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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 02.08.22
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R. Nutting
12:56
Jason, am I respected among the other owners, or am I viewed as someone who was born on third base, thinks he tripled into the corner (thanks Ann Richards), and is bilking the fair city of Pittsburgh for billions? Don't sugarcoat it - your opinion does not really matter to me, just a little bored today and thought I'd chat a little with the common folk.
Jason Mackey
12:57
I get the humor here, and I'm actually not going to interact with Nob Butting here. Instead, I am genuinely curious -- and we'll never get the true answer -- what other owners think about Bob. I think he does a lot of good for the small-market owners. Has been around awhile. Is very nice, something to which I can personally attest. Although, yeah, I would imagine many among the group don't agree with how he runs his business.
corey
12:57
I'm irrationally excited about Mason Martin - call me crazy but if he can cut down on the strikeouts that left handed swing will look real pretty in PNC in a year or two
Jason Mackey
12:58
I'm completely with you. I say that to people a lot. I understand prospect evaluations, looking at numbers, whatever. Not discounting that. There's also a human element to this game. If Martin can cut down the strikeouts -- because he absolutely must; that's not a question -- man, he has the work ethic and temperament to be someone people really gravitate toward.
ev
12:58
Jason I am curious: are dues for the MLBPA uniform throughout or do they vary on salary?
Jason Mackey
12:59
I do not know the answer to that. Good question. I will check on it for you. Please ask again next week.
Justin
12:59
Who do you think raises to the top of what appears to be a pretty big 2b competition this yr?  Lots of good stuff about Diego Castillo popping up in the prospect writing world lately, and I feel like we haven't seen Hoy Park's best.
Jason Mackey
1:00
I'm also not shoving aside Michael Chavis. I don't disagree with the two options you listed -- also want to see Rodolfo Castro and Ji-Hwan Bae -- but give Chavis a run of regular playing time, something he has never really had, and I think the results could be very interesting.
Ringo
1:00
Hey Jason, how many wins are you predicting the Pirates to have this season?
Jason Mackey
1:01
I'm gonna go 63, barely avoiding a 100-loss season.
Dee
1:01
With the 40 man roster prospects unavailable (probably). Which prospect do you see getting an opportunity at AAA that probably wouldn't have if there was no lock out.
Jason Mackey
1:02
I think it'll all be settled before then, but ... maybe Martin, Mitchell, Fraizer, Michael Perez could play ... those are the big ones.
Ringo
1:02
Will the Pirates struggle for another executive season?
Jason Mackey
1:03
What are executive seasons? Like regular seasons but with suits?
Ringo
1:03
What are your thoughts on the 2022 Pirates season?
Jason Mackey
1:03
I think they're going to be young. I think there will be a bunch of MLB debuts made. And I think there will be some promise. But I don't see how they have enough depth to be very good.
Denny
1:03
Does Cruz get a shot at SS this season and if his D doesn't improve make it easier to move him to the OF?
Jason Mackey
1:04
I think he will get a shot, yes. And yes to the second part as well. If he's consistently making errors, I think they will re-ignite the outfield experiment. They may do it anyway just to give themselves extra flexibility.
Ringo
1:04
Do the Pirates have the weapons to have a winning season?
Jason Mackey
1:04
I think they have them in the organization. The issue is they're not yet at the major league level.
Kenneth
1:04
Do you see Henry Davis making his MLB debut this season
Jason Mackey
1:05
I do not. I think that would be a really, really aggressive move. Not saying it won't happen, but if you ask me -- and you are -- I would say 2023 is more likely.
Tim
1:05
In the era of analytics are there statistics on the percentage of “prospects “ that actually become mlb everyday players, as well as starting at the major league level?
Jason Mackey
1:06
Not really because the term "prospect" itself is pretty vague. I'm sure you could go back and look at MLB Pipeline's top-10 prospects during a three-year stretch and see the percentage of those players -- if they were even once in a top-10 spot -- accumulating like 5 or more WAR. But that would take a ton of research and time.
Tony P
1:06
”The Joel Hanrahan Situation” is not the name of a new indie-rock band. But what went wrong there. Did both he and the Pirates mess up?  It was known that Hanrahan wanted to eventually be coaching on a major league staff. But he went from AAA to now a Low A team.
Jason Mackey
1:08
The short version, I think, is that Joel felt there was a better opportunity for him in Washington. I would caution those on the outside who look at Class AAA vs. Low-A for coaches and think they're the same for players. They're not. GMs and farm directors align coaches to fit their players needs. I don't pretend to know the Nats farm system, but if they have a bunch of impressionable pitchers at Low-A, it might make sense for Joel to go there, help them, then if there's a job open on the big league staff, he makes the jump. Doesn't mean he works up level by level the same as a player would.
Matt from LA
1:08
Any update on the replacement of the PNC  scoreboard or any physical improvements to the ballyard?
Jason Mackey
1:08
No update on the scoreboard -- it's still there. Did get one earlier about some physical improvements to the place, at least as much as we know at this point.
ev
1:08
Will baseball be played in late November/early December if they do indeed go 162 games?
Jason Mackey
1:08
No, it won't. Way too cold for that.
Jeff
1:09
The Altoona Curve look like a very interesting team this year. Thoughts on starting rotation?
Jason Mackey
1:11
I couldn't dummy it all out, but I think it would be reasonable to expect Priester, Burrows, Mlodzinski, Thomas, perhaps Cruz again, at least at first ...
Matt from LA
1:11
With the HOF voting now concluded for another year, I have two questions for you: First, do you think that Al Oliver or Dave Parker (both deserving in my opinion) will ever make it into the HOF? Second, your thoughts of Bonds, Clemons, etc... worthiness of the HOF?
Jason Mackey
1:13
I'll make it easy: I think all four should be in. Parker is ridiculous. Could maybe see Scoop not making it, but then I think more about it and, no, he should be in. It's wrong -- again, my opinion -- for sports writers or anyone to be legislating morals or that sort of thing although I know why they do, because of the character clause. Should stop.
Cocktailsfor2
1:13
…is Shelton really the manager who’ll get the most out of the younguns?
Jason Mackey
1:13
I think we need to learn more. This season will be mighty telling for that.
Frank
1:13
Who is the starting second baseman for 2022?
Jason Mackey
1:13
Michael Chavis to open the year, IMO.
DrScotTB61
1:13
Jason, enjoy your work. Why do the MLB owners just say to the players, here are the conditions we are going to operate under, here is the salary cap & floor, and if you want to play report to Spring Training next week. If you don’t want to play under these conditions, then enjoy your life’s work?  Thank you!
Jason Mackey
1:15
For the same reason that employers don't say to everyone union: here, take it or leave it. Also, what if they said that, and nobody showed up for work? Because that's what would happen, and they wouldn't sell tickets to see replacement players. These guys are the best in the world at what they do. Owners pay them a lot of money for a reason. You can't just take that away and expect nothing to change.
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