Should Pirates protect Esmerlyn Valdez for MLB Rule 5 draft? Is Kyle Schwarber an option?

Should Pirates protect Esmerlyn Valdez for MLB Rule 5 draft? Is Kyle Schwarber an option?

Good morning, good afternoon, and a happy Tuesday to you. I’m Jason Mackey alongside Colin Beasley for this week’s episode, this early week’s episode of the PostGazette Pirate Show. Thanks so much for finding us. We’re presented by FanDuel. You’ll hear a message from Greenwalt Roofing in the Middle. And we have a lot to talk to you about today. It is a it’s the month of deadlines, as my beat partner wrote in a story today. Um, November means well rule five deadline. That’s the first one. And then there’s a non-tender deadline later in the week. We’re going to talk about the rule five deadline. That’s today at 6:00. Who the Pirates might protect. Uh we we’re also awaiting some coaching staff news. There’s some hires. Um still some stuff TBD, but uh we broke some news here at PG Sports now. Over the weekend um on a bench coach on a third base coach. We’ll talk about those. And Jeff Passen from ESPN had a report um not too long ago about the Pirates being involved in free agency. They’re going to spend more money They apparently made an offer to Josh Naylor. Um, it sounds shocking, but it’s not all that dissimilar from stuff that we’ve been discussing here locally either. So, Colin and I are going to explain kind of the the ins and outs of that. But, uh, let’s start here, Colin. The rule five deadline. Very quick answer. Not quick answer. There’s no way to quickly answer this, but uh, who are they going to protect? I think I’ve got four names in mind in my opinion. Four. Four. I think they should keep four. Okay, I want them to protect Emerlyn Valdez. I think that’s the easiest one. I think that’s the one that we’d all be shocked if they didn’t protect after he had the breakout 2025 season. Did well in Arizona. Did well and did did everything you could ask of him. I think that he’s simply got too much pop for the Pirates to risk. Want them to predict Brandon Mido, their minor league reliever of the year. He had a sub one erra, had a streak of 64 consecutive batters where they uh where he did not allow a hit. That was over a month between double A and AAA. I think that he’s someone who can contribute in the major leagues. Want them to protect Antoine Kelly. I think there’s potential there. I think that he’s someone that if you don’t protect him, some team will pick him up, stash him in the bullpen, and keep him for a year. So, I want to I want to bank on Kelly’s potential. I also want them to protect Wilbur Otell. He’s someone I think that could make a potential spot starter too for the Pirates in 2026. I think he could be a backend uh excuse me, not a backend release reliever, a back end of the rotation starter for somebody. I think all four of those guys would have some value elsewhere and I’d like to see the Pirates keep them. Okay, I’m gonna I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. Um partially because I agree with it, partially because I think it’ll just spur the discussion a little bit further. So going into that, I’m going to take the opposite tack. Emerlyn Valdez has barely played any time, barely played above high a Colin. He has no experience. How are you going to be able to justify a 40man spot for this guy that you’re probably not going to use in the major leagues this year? Who Who would you rather have on your 40man roster? I know. Look, that’s this one’s a hard argument because I I completely agree with it. I for what it’s worth I agree with what you’re saying too. I don’t think that Ezra Lind he for sure shouldn’t have a spot on the opening day roster. No, I think that he’s someone late 2026 at earliest to be called up. He wasn’t particularly great in double A until Connor Griffin got there, but he’s also someone that’s it’s just not worth the risk after the season he had after what he did in the Arizona Fall League. It’s simply not worth the risk that someone else scoops him up. don’t think he’d be scooped up. Yeah, for the reasons you mentioned, he’s not particularly great defensively either, but the Pirates need all the pop they can get. I think they’ve developed someone someone and something in Esberlin Valdez, and I’m perfectly fine with them um protecting him and there’s plenty of options for who they could possibly cut let go. Yeah. It’s not like it’s not like there are too many guys who you absolutely need on the back end of that 40man roster in my opinion. No, I I completely agree. Um the only like counter example I’ll I’ll provide a couple years ago the Pirates had a guy named Mason Martin. It was before your time, but I was I was convinced and I think Mason Martin was convinced too. I remember talking to him at Leon Park and it sounded like he was convinced he was going to be on the 40 um and was left off for the rule five draft and everybody was why isn’t Mason Martin being protected? Well, the reason was because he plays a position that’s not often popular in the rule five draft. And if you go back and look at the number of powerhitting first baseman, outfielder types who get scooped up in the rule five, it’s very small. Um, that being said, again, I would add Valdez because they have such a der of power. This kid’s come along nicely. I think they can fit him. I don’t think it would be a chore. I like what his development looks like. He can start at AAA. Maybe he impacts the big league roster. Like there’s enough there that intrigues me, especially what he did in the Arizona Fall League. Again, I’m not I’m not arguing for him to be left off, but like if the argument would be there, I think that’s what it is that that oftent times you can slide those guys through and save your 40man spots. I just don’t think it’s worth the gamble right I I see I again I I see what you’re saying, but when you look at who you’d protect in advance, like both Jiuan Bay and Sunj Chang had 40man roster spots for the entire year this year, and neither of them contributed after after May. Obviously, Bay is no longer with the Pirates, but Chang’s there as well. Will Robertson recent waiver acquisition, I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over letting him go. Cam Sanders. There’s there’s options there. And they’ve got two open spots as we reported this weekend. They’ve got 39 on the 40man roster right now. And if you miss it, Cam Dei is planning on signing with a team in Japan, the Hansen Tigers. So that will make it 38 spots once that is finalized. I don’t know if that’ll be finalized today or later in the week, but that’s something to think about with this roster. Yep. No doubt. We would give you odds except they don’t exist for these sorts of things. They don’t have rule five betting odds. Maybe something to work on there to our friends at FanDuel. No, seriously. Uh it’s a little bit quiet on the baseball betting front, right? And we always have a little bit of a a fan FanDuel presence here on this podcast. So, I’m just going with some Steelers odds. It’s too interesting right now. They play in Chicago this weekend. Uh the Bears are a three-point favorite. Little bit surprised by that. Um and Pit is at Georgia Tech and the Yellow Jackets, not so surprisingly, are a two and a half point favorite. So you can check out more at FanDuel.sportsbook.com or sportsbook.fanduel.com actually would be a better way of doing that. So all right, there’s a few other guys calling and here is where I think it’s a little bit more of a genuine argument. I do disagree with you some on the pitchers for a team in the Pirates situation. Like they have pitching if nothing else. They have pitching. I don’t understand why we’re going to add three pitchers to their 40man roster. like they they should be shooting higher than that talent-wise. I’m okay with one. I think I’m okay with Bidois would be my pick. I think he’s the most major league ready. Although, you’ve had eyes on these guys more than I have. So, I’m not going to go die on that hill. But, I don’t like adding three arms to a 40man roster where your strength organizationally is already pitching. Why are why are we adding three arms? Again, I’ll go back to um I’ll go back to the guys in the 40man roster. I think that either of these guys have higher savings than say a Cam Sanders type or someone along those lines. I think that they’re both high upside guys. Both of them have starter potential. I could see either I agree with you that Bido is more MLB ready than either Dotel or um Kelly, but both those guys have higher ceilings. Both those guys could potentially be starters at the next level. There’s someone that I think are more likely to go claimed. And I want the Pirates to at least get something for them. I don’t want a them to be bought out for $100,000 and then stashed. I think that they’re both too valuable to lose both top 10 prospects via Baseball America. And I agree that would lead to a lot of pitching on the 40man roster regardless of who you let go. I know that there are some decisions that’ll be made later this week that I think some of the pitching will be thinned out a little bit, but you’re right that there’s free agent stuff that needs to happen. There’s other signings that need to happen. What I wouldn’t mind seeing is them adding, say, a Dotel or a Kelly to the 40man roster and potentially flipping them as part of a trade this off season. Yeah, that ensures that you can use these guys and you can get some value for them instead of risking that some team with an open spot just buys them for $100,000 of the rule five draft. I think that’s the best way to get value out of these guys at a bare minimum is by protecting them. If you’re going to go that way, cool. But I don’t think you have to protect Otell or Kelly. I really don’t like if I’m an opposing team and I’m looking at these guys and this isn’t to knock them down. This is just realistic. Like Kelly has spent one year over here, right? Like he he’s barely pitched in double A and all of a sudden you’re going to commit a major league spot to a guy with a three erra this past season. Like I that seems a little aggressive for me. And I also look there’s just sort of like yin and yang to what these guys have done, right? Like Baseball America has Antoine Kelly ranked number ninth, seventh, some like very high. MLB pipeline doesn’t have them ranked at all. Like there’s a disparity there. And generally those two two outlets, they’re they’re pretty reflective of how the industry sees a player and there’s no consensus there. Um I don’t know. I guess that means you just take one team and they they’re willing to give the guy a chance. I don’t know. Uh, but they’ll tell you look at like he’s had a a handful of outings that are really really good and he had a handful of outings that are really really bad. I just I don’t I don’t know if I’m willing to take that on as a major league team. Like I think I could probably just do better. I’m going to pass. I’m not going to risk a major league roster spot on a guy that half the time was getting blown up at DA. I would just rather I’d rather not. But I don’t know. Maybe I’m too riskaverse. I see what you’re saying. I will say with Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, just some of the rankings things, Baseball America does more of a end of season update than MoB pipeline does. And both these guys had breakout 2025 years. Kelly, both them saw their velocity spike. Dotell added a a splitter. Both of them had stronger 2025 seasons than they did in 2024. So, I think that’s where the MLB pipeline disparity comes from. And I think that’s why they’re on on at least my radar. I think that either of those guys, you could have them stashed in a bullpen and have them protected for a year. I’m not saying that this is necessarily something that a Mets or a Dodgers would make, but think about a team like, I don’t know, the Athletics, someone that needs bullpen help, the Angels, a team that is really desperate for pitchers. I think that they’d be willing to make that sort of gamble and be willing to ro the roster these guys throughout the year. I just I think that they they have some value and it’s worth trying to get something for them instead of risking getting $100,000. All right. Well, we will find out that deadline again six o’clock today. We’ll have plenty of coverage at postyphengaz.com and we’ll see what the Pirates do. Secondary topic here, Colin. I wanted to throw this your way. The coaching news, Christopher Negron, first of all, this is hilarious. And Tony Beasley are both joining the coaching staff. So on a Pirates beat where Colin Beasley and Jose Negron cover the team, they’re now hiring coaches with the same last names as the Beatr writers. How’s it feel to be the second most important Beasley around the Pirates? I I I wonder if I’m that high. Honestly, I don’t know if there’s any other Beasley’s. You’re a third Beasley, but I I I don’t know. I I wonder if I’m that high. No, I I Jose and I had some fun with this. Um we we got some texts from like Hannah Beers and from other guys in the beat. Yeah, I was like they hired a Negron and a Beasley. NL Central ain’t ready. Yeah, it was it was from from that aspect I I was very entertained by the news. But as I look at these, I these are again two hires that Don Kelly has made that I I feel pretty pretty good about. I can’t claim to have studied the Texas Ranger third base coach decisions or to see exactly what uh the how the Mariners bench coach has functioned and exactly like that. But what I hear reputationally reputationally from these guys, I don’t know if that’s a word, but whatever. I don’t know. Yeah, it should be if it’s not. But anyway, either way, these guys have good reputations. I like the Beasley hire because he’s someone who has some experience. He’s someone who’s been in been the interimm manager for the Rangers at points. He’s been solid at third base. He’s been around the Pirates organization. He’s kind of got the best of both worlds where he understands what you need to do in Pittsburgh to have success while at the same time not being an insystem guy. I like what he’s learned with the Rangers. I like that they went outside the system and got him. And I think that he’s got some experience. That is key considering a lot of the rest of the staff is young. And then with Negron, he’s young. He’s viewed as a future MLB manager. He’s viewed as as someone who has a very good reputation in this field. I really like it. I like that they’ve gone younger with both the bench coach and the pitching coach hires. I think that it’s it’s good that you’re getting someone who’s going to bring in some new ideas, someone from outside the organization, someone from more successful organizations. I think that those are things that you they should have been looking for and I think that Don Kelly got that. Yeah, I think Donny’s acquitted himself well so far this off seasonason. Like you couple those two with Bill Murphy, the pitching coach. I mean, I don’t know how you look at those hires and have a critical word to say. Like I I know we’re, you know, sort of paid to take a critical look, but I I really like them. I think they’re they address weaknesses in the coaching staff. Like I look at, you know, you need to get O’Neal Cruz right. Um, it’s going to help to have somebody who’s worked with outfielders for a long, long time and Tony Beasley and probably a bench coach that speaks Spanish, not just for O’Neal, but like I think just relating to players and having somebody that is going to hold him accountable. They’re going to, you know, sort of involve everybody. Obviously, that’s not essential across the board, but you know, you couple that with somebody who’s played a bunch of different positions. He’s experienced a lot of things in this game. If you read up on the grown I’m talking about like you know you have read readers probably haven’t like you know this guy he he went to UC Davis um and lost his scholarship because he was like a knucklehead and had poor grades and then found himself and it was consume river college I don’t know um and got drafted out of there and like you know basically lost a lot of stuff because he was an idiot in baseball and then figured it out. Um, I think there’s something to be said for that here. You have young guys who are trying to figure this out themselves. Like, I want to see what this guy has. I mean, Tony Beasley had cancer in 2016. And not that that’s directly relatable to kids of today, but like, you know, dude can speak from a pretty powerful place of experience on on what it takes to, you know, survive in this game and what everybody should be grateful for. Like, I you they hired seemingly good, wellrespected people with miles on the tires and baseball knowledge. So, I don’t I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. I’m curious to meet them. I I I thought they were going to be announced last week. We still haven’t got an announcement. It would be weird if it was this afternoon given the rule five stuff, but I don’t know. At some point before opening day, hopefully they let us know about their coaching staff. Yeah, I hope I hope so, too. And and you kind of mentioned this, but I’m I’m glad they’re not just going all young guys. I’m glad they’re not going all old guys. I’m glad that there’s going to be a mix of experience on the staff. So, yep. No doubt. I think it work I’m excited for it. You young whippers snappers can’t take over everything. We We old heads have a place, darn it. All right, so we’re going to have a short message from Greenalt Roofing per the usual. And uh Jeff Passen had an interesting report and I want to weigh into whether it really means anything for the Pirates or whether it doesn’t. We’ll do that when we get back. But first, the message from our sponsors with Greenalt Roofing. Hey, Pittsburgh. When you think of great roofs, you think Greenalt Roofing Company. With over 20 years experience, Greenwalt knows your roof is your home’s first line of defense. from rain, wind, snow, and ice. That’s why GreenAL roofing standard for perfection is so important. You can trust that their team of experienced installers will treat your property like it’s their own. When it comes to roof replacements, Greenwald Roofing is Pittsburgh’s only choice. Visit greenwaltroofing.com today or call 412-314882 to schedule your free estimate. PA contractor number 36262. All right, welcome back to the Postgazette Pirate Show presented by FanDuel. Jason Mackey alongside Colin Beasley on a chilly Tuesday here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So for the rest of our show, we’re going to talk about the Pirates off season a little bit. An interesting report at ESPN. There’s two parts of this in my opinion. One is they’re going to allow Connor Griffin the opportunity to compete for the starting shortstop job. Colin, I don’t know about you, I’m not surprised by this. That was sort of my expectation. Um, I expected them to allow Connor Griffin to compete for the shortstop job in 2026. Maybe this is more of an explicit thing. I don’t know. Um, but I Why would you stop Connor Griffin from becoming your shortstop if he competes and shows he’s ready? I don’t I don’t get that. Yeah. I I I also kind of expected them to give him that opportunity. I They wouldn’t say, “Oh, we’re keeping this guy down in TripleA.” That’s something that they wouldn’t There’s no reason to announce that in November. there’s no reason to announce that in spring training. There’s no reason to do that at any point. So really by saying that there’s an opportunity that’s both not news, but also it is kind of news if they by putting it out there by putting it um but I that the fact that it it’s out there means there’s probably some truth to it. I’d like to see him win the job out of spring training, but I do think he’d have to win the job. I do think that in order to convince them to skip Triple A for him, he’s got to show he can produce in spring training. But I also don’t doubt that he will. Yeah. I mean, that’s the way it should be all the time. Like, if you show you’re ready, you should get the job. I don’t I don’t care if he just graduated from high school. If he’s the best player on the field, he should play. I mean, that’s that’s been the same thing for the Pirates for years. But in any case, like there’s another component. There’s actually two components to this one. Passing also talked about the Pirates spending this off seasonason. And I thought it was interesting that um you know he comped the Liiano offer you know the Pirates largest ever contract signing in free agency 39 million and they offered more than twice that to Josh Naylor. Interesting there. I mean we did not know that. That is complete news. So a first baseman they’re offering nearly probably in excess of 80 million. And whether they landed the deal or not I find it interesting slash encouraging that they offered an $80 million contract. We’ll assume that’s not over like 30 years. I’m gonna assume that’s like, you know, four or five years. Um, and to a first baseman like that. You’re kind of kind of telling us some interesting stuff there. So, I What did you take away from the other portion of it that they’re seemingly going to be more aggressive than usual in free agency? I’ll start with the Naylor aspect of it. That’s that’s not a name I’d heard. That’s not a name I I’d been considering for the Pirates. I part of that was I kind of assumed he would end up resigning with Seattle, which he did. But the other part of it is first base was the Pirates best offensive position. That wasn’t a spot that I thought they they’d spend significant money in. I thought maybe they’d go and try and add a right-handed platoon guy or someone along those lines, but I definitely didn’t have a large offer to to Josh Naylor on my radar. I am encouraged by the fact that they’re willing to take some sort of a big swing, whether it’s whether it’s a Naylor, whether it’s a Suarez, whether it’s whoever else ends up going down this path. But the fact that they’re willing to spend $80 million, assuming they are, assuming that this was a legitimate offer, is is something that is encouraging. As for the other aspect of of spending widely and whether this is some sort of spending spree, spending bonanza, I don’t necessarily buy that as much. Yeah. The reason why is just because the Pirates payroll right now is is is pretty low. They have money to spend, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the payroll itself is going to go up more than it was in 2025. It just means that they have some more flexibility is the word Ben Sharington used. They have some more they have less money on the books, so of course they can go out and try and make something bigger. That doesn’t necessarily mean that anything is necessarily changing. What do you think of that aspect? Yeah, I think it’s uh I think it sounds good. I I think it’s something that, you know, oh, they’re going to spend 30 to 40 more, you know, 30 to $40 million on payroll this winter. Don’t don’t pay attention to the fact that their current allocations are between 62 and 67 million depending on what outlet you want to read. I mean, of course they’re going to spend more like you’re talking about. Like my impression all along was payroll would be probably 10 million positive or negative around 90 million and I can’t imagine it would be n 10 million below like that given the stakes and skins and how people are looking at them and whatever. So I mean you know my thought my my assumption my intel was you know about 95 million. Um, if they get up to 100, I mean, I guess that’s, you know, I’m not gonna I’m not going to knock them. That would be great. Uh, but it’s not like you’re looking at I think the easy thing is to see, okay, their payroll was at 90. They’re going to spend 30 to 40 million. No, they’re not talking about $120 to $130 million payroll for the Pirates in 2026. I wish that was what we were talking about. That would be great. I think that would really encourage a lot of people, but that’s not it. like you just we’re we’re picking one part of the statement to say that you’re going to spend 30 to 40 million this winter with while ignoring the other part that like you know what they did column this goes back to last season I mean you know this obviously but you know for readers listeners viewers they cleared out the payroll they got rid of the payroll so they had this opportunity to do this this is part of Bednar Hayes and everything else that you’re setting yourself up for this opportunity yeah it’s it’s I agree I’d love to see a 120 $130 million payroll and something something like that. But with with that flexibility, regardless of what they do with Mitch Keller, regardless what they do with guys they keep or non-tender and arbitration on Friday, regardless they have this this money to spend, and that’s why you can get linked to a guy like Josh Naylor. That’s why they can say they’re in on Kyle Schwarber. I don’t necessarily buy that one. I think that that’s really just if the floor drops out and all of a sudden no one’s offering him more than like a one-year deal, which I I don’t think will happen. That was another thing that Jeff Pass reported is that the Pirates were in on on Schwarber. Mhm. I in Yeah, I in Yes, you could spend the entirety of that money on Schwarber and yes, that would probably have a better impact than um that would probably do more for the Pirates than the Hayes and and uh TR and uh IKFs and the the net money that you went out that would probably help, but at the same time, it’s the payroll would still probably stay around the same. So, kind of a little bit of both there. I think that what they do spend will probably help the team. I do think what they spend will you you can spend that money better than they spent it last year, but it’s not like there’s new money coming in. Yeah. I’m just going back and looking at the Schwarber stuff a little bit more, man. I mean, that’s like, come on. Come on. The Phillies want him back. You’re talking about the Red Sox, the Mets, the Blue Jays. Like I I don’t know if he’s a fit, you know, like straight fit with some of these teams. Like I have some questions, but like you’ve got that much of a market. Kyle Schwarber is going to say, “No, man. I’m good. Going to Pittsburgh. Go to the Pirates. Believe in what they’re doing.” Like I just I don’t I don’t see it. I hope I hope it’s different. You know, I just I feel like there’s a pragmatic way of looking at this that you know what we’re trying to do here. Like you know, yes, they’re going to spend more on players hopefully and and be signing a different class of free agent. To me, it’s it’s sort of what you’re saying, what I’m saying that the same problems exist. Like, you need to find the right guy and get them to commit come in here on a multipleear deal, buy in, you know, and get somebody who’s a leader and wants to believe in what you’re doing. But like that’s not Schwarber. That’s not Josh Naylor. That’s not the top of the class. It’s like the middle of the class and then you overpay him. I don’t know. We’ll see. I have my I have some doubts, Colin. I don’t I don’t doubt that they’re gonna like, you know, do something that’s interesting. It’s just, you know, relatively speaking, interesting does not equate to like Kyle Tucker or Kyle Schwarber. Yeah. I I need I need to see it first. I need to I need to They would need to actually sign one of these guys for me to fully believe it. I need to see it to believe it. Yeah. What do you think the reaction would be like around here if they did sign Kyle Schwarber? I feel like everybody What? Trades in the streets. I feel like everybody would be checking on Twitter or X and be like, “Is that a fake account? That’s got to be fake Jeff Pass. There’s no way. It’d be like the uh the Luca Donuch trade with shams. People just hacked. I don’t the the gifts of like I don’t know Bob Nutting throwing money in the air or something be like Dari Moretta.” I mean, it’s it’s not going to happen, right? It’s good. At some point, at some point this off seasonason, Colin, I swear they’re going to sign a player that like makes sense for the team. It’s more money than you’re used to seeing the Pirates spend. I hope it’s multiple years. At least I keep telling myself that you can’t go through every offseason signing people to one-year deal. Sooner or later, they’re going to have to get some sort of commitment here. Please, this is the time they have the opportunity to do it. This is the time they have the flexibility to do it. this is the time they have the reason to do it with Paul SK. It it it all lines up to to them making some sort of move and taking some sort of big swing whether they do it, whether someone wants to come here and whether someone’s willing to buy in on it too because that matters as well. We’ll see. Yeah. Last piece of this and then we’re going to get going for the day. But so the the the Naylor thing, do you think they could actually sign a first baseman and move Horwit somewhere else? Like I wonder how realistic that is. I you know Naylor wasn’t because he was going to stay in Seattle, right? Like I want to go back and look at some of the other first base options. I feel like that has sort of changed my lens on whether they would approach first base. Like if you’re offering 80 plus million to Naylor, you have to offer that with the with the at least some thought that he might take it. I just I I don’t think I took it as seriously as maybe I should have with them signing somebody in first base. What about you at first base? What about you? Yeah, I think I I’m I’m looking up to see if Josh Naylor plays anywhere other than first base. No. No. I mean, you have the opportunity to to play someone a designated hitter if you don’t bring back Andrew McCutchen in his full role. I don’t think they’d spend 80 or 90 million on a full-time designated hitter, but I do think that would give you some opportunities there. Yeah, Spencer can play some second base. He doesn’t grade well defensively there, but he can. You could do it. I don’t think they would. I don’t think he’s a strong enough defensive second baseman to feel good about putting him there, but you could do that. I I think this is more um yeah, I I don’t know how how realistic I saw see them spending that money on Naylor. think they probably knew that he wanted to go back to Seattle and were willing to at least put their name in the ring, but yeah, I think I I don’t know how I’m I’m curious how serious that was. Yeah. And whether it was an offer or whether it was just interest or what would you think about this deal or what would you think about this and that or I don’t know. But good that they are in the conversations at least. Yeah, they’re having the conversations. I’ll give them that. And we don’t know what the term was again. It could have been 80 million over 30 years. I hope that’s not the case, but you know, could could have been something funky. I I don’t I don’t think it is. I mean, I do think there’s some there’s some sense of urgency from their place. It’s not enough. Certainly, you know, it’s not it’s not defending anything. It’s not, you know, fans shouldn’t go line up for season tickets because the Pirates feel some sense of urgency. Like, they have to prove it before anybody’s going to believe it. But, we’ll see. All right, that does it for us today. Thanks so much for watching, listening. These are always fun. We are here every Tuesday and Friday to break down a bunch of stuff. On Friday, we’ll be back to talk a little bit about the non-tender deadline. We can recap what happens with the rule five deadline. Who knows? Maybe the Pirates sign Pete Alonzo in the meantime. Probably not. I wouldn’t hold your breath. Make sure you like and subscribe. You can get all of this and so much more from our Postgazette Northshore Drive podcast and YouTube channels. For Colin Beasley, I’m Jason Mackey. We will talk to you in a couple days. [Music] Thank you for checking out this content from Postgazette Sports. If you watch this video on YouTube, please like the video and subscribe to our channel. For all the sports coverage the PostGazette has to offer, visit post-gazette.com. [Music]

Post-Gazette Pirates insiders Jason Mackey and Colin Beazley preview the MLB Rule 5 draft and tough decisions GM Ben Cherington and manager Don Kelley will need to make for their roster as the offseason gets under way. This show is presented by FanDuel.

Who from the group of Brandan Bidois, Esmerlyn Valdez, Antwone Kelly and Wilber Dotel should the duo protect with a 40-man roster spot? Which names on that list are more expendable than the others? And what type of player should the front office be looking to snag from other teams?

Our duo tackles those questions; the coaching staff additions of Tony Beasley and Kristopher Negron; and reports linking the Pirates to Josh Naylor and Kyle Schwarber in free agency.

For more Pirates coverage, visit: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates

Visit our sponsor, Greenawalt Roofing at https://greenawaltroofing.com/service-areas/pittsburgh-pennsylvania/