2025 Pittsburgh Pirates

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/batting-around-should-the-pirates-trade-paul-skenes/

If every response is an emphatic no, why write an article like this? Of course, the answer is that nobody outside of Pirates fans wants to see Skenes stuck with that disgrace of an organization for a huge chunk of his career. Bob Nutting should be ashamed for allowing his organization to waste an ace like Skenes, but that won't happen because the man has no shame.

 

I really hope they don't make him suffer until 2029. Bad enough we have to.

 

Can those battling Bucs win 3 in a row? Stayed tuned.

 

You have to turn some pitching into hitting. Good hitting everyday will win you a lot more games than great pitching every fifth day. We don't win with Skenes on the mound anyway. They still have a lot of pitching prospects who are 1-3 years away. Griffin isn't going to save the team alone. And you have to win with youth when you have no money. We're getting outspent by $200,000,000. It's a joke.

Step 1 = Hire a young hungry GM, who's worked alongside a real GM.

Step 2 = Call every GM and tell them that Skenes and Keller are for sale. Tell GM's that they'll probably need to trade for more hitting prospects in order to bring a serious offer to the table for Skenes. Keller should fetch a couple nice hitting prospects as well. With a little luck, by 2029, you might have a team that has a 2 or 3 year window to compete before you have to blow it up and start again.

 

I thought we had it last night. Terrible call by ump or it would have been tied at least.

My promise to you: Bucs will win 3 straight in June.

 

Well there are AAAA players. So maybe there are AAAA umpires too. He was a replacement ump, up from AAA.

 

The Pirates are handling the Padres 5-0 at this time. Falter pitched a beauty, Ferguson and Dennis Santana pitching very well in relief.
I think Santana seems ready for the closer role, so we might be seeing more of him and less of Bednar, who might be traded. Nick Gonzales is nearly ready to come back from injury, so Adam Frazier may also be gone.

 

Anyone notice how many runners the Pirates are stranding the last few games? I should not complain, not long ago they didn’t have many runners to strand.

 

Can't imagine how frustrating it is for the players to have relievers cough up so many games when the starting pitcher and finally the O do enough to win a game. I'd think Keller at 1-7 with a decent ERA in the mid 3's might be on suicide watch these days. Sunday was like Deja Vu Groundhogs Day, all over again.


Update: Great news - they just canned Tanner Rainey who failed miserably in relief Sunday. I like the short leash approach. Of course none of it will matter much.

 

Bucs just have to win 3 straight at some point, right? Looking at the schedule I might have to change my prediction to July.

 

Yeah, July of 2026

 

Rainey was going to get killed by a line drive out there. He was one of those off season one year signings that the Pirates do, a “flip him at the trade deadline for minor leaguers if he shows promise” kind of signing. He did not show that he could still pitch.
They also claimed Ronny Simón off waivers from the Marlins. I know little about him. Seems to be an infielder who hit well at AAA this year but did not do much when called up. Dare I say he is another AAAA player of the type the Pirates already seem to have half a dozen? I have no idea why they make this kind of move.

 

We all know why they do it. Because good players cost money.

 

True that, but I do not understand why they do it at all. They already have a bunch of players like him, and he can’t be flipped for much. What does he do except take up minor league at bats that could be used to develop their younger players?
If you can’t afford a good player, why acquire a bad one who is a lot like what you already have?
It is kind of like that Michael Helton deal. I don’t know why the Pirates did it and apparently neither did they. He was gone before he got unpacked. The Rangers have him now.

 

7th inning, Skenes finally gives up a solo shot, of course the succos have left him high and dry again.

Kelly calls a hit and run with Davis on the plate, he completely whiffs of course, and González is thrown out at 2nd. You couldn't even make contact Henry? You couldn't even foul it off? First overall pick.

 

Down 3-0 with 1 out in the 9th. And who makes an appearance, Tommy Pham. Strikes out on a pitch in the dirt. Maybe we don't have to make sure everybody gets an at-bat. This isn't T-ball.

Skenes goes 8 innings, 1 run, on 3 hits, and gets another loss.

 

The Pirates wasted another great pitching performance. It is no longer enjoyable to listen to the games so I won’t.
I stand by something I posted before, with minor variation. The starting pitchers should go privately to the manager and say that if there are not roster changes to increase run production in 30 days, they will all request trades. I don’t think anything like that has been done before.
I bet that for Skenes, Falter, and Keller the Pirates could get 20 mediocre players of the kind they love to acquire.
In other news, Nick Gonzales has been activated. Adam Frazier’s days are numbered, I would think.

 

I feel I need to apologize to Paul.

How a team can be so bad with a decent staff is a Bobby Nutting special.

 

It is unbelievable that a pitcher gives up one run in 8 in innings and then our relievers start and give up 2 runs and this team loses. I am flummoxed!

 

You are not the only one thinking along those lines. On another message board fans are saying the same thing.

I really wish fans would stop going to the games. Wonder what the Rockies attendance is at this point?

 

Skenes and Keller have to be feeling that their careers are being sabotaged before their very eyes, with no relief in sight. How else could they feel? They are committed to the Pirates for the for-seeable future, while Heaney and Falter at least can cling to the belief that they will be rescued at the trade deadline. The same feeling of doom and gloom will fall over Chandler and Burrows when they are entrenched in the rotation in the near future. The bullpen guys can only hope they get traded anywhere to get out of Pittsburgh, but at this point the only one with value is probably Santana despite his poor performance last night.

As to the future, both near and far for the Bucs, the outlook isn't any better. Konnor Griffin is 2-3 years away, Termarr Johnson may never arrive, Hayes is useless, as is IKF, so neither one will return anything in a trade. Bart is showing why the Giants gave up on him as his defense is terrible, and his hitting is not measuring up to last year, suggesting it was an outlier. The jury is still out on Henry Davis, so roll with him the rest of this lost year and see if he can stick long term. Reynolds should be traded if a there is a return that helps ( they should look to Philadelphia who desperately need an outfielder and could give up someone like Justin Crawford in the right trade). Cruz could be a major trade chip if he continues to hit at all, but I personally would wait until the offseason to move him. Nick Gonzalez should play every day to cement his role as an everyday player because right now he is still a question mark.

Now, for the clincher - Ben Cherrington should not be the guy to make any of these moves, and equally important, not even make the next draft choices for the Pirates. I was patient, and hopeful, believing it would take time for him to rebuild the Pirates organization into a successful, forward moving franchise. Nope! They aren't any better than they were under Huntington. They still don't develop position players into successful MLB contributors like most other teams. Their fundamentals aren't sound, they play like they don't understand the basics of how to win, and don't execute properly. This all starts in the scouting department and the minor leagues, and indicates they believe more in the analytics than the eye test judgement of experienced scouts. They have had some success with pitchers, but really, they remain a floundering franchise that will likely leave Pittsburgh at the first opportunity (2030?)

In the end, the future is exceptionally bleak for our Bucs. They dumped Shelton (finally) but still have Cherrington. Their Public Relations is a disaster so Williams is likely on the chopping block as well. And. the worst problem is that Nutting will be the last one standing, meaning he gets to pick the next mismanagement team to guide the Bucs forward. Given the success of the first 2 teams, the old carnival barker saying 3 tries for a quarter comes to mind, as Nutting will continue to rake in money from the fans and MLB.

 

Burrows did good. Bucs got pitching and an owner who could give a sh!t.

 

Syd Thrift would have made this team much better in a month or two on the job. With starting pitching like this, if they had two decent bats in the lineup they would be reasonably good.
Will they move Ke’Bryan Hayes? He has shown to be pretty much just a guy. Literally. He has a 0.2 WAR this season. The Yankees need a third baseman and more importantly have the money to take on his contract. Hayes and Heaney for a guy who can hit would be an early Christmas present. Move Frazier to third for the rest of the year.

Put Bubba on the Rubbah
Pham must Scram

 

I've seen speculation that they will trade Reynolds, Hayes and Heaney. Of course, they will get less talent in return than they should because every team in MLB knows that Pirates' primary goal is to shed salaries.