You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Jason Mackey's Penguins chat: 11.26.25
powered byJotCast
View Full Chat Next Page
Jason Mackey
11:40
Hello, everyone. Welcome to my ... wait a second, Penguins chat. Ha. The old days!

Anyway, feel free to ask Pirates stuff as well. We'll handle both. You know the drill. Start around noon. Fire away now.
11:58
Also and related: The way we do things here is a little different. I answer anything and everything, as long as it's in good taste. Don't be shy.
Kris P.
11:59
Jason, realizing that there will always be someone injured, but if we ever get to the point where that is only maybe one forward hurt, then who are the 13 guys up front for you?  I mean when Rakell, Brazeau and Acciari return, who gets sent back to WB?
Jason Mackey
12:02
Yes, I get your question. It's a good one. I would keep Kindel here, first off. It probably looks like this:
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Brazeau-Malkin-Mantha
Dewar-Kindel-Koivunen
Hayes-Lizotte-Broz
Novak

This would send Heinen & Koppanen back.
I also don't love some of the lines here. I might get Koivunen with Malkin. I wouldn't mind more size on the third line.
Broz probably isn't best deployed as a 4RW, and I don't like scratching Novak.
But I'm pretty sure those are my 13. For now.
Kris P.
12:03
I'm still trying to confirm but everything I've read so far says that a player on conditioning assignment still counts towards the teams 23 man roster.  If that is so, can we really afford to try and play with just 21 guys in Pittsburgh for 2 weeks?  I get Brunicke's situation, but what don't they just waive St. Ivany back to WB and add a roster spot to the big club now?
Jason Mackey
12:04
You make a fine point on St. Ivany. With Brunicke, I'm OK with the in-between. I would leave the door open for him, at least for under 14 days. He may be one of their six best defensemen. I don't think St. Ivany is, at least not right now.

You are correct, by the way, based on what I've seen.
Kris P.
12:04
Murashov back to Wilkes Barre I guess, right?
Jason Mackey
12:04
Certainly the feel, yes.
Brad
12:05
On a a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you believe the Pirates will actually make a bigger splash than last year in FA or trades this offseason?
Jason Mackey
12:07
This is tricky, Brad. I hope I articulate this well enough.

A splash? Yes. If you think about still waters, which is what the Pirates have been in FA, hard to not make a splash, right?

Do I think they're gonna sign Schwarber, Polanco, O'Hearn or someone of that ilk? Highly doubtful. Heck no on Schwarber.

Now, do I think they can get guys below the aforementioned who can actually help the team -- Cedrick Mullins is someone I really like in this vein -- yes, I do. You can overpay slightly, sign him for multiple years, and there's a solid chance he bounces back here.

I do think they can have an offseason that changes the tenor around the team. But it's not gonna be by signing Kyle Schwarber or someone like that. What incentive does he have to come here?
Eric
12:08
Sorry Jason, I have a Pirates question. My question is, do you think they give out a contract that breaks the Liriano deal in both years (3) and in total salary ($39 million) this off season?
Jason Mackey
12:10
Don't be sorry. It's a weird time for yours truly. Fun as heck, don't get me wrong. But I went from columnist to Pirates to Penguins in a short period of time. Ask anything, I won't be offended. Anyway, no, I don't. I would love to be wrong, believe me. Like I said earlier, though, anyone with those kind of options, hard to fathom why that player would come here.

I do think they'll sign someone for multiple years, but that isn't what you asked. Could see them giving Mullins or someone else two as an overpay.
Matt
12:10
Ketel Marte seems to be available. If Pirates management can’t convince big-time free agents to come to Pittsburgh, seems like trading for them might be the best option. What would be a fair return for Marte? Would you do it?
Jason Mackey
12:13
I'm not in those discussions and thus somewhat unqualified to predict what a team would be willing to give up. That said, what I've read on Marte, it wouldn't be small. They have every right to ask for a bunch. Which in Pirates terms would have to mean Ashcraft or Chandler, right? Kind of feel like the Pirates could get some version of that production another way without giving up the tonage of prospects it might take.
Mr Ed
12:13
Just curious Jason, if you don’t mind a personal question, why you chose to leave the columnist position to return to covering Pirates full time. From a distance, being a columnist where you can go where the stories merit and have a great diversity, to a day to day grind covering one team. I would imagine the beat reporter job would also be a little harder on family time?
Jason Mackey
12:18
Someone asked it! Of course. Happy to expound:

Because I missed the grind. So did my family.

I missed traveling. I missed going to the rink or field every day -- things that weren't required as a columnist. I missed reporting: building relationships, obtaining information, telling stories, that sort of thing. Putting my opinion on a page did little for me. I didn't feel accomplished. I didn't feel creative. I missed that feeling of working a locker/dressing room and feeling like I did something that nobody else did.

Furthermore, think about this in your own life. My family was calibrated to beat life for 10 years. That's how we learned how to live. We're intentional with time. They sometimes travel with me. My wife also likes the freedom to run our house as she sees fit.

The only thing stopping me was ego. So to quote Sturgill Simpson, I woke up one day and decided to kill it. I'm run on a better temperature as a beat writer.
Bill
12:18
Great to seed you on this "beat," even though it might be temporary.
Jason Mackey
12:19
Me as well, Bill! If nothing else -- I genuinely don't know what the future holds -- it has been an amazing creative palate cleanser. Big proponent of changing variables to spur creativity. And this helps the paper in the short term.
Bill
12:19
Will Murashov stay when Jarry comes back?
Jason Mackey
12:20
Nothing is official, but I don't think so.
Matt
12:20
Red Sox probably off the table for Keller trade. Who should the Pirates be looking to now? Orioles for Mayo or Beavers a possibility? Maybe just take prospects back from someone  and use the savings on a FA.
Jason Mackey
12:21
I would be fine with either option, Matt. The Orioles still make sense to me. I like Westburg a lot. No issue with those you mentioned. Or if you had a chance to get a bunch of prospects and spend that money differently, I wouldn't have an issue doing that either. As long as you spent the money.
Matt
12:21
Are the Pirates actually engaged with Schwarber? According to some outlets he’s going to get 5/$30 million per. Would think the pirates would have to go 6 years or 5 for $35. Should they?
Jason Mackey
12:22
I think it's all moot, honestly. I don't doubt they're checking in. Actively, too. Monitoring the market and all of that. But if Kyle Schwarber signs a five-year deal, why would he tether himself to the Pirates? Based on what belief? That's why I'm saying the actually engaged thing is a misnomer. They can be engaged without there being any threat of him signing here.
Jeff
12:22
The national media baseball writers reporting the Pirates will spend money this winter. Is this just speculation on their part or is someone inside the front office feeding these rumors?
Jason Mackey
12:24
No sane national baseball writer -- or baseball writer period -- would consider it good business to predict or speculate that the Pirates will spend money. Ha.

I think you're seeing the organization work aggressively to get a story out there. Leaking it.

Now, I do think they'll be active this offseason, more than they have been, in large part because they have to. If NOW isn't the time to spend more or go for it, dear Lord just end it and run something else.

They get that. They need to spend. I just don't expect them to go much higher than $100 million, if they eclipse that number at all.
Stanley Cup Legacy
12:25
So we see on social media all the time "Tomlin won a Super Bowl with Cowher's players" as if the players stumbled out on the field and coached themselves. Using that line of reasoning couldn't the same have been said for Mike Sullivan ? That he won with Mike Johnston's or Dan Byslma's players ?
Jason Mackey
12:27
Ha. I suppose we could, yes. Although Mike Johnston was here for 5 minutes. I think they're different scenarios.

Murray, Rust, Sheary, Kuhnhackl, Dumoulin, Wilson, etc.? Young guys. Are they ... Sullivan's? Johnston? Bylsma? Daley was Sullivan. Ian Cole Johnston. Hainsey Sully. I'm just randomly naming people. Cullen Sully. Sid, Geno, Letang ... Therrien? Kessel Sully. Hornqvist Johnston?
Ryan
12:27
Jason what do you think about the play of Bryan Rust this year i think he has due for a big game tonight Happy Thanksgiving Let’s go pens
Jason Mackey
12:28
Hi Ryan. Just finished chatting with Bryan Rust, actually. Same as ever, honestly. Consistent. Hard-working. Great on the forecheck. Great blend of skill sets.
Matt
12:28
So you don’t think even Polanco or O’Hearn would come here? I know the history, but this a promising team, with the pitching staff and Griffin coming up. And they’d likely be assured full-time roles here.
Jason Mackey
12:30
No, I don't. They'd have regular roles, yes. But there's concern from the outside -- I know I'm not breaking any news here -- when it comes to the Pirates' financial commitment to winning.

The way you change that, of course, is to win. Then guys wanna come here. More fans come. Payroll goes up. Repeat process. But they haven't gotten it off the ground.

We're essentially expecting players to skip ahead to step 4 without the first three happening.
Which is it ?
12:31
Were the Pirates in on Naylor or not ? Seems like conflicting stories although knowing this owner, I'm more likely to believe they were NOT
Jason Mackey
12:33
Another hard-to-define term, so I'll tell you what I know or what I've heard:

The amount of money wasn't an issue for the Pirates.
Technically, yeah, I guess you could say they were in because they spent time on it.
Whether they offered or not is muddy. I heard both that they didn't and it came late and wasn't anything to make Naylor reconsider. I'm not sure it matters.

I think we can confidently say they weren't a serious option in the Naylor sweepstakes. For a few reasons. One being I'm not sure he ever wanted to leave Seattle.
Jeff
12:33
Looking at Mullins stats the last few years, seems like he is in decline. Is there no one better out there that will take Pirates offer?
Jason Mackey
12:36
I'm not holding up Cedric Mullins as the one and only option. I'm trying to answer a lot of questions quickly, and he's the first that popped into my head.

But I do think they're gonna have to be realistic here. Think of a 1-100 scale. They're not overpaying the 90th percentile guys. They have better options. The Pirates are still the Pirates. But you can overpay someone in the 70th percentile, especially if you can predict their performance to bounce back.

Mullins is just one example of a guy with previous production ... but who might benefit from a lot of playing time. Would put Kepler, Conforto, Bader and a few others in that same bucket.
Why ?
12:36
Why would anyone in their right mind actually believe the Pirates are going to spend money this off-season ? And why would ANY even marginally decent free agent come to this city ? This is Baseball Hell. As Mike Lange would say about the Pirates claim that "I've seen that fish before". Its all a lie
Jason Mackey
12:36
They're gonna have to explain the pitching staff, explain the plan, maybe build out the bullpen first and overpay. I think people will come here. Just not the top of the market.
Tom
12:36
What would you think of Kindle centering Koivunen and MCGroarty?  Is it to big of a risk being all young for a third line or do you bite the bullet and say this is our line of the future and get them playing together now?
Jason Mackey
12:37
For now, no. I would spread the wealth. If McGroarty is up, I might play him with Sid while Rakell is out. Ideally, I'd like Koivunen with Malkin. But I also have kind of liked Geno's line recently. Kindel will be a scratch tonight.
Connecting…