biggest thing in baseball right now.

~Yankees fans are so spoiled. After an unrealistic start, the team has come back to Earth and fans are calling for Aaron Boone’s head. The Yanks need to focus on holding off the Red Sox for second place in the AL East.

~Ump show of the week:

 

 

~Why might we see robo umps as early as next season? This week’s edition of “What is the strike zone?”

 

 

 

NBA

~The Lakers can no longer be taken seriously. Bronny James is a great kid, but he is not an NBA player. The Lakers buckled to daddy James. Now ESPN will let you know every time either of them stubs their toe.

~The Sixers are going to look a bit different. Paul George is on board, Tyrese Maxey is signed long term, and Joel Embiid should be healthy. That is a nice “big 3”. If you believe in Summer League results, rookies Adem Bona, Jared McCain, and second year man Ricky Council are going to have an impact. Plus tough guy Caleb Martin is on board. I am in “I will believe it when I see it” mode, especially come playoff time.

NHL

~The Pens are having a bit of a facelift this offseason, and on paper it seems far better than the moves made a year ago. Time will tell.

College Hoops

~Bobby Hurley parlayed the Lakers interest into a 6 year 50 million dollar contract extension with UConn. Smart on the court and off.

NFL

~The Steelers signed Cam Sutton to a one year deal in hopes he would stabilize the secondary. Yesterday, Sutton was suspended for 8 games in reference to a domestic violence charge. That stinks for the Steelers, but kudos to the NFL for not putting up with some of the crap that used to always littered the league.

Golf

~After being snubbed for the Ryder Cup team a year ago, Keegan Bradley was named the next Ryder Cup captain. It is certainly an outside the box idea and one that may work out. Bradley is still in the mix. He is not an over the hill close to senior tour type choice.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

Lee Trevino was the first golfer I cheered for. He was my favorite. He wasn’t as talented as Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus, but he was more entertaining. There is a new film about Trevino just released yesterday by the R&A. If you are my age or older definitely check it out.

 

 

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

Paul Skenes is the best thing to happen to baseball since, well, Shohei Ohtani.

Okay, so there are several cool stories around baseball, but Skenes is the most recent. And for sure, Skenes is the best thing to happen to Pirates baseball in a long time.

Remember last year at this time when the debate was raging on who the Pirates should take with the first pick in the draft. Skenes or Dylan Crews, a guy that was pegged as a future masher.

Watching the Pirates woeful offense, you can certainly make the argument that Crews’s bat would look nice coming through the pipeline. He is struggling a bit at AAA, and undoubtedly if Crews would have gone to the Pirates his progress would have been hindered.

To me it didn’t matter how much the Pirates needed a bat, a guy who throws the ball like Skenes is generational. It was an obvious choice.

Skenes is a winner.

He had a through the roof GPA in high school, went to Air Force where he excelled, then transferred to LSU, where he led his team to a national championship.

He told the Post Gazette that his favorite quote is, “Nobody cares; work harder.” Skenes is going to be a superstar because, in addition to extreme talent, Skenes has an extreme work ethic.

To date, Skenes owns a 5-0 record, with a 2.12 ERA and 78 strike outs in 59.1 innings. Some of his outings he didn’t have his best stuff. Not to worry, because Skenes always has a plan. When one pitch isn’t working, Skenes will rely on another pitch. That becomes easier when you have four great pitches.

Skenes is must see TV.

Even in warmups.

 

 

That is machine-like.

Skenes will eventually get roughed up. Every pitcher does from time to time. Here is betting it doesn’t happen often.

Skenes is a breath of fresh air in Pittsburgh, drawing in fans that had given up on the team. He keeps his team in every game he pitches. He is making those around him better.

Intelligent in the classroom. intelligent on the mound. Military discipline. A beautiful girlfriend. A nonstop work ethic. A national champion. First pick in the draft.

He is 22 years old.

Skenes is the talk of baseball, and he is Pittsburgh’s to enjoy.

For now.

Just my two cents…