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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 09.01.23
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Jason Mackey
12:45
Gimme a break. It's my job. One I'm extremely fortunate to have. And one that isn't influenced by wins & losses.
Will
12:45
I totally agree with your logic on Giolito and I'm totally unsurprised Pirates didn't place waiver claim. That said, he would be an excellent FA signing who won't come cheap and will have other suitors with better track records of paying market FA rates.
Jason Mackey
12:46
Yes, exactly right. And maybe they knew that -- hence, why waste $2 million now? Reality is that the Pirates won't be a truly desirable employer until they turn the corner. They're gonna need to do that primarily with people here. Once they win and spend a little more, you can win & spend more, all while developing and bringing guys up. The cycle stopped for the last group, obviously.
Johnny M
12:46
Hayes 320 BA  368 OBP .588 SLG .956 OPS for August. Shelton needs to keep him batting leadoff. Reynolds has been hitting better (.286) his last 5 games.  A good 1-2. But you never know with Shelton, he had Connor Joe batting cleanup the other night.
Jason Mackey
12:46
It's not like he had prime Pujols sitting on the bench.
GPT
12:47
Is it just me, or is Hayes' hot bat coinciding with him working with someone that is not his hitting coach a fair indictment against bringing back said hitting coach?
Jason Mackey
12:49
Umm ... I don't know how I feel about that. I know how frustrated fans feel. But I've been asking myself this question, if Ke'Bryan has a relationship with someone and he works with that person and there's benefit ... does that mean Haines stinks? I don't think so. I think they are separate things. In newspaper terms, if I call a former editor and ask him to read a story because we've done a similar story together, does that make my current one inept? I don't think so. It should be about comfort. ... I'm not saying that to defend Andy Haines; I just think the success of the player should be paramount. Certainly we can evaluate Haines independently, and the Pirates have struggled. I just don't think Hayes working with Nunnally is the referendum on Andy that folks are making it out to be.
Sylvester
12:49
What’s your favorite park to visit?
Jason Mackey
12:51
I like this, Sylvester. Thank you. Park itself, probably Oracle Park in San Francisco. Also a big Wrigley fan ... Petco is great ... Oriole Park at Camden Yards ... city-wise, love D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis & Chicago the most.
George Costanza
12:51
Hello Jason. Are you hearing any rumors of the Pirates cutting payroll due to the loss of the TV revenue? I am hearing a radio show saying just that. Would be a shame for ownership to turn that backs, yet again, to what appears to be an upcoming team, sort of.
Jason Mackey
12:52
I am not hearing that. It hasn't even happened yet. Now, would they have less money coming in? Perhaps. But as I said earlier, nothing is fine, the 80% isn't hard-and-fast, and there's no guarantee it means the payroll goes down.
Will
12:52
On St Louis food front -- have you braved the local BBQ specialty of snoots?  Not for everyone but surprisingly good
Jason Mackey
12:53
I have not, no. I will keep that in mind. Thank you.
Daniel Sametz
12:53
Thanks for the answer :)
Also, I haven't seen Bob Walk on the TV Booth for a while, I miss him, he's always fun. Is he ok?
Jason Mackey
12:53
Yeah, he's fine. I saw him a couple days ago.
Mark C
12:53
Have heard rumors that since the Pirates will not be joining the new RSN and will essentially only get 80% of what they were getting will cause them to slash payroll further and possibly deal a core member. Have you heard anything regarding this?
Jason Mackey
12:53
Holy crap is this a hot topic. I see they're discussing it on the Fan. I'm gonna let my previous answers stand here. They should be easy enough to find.
Pittsburgh412
12:54
Jason, I feel like they have the players in place when it comes to Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Bednar, Keller, Oviedo, etc. I think they should bring back cutch. Suwinski can be lethal for them. If they can spend some money this offseason, then I’d imagine they’d make a case for a playoff team. They aren’t far behind anymore would you say?
Jason Mackey
12:54
I'd like to see Cutch play some OF. Agree with plenty of what you said. They need the young guys to mature. They need a power hitting 1B. They need pitching. But, yeah, there pieces here. Should be over .500 in '24, contention in '25.
George Costanza
12:54
Also Jason, why does it always seem like the Pirates just can't draft the right guy when they have the number one overall or top 5 pick? Their incompetence in drafting holds just as much blame as their uh,lack of spending money? Picking Davis FIRST OVERALL, when he doesn't have a position is just another example like Taillon, Moscos, the list goes on and on.
Jason Mackey
12:55
I don't feel comfortable making final determinations on anyone based on 51 games in MLB. I know this is an unpopular thought, but you need to give it time.
PhillyJake
12:55
Why is Frank, er, I mean Vinny Capra on this team?
Jason Mackey
12:56
They need an infielder. They're not worried about his development if he sits. And they're trying to let Jared Triolo work through some things with consistent playing time at Triple-A.
Drew
12:56
Thanks for the chat, Jason. Due to rule changes, teams can only add two players (28 total) this month as opposed to adding anyone on the 40-man roster as they could a few years ago. Two questions: Do you think the Pirates are wasting a spot on Andujar instead of adding Triolo or Gonzales? And do you feel that two additional spots is too restrictive and teams could maybe benefit from adding up to 30?  Thanks!
Jason Mackey
12:57
Second part first: Yes, they should be able to add more. I'm OK not going with Triolo at this point and allowing him to keep going at Triple-A. From what I understand, the progress has been very good with finding more power. Gonzales has also been good, but I think they need to find out what they have in Andujar. No issue there. There's more time on Gonzales.
PhillyJake
12:57
This season could have been so much more.  But when the team entered the May swoon, BC stood pat.  Seemed he was intent on punting this year regardless of any success.  Am I on target or way off base ?
Jason Mackey
12:58
What did you expect him to do in May? I think it's also possible that the players could've performed better than they did, don't you? Not absolving Ben, but who is trading perfectly productive players in May?
PhillyJake
12:58
If there is a player like Cody Bellinger was last year - one who was a start but in need of rebuilding value on a one year contract.  Do you see the Pirates going after someone like this in the offseason?  Yeah, I know they don't all turn out like Bellinger this year.
Jason Mackey
12:59
Sure, there are usually lots of them out there. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you which one they're going to sign. Dangling playing time as a carrot to play here, though, has been part of their FA acquisition process for years, however.
1:00
OK, folks. That does it for this week's chat. Thanks so much for participating! We'll be mailing it in ... via the bag next week. Enjoy the Cardinals series.
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