Pirates news and professional analysis
Andrew McCutchen made it easier for Neil Huntington to trade him and harder for Bob Nutting to pay him.
Back on May 23rd when McCutchen’s batting average had dropped to .200, Huntington the General Manager couldn’t have been getting very many good offers for him and Bob Nutting the owner had to be wondering why he was paying him $14 million a year.
Welcome to 3 Up, 3 Down: a weekly recap and preview for the Pirates. This post refers to games from July 3-9: a seven game road trip where the Pirates took three of four against the Phillies (July 3-6) and winning two of three against the Cubs (July 7-9).
Welcome to Pirates Flashback, a weekly look back at some of the best players of the worst teams in Pirates’ history.
Today’s player is Kevin Young, who played first base for the Pirates from 1992-1995, and then again from 1997-2003.
Young was an All-American with the Kansas City Kansas Community College team, leading the league with a .477 batting average. He went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi before entering the 1990 draft.
The Pirates have boasted one of the most celebrated farm systems the past few seasons, so it’s hard to keep track of everyone. These four minor leaguers may not be grabbing headlines or may be a few years away, but they are worth keeping an eye on this month.
Escobar will be the Pirates only representative at the 2017 Futures Game, which will be held this Sunday.
This commentary by Tim Benz on Pirates Talk Now is sponsored by Blush Gentlemen’s Club, Pittsburgh’s #1 Gentlemen’s Club! Blush has Happy Hour Specials and a all new Sports Bar located on the 3rd floor. Blush is located at 135 9th Street in Downtown Pittsburgh.
I’ll admit it. This is probably “the wrong” reaction to have to that Pirates 6-3 win last night in Philadelphia.
Are the Pirates looking to trade their two biggest name players on the team?
The answer to that is no one aside from Neal Huntington and certain members of the front office really know if Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole can be had in a trade. Fans and media can speculate but that’s all it really is.
UPDATE (2:34 PM)-
Jordan Luplow has three homers with Triple-A Indianapolis in just 7 games/27 at-bats. He's not the fastest to do so. A non-exhaustive list👇 pic.twitter.com/5KsV1W62BL
— Brian Peloza (@BrianPeloza) July 7, 2017
UPDATE (2:32 PM)-
ROSTER MOVE: Pirates today recalled RHP A.J. Schugel from Triple-A Indy and option catcher Elias Diaz to Triple-A.
With the MLB Trade Deadline less than a month away and the major league season halfway over, I figured now would be a good time to look at the Pirates depth in the minor league system. Which positions are they dealing from strength and which positions have little depth?
A lot of times, these factors play a role into whether or not a team makes a deal. Do they have proper depth to make up for a player that they might want to trade?
26 days and counting until the 2017 MLB Trade Deadline and GM Neal Huntington appears to have plenty of assets to shop around to contending teams.
As we talked about last night, despite being one of the hottest players in the majors, Andrew McCutchen is a player that I believe the team should build around and not look to deal. Despite how things have gone this season, the Pirates have enough talent to contend for a playoff spot next season and trading the teams best player would just hurt that effort.