[stevenash]

1) Were the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates one year wonders?

2) Is the AL East now officially the worst division in all of baseball?

3) Do the St. Louis Cardinals miss Carlos Beltran?

[Jayvegas420]

Yes
Yes
Who cares.

[tatddy]

Rats being too stubborn with Polanco. I get super 2 status and all but it's time to call him up before their season is over.

[stevenash]

Rats being too stubborn with Polanco. I get super 2 status and all but it's time to call him up before their season is over.

What more can he do in AAA?

He's hitting .400, he's got 4 bombs in 124 AB's, got six swipes, and won't embarrass you in the outfield.
He's going to be the NL version of Mike Trout, he might be as good, Trout has three years on him, so we can't compare yet.

He's should be a 30-30 guy in the show.

Dude is a bona fide five tooler.

[tatddy]

What more can he do in AAA?

He's hitting .400, he's got 4 bombs in 124 AB's, got six swipes, and won't embarrass you in the outfield.
He's going to be the NL version of Mike Trout, he might be as good, Trout has three years on him, so we can't compare yet.

He's should be a 30-30 guy in the show.

Dude is a bona fide five tooler.

He doesn't have the power development just yet to be a 30hr guy but may well within a few years. Purely a money thing at this point as they are trying to drag it out so he's not a super 2. Offered him a 7 year 25 mil contract but smartly he turned it down.

Have the guy stashed on my fantasy team. Make the damn callup, rats.

[t-wizzle]

He doesn't have the power development just yet to be a 30hr guy but may well within a few years. Purely a money thing at this point as they are trying to drag it out so he's not a super 2. Offered him a 7 year 25 mil contract but smartly he turned it down.

Have the guy stashed on my fantasy team. Make the damn callup, rats.

What's the deal? They gotta wait til June or something, right? Standard cheap Pirates.

[sourtwist]

Yes man

[tatddy]

What's the deal? They gotta wait til June or something, right? Standard cheap Pirates.

From fan graphs. Sometimes you just gotta make the move when it's needed. Giants did so when they called up Posey after they dealt Molina in 2010. Worked out ok..




Super Two

Normally, players must have accrued at least three years of MLB service time before they can be eligible for salary arbitration — or in other words, until they can negotiate their salary and not have it automatically set by their club. But certain players with less than three years of service time can also become eligible for arbitration, if they meet the following criteria:

● If they have less than three years of service time, but more than two.

● If they rank within the top 22% of all 2-year players in terms of service time.

So if a player finishes a season and is just shy of three years of service time (say, 2 years and 171 days) then MLB will award them Super Two status and they’ll be eligible for arbitration. Since these players are still under team control for another three seasons, that means Super Two players get four year of salary arbitration instead of the typical three.

The Super Two cutoff used to stand at 17%, but got changed to 22% in the new CBA negotiations. This means that if a team wants to keep a player in the minors until after the Super Two cutoff, they will have to keep that player in the minors for even longer than before. Considering that the cutoff used to fall sometime in June — it varied from year to year, as the 17% cutoff isn’t tied to a specific date — it will likely end up being in July going forward.

[stevenash]

Standard cheap Pirates.

They've been pulling this shit for 30 years.
Start with Drabek, the Burnitz deal was brilliant (not)
Raul Mondesi hate Pittsburgh so much he wouldn't play, refused to take the field.
How about Benito Santiago?

This is my all time favorite Pirate move though.
Pay attention, this is a good one.

About 12 years ago, Pirates with their first round draft pick drafted the NCAA home run king, John Van Benschoten.
Look it up, I can't make this shit up.
Guy could hit homers in a coma.
Pirates announce they are going to convert him into a starting pitcher, turned out to be stat wise the worst pitcher in modern era.
2 and 13 with a 9.20 ERA
The next year they pass on (in the draft) Upton, Greinke, Prince Fielder to get a hamburger Bullington, pitched six games to a six ERA, never heard from again.

[Big Bear]

1) Were the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates one year wonders?

2) Is the AL East now officially the worst division in all of baseball?

3) Do the St. Louis Cardinals miss Carlos Beltran?

1.) Pirates... i dont want to say Yes b/c i feel like the ownership, fans, and players believe the Pirates can be a winning franchise and they have nice pieces to build with.... Not re-signing Morneau was a HUGE mistake. Signing Volquez was also a mistake. And not re-signing AJ Burnett was also a HUGE mistake. Oh well...you live and you learn right?

2.) AL East- Worst Division in Baseball?
Not no, but hell no. The worst division in baseball hands down without any shadow of doubt is the AL Central. IMO the AL East has 5 quality ball clubs and what we are seeing is "Parity".

3.) Do the St. Louis Cardinals miss Beltran?

Yeah definitely. This Taveras prospect that was supposed to play CF and be the best there ever was... WTF happened to him?

Wong hasnt shown us anything yet. Giving Matt Carpenter that big contract?? that was insane... he had what 1 good season? now he's back to being a .250 or .260 hitter?

But the season is young the Cardinals will improve.
but will the Pirates improve? maybe ? maybe not. The Reds will get into this race once they get Latos and Chapman back and start hitting like they are capable.

[TheMetsSuck]

hard to call the division with the defending champ the red sox and perennial powerhouse the yankees the worst in the game

[Cuse0323]

Yes
No
Maybe

[Down_Goes Bookie]

What more can he do in AAA?

He's hitting .400, he's got 4 bombs in 124 AB's, got six swipes, and won't embarrass you in the outfield.
He's going to be the NL version of Mike Trout, he might be as good, Trout has three years on him, so we can't compare yet.

He's should be a 30-30 guy in the show.

Dude is a bona fide five tooler.

That's why they said about George Springer, who significantly outperformed Polanco last year with .303 106 R 108 RBI 37 HR and 45 SBs.

That's a fantasy baseball wet dream, but Springer hasn't shown anything yet in the Bigs. Except he did go 3 for 4 last night. So maybe soon...

But yeah, Polanco should be called up ASAP. Remember what the Jays did with Jennings a few years back? The kid was more than ready yet the Rays let him languish in the minors. When he did arrive, he raked.

[jjgold]

The game of baseball is hurting due to parity do steroids being banned

Pit was a one hit wonder

[tatddy]

That's why they said about George Springer, who significantly outperformed Polanco last year with .303 106 R 108 RBI 37 HR and 45 SBs.

That's a fantasy baseball wet dream, but Springer hasn't shown anything yet in the Bigs. Except he did go 3 for 4 last night. So maybe soon...

But yeah, Polanco should be called up ASAP. Remember what the Jays did with Jennings a few years back? The kid was more than ready yet the Rays let him languish in the minors. When he did arrive, he raked.

Not really comparable. George Springers K rates were through the roof when then called him up. Polanco has a much more mature plate discipline.

[No coincidences]

The game of baseball is hurting due to parity do steroids being banned

Pit was a one hit wonder

They weren't a "one hit wonder" -- they just happen to get timely hitting and win a lot of close games last year, which is exactly what Baltimore did the year before. Just happens in baseball from time to time. Pittsburgh is simply regressing to the mean now. Plus, their bullpen was about as good as it could ever be in '13. Can't expect some of these guys to continue to produce at that level.

[No coincidences]

Not really comparable. George Springers K rates were through the roof when then called him up. Polanco has a much more mature plate discipline.

Marte is still striking out every 3 at bats.

Alvarez still all or nothing.

Ike Davis is Ike Davis. Neil Walker is Neil Walker.

This team is in desperate need of an offensive jump. Polanco should be summoned soon.