DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: They kept Alika!

25 comments

1. The abuse the shot callers put fans of this franchise is incredible. Sell the team and let someone make a competitive team.

   Enough is enough

2. Not signing guys in Free agency might be due to just overall Reputation, then why doesn’t Cherington trade for major league assets? GMNH traded for AJ Burnett to get him. Then Martin comes in free agency etc. Why isn’t Cherington bringing in talent via trade?

3. New York Jets. That's what I've got for ya.

4. I’m going to slightly push back on the idea the Pirates “keep their players” (might as well stay in line with the general aesthetic of the show- that this franchise is moribund and doomed). The Pirates extended Kendall and Giles, but those deals happened within a year of PNC Park opening. It’s semantics, sure, but considering how they spent around that period of time, it’s pretty clear those decisions were one-time outliers as opposed to standard operating procedure. They extended Bay and Cutch, but those deals were both well below market for differing reasons (Bay was an older prospect drafted in the 22nd round who was staring down years of arbitration hell, and Cutch is, was, and has always been Pittsburgh and Pirate-obsessed unlike many athletes have ever been with a team and an adopted city…poor guy). And while the Marte and Polanco deals were great for the Pirates when they were finalized, they were awful, awful deals for the players, and in a lot of ways were more akin to exploitation of Latin players than fair negotiating. And then for good measure you can toss the Josh Harrison extension in the same bucket as the Bay extension (an older guy relative to service time who was drafted even later than Bay took long-term financial security over betting on himself and trying to find the best deal).

   I write all of that to say I have a hard time thinking the past is going to dictate the future in any way. Sure, they extended Hayes, but again, was that really a normal or predictive occurrence? I’d argue it wasn’t. They took a guy with a fatal flaw (he was a light-hitting prospect at a position where power reigns supreme) and decided his defense would make him worth a deal that pays him at an annual salary that’s near the bottom of baseball at his position. Then the Reynolds deal was by all accounts ~$30 million below market value (I’m still floored he signed it, honestly). Essentially those deals are the same as the above ones; guys took financial security over waiting things out and maximizing their earnings.

   Just by nature of how bad they’ve been for 5 years, moving forward the vast majority of guys the Pirates would theoretically be trying to extend will either be high draft picks, pitchers, young high school bats, or Oneil Cruz. I have a hard time thinking any of those guys are signing at or below-market deals to stay here like Bay, Cutch, Giles (who was also old relative to his service time when he extended) Harrison, Hayes, Marte, Polanco, or Reynolds did. And I have a really hard time thinking the Pirates ever sign anyone to a deal for fair market value like they did Kendall, especially when you consider they’re going to be primarily dealing with players at the most expensive positions; pitcher and middle infielder. You thought your vibes were bad…😂

5. Just remember that the only dude in the now 5th year of this rebuild that GMBC has developed and brought in was Skenes and Carmen if you want to credit him with that…all the other impact guys have been Neil Huntington holdovers…

6. Why would somebody sign here? Well it’s definitely nobodies first choice. But like Dejan said, it’s about money. If nobody else is making offers, and the alternative is AAA or retiring, why not sign with the pirates… make a couple million and take a shot at reviving your career. That’s all the pirates are anymore…. It’s where careers go to die. If you’re signing with the pirates, it’s cause you had no other options and want to cushion your retirement nest egg

7. How long will it take before Skenes wants out?

8. When players like Alika Williams get put on waivers, they will always clear, because the Pirates have rose colored glasses on when they acquire them, while all the other teams laugh.

9. Still can't get over the Frazier and Pham signings. Why haven't we heard from Cherington on why he signed them

10. Ofcourse the other player, the Pirates couldn't sign, Aramis Ramirez, was two administrations ago. No way Skenes signs here long term. He'll end up being traded like Cole. So he'll be a pirate for 3/4 more sessons.

11. The protesters could put up 40,000 billboards and do countless advertisements. They could even burn Nutting, Cherington, and Shelton in effigy and none of this is going to move the needle one bit in getting him to sell the team. It is going to have to take the commissioner of baseball or city and state government to force Nutting to sell or at the very least spend more

12. Does Nutting have an actual plan or goals? What is he trying to achieve here in Pittsburgh?? How about Cherrington? More of a politician than a general manager…is there no one in the building that can or will push back and say ENOUGH

13. Why do we not hear about Endy Rodriguez??? I though he's also supposed to be answer at catcher.
    Did we forget he exists after the surgery

14. It's the fans that treat the the platers with love and respect cutch is a prime example Reynolds how many players wanted to stay but got shipped out anyways nutting has chance to have a very competitive team if he would make cheriington really earn his money cheriington thinks he so smart he's not two good signings could have went a long way mr.nutting please wake up and see how much money he's wasting on players who have no upside

15. They were supposed to spend $105 M this year from almost every report out there. Nutting's PO'd over the fans being "unappreciative" and is trying to make a point that he's the boss. He just continues to throw gasoline on the fire.

16. Here we go for another season … #sigh

17. I'm glad Alika is still with the Pirates. He's the best defensive shortstop they have.

18. The Buffalo Sabres are a poorly run franchise. In my opinion the Sabres are a lot worse than the Pirates.

19. The Pirates is The Pirates.🙄

20. They have Skenes and are running out of time to build a team in order to keep him. Every time they make no big moves and the clock is ticking. Low ball is not a path to the playoffs. Thank you DK

21. I know it has to be hard to do the Pirates' daily shots. Thanks for keeping them coming. I really appreciate it.

22. You or anyone else in the regular world will have absolutely no affect on the ownership. Boycott, build your billboards and signs and it will do nothing. MLB would have to do something amd they aren’t because they love NY and LA being the only relevant spots. Not to mention with deferment they now basically have unlimited resources. The game is beautiful, the league is a joke.

23. Pham is an impact signing. He’ll certainly make a negative impact on the team.

24. Williams is another good glove no hit infielder. Plenty of those. Nutting is punishing the fans for no longer falling for the game he's playing .He will continue to put the cheapest damn thing on the field he can get away with. No offers but need service time toward the pension plan? Sign with the Pirates and get a easy 2 million or so even though you're not even worth that much AND get another years worth of pension credits.

25. Nutting knows this year Is going to be bad so why spend any money