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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 09.15.23
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Jason Mackey
11:59
Hello, everyone. Welcome to my alternating chat-mailbag-chat Friday extravaganza. Special one this week, as I'm coming to you live from the North Shore Tavern. Grabbing some lunch between Clemente Day events. Let's get started.
Jeff M
11:59
Who are your Pirates winners of ROY, CY Young, MVP most improved player and biggest disappointment this season?
Jason Mackey
12:03
Oh, man. Good one to start. ROY, probably going Peguero or Mlodzinski. ... Cy Young Keller ... MVP Reynolds (but close with Hayes) ... Most improved might have to be Hayes (offense) ... Also like Oviedo there. Holderman, too. ... Biggest disappointment would be Cruz/injuries, but player-wise, I'd probably go Castro/Marcano.
epiballo
12:03
I have no doubt that McCutchen will be back in a Pirates' uniform next year. I live out of state, but watch the Bucs on a subscription. I see rookie mistakes, but a bunch of players playing hard and jelling as a team. 2024 looks bright, in my view. Am I too optimistic?
Jason Mackey
12:06
I don't think so. I believe Cutch will be back. Attending the Clemente gala last night, there's zero way I'm letting him go. You can't. He's baseball royalty here & it needs to stay that way. They also have a nice core building here. Not saying they're going to win the World Series, but you can certainly see the pertinent pieces.
Cullen
12:06
Pirates offer Keller 6yrs/$80m, who says no?? ($15m for his 2 arb years, $15m AAV the rest of the way, maybe escalating every year for pay raises)
Jason Mackey
12:06
I would have no issue with that.
Jack
12:07
Our rookies have improved over the year, and prepare for the next step, to assume a full time position.  I say we are at that stage at every position, but 1B.  I include Oneil Cruz at SS.  We ought to look at Santana or another option for 2024.  The starting pitching needs helps.  The bull pen is nearly complete.  What say you?
Jason Mackey
12:08
I'm basically there. Hayes and Cruz. I like Peguero at 2B. Not sure where Gonzales fits, but it's not at first. I'm good with Jack, Reynolds & Henry in the OF. Henry needs to be better defensively. Cutch is my 4OF/DH. They need a first baseman with pop and starting pitching help. It could be Santana, but no offense to Carlos, I might shoot higher. That said, I would have zero issue if they went with Santana and spent the savings on pitching.
Cullen
12:08
Will the Pirates consider an Oviedo extension? He has 4 years of control left and looks like he could have a solid #3 ceiling with a #5 floor. Valuable type of guy who we may be able to get reasonably cheap.
Jason Mackey
12:09
I think you're a little out over your skis with the extension talk, brother. This is a Pirates chat, after all. They could. But one thing at a time. I think it's also fair for them to maybe want to see a little more. But I agree on the gist: really like Oviedo.
Tom J.
12:09
Hi Jason - Something different:  Have had this debate/conversation with friends, but need a professional opinion...and you have covered both sports: Who has the more difficult position over the course of a season...a catcher in baseball or a goalie in hockey? Thanks.
Jason Mackey
12:10
Depends how you want to quantify "difficult," but I'd probably go goalie in hockey. You're quite literally the last line of defense. If you suck, your team loses. Plain and simple. Catching, you can go 0 for 4, play good defense, and it's OK. You may also struggle to block but throw well. Different ways to affect the game. There are similarities with goalie, too, but I just think the stakes are higher on the hockey side.
Vegas Vinnie
12:10
With the Pirates being a talented up and coming team. Do you think that they should hire a Manager equal to the task.
Jason Mackey
12:13
I know the popular sentiment is that Shelton isn't a good manager. That said, you're saying the Pirates are an up-and-coming team. What part has he played in that? Have they done it despite him? Look at some of individual player performances, guys like Endy, Henry, Jack. I've heard the argument that nobody has gotten better. Then how are they winning? Shelton isn't a perfect manager, but his teams 2020-22 were designed to lose. This has made pretty decent improvement. He's extended. Why would we be firing him?
Will
12:13
Think anyone predict preseason Pirates being closer to WC (6.5 back) spot than Yankees (7.5 back) on 9/15
Jason Mackey
12:13
I'm gonna go with no on that one. Good stat.
Potato Pete
12:13
With the noticeable velocity drops of Ortiz, Contreras, and Priester, do you trust Marin to handle the development of Jones, Solometo, and Skenes correctly? I'm convinced he'll be telling Skenes he can't throw any harder than 97.
Jason Mackey
12:17
Pete, you asked why Haines would be retained in a previous question that I'm not gonna push through because I don't intent on getting fired. You talk about them not scoring. They've already scored 26 more runs than last season -- with 15 games to go. Over the last 52 games or whatever, they've been pretty solid, above .500. We've been there and back on Haines. I do think he gets an unfair amount of criticism.
12:19
On the next question ... I do, yes. Notice there was concern over Priester's velocity, then it suddenly came back. He also struggled at the end of his outing the other night because he hung breaking balls, which I'm guessing Marin isn't coaching him to do. ... Also, do you think Marin is telling guys to not throw hard? They are trying to do a lot with these guys. A little too much in some cases, I'd argue. But he's not trying to kill velocity. They're trying to improve things for the long-haul. One step back, two forward kind of thing.
Joe Schmoe
12:20
Here's what I'm worried about, Jason. Yes, the team is playing "better" (a relative term) baseball this past month. And that is going to give ammunition to the worst ownership and management group in all of professional sports that they are on the "right track". Thus, little to no significant changes will occur in this coming off-season. But there are 162 games (too many, in my opinion) for a reason. And that is to show who can be most consistent over the long haul. The Pirate were *terrible* in May, June and July. The season was lost then. A lot of the teams we are playing are also *terrible* and are using players and testing things out for next year. So does it really matter if a team is good in (a fluke for us) in April and August? It would be one thing if we've had any *true* success in the past couple of decades, but we know that isn't the case. Second question is this: Why oh why does Nutting not take his billion and run? It's mind boggling why one human can punish an entire city the way he does. Thx!
Jason Mackey
12:22
Oh, dear. I think I have aggravated Pirates fan Bingo. ... Look, they said they were going to spend more and extended Hayes & Reynolds. They also spent more via free agency. ... Devil's advocate ... What if what they said in terms of building is also true? That's essentially that they wanted to grow the bulk from within, which they've done, then supplemental the pieces that didn't grow for lack of a better term. That would mean first base and pitching this offseason. If they did those things, does that mean everything is horrible and Nutting should sell the team and move to Siberia? Potentially not.
Cullen
12:23
What are rhe chances the Pirates use some of their middle infield depth to trade for a Monoah type SP this offseason?
Jason Mackey
12:24
What are the chances the Pirates acquire a xxxx-type xxxx next season. I definitely have Bingo now. In all seriousness, fairly decent. Figure you mean someone who needs opportunity to prove themselves and get back on track? They've had success with that before.
Jim M.
12:25
Jason,  This off-season would the addition of a starter (a notch better than Rich Hill, Tyler Anderson etc.) , a Santana quality first baseman, legitimate bullpen depth and a healthy Oneil Cruz make the Pirates a wild-card contender next season?
Jason Mackey
12:27
I think so, yeah. Say they go +13 wins this year. That's 75. If they can go +13 again, we're at 88. You'd think that would do it.
Potato Pete
12:27
First base going forward, how do they see it? Nunez? Rivas? Reuniting with Santana? Maybe even be a bit daring and sound out Rhys Hoskins? Another wild card option?
Jason Mackey
12:28
Not gonna be Rivas. Doubt Nunez. Has hasn't done much, though he's still young. To start '24, I would think either Santana or a wild card option. I'd prefer a little more offense, but I like the defense and leadership Santana would bring. I think guys in that clubhouse would really appreciate having him back, too.
Will
12:29
Keller and Oviedo have both been top 20 NL SPs in 2023 by Fangraph WAR. Assuming a midseason Skenes callup for a hopeful top 3 in 2024, who do you see as other 3 filling out remainder of rotation on opening day? Feels like a lot of late season feelers but no clear answers and lots of questions. Do Pirates have MLB ready internal options or will they need to be offseason buyers?
Jason Mackey
12:33
Good question, Will. They have a couple places they could go. I'm looking at Roansy, Priester, Ortiz and an outside option or two. Vince, Brubaker and Burrows won't be ready because of injury Would imagine Jones, Solometo and Chandler will be developing. I could also see it making sense for them to have an opener/bulk situation with Falter/Jackson taking a turn. I think that has worked to a decent degree. This also takes us back to pitching depth. You can't predict it, and you never have enough.
Potato Pete
12:33
Is another 1 year and $5 million for McCutchen reasonable?
Jason Mackey
12:34
Yep. I think so. Could maybe do it for less. But his value in terms of ticket sales, interest, goodwill ... it's much, much greater than $5 million.
Jeff M
12:34
Its starting to feel more likely RF/DH is Davis's future. If that is the case do you think it more likely making him the 1st overall pick will look like a mistake?
Jason Mackey
12:36
I agree with the RF stuff. And, yeah, to a degree I think you could look at it that way. But a couple points: 1. We don't know he stinks in RF. He stinks now. He could improve. I wouldn't put it past Henry. If he's a solid RF and hits a ton, I'm not arguing with the pick. 2. I think we need to see how the catching plays out ... and all of this, really. We're trying to make determinations based on 51 games. That's an impossibly small sample.
Potato Pete
12:36
As much as Clemente's 21 deserves to be retired league wide, no one is less deserving of a number retirement than Billy Meyer. They should quietly unretire it this offseason. Sticks out like a sore thumb next to Wagner, Stargell, etc.
Jason Mackey
12:37
I get people questioning why it's retired. Same time, that's a little ridiculous to un-retire it, don't ya think?
Potato Pete
12:37
Jason Delay should catch every Keller start going forward. Let him do Keller starts and day games after night games, and Endy can handle the rest. If Keller pitches like that with Delay, it's a no brainer to keep carrying Delay.
Jason Mackey
12:38
Yeah, that's an interesting one. I would agree with you. Makes me also think about the Henry dynamic. Should they just keep Delay as the backup C for this reason, make Henry a RF and let him learn that? I've heard worse ideas.
Will
12:38
Great piece on Oviedo and Cutch btw. The psychology of pitching is fascinating and that's a really good insight.  I'm sure there are also good arguments for pitchers who wish to be left alone but this kind of interaction seems really beneficial for a young player gaining experience.
Jason Mackey
12:38
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it.
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