Hey Pirates, 3 Strikes And You're Out!

As the Great American Pasttime’s famous song concludes, “For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.”

The same can also be said for the Pirates 2017 season.

STRIKE ONE:

December 2, 2016 – Jung Ho Kang DUI

In the early morning hours of December 2^nd, Jung Ho Kang was arrested and later charged with fleeing the scene of a traffic accident and driving under the influence of alcohol – his third DUI since 2009.

STRIKE TWO:

April 18, 2017 – Starling Marte Suspension

Mid-afternoon on a Tuesday, with the Pirates coming off a 3-game sweep of the defending World Series Champion Cubs, it is announced that Marte will be suspended 80 games for use of PED’s.  In the 25 games played since, the Pirates are 10-15, averaging just over 3.5 runs a game, and scoring 4+ runs just 10 of the 25 games.

STRIKE THREE:

May 8, 2017 – Jameson Taillon Has Surgical Procedure for Suspected Testicular Cancer

While on the 10-day DL from groin discomfort, which was noticed after his last start (May 3), Taillon has surgery to treat what was suspected to be testicular cancer.  Taillon was 2-0 in April with a 2.08 ERA.

Call it bad luck.  Call it the Curse of Barry Bonds.  Call it piss-poor planning by the organization.  However you break it down, in the game of baseball, 3 strikes is an OUT!

The 2017 Pittsburgh Pirates are out!

Out, as in out of contention.  Out, as in out of excuses.

Time to move on, this just isn’t their year.

The Pirates were not setup to succeed this season BEFORE these events happened, so they certainly aren’t setup for success after them.  Consider the fact the Pirates were a -20 in the win column last year from 2015, finishing 8.5 games out of the playoffs.  The Pirates then lost Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce, but effective bats off the bench and utility players.  Rodriquez and Joyce both played in 140 games in 2016 and combined for 31 home runs and 98 RBI.  This for a team that is currently 29^th out of 30 in home runs this season.  The Pirates also failed to replace Francisco Liriano in the starting rotation or Mark Melancon in the bullpen going into the 2017 season.  Instead, the Pirates front office made just 1 roster move to the Major League roster in the 1^st 2 months of free agency.  They signed Daniel Hudson (18GP, 15IP, 0-2, 7.80 ERA).  Even after the news of the Kang DUI, the Pirates waited 7 weeks before replacing him with the Phil Gosselin.  So to put that in perspective, the Pirates front office replaced Kang/Rodriguez/Joyce (52 HR, 160 RBI in 2016) with Phil Gosselin (6 career HR’s)

So, as I said before, the Pirates weren’t exactly set up for success going into the 2017 season.

Now, the Pirates need to prepare for 2018 like they failed to do for 2017.

Sell.  Sell everybody.  Sell everybody NOW!

4 months of Tony Watson is a lot more valuable to a contender, than 2 months.  Put him on the block.  Gotta think the Nationals would love to add a Pirates closer for the 2^nd straight playoff push.

Trade Andrew McCutchen.  His value isn’t anywhere close to what Huntington wants it to be, or thinks it should be. Who cares, trade him and move on.  Yes fans will be mad for a few minutes, but most of the fans already hate the ownership, so what does it really matter?

Josh Harrison is a glorified utility player that is still owed over $32M over the next 3 years (or $19.5M if you buy him out of the final 2 years), get rid of him!

John Jaso is a FA after this season, trade him.  You might only get a bucket of Double Bubble for Jaso, if that offer is on the table, take it and RUN!

There have been rumors that the Yankees, want Gerrit Cole.  Well, MAKE THE CALL!  I’m not saying to definitely include Cole in these deals, he doe still has 2+ years remaining on his contract.  It is almost a certainty that Cole will not be signing his next contract with the Pirates, but that doesn’t mean they have to trade him.  He could be the cornerstone of the future rotation. OR… If you ask for the moon, the Yankees, who have more top prospects than anyone in baseball after trading away Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller last year, may be willing to deal.

Don’t worry, I’m not advocating another fictitious 5-Year plan from the Pirates front office.  This team is just 2 years removed from a 98-win season.  This team still has a lot of talented pieces in place for the future.  This team has a ton of potential.  This team has one of the best farm systems in baseball (#4 according to ESPN.com, #5 minorleagueball.com, #7 according to Baseball America, #7 MLB Pipeline).  What I am advocating for, is that  the Pirates to use the 2017 season, which at this point is an huge failure, to plan for the future.

Neal Huntington traded away Francisco Liriano and two Pirates minor leaguers, 1 of which was former 1^st round pick and top prospect Reese McGuire for a Drew Hutchison.  This is his make or break time.  Hutchison has to be in the starting rotation in place of Taillon.  If Hutchison is good enough for Huntington to give up what he did for him, then why is he still in the minors?  The Pirates aren’t going anywhere this year, let’s see what this guy can do.  Same goes for Steven Brault, if the Pirates trade away Cole, Brault needs to be the next guy in line to finally prove himself.  If they can’t cut it, then cut ties with them.

The 2017 season has become a disaster, but the Pirates front office shouldn’t let it go to waste.