You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 05.06.20
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat
Jason Mackey
12:54
I think there are a number of directions this could go, Butch. I think it depends on the return-to-play plan. If it's everyone in Arizona, then maybe they try and keep the same schedule, although that would be really hard. The three-division plan, that would obviously require a brand-new schedule. I think they need to determine the plan first, then figure out how to handle scheduling.
PhillyJake
12:54
I'd keep Craig in the majors, late inning defensive replacement at 1B
Jason Mackey
12:56
That's fine. And he's a good defender. But he needs to improve as a hitter. How's he going to do that without getting regular at-bats, even if they're in intrasquad games? (That said, I might keep Craig up here. I would just play him, DH Bell and let Craig work through some stuff, provided I think he can handle that happening at the major league level, which I do.)
PhillyJake
1:02
Like the idea of playing Craig and DHing Bell
Jason Mackey
1:02
The defense would work. I think it would depend on whether Craig hits. He didn't have a great spring.
PhillyJake
1:03
I'm not one for talking about extensions, so I'll ask an extension question:  With the historically low payroll, why not try to sign Bell to a front loaded contract?  Let's say a 7 year contract at $10m a year with a $25m signing bonus.  Or something like that.
Jason Mackey
1:04
I don't understand why you wouldn't sign Bell to any sort of contract, unless he wanted like $150/million a year or something insane. I do understand waiting until next offseason just to make sure, and maybe that's what they're doing, but you don't build a consistent winner by letting your best players walk. I know I'm not breaking news with the Pirates, but Ben Cherington and Travis Williams know better than that. My expectation is for that sort of stuff to change.
1:05
OK, folks. That's going to do it for this week. Thank you for participating. This was a lot of fun. Let's do it again in seven days!
Connecting…