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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 02.19.20
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Sammy
12:30
With so many options (Kela, Feliz*, Kuhl, Rodriguez, Crick, Santana, Stratton*, Burdi**, Holmes*, Neverauskas*, plus NRI's Holland and Erlin), how does the bullpen shake out? With '*' out of options, and Burdi not able to be sent down to start the season, the team is going to lose someone they like, right?
Jason Mackey
12:30
My bullpen, right now, would look like this: Kela, Crick, Santana, Burdi, Rodriguez, Feliz, Stratton and (pick one) Erlin, Holland or Howard. I don't think it's terribly complicated. Forget Neverauskas.
12:31
With Clay Holmes as a possibility, too. Maybe he has a really good spring or someone gets hurt.
David
12:31
Do you have any insight into how season ticket sales have fared for the upcoming season as compared to last year?
Jason Mackey
12:32
I do not at this point. That is something I would like to get into, though -- how the new regime and what feels like buzz, whether that has been good or bad for business. And, yes, I think there's a side of this where the Pirates have struggled to keep fan interest because of dumb decisions and bad baseball. Maybe season tickets have gone down. I don't know. But I will find out.
Danny
12:32
Is it just me ad an observer back in pittsburgh or does it seem Cherington, Shelton and everyone on the new staff have created a buzz amongst players and fans that I havent seen in a very long time? Its refreshing to see.
Jason Mackey
12:33
They're doing things different, that's for sure. Especially Shelton. I can't convey enough how different players' demeanors are playing for Shelton versus Hurdle. They love this guy. I'm not saying they're going to be a 90-win team, but I don't see them as a dumpster fire right now, either. Things got really bad at the end of the Hurdle Era. It wasn't solely because the Pirates lacked talent.
Markr
12:33
Why not take Wil Myers from the Padres? We should be able to eat the contract and grab some pros from them.
Jason Mackey
12:34
I'd pass on that. I don't see it being worth it or fitting what they're trying to do.
Danny
12:34
Is Chad Kuhl a candiate for the 5th spot in the rotation or is he destined for a bullpen role to try and ease him back and potentially maximizing his anilities?
Jason Mackey
12:35
He's definitely a candidate. That fifth starter job should be between Brault, Kuhl and Holland, with Brault probably the leader at this point based on what he did last season.
JimM
12:35
With 2 no 1 draft choices at SS, what is the hesitancy with telling Cruz that quicker route to the big leagues is outfield?
Jason Mackey
12:35
Fair point. I think, one, because he really wants to play shortstop, and they're trying to be fair to him. Two, he hasn't played poorly enough to where you say you HAVE to change his position. He's simply been inconsistent.
Wayward
12:36
Which players are you most interested in seeing when the games start?  At least one each from P and position players please.
Jason Mackey
12:36
Colin Moran is interesting; we talked about him earlier. Honestly, all of the pitchers, because I'm a dork. Burdi and Santana because we didn't see any/much of them last year. ... I'm also interested in how the Pirates field and whether they can play fundamentally sound baseball.
Bill B
12:37
How is (did??) Chad Kuhl looking? What role do you think he will have:
Opening Day
July 4
September 1
Jason Mackey
12:37
Bill Brink, is this you? So far things have looked good, though it's extremely early. I would say somewhere between Opening Day and July 4, depending on how well he pitches in spring.
Ryan
12:37
Yasiel puig signs with?
Jason Mackey
12:38
Not the Pirates.
Ryan
12:38
Who stands out as adding a lot of strengh since last year
Jason Mackey
12:38
Moran has been driving the ball, though again, it's really early. Adding strength might be tough. I wouldn't say anyone looks terribly different body-wise. Will show more when we get into games.
Wayward
12:38
Which of the coaches have grabbed your attention, either by their personality, player gravitating toward, etc..
Jason Mackey
12:39
Don Kelly, one. He's a future manager, no doubt. Guys love him. He has the right demeanor. But I think we knew that. Tarrik Brock has been a real pleasant surprise. Great personality. Chill dude. Has gained a lot of respect from guys. I think he's going to be a good one.
Danny
12:39
Is Chad Kuhl still a candidate for the 5th starter or is he destined for the bullpen to ease him back and potentially maximize his ability?
Jason Mackey
12:39
No, he's absolutely a candidate. Talked to Chad last week. He said they haven't told him anything. But he's gonna get built up with the starters, and they'll see how things go. He's looked fine, although it's early.
Sammy
12:40
By all accounts, the data/tech/analytics boost from last season to today has been marked; was it really as bad as it kind of seems with all the new talk of this offseason, or is it simply the new FO that makes it seem that way? Your story on Marin really made it sound like Searage was far behind, as we all kinda knew already.
Jason Mackey
12:42
Yes, it's different. It's different in volume, how much they rely on it, how much they understand it, you name it. One concrete example: Last season Joe Musgrove would throw his bullpens/side sessions with little to no prep. Would fire 20 or so pitches, make sure everything felt good, then move on. This year, he has a video prep session. Marin picks one thing to drill down on, then he spends the entire session working on that one thing. Then they go over, again, that thing, how it went, etc. Do that enough times, and you're going to see results. But Joe also told me they basically didn't understand the equipment they had, and Ray never really explained it to them. Again, when you ask why I think the Pirates can improve, this is an area. Costs no mean. Just takes someone with a modern mind. Think what Rick Eckstein did for the hitters in 2019.
Jeff
12:43
When Houston's cheating scandal came out, the manager and GM were fired immediately.  What would a fair punishment be for the players who participated?  I think if I were one of those players, I'd be putting on every piece of protective equipment I could find when I go up to bat.  It may get ugly (just my 2 cents there).
Jason Mackey
12:43
I don't know about the beanballs. I think players need to move on at some point, and as Jameson Taillon said this morning, what do we think that's gonna do? It's going to get old. ... I would suspend all of them for a year. If you were judged to have participated, then you get a year.
xxxxx
12:44
Can you explain the obsession from some fans about management using the "rebuild" word? I don't know about you, but I'll wait and let this regime's actions do the talking.
Jason Mackey
12:45
I don't get it, either. Rebuild what? Rebuild says something was up in the first place. They're not rebuilding from 2015. That ship has sailed. They're basically building a house on a vacant plot of land. There were 69 wins here before. That's building, not rebuilding. I think it's somewhat semantics, but I don't understand why we're trying to trade Bell, Archer, Frazier, Kela, etc. without first seeing how this group performs together.
xxxxx
12:45
Do you think Cherington could've framed his comments the other day about payroll going up eventually a different way? It sounded exactly like something NH would say and is the last thing, even if it's true, fans want to hear right now.
Jason Mackey
12:47
I think Ben was being honest. I like that he was being honest. I'm not going to crush that. Do I think that way of thinking is fair? No, I don't. I think they should have a larger payroll than they currently do. But I also understand Nutting's way of looking at this, which is basically for them to get this stuff figured out, then they're gonna add.
12:48
Also, I think this group can win more than 69 games as currently constituted. If Cherington and Shelton do that, then Nutting damn well better spend more to support them.
Sammy
12:48
Building on Coonelly, after all that came out, it wouldn't surprise me if he had a big hand in Archer trade; fair or not?
Jason Mackey
12:49
It would not surprise me, either. Bob Nutting seemed to refer to the Archer trade as having "an artificial sense of urgency" in this interview I did with him: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2020/01/25/Pirates-Bob-Nut...
My take would be that sense was coming from Frank, Neal or both.
John
12:49
Can you tell us who they received as the PTBNL in the Dickerson trade?
Jason Mackey
12:49
They wound up receiving cash. No player.
Tim
12:50
It's got to be tough on you to be on assignment, away from home, for so long every year. Is this something that writers kind of don't look forward to doing?
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