As the Great American Pasttime’s famous song concludes, “For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.”
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 2nd, 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 29th
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 1st 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 2nd 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 1st 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.
