Saturday, April 4, 2020

Hot Stove League Review: Pirates


The Pirates got off to a stumbling start in the Hot Stove League.  Manager Clint Hurdle was given the boot after the season.  GM Neil Huntington spent a month searching for a replacement only to get the ax himself which then kicked of a GM search.  By the time Ben Cherington was hired to start the rebuild the Hot Stove League was halfway done.  Given all that drama, the resulting moves were not nearly as bad as they could have been.

Free Agents Lost:  Melky Cabrera(OF), Elias Diaz(C), Francisco Liriano(LHP), Steven Baron(C), Corban Joseph(C).

Free Agents Signed:  Jarrod Dyson(OF), Guillermo Heredia(OF), Luke Maile(C), JT Riddle(SS/OF).

Trades:  1.  Traded Starling Marte(OF) to the D'Backs for Liover Peguero(SS) and Brennan Malone(RHP).  2. Traded Dario Agrazal(RHP) to the Tigers for cash.  3.  Traded Parker Markel(RHP) to the Angels for cash.

Waiver Claim:  Sam Howard(LHP) from Rockies.

Minor League Free Agents:  Derek Holland(LHP), Robbie Erlin(LHP), John Ryan Murphy(C), Andrew Susac(C), Charlie Tilson(OF), Socrates Brito(OF), Tom Koehler(RHP- retired), Jake Elmore(SS/OF), Hector Noesi(RHP), Phillip Evans(IF).

Summary:  Pirates are in a rebuild phase.  I don't know too much about Liovar Peguero, but I scouted Brennan Malone for last year's draft and like him a lot.  Lot's of risk for very young pitching prospects, though.  Dyson is a decent short term replacement for Marte.  The lost free agents were all dead wood types.

Grade C.

1 comment:

  1. The Pirates were like a dumpster fire last year. Not only were they losing but they had fights in the club house involving former Giant Kyle Crick, and their great closer Felipe Rivero suspended by MLB. My friend grumbles about their owner not spending money on players, and was not a big fan of Neil Hunington. He traded Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow for Chris Archer, ouch. I think Ben Cherington was a good hire. He was looking for a situation to build from the ground up. At least they still have Josh Bell. PNC like AT&T are great parks to watch a game from. Didn't Cherington turn down the Giants earlier?

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