OT: Pirates

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

True Story. Not sure what year it was, but it was during the Littlefield era. The Pirates left some really good players exposed because it saved them $50K per player, and had 5 guys picked off of their roster in the Rule 5 draft. It was so bad, the opposing GM's were openly laughing and mocking the Pirates.

It has been a really sad state of affairs for the longest time. I mean it is alot better now drafting, and the approach in the minors and foreign free agents, but still the MLB situation is a joke.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

True Story. Not sure what year it was, but it was during the Littlefield era. The Pirates left some really good players exposed because it saved them $50K per player, and had 5 guys picked off of their roster in the Rule 5 draft. It was so bad, the opposing GM's were openly laughing and mocking the Pirates.

It has been a really sad state of affairs for the longest time. I mean it is alot better now drafting, and the approach in the minors and foreign free agents, but still the MLB situation is a joke.

The MLB is a joke, but, at the same time, Nutting should not be allowed to own a team. You can't hold a city hostage like this. It's not a private business, and we built your effing headquarters.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The MLB is a joke, but, at the same time, Nutting should not be allowed to own a team. You can't hold a city hostage like this. It's not a private business, and we built your effing headquarters.

Well........why do guys like Nutting go along with not voting for a salary cap???? Why?

Because......with a salary cap comes.................................A SALARY FLOOR!!!!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

So they were bad draft picks?

Most of them weren't draft picks. A lot of them were international free agent signings, the kinds of guys who get signed from the Dominican when they are 16 years old. Of the guys who they did draft, the highest pick was, iirc, an eighth round pick. If you want to argue that guy should be better, OK, I guess, but the fact of the matter is that most MLB eighth round draft picks don't ever actually make the major leagues, and very, very few of them ever become good major leaguers.

Most of the draft pick guys they lost were guys who were picked in like the 26th round or something like that. You know, the kinds of picks that are generally so useful to teams that they don't even bother drafting them anymore.

Like I said, there are a lot of things to bitch about the Pirates for. This isn't one of them. They aren't going to have to run out and sign a bunch of minor league filler to replace these guys. The have lots of minor league filler. In fact one thing that I think is a fair complaint is that with the cutback in minor league teams I don't think they are getting some of their draft picks enough games early enough in their careers. They leave too many guys at the minor league complex too long, where they mostly practice and don't play games.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

True Story. Not sure what year it was, but it was during the Littlefield era. The Pirates left some really good players exposed because it saved them $50K per player, and had 5 guys picked off of their roster in the Rule 5 draft. It was so bad, the opposing GM's were openly laughing and mocking the Pirates.

It has been a really sad state of affairs for the longest time. I mean it is alot better now drafting, and the approach in the minors and foreign free agents, but still the MLB situation is a joke.

That is absolutely a true story. Now let's look at the guys that they lost and what became of them.

1) Chris Shelton - He had one good season for the Tigers, the season after the one they picked him in. He lost his starting job early the next year and was basically out of baseball the year after that. Not a big loss, but surely a small one.

2) Rich Thompson - The Padres picked him, they traded him to the Royals, the Royals gave him one at bat and then returned him to the Pirates. No loss at all.

3) Frank Brooks - He was traded once and waived twice that spring training, and then was returned to the Pirates. No loss at all.

4) Jeff Bennett - Bad that year for Milwaukee, spent the whole next year in the minors, Tommy John surgery the next year, and then had a couple good seasons with the Braves. Small loss, but it took four years for him to really contribute in the majors.

5) Jose Bautista - Now there was a huge loss. Except not really, because they got him back in a trade. And then was traded again to Toronto. And then he became a star. So the loss there wasn't in losing him in the rule five. It was trading him after they got him back but before he turned into a star.

 

[Dan1911]

FYI: https://rumbunter.com/2022/12/09/pittsburgh-pirates-examining-all-players-from-rule-5-draft/

 

[Phillypanther2]

I thought there was a somewhat active Pirates thread on here already, but I can't find it, so I apologize if I'm duplicating something that already exists on the board. But where do we go with this #1 pick? Outfielder form LSU or pitcher from Tennessee?

Personally, I've about had my fill of sub-6' outfielders. But if we're trading Reynolds, well, there might be a vacancy at the inn. Tough call as of now. Just curious what the people who follow more than I do think.

The Pirates will probably draft the pitcher from Tennessee. In early 2024, he’ll start having elbow pain, and get Tommy John surgery in August of 2024. He won’t pitch again until 2026, and end up being a mediocre pitcher.
The 2nd player picked will be the LSU outfielder, who will end up being a combination of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper 😊😊😊

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

The Pirates will probably draft the pitcher from Tennessee. In early 2024, he’ll start having elbow pain, and get Tommy John surgery in August of 2024. He won’t pitch again until 2026, and end up being a mediocre pitcher.
The 2nd player picked will be the LSU outfielder, who will end up being a combination of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper 😊😊😊

Yeah but do you think he'll get through his entire stint in Pittsburgh with two jewels still in the coin purse? I think it's 50/50.

 

[Ranson1989]

I like the idea of a potential lineup of Cruz, Crews, Johnson and Davis. That's a lot of power. I'm going class half full here