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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 10.09.25
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Deb
12:59
Do you believe truly that Nutting/Cherington believe they are doing everything they can to bring a winning team here?
Jason Mackey
1:00
No. How could you? I think Cherington is trying. I don't question his effort. But the trades, signings and execution part haven't been good enough. I don't know how Nutting could possibly think he has provided enough financial resources to win.
Mike
1:00
Over/under 80 wins next season?
Jason Mackey
1:00
I'll go under. I'm not gonna get fooled again.
PrinceBob
1:00
This is way, way, too early to ask but I will anyway. Seventy six wins seems to be the ceiling for Cherrington's teams. Is there any reason to think that after six years with that as a high water mark he can go higher and if so how much?
Jason Mackey
1:01
We literally haven't seen one change made. Same answer: They've given me no reason, especially this offseason, to believe things will be different. So, until they do, the cap is 76 wins.
CarolinaGuy
1:01
This issue has bothered me for a while.  When a pitch is thrown in the dirt, the ball is tossed out of the game, but when a ball is hit on the ground where it will undoubtedly get a dirt scuff or grass scuff, the ball remains in play.  Why is a pitched ball in the dirt tossed out of the game but a ball hit on the ground is not?
Jason Mackey
1:02
Very good point. Don't have a great answer for you other than the quirks of baseball.
Bill in Charleston
1:02
We have three catchers - we have no catcher. Do you see the Buccos going outside the organization to solve their dilemma?  Perhaps keep Davis as a 1A or 1B to help the young pitchers but bring in someone who can reliably put up a 750 OPS to share the position?
Jason Mackey
1:02
I don't. They have bigger issues to address.
PrinceBob
1:02
Do you know how minor league teams deal with the business of challenging an umpire's ball/strike calls? Teams get two per game I think. Are players given instructions about when to challenge? Seems to me like one player could blow the whole load in one at bat.
Jason Mackey
1:03
I don't know enough about the innards of it, so to speak. I have a tough time believing there's some sort of formal process. If you're in that moment, you know. And if there's something that would put your team at risk -- close call, tight game, late, etc. -- you don't do it, unless you truly believe it's deserved.
BuccoBaseball26
1:03
Watching Toronto play what looks to me like an old school approach at the plate prompted me to look up that they led MLB in BA, were middle of the pack in walks and homers & had the 2nd least amount of strikeouts.  Is Matt Hague’s philosophy closer to this than the modern day 3 outcome approach (which I can’t stand)?  If so, might we see this throughout the Pirate organization?
Jason Mackey
1:04
I'll be honest: I don't know Matt Hague's philosophy. I don't know how you could. They weren't any good at anything. I'd say as an organization they still value OBP and seeing pitches more than they should. But they're not unique there. They've just been really bad at executing it.
maz01
1:04
Hi Jason, I am really happy  you are on the Pirates beat, as you are the best baseball writer in Pittsburgh. I recently read where Rangers 3b, Josh Jung will be  shopped in the off-season, Jung is very good defensively and if healthy he should provide a boost offensively, Is Jung or Mark Vientos realistic acquisitions and what might the Pirates have to give for either.
Jason Mackey
1:05
Thank you. Appreciate the kind words. Have not seen that from a reliable place, but yes. Jung would make a lot of sense.
Gene
1:05
Will Santana be the closer next season?
Jason Mackey
1:05
That's my expectation.
Ryan
1:05
Hear me out — the profits from the in-game 50/50 raffle goes directly to Paul Skenes’ wallet for the next 10 years instead of to Pirates Charities. The charities would understand, I’m sure.
Jason Mackey
1:08
That's ... certainly an idea. And I heard you out. Does anyone know -- just for fun -- what a typical payout is? I don't. If it's, say, $10K over 81 home dates, that's an extra $810K per season and $8.1 million over 10 years. Not sure that's gonna keep Skenes in Pittsburgh.
DennisSC
1:08
In what way does it make sense to fire the pitching coach when pitching was a team strength, but keep a hitting coach when that was a team weakness?
Jason Mackey
1:09
Not defending this move, Dennis. Just answering the question.

Pitching staff felt like there was another level to reach. That conclusion was drawn with input from pitchers themselves.

Hitting-wise, I think they think they need better players and learned a lot this season about hitting development.

I can understand the first one, sort of. I can't on the second one.
PSU Rob
1:09
In your opinion, is the current lack of offensive prospects in AAA Indy in year 6 enough reason enough to fire GMBC?  Or is there hope (not named Connor Griffin) that we should be excited about?
Jason Mackey
1:10
I mean, this is kind of a moot point, no? They're keeping Cherington. Doesn't matter what I think. But to your point, yeah, they should have far more available position player prospects given what we've seen over the past six years.
Doc G
1:10
Jason love your column
Lifelong baseball fan
Jason Mackey
1:10
Thank you, Doc!
Neal
1:10
Is Ben Cherington the most condescending person you have ever met in professional sports or does it just seem that way based on his responses to reporters questions?   He seems to think just using complicated phrases will confuse people into thinking he actually knows what he is talking about.
Jason Mackey
1:12
He is not, no. My read on Ben is that he tries to over-explain things. If I could change it, I would shorten up his answers. He's certainly not the first person of power in sports to avoid saying anything interesting. Shoot, Tomlin, Sullivan, Omar, Kyle ... everyone does it. Ben just uses too many words. I also think the whole process would run smoother if they made better decisions, and the Pirates won.
Doc G
1:12
It’s tough to support this owner however watching teams play 162 games and then lose two and they’re gone from the playoffs. I can kind of see the financial sense not to invest $100 million in a team to win two more games there has to be some middle ground. I hope we can find it.  I did not grow up in the era of all these different statistical phrases that are used to describe the current game. Is there a chance you can spend a column defining what these things mean and rate them as far as importance I’d love to see that without having to dig through that myself Thanks. Have a great day.
Jason Mackey
1:14
Thanks, Doc. That's an outstanding idea for a winter column. I will do that.

On the first note, Bob Nutting has an obligation to navigate a public trust appropriately. If you can small-market your way to wins, cool. Other markets do. If you stink at that, you should act and change out regimes. Or if you need players, you should spend on them. And if you can't do better than Tommy Pham when you have Paul Skenes, you should sell and give someone else a chance to try.
maz01
1:14
Rafael Flores, in the brief time I had seen him as a catcher, he seems to struggle at that positon and seems more comfortable at Firstbase, where does his future lie? DH?
Jason Mackey
1:14
I haven't seen enough to make that determination. No offense, but I doubt most in this chat have, either. Give him some time.
Tim
1:14
The need for a couple free agent bats is obvious, but what is the sell from Cherington to get them to come to Pittsburgh over another more competent franchise. The team was supposed to compete this year and won 71 games. Would anybody they go after really buy that the pirates close and want to join as the "missing piece"?
Jason Mackey
1:16
They need to overpay. I've thrown out Kepler a couple times. His projected amount of $7.6 M, per Spotrac. Just go with me here. If you're the Pirates, go $10 M. Or another year. Something to separate yourselves. And it doesn't have to be Kepler. I'm just saying they have to take a risk here. Someone has to be first through the wall. If they start winning and PNC Park returns to what it was in 2013-15, the ball starts rolling downhill. But they need to do something that's uncomfortable for them to start it.
PrinceBob
1:16
How often do you plan to do these chats in the off season?
Jason Mackey
1:16
Every week. Unless I have something else going on life-wise.
Irish guy in Pittsburgh from Earth
1:16
Didn’t the air seem fresher and food taste better today after the Yankees were eliminated?
Jason Mackey
1:17
Sure. Air's always pretty darn nice on the baseball beat, as I'm re-learning. I've missed this.
Mark in Kennedy Twp
1:17
What caliber of an MLB hitter does Mitch Keller yield in trade (without including a top 15 Pirates prospect in the deal)?
Jason Mackey
1:17
Hopefully a major league-caliber one, Mark. Not sure how to specifically quantify it. But he should fetch someone who can hit 2-5 in the lineup.
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