📅 Published on: 2024-12-12 12:01:13

⏱ Duration: 00:57:25 (3445 seconds)

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This week, we recap every MLB Winter Meetings including free agent signings, trade, rumors, and much more.

The Pirates upgraded their offense by trading for Blue Jays 1B Spencer Horwitz. In order to acquire Horwitz, they dealt from a position of depth. We give our thoughts and analysis on the trade package.

Additionally, the Pirates signed a reliever – RHP Elvis Alvarado. We breakdown his repertoire and potential future impact on this bullpen.

Lastly, the Winter Meetings concluded with the MLB Draft Lottery and the Rule 5 Draft. The Pirates secured the 6th overall pick in the 2025 Draft and we bring up some early names to watch. For the Rule 5 Draft, the Pirates added 5 players and lost 3 players through the minor league phase, while holding onto Yean, Siani, and Alfonzo. Join us as we breakdown the minor leaguers added through today’s draft.

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🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

today we discuss recent trades rumors the rule five draft and recap everything MLB winner meetings you’re listening to the Bucko Banner podcast brought to you by the just baseball media Network cue the music whis lemonade cuz I like the way it taste best seats at the PIR and they let me run the base yeah my T is like my money cuz I can’t afford to waste H wifey is a lawyer take my date to my dates or the steak by the plates and the case after case my welcome back everybody I’m Adam he’s Scott and boy do we have a lot to talk about let’s get right into it the Pirates made a ton of Trades Scott I wouldn’t say a ton of Trades it seems like a ton of Trades there’s been a lot of trade talk but a specific trade that has everybody up in arms Luis Ortiz is no longer a pirate the the bring in Spencer Horwitz from really the Blue Jays but technically the Guardians what’s your your first reaction to this um I first saw the trade on Twitter uh last night and I was like because I saw Horowitz went to Cleveland in the Andre her menz trade and then they flipped him to Pittsburgh and I saw Michael Kennedy Josh hardle and Luis Ortiz going to Cleveland and it says Spencer horwood at Pittsburgh and I was like looking to see who else Pittsburgh was getting because I was like there’s that was my first reaction was like if they’re giving Ortiz and Kennedy and hardle with has got pedigree he’s a decent Lefty arm I feel like they’re going to get more in return there but uh you know I think at first I thought it was an overpay and I still do think it’s a little bit of an overpay because um I think that package could have get gotten you a yand Diaz or a Ryan Mount Castle but it’s pretty clear that the Pirates want to you know cut costs and you know save where they can and spend as little as they can with that said I think Spencer Horwitz a good player uh I’m been doing a lot of research on him and looking at some numbers like he provides a lot of what they’re missing bat the ball on base I mean his WRC plus I think this year would have ranked first on the team 127 127 so his numbers through throughout the minors and even in 381 played appearances this year in the majors are impressive he’s a lefty bat and he’s got one option left are eligible in 2027 and a free agent in 2031 so under control for quite some time I I think it’s like the first legit first baseman we’ve had since Josh Bell like steady first baseman since Josh B uh Josh Bell Carlos Santana were the only positive war players they’ve had at first base since this trade so it feels a need right they needed a first baseman they have one under control for a long time now they have a lefty bat that crushes righties okay first righties 285 hit 12 home runs in 97 games verus lefties not so great needs work but guess what his guy Matt ha is here they have an incredible relationship he’s been with him since double A he was a reason he attributed a lot of his his success in his rookie year in Toronto last year because he was at the big league level with him so my immediate reaction again was what the [ __ ] are we doing what’s going on here like it was kind of a reality check for us though this is what the Pirates do and offseason gives us a little bit of more time to romanticize things right to get our our hopes and our dreams up and all these free agents and like the perfect fit we were talking about hon kerad and I believe we mentioned like Luis Ortiz could have been a guy that could probably get that done and you have a guy for league minimum uh control and that’s kind of what they got here with Spencer Horwitz but it took a little bit more it just doesn’t seem like we can win as pirates fans right and I’m gonna challenge everybody listening to this podcast to pick a direction okay you’re either all the way in or you’re all the way out you cannot want them to make moves to improve this team but also to not give up too much and to hug these prospects and to uh wait for the perfect fit it just doesn’t work like that so we’ve been begging them to make a move any move they made a significant one here right whether or not you think they gave up too much too little they got too little in return Spencer Horwitz is a very good player he’s I I don’t want to say he’s young he’s Young when it comes to years of experience he’s 27 years old as a rookie but like you mentioned man like bat to ball like you have a guy that’s gonna consistently play first base he played a little bit of second base too last year that’s not his primary position he is a first baseman and this is going to be a good team player like this is a guy that’s gonna fit in you’re not gonna I mean you got to clean up the the splits here right you don’t want a guy another platoon bat especially a guy where you’re investing Luis Ortiz in Michael uh Michael Kennedy Josh hardle we just we got to give it a chance I think it’s just one thing where you can’t really evaluate this until July right like you don’t know what’s going to happen 100% I I think there’s a couple things I’m I’m gonna uh make play Devil’s Advocate but I’m also going to further my point that I was making earlier um you know we got a bat that uh is Young and he all the peripherals are like look really good uh he he runs really high on base percentages in the Moneyball era I think Billy Bean would have been all over this guy like he he is a Scott hadberg he gets on base and he’s got some power and that’s something that our lineup really lacked I think I’m not surprised by Lise Ortiz being traded like I I we’ve mentioned that multiple times him and bayy falter being options guys that you could trade I’ve said hey I don’t want to I’d rather trade a guy too early than too late hey we might have sold at his highest value we could have I I’m still a believer in Lis Ortiz I I really loved him here in Pittsburgh I’m a big fan and I’m sure Cleveland the way they develop pitchers he’s going to thrive there too but we traded from a position of depth for an area of need I was also my initial reaction was I thought Kennedy I think Michael Kennedy is a legit Prospect I really do I think that was a big fine for us as a Northeast Prep arm who was committed to LSU got him to sign out of high school I I and he overperformed and in braon is here to say the least I’m G to make one argument I think this organization it needs to be um needs to be more consistent in developing prospects and and um you know churning drafting better every year being more consistent like the draft is a crapshoot I think Cleveland is Pittsburgh with better decision makers and I’ve mentioned like why can’t we be Cleveland why can’t we be Cleveland like Cleveland turns out guys they they flip from a position of depth like they got Naylor and now they got Kyle Mardo they’re going to trade Naylor they got Kyle Mardo like to replace him like they just keep turning guys out developing arms like Tanner BBY Shane Bieber these guys aren’t like first round picks either right so that’s where we need to be more consistent but I will say this as upset I am about Michael Kennedy and Luis Ortiz because he’s still 25 um parades are better than prospects and we’re in a very unique window where you have Paul skines for a limited amount of time it’s time to win I I no one in the farm system outside of Bubba Chandler because he’s literally going to debut this year is Untouchable for me but it really does put pressure on the development uh uh Department this year because we’re gonna get a new Farm director it really puts a lot of pressure on on that department to keep turning out from the bottom right we need like Eddie Reyers we need Connor Griffin to be the next Bobby W I’m I’m serious like we we it we need like Levi Sterling all those guys to really hit we really do but I’ll worry about that later they’re they’re a couple years away when now the lineup is better right now than it was yesterday 100% right it is you gave up Michael Kennedy but guess what he’s gonna spend most of the year in low a you know he’ll probably get some time in Altuna maybe towards the end of he would have gotten some time in Altuna possibly hardle would have spent most of the time in Bradington right so these are guys that they’re unknowns and guess what if you’re talking like prospects you didn’t give up Hunter Barco right you didn’t give up Anthony solometo I know he didn’t have a good year but that’s what you consider one of your top Lefty prospects yeah you still have Xander meath you still have Bubba Chandler you still have Thomas Harrington you still have braxon Ashcraft let’s like pump the breaks a little bit on the like well maybe we gave one too many prospects we’re doing what bench inton I mean I liked his comments the other day like he was very candid and forthcoming compared to his end of the season press conference right where it was like oh we need to get better but not really pinpointing any issues he said no we need to add bats we need to add Bullpen we need to add Corner outfielders and guess what they dealt from depth it really has no effect on their farm system right now you just I just listed all those names and I’m probably missing a couple more yeah okay Eddie Yen didn’t get taken in no one Samy omaro they’re they’re they’re okay and they from what we’ve learned they’ve liked Spencer horvit for a while now a couple of years and they tried to make a deal with him I think last year it didn’t work but just the timing worked out and they they got him for a while right so you don’t have to worry about that if it works out if he’s able to come in and hit 270 if he’s able to hit 15 to to 20 bombs if he’s able to get 50 to 60 extra base hits a year like we’re winning I encourage everybody there’s another podcast besides listening to this podcast go listen to Gate 14 it’s a Toronto Blue Jays podcast excellent podcast they are friends with Spencer horvitz they had a great interview with him recently offseason interview and you can kind of hear his process and how he was going about his business last year and I’m excited man like I think I’ve done a full turn turn around on this cuz like last night I was all over the place I like I didn’t know what to think and now I’m like all right well I can’t I can’t stay in the same mindset as a pirates fan just pouting about not making any moves and not doing things to win now this helps you win at least more games than you did last year like this helps add more home runs to the lineup this produces more runs you need to score more runs than the other team to win baseball games yeah [ __ ] obvious but like this is a good I I you know what it’s a good move yeah it’s a good move I’m coming around on it I in my like reservations are not about Spencer Horwitz I’m a I’m a fan I think he’s a good player I think that there there’s a couple trades to be made and I think that we could have utilized these prospects for uh you know more guys and I’m kind of contradicting myself because I’m talking about like not Prospect hugging and I’m like H why didn’t we just trade Lis Ortiz trade up for Spencer Horwitz and keep Michael Kennedy for someone else but they have more to deal from and they’re going to continue to do so I’m just picturing right now a lineup where I could see Horwitz being a dangerous number two hitter he a lefty if you get your leadoff guy on base on first base a first baseman’s uh you know holding the runner and he’s you know just pounding balls down the right field line and he’s got this 360 OBP then you got Reynolds up next like I think it could be a really dangerous one two three and I could also see him depending on the pitch they’re facing like in in the five hole but I think he’s going to be in the middle of middle of the order bat I think he’s going to be a name that is going to become more of a household name next year across the league I’m excited I’m I’m just gonna I’m gonna choose to be excited uh but the Pirates need to do more and I don’t want to spend too much time on Horwitz we’re definitely going to be talking about him with Noah this weekend but there this was an active uh winter meetings to say the least I I feel like I haven’t seen a winter meetings just League wide not just pirates that has been this and it was fun to watch but there’s more to be done and there was a move yeah there I mean there was a ton that was done just just real quick I mean we talk about what the Pirates need to be successful and it’s not a bunch of five War guys right they’re not gonna it’s not realistic that’s not what they’re going to do but like a bunch of like one and a half two War guys probably gets it done for this team to be successful with the pitching that they have this is a this is almost a two War guy and I’m not worried about him being a platoon I I think they’re going to be confident in throwing him up there against lefties just because one not much experience against lefties at the big league level listening to him talk hitting lefties doesn’t seem like it was an issue with him prior to getting to the big league level so it’s something that you could work on that’s something you could fix we saw it with O’Neal Cruz so hopefully this is a permanent fix for a guy that is going to contribute right away but more more moves need to be done as you were just getting into a lot of moves were done Garrett crochet is a Red Sox Juan stto is a met Max freed is a Yankee uh uh Michael uh talkman is a white sock like I love that that’s like one of the first five names you you listed that’s hilarious I yeah toan’s good and I mean we’ve mentioned Tyler O’Neal Austin Slater uh is off the board um or he he’s with with uh Chicago the white socks so he was one of the first signings there’s there’s a lot of moves to be made in the Pirates organization but there’s a lot of moves just happening around baseball and it’s exciting man like I feel like we’re in midseason form with the winter meetings like the rumors get me going like it gets me like all like excited and I feel like the Jitters getting like ready for the season yeah I mean I’m I’m excited we we’ve mentioned and people might have seen it on Twitter but we’re already planning our our spring training trip sax boy is going to come with us like it’s it’s going to be a good time I’m really excited for Bron did man I I can’t wait to get down there um but before we get into like you know other news and stuff across the league that happen and around the central the Pirates signed a reliever right do you do you want to tell us a little bit I know you you might maybe did did a little bit more digging than I did on on this guy maybe you want to kick us off here sure so Elvis Alvarado signed a split contract with the Pirates a split contract is basically they’re going to pay him at different rates for the work that he does in the minor leagues and the major leagues so there’s not he’s added to the 40 man right now but there’s no guarantee that you know this guy’s going to be on the opening day roster this is still a project okay this is a converted outfielder that’s jumped around uh a bunch of farm systems he spent time with the Nationals Mariners tigers and he just finished with triple A and the Marlins organization how old is he you know what I actually don’t know I think he’s late 20s but continue look that up um I I believe he he’s a Dominican guy so I think he signed young he’s a 64 righty man he could throw 100 miles per hour and that’s why we’re taking a chance on him he had a 279 erra last year in 25 yeah 25 years old okay so not bad 279 ER 48 in the third Innings pitch he struck out a third of his opponents right that’s good you’re like man we just got a steal here’s where the kicker comes in he walked 18% of the batters that he faced so he he could be dominant with the fast ball like he leans did you say 18% 18% that’s awful that’s bad it’s bad but he has a 273 ER right so he’s not getting hit right I don’t know if that will fly at the big league level but all right let’s go a 40% whiff rate on the fast ball 40% okay 35 uh. s whiff rate on the slider they hit 125 on his slide like batters hit 125 batting average like the stuff is good it’s just the control man and like if any team can develop pitchers and try and get the most out of somebody like this I think this is a good fit and a potential arm a depth piece I’m not saying this is the fix a righty arm definitely isn’t the fix that we needed in the bullpen we need Lefty arms but this is like all right hey they went out and they signed somebody that throws 98 to 100 miles per hour okay and he’s young hey get him in the lab with um you know Oscar marine and uh Brett stom maybe they can help him like velocity is like hard to teach right like you could do like weighted balls and there’s all kinds of like Secret Sauce that you could uh Implement in your training but like control is something that you can work on mea with mechanics repeating your delivery and all that and it sounds like he’s new to pitching too if he’s a converted outfielder so hey maybe they they really buy the stuff and they’re like just get them we’re confident in our development of pitchers and he could be a future backend relever so I’m all for it yeah could be a leverage guy who knows and then uh some more rumors Scott yeah some some juicy rumors Big Time rumors um okay let’s let’s kick this off let’s just go right into it Noah yeah yeah Noah wrote an article published an article for the Post Gazette today about um the Pirates aren’t stopping at chopping start uh pitching right they’re they shopped Luis Ortiz we figured that they were going to deal from that that position they’re also shopping Mitch Keller and Jared Jones that’s the one that’s a little bit surprising to me um the term the phrase very available was used with him and I think they’re looking at the price of starting pitching in this market and saying like hey we could probably get a a massive return if we flip one of these guys and I think with Keller it’s like hey we can get 77 million off the books like it’s it’s it’s also a cost-saving uh metric while while also you know improving your offense so I don’t know man I don’t think I think they’re listening as every team should every GM should I think these rumors get maybe blown out of proportion when you when they reach the public and and social media people are like oh my God they’re shopping Jared Jones are you kidding me typical Pirates like no matter what you’re listening like they’ll they’ll listen to an offer on Paul gines believe it or not like you every GM a good GM listens to everything but it does that doesn’t mean he’s going to he wants to trade that guy like they’re going to um I don’t know man uh what are your thoughts on this this is uh this is an interesting rumor uh I’m I’m not too confident with this front office getting the best return of I will just put that out there that’s the one thing I I’m actually J Jones I think should be that you know listen you listen but that’s a young arm that you got to see everything that you got there Mitch Keller on the other hand I can understand them shopping him around he signed a what five years 77 million deal okay well so they’re paying him aav what 15 million a year somewhere in that ballpark some that range yeah I’m not confident that they will get the the return that they need for a guy like Mitch Keller like you just said because of what they just did in terms of sending a good starting pitcher a legitimate starting pitcher to the Guardians for somebody with uh a league minimum salary and Spencer Horwitz not saying that’s a bad move but they have a clear agenda of not spending money in a lot of places so like a mitch Keller should be able to bring multiple yeah big league bats your way but the chances are you’re going to have to pay those big league bats millions of dollars per year let me read off some names here real quick and free agency Max freed he’s gonna get 27.25 million a year okay eight years yeah I Shock by that crazy contract biggest contract for a left-handed pitcher in the history of the game okay no way are you serious yes yes yes wowow good for him Blake snow is gonna get north of $36 million a year Nathan iodi is going to get $25 million a year srino is going to get $22.3 million a year you say Kikuchi $21.2 million a year clay Holmes is gonna get north of $12 million per year as a starter okay Frankie montis is gonna make $17 million per year Matt Boyd 14.5 Shane Bieber 13 Blake Tren uh trennan 11 million okay like how about Alex Cobb who barely is gonna make 15 million okay like the market is insane for starting pitches right now so I get it if you can get a guy like Mitch Keller if a team says Hey like we’re on the verge of competing like we can add Mitch Keller as our like four five guy for five years $77 million we’re going to pay him $15 million a year like yeah we’ll take on that contract if we have bats to give up I understand that I’m not sure the Pirates will make the right move in order to improve this team at the moment I mean that’s my worry like I said before I’m not confident in our decision makers I feel like Cleveland is Pittsburgh with better decision makers they literally I think H menz Andre Jimenez who they dumped off with Toronto which I don’t really understand what Toronto is doing they got like a hundred million that was due to him off the books and but they’re going to replace him easily I mean that’s how good Cleveland is and and they were able to turn Andre simz into um they got Lis Ortiz they got this Al Prospect from the Blue Jays they got Michael Kennedy like they got a lot for just Andre Jimenez so um you know I’m not confident in in a deal being made that uh is you know properly values Mitch Keller because I think any team would want a guy like him who’s going to eat Innings who who you could rely on most Knights going seven Innings okay say they get rid of Mitch Keller they trade them they make a great trade I don’t know who the names are you get Paul skin Jared Jones you hope to insert Bubba Chandler in there they’re all on rookie contracts and they’re they’re probably they’ve got higher upside than any rotation in baseball but right uh Thomas Harrington falter Johan ovetto and then company bur and then Mike Burrows you’re still okay right like you’re still I mean that’s assuming Bubba Chandler has a very good rookie season that’s assuming Thomas Harrington is a good backend starter but like I still like my chances like if it yields the right return right like if it yields us an everyday left fielder if it yields us a top prospect shortstop that’s posted debut this year like somebody with a ton of control that also has major league experience like those are the guys that you’re looking for when it comes to a mitch Keller because that value of that contract right now is quite frankly it’s cheap compared if you send him to let’s just like you know play around with this a little bit if you were to send Mitch Keller to Arizona and you got Jake McCarthy and a lefty reliever plus a low-level Prospect would you be happy about that I think that would be a that would be a really good outcome I mean getting a guy that has a lot of control who who also at left you bat to your lineup who’s a really good Defender who gets on base a lot he can Ste bases like he provides value in many different ways plus and he’s cheap he’s like under a million dollars right now right plus you get a lefty reliever they they have two lefties on their whole 40 man roster right now and then I don’t know who the Lefty relievers are on the roster but I’m just spitballing here and then you get a prospect so you you add to your farm system um not not necessarily a top end guy but like a prospect would you do I keep going back to Baltimore man because I really want hon kirad but like would you would you do Mitch Keller hon kirad straight up Enrique Bradfield yeah and then end it there would you do that yeah I don’t think they would go they would give anything think yeah but yeah I mean I think Bradfield still a year away from from being ready um but man like I don’t know I just think it’s a very valuable piece that well I would still like Mitch kuller to be a pirate I think he’s still valuable to this team especially as one of the only veteran pitchers that they have I mean that you got to consider that as well you can’t have I mean you can theoretically but like I know Paul kind of no pun intended but he kind of acts like a veteran sure sure but like I mean then like just like on paper you have a full rotation of rookies right like it does help like we talked about AOL is Chapman and his contributions to guys like Luis Ortiz right like you need a guy like that around that’s going to help you through 1602 plus I think it’s interesting I’m glad they’re listening I don’t care what anyone else says it doesn’t mean like it doesn’t mean they’re actively shopping him and like trying to get rid of him they’re listening and if the right thing comes up then a good GM will make the right move but like don’t get up in arms about when you’re meeting rumors right no absolutely absolutely um but yeah no a lot to be done I was I like you said he was Ben was a little bit more direct the other day but today his quotes Noah posted I don’t know they didn’t really inspire a lot of confidence in me like Noah basically asked him if there more moves coming on the horizon and they want to continue adding to this team and it was just like a a word Sal it was basically like maybe I don’t know like I I didn’t like feel very confident from his answer but then again like these guys are not g to like straight up say like yeah we’re we’re talking to the angels about Taylor Ward or the Cardinals about Jordan Walker like they’re not gonna do that um so I don’t know we we’ll see there’s definitely moves to be made and and this team uh I don’t think we’ve seen the um the last of moves um for this organization especially we have a farm director to hire so there’s a lot that’s going to happen over here in the next month or so but let’s uh should we get into unless you have anything else to say about just I mean real quick we didn’t mention Michael conforto went to the Dodgers so like there’s another Outfield name that’s off the board right Tyler O’Neal was like your realistic dream Prospect he’s gone conto for both of us was kind of like that number two guy that you wanted to add in the ballpark right like yeah outside of that there’s not really much to like go after where as like a free agent you’re going to want to dis out a lot of money like the money that you’re saving on uh Spencer hbits you’re not going to like be like okay we’re going to allocate that money to bringing in Jesse Winker right like that’s that’s not worth it now if you’re like okay yeah we’re gonna allocate that money to bringing in jerks and profar on a three-year deal I’d be like yeah absolutely but like outside of him I’m looking at the list of names and I’m like there’s no one here but he do he doesn’t go above 10 million I’d be surprised if he does right like here’s the top Outfield free agents right now are tiscar Hernandez uh Anthony santand there Harrison Bader which is like no bat that’s like defeats the purpose of what we’re going for Alex Verdugo Max Kepler um Jason Hayward Tommy fam Randle gritch Jesse Winker Jers and profar I mean I put profar over like almost all these guys but right uh Kepler would probably like my number two but I I don’t I don’t see them making a good enough upgrade via free agency um I think it’s GNA have to come via trade uh it just like none of those names like really jump out to me and I’m kind of surprised Michael conforto I was goingon to get in and announce some of the other signings that happened during I know we listed off a bunch of them already but Michael conforto like the aav I know it’s only one year but he’s getting 17 million while teller O’Neal is getting 16 over three years yeah so um a little bit surprised about that because I I’ve definitely value Tyler O’Neal over Michael conforto but yeah I I I don’t not I’m not like overly like in love with the remaining Outfield fre agents I don’t know about you no I’m not and I think that’s why working through trade right now at this part of the off season is beneficial to them because of course they’re going to look for a guy they can control till 2030 so yeah if they can bring in a guy like that via trade and give up another arm to do so it doesn’t have to be like a k type of deal but it’s hard to attract these free agents to Pittsburgh and give them exactly what they want in order to come here right yeah so like that’s that’s the issue that you run into not saying like people don’t want to play for alongside Paul skin Jared Jones possibly Bubba Chandler O’Neal Cruz Brian Reynolds like I’m naming good pieces here right yeah but it’s just a matter of the dollars and like the Clauses and like hey are you going to give me an opt out after a year or are you going to like up that like it’s you see like the the the intricacies with these contracts like Juan stto like if Juan sto opts out after a year five he makes four extra million dollars per year like these types of I’m not saying like wota type deals but like these types of negotiations I just don’t think the Pirates are willing to do so it just makes it that much harder to bring in a top tier or even a b tier re agent yeah no absolutely absolutely it’s unfortunate I don’t think we have the best salesman uh you know in charge of making those uh negotiations but you know definitely definitely more moves to come there’s a couple other things that happened during the uh winter meetings that I want to I’m just gonna run through some signings real quick the Phillies signed Jordan Romano one year 7.75 Dodgers brought back Blake Tran you already announced that two years 22 um we announced Tigers Alex Cobb Dodgers Michael conforto White Socks Mike talkman brocky signed Tyro estada um and then Blue Jays brought back Yi Garcia for two years 15 million million um and then the and we announced Max freed and Nathan a valdi so there was this was a very active um active winner meetings very active crochet too traded yeah exactly Garrick crochet too and then so there were some trades too like we we announced uh Andre simz to Toronto they also got Nick sandland from Cleveland he’s a bullpen guy um the Rangers acquired last night Jake burger from the Marlins in exchange for three prospects Max aosta a chetri Vargas and Brian Mendoza and then the Red Sox got today Garrett crochet we’ve been talking about him getting traded since last year beginning of last year um he went to Boston another Lefty from Chicago to Boston for Kyle Tel who was a first- round pick out of UVA he’s a catcher number four Prospect for the uh Red Sox alfield Brad Montgomery I believe he was number 11 both uh top 100 guys on the just baseball rankings by the way uh infielder Chase uh midth who I am a big fan of too great play discipline skills he was a top 20 Prospect for the Red Sox and then right-hand pitcher will kelman Gonzalez the White Sox got quite a return man and the Red Sox didn’t part with Marcelo Meyer Christian Campbell or Roman Anthony so they kept their big dogs a perfect trade for the white sock for a team that’s I thought it it looked good for both sides like I I mean I think the white socks got an adequate return and I thought the Red Sox got a much needed Lefty arm in their rotation yeah I mean Braden Montgomery he’s a stud dude big fan big yeah once he’s ready from I mean how he slipped to Boston to begin with even with the ankle injury I think is absurd just the talent there is undeniable but yeah I think this this is beneficial for both teams and we had the rule five draft too man which was we had the rule five before we get before we get in the rule five I want to list off a couple rumors that are going out there especially around the central because I feel like this is yeah um important um the Cubs couple rumors around the club Cubs they’re close to signing a backup catcher Carson Kelly he’s been Arizona and Detroit uh and they’ve also engaged in talks with right-and pitcher Kyle finegan who the Nationals non-tender he served as a closer for a while um we we’ve been talking about the Cardinals actively shopping Nolan aado but he also uh said that he’s willing to wave his no trade clause for six teams the Dodgers the Padre’s the Angels the Phillies the Mets and the Red Sox so look for him to be traded probably to one of those six teams here in the next week or so um and then also the Cubs along with the Yankees have been in talks with the Astros and acquiring Kyle Tucker I really hope he goes to the Yankees because if he’s in the NL Central I think that really elevates the Cubs if they trade Cody Bellinger if they trade SE Suzuki but they net Kyle Tucker I know it’s only for one year because he becomes a free agent Kyle Tucker I think is a top 10 hitter in this league right now so that would be a big big get for them and they have the Deep farm system and the pieces to move for him they’ve talked about moving Petes they’ve talked about moving Suzuki Plus cam Smith who was their first round pick out of Florida State last year so they have options and they have a farm system to deal from um like lastly a couple other things the Mets are open to trading Starling Marte for relief help the angels are close to trading outfielder most likely Taylor Ward Pirates have been linked to him before I think we can do a little bit better but he definitely add pop to our lineup and then Joel wolf agent for Roki Sasaki he’s an agent for a lot of free agents right now um said it might be benef beneficial for Sasaki to have a soft Landing in a small medium Market uh because of the issues he had with with the Japanese media in his career I guess he’s not good with media um he’s not a fan of it and he he has not been opposed to starting off in a small Market actually the white socks are gonna pitch him tomorrow which I find fascinating not a small Market though not a small Market but it’s it it’s a small smaller team in that market for sure okay let’s let’s play GM real quick real quick on the Roki Sasaki sweep STI yep you trade Mitch Keller for two bats even if you don’t get like the return maybe you get like a Spencer horvitz type of player where they’re like young Gears of control and then you bring in Roki Sasaki oh that’s a huge win I mean that’s a win right and I don’t really get yeah absolutely and I don’t really get why he is cheaper for coming out this year compared to next year I don’t really understand I have to read more about that I don’t know I don’t want to miss misspeak here but uh yeah people have said that his price might not be as high as you know you may think being a a the prospect the type of prospect that he is so at 25 coming out of Japan if we were able you have to also put up the uh the negotiation fee I forget what the name of that is I’m just calling it a negotiation fee so you have to basically pay the npb team we’re out to just negotiate we’re out I mean we did that for Jung H Kong right like we did that didn’t work well we’re out no we’re out so like you might have to pay 20 million just to negotiate for the guy and then you pay the contract and um you know correct me listeners correct me if I’m wrong here but I’m pretty sure that’s how the prospect work uh the process works but it would be fascinating I’d be I’d be down to trade Mitch Keller I’d be i’ I’d be less worried about these rumors if that was a serious conversation that this that gmbc and and this front office was having I think you almost have to go out and make that move before even trade for Mitch kuller right like you have to be sure of it you have to go out and say okay we’re bringing him in we’re putting all of our International money in this one basket and then we can go get whatever return we can get for Mitch Keller and capitalize on that yeah I’m game I’m game but I mean is it gonna happen no I AB I don’t know why I’d love him in Pittsburgh but I I I just love the fit for him in San Diego so yeah I mean do they need anyone else man no but like him you darish uh Joe Musgrove Michael Kang like it would be like they are considered a smaller Market um and then with tatis and you know Machado I don’t know come to Pittsburgh Roki I’m I’m gonna shut up about San Diego come to Pittsburgh yeah you know he’s listening so yeah 100% yeah ignore all of that man it’s exciting I’m I’m pretty pumped about it as we mentioned a little bit before the rule five draft happened today Pirates didn’t lose anybody or anybody that we have brought up on this pod that being Eddie Yen Samy canani uh Omar Alonso pretty much like your top guys that were unprotected are still available so you retain a Samy canani who’s coming off of a very good fall you retain an Eddie Yen who could potentially be a bullpen arm or potentially a trade piece at this time of year uh and then you retain a really good catching Prospect in Omar Alonso so I’m pretty happy about how that went they also brought in um quite a few names in the rule five uh draft rule five draft Scott why don’t you walk us through some of these yeah so first like they pass like how it works they start with the major league phase so if you take a guy in the Major League phase that’s the first round um you you have to put them on your 40 and they have to be on your roster and usually that’s more so uh I feel like re rebuilding teams like take bets on guys like that I remember when the Pirates took Jose Sorano a couple years ago but he when he took Tommy when he had Tommy John he had it was back in the rotation for the Angels this year I think that’s an exception where like he doesn’t have to be on the major league Rosser he’s going through Tommy John and whatnot but um yeah so they passed and they continue the major league phase until every team passes so it could be two rounds could be three rounds could be one round but like if if a team selects a player they get a pick at the next round until they pass so the Pirates passed and then they went into the minor league phase and they took a few they took Five Guys first Frank de la Roa off the double a roster for the uh Athletics and a lot of these arms are kind of like Alvarado the guy they signed in free agency you know guys that don’t have a lot of control who have been in the system for four or five years and they might have stuff to bet on but the control is just not there so he was a relever one1 588 ER this year in nine games 26 Innings pitch 39 K 173 whip Is Not Great his fastball slider is really hard to hit he’s got great stuff but it’s when he’s got control that that that those pitches are effective um he has a career 15.2% walk rate like that’s not great but he’ll be in Indianapolis so uh expect to see him on the triaa roster uh unless there’s some unforeseen circumstances here next they took Aaron mckian he was a catcher uh from the doua roster for the Cardinals which is the Springfield Cardinals he is actually the younger brother of Timothy mckian who is the assistant director of hitting for the Pirates so some blood or not Bloodlines but like he he is uh has some connections to the Pirates organization he hit 264 356 with a 681 Ops not a lot of power he’s more just so like a backup catcher probably in in a uh in a system uh one home run 16 RB and 163 AB so he’ll probably fill in for the catcher that we lost which I’ll mention here in a little bit um they also grabbed left-hand pitcher Randy labout from uh the doua roster for the Guardians which is the akan rubber ducks he was three and six this year with a 457 RA in 36 games 61 Innings 52 K 164 whip again another guy with walk issues um I’m pretty sure he was one of the hardest left-handed throwers in minor leagues this year I thought I saw that somewhere on Twitter or X but another guy that will probably be in Triple A this year in the bullpen uh next two more guys left-hand pitcher Steve haar was also taken off the doublea roster for the Guardians two- one with a 726 ER this year uh 30 Games 39.2 Innings pitch 35 K 1.51 whip he had four more walks in k this year 40 walks 35k so it kind of follows the same um you know demographic that usually goes in this draft and then lastly they took outfielder Joel Mendes from the Florida coast league for the Yankees had a really good year this year 292 405 974 Ops six home runs 30 RBIs two stolen bases and 130 ABS so not a lot of not a lot of action this year but 130 ABS is is is a decent amount that’s the rookie minimum um those are the five guys that they they grabbed this year in the minor league phase and they will be either in Altuna or IND or Indianapolis lastly they lost three guys in the minor league phase I’ll go through these real quick they lost right-handed pitcher Darin Garcia to uh the high a Red Sox um Salem I believe that’s Salem OR yeah Greenville maybe but he was two and three this year in I believe green Greenville or no Greensboro the Grasshoppers I’m getting my Greenville and green Boro mixed up two and three with a 46 er uh two saves 45 Innings pitched 44k 162 whip catcher Dylan Shockley went uh was with Altuna this year he went to the Braves he’ll be in guette and Triple A for the Braves 233 293 637 Ops not a great bat more of a he was actually one of the better defensive catchers in the system and that’s who mckian will probably replace this year in our system two home runs 12 rbi’s not much of a bat defensive first guy lastly isaas Dee was in the Dominican summer league I saw some guys tweet about this guy like they really liked him but uh I don’t know if he battled injuries or what caused him to stay in a DSL for so long but he was he was claimed by the Phillies 301 441 OBP 1.02 Ops and 133 ABS eight home runs 19 RBI six stolen bases so eight guys involved with the Pirates five incoming three outgoing but they none of the guys they that they left unprotected for the 40 man like Eddie G Omar Alonso and Samy C like you mentioned were were picked up by a team good stuff man uh there’s potentially like you said projects here where like Elvis Alvarado you got to work on tweaking some mechanics but upside like a bullpen arm right like you this gives you depth this gives you options so you get a new look for new guys in the system and then sticking on the topic of drafts we had the 2025 MLB draft selection and the Pirates will be picking six overall in the 2025 draft so they only had a 5 perent chance of going first overall they snuck past picks seven through 10 uh the teams that had the highest chances the uh Marlins and the Rockies all got shafted like super hard seven or something like that yeah like they did not come close to getting the number one overall pick so being bad in baseball doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be rewarded with a higher pick like it’s the lottery system it’s unfair but we got lucky again man you’re picking in the top 10 obviously you want you don’t want to be consistently a lottery team but like this is another opportunity to either get a very good bat or a top prospect yeah no absolutely um number six that’s where they took Nikki Gonzalez right in 2020 yeah I believe he was number six I think this from you know a way too early perspective looking at draft boards looking at mocks this is a high school heavy draft and there are some options that I listed here I I have three names that I think would be in range at number six that um I quickly highlighted one high school bat two College bats I’d like to see a college bat taken here but there are also some big college arms that are expected to be taken in the top five that could change drastically in the next six month there could be a name that emerges that might not even be projected to be drafted next year so the first name I want to quickly highlight is Cas Cunningham he’s a prep short start from San Antonio Johns in high school um he’s a slightly bigger Lefty swinging version of jet Williams he was a first- round pick for the Mets a couple years ago really like him as a prospect I believe he’s in Triple A this year um he’s a Texas prep short stock um he’s a better pure hitter at the same stage that jet Williams was at this point and perhaps the best prep bat in the in the class he’s only 59 like 160 he’s a small bat but he’s he’s got really good bat the ball skills uh uh exit velocity all that I think he’s there’s some projection left on him in terms of strength I don’t know if he’s going to get bigger like in terms of height but um really good short stop with a a decent bat um a guy I really like who actually I I’m a big college baseball nut and I’ve watched him since his true freshman years Cam canella he’s at Clemson he’s a center fielder he’s an elite center fielder uh future leadoff hitter few players in this class can match his combination of bat the ball skills and Centerfield defense and he would be a really exciting prospect to take it number six overall I’ll just say that right now lastly Ava arette he’s a second baseman for Oregon State probably the most prominent transfer in this draft he moved from Washington to Oregon State uh they used to both be in the pack but he also provides you with a lot of similarities to DJ lameu with a little bit more pop so it seems like he’s not going to play short up he’ll probably be more second based or you could probably put him in corner Outfield in the future but Elite bat the ball skills with some pop I I really like that profile at number six overall MLB draft Anything Can Happen man and usually it’s not necessarily like hey like this is the best guy available there’s a lot of issues with slot right like how much money you’re paying a guy in the first round compared to what you’re saving in the later rounds we’ve seen the Pirates do it countless times but these are uh three very good way too early uh predictions so I’m excited about it but you know we have more immediate things to worry about right now in terms of making this team better for 2025 and I think this week we took a step in the right direction All Things Considered so let’s uh let’s let’s take a deep breath right and like like just relax like let’s let’s enjoy the moment let’s just let the process play out absolutely I completely agree and I will I’m really surprised that this episode is going to be under an hour because I I texted you earlier and I was like we have a lot to talk about rule five draft lottery this trade like other things going around the league and around the central so we did a really good job of keeping it under an hour um but there’s more to come man like you said everyone breathe and uh you know I think we’re better than we were a week ago how much better I don’t know but we there’s more moves to be made yeah I agree anything else you want to get off your chest today we got 10 minutes to spare yeah I would just say this um and and I’m repeating myself from earlier on I I want to see this front office continue to be aggressive continue to exhaust all options there isn’t a rich history of success in terms of transactions made by this front office and that’s what concerns me trade-wise I feel like we haven’t won many trades um some successes off the top of my head that I’ll list real quick is claiming Joey Bart off the waivers uh drafting Paul sk’s one overall over Dylan Cruz drafting Bubba Chandler getting him to decommit or you know sign instead of go to college and play football and baseball um developing arms you know this I’m not gonna even mention this this Horowitz trade just yet because like it would be unfair to grade it right now but it it just seems like we’ve come up at on the short end of the stick on a lot of Trades we haven’t been able to um you know maximize value of our current assets and when you’re rebuilding and when you’re when you’re trying to get into a window like you need to maximize the value of the assets you currently have in your portfolio or on your roster and they haven’t done that and maybe they did that with Louis Ortiz you know maybe they were like you know what we need to sell high on him before it’s too late so that’ll that’ll be something that I’m looking forward to seeing come spring come the start of the season I I I just I I don’t want them like they’re they the quote today was that they’re gonna take their they’re GNA rush into anything they’re gonna take their time they’re gonna look into things it’s just like hey don’t let like too many people get off the board don’t be too conservative now is not the time to be conservative you have Paul skines year two of Paul skes is like a must-win year you have to be above 500 you have to greatly improve this team from last year so you know everything’s on the table as I said before well said I’ll direct mine more so to the fans of this team I mentioned it briefly earlier relax calm down take it ease all right take it ease it’s gonna be all right Luigi mangio we don’t need to be going after moves immediately full steam ahead without seeing things unfold because like immediately once this trade happened with uh Luis Ortiz it’s immediately like what do his uh Advance analytics says well like on Tuesdays Under the Sun in a dome like on Turf like he doesn’t hit like well with his right shoe untied like calm down like watch the guy play like let the process play out give him a chance right like I know we can get into numbers and advanced analytics are great to a certain degree you could go on fan graphs you can go on baseball svant you could see the projections that’s all fine and dandy but like let the guy play that does not dictate what he’s going to do in 20125 so mentioned it before we really won’t know how this trade plays out until like July right until you see how Luis Ortiz is doing until you see how Spencer horvitz is doing but to be quite Frank Luis Ortiz is not a pirate anymore so let’s focus on C horvitz let the guy AB to the team man like let’s not jump on them right away let’s not jump on the front office right away for making a move that you’ve been begging them to do just because you’re not 100% happy with it this is the off season things are going to happen that you are going to like there’s going to be a lot of things that you don’t like but you do not know until you know so let’s just sit back and enjoy being a fan of baseball I know I was going to say being a pirates fan I’m not going to go that far yet okay don’t alienate us come on Adam yeah I’m not I I understand the pain but let’s watch it unfold and then we can make a better judgment let’s say in March when we go into spring training on how the team looks then but for right now let let’s let him cook a little bit yeah absolutely I I completely agree man I I think I I love all our listeners and I love uh the Pirates fan base I think it’s funny like just seeing some of the reactions online just relax let it play out um you know take it day by day live in the present don’t overthink I love when people tell me all the time I have I have friends at work friends in general saying like ah skes is GNA be Yankee in 2030 I’m like good I don’t care let’s about 2025 like I right that’s fine we’ve got five more years six more years so live in the present and relax like you said calm down take it ease have a Turner’s IC tea and icy light and and just enjoy this team because I think they are going to be better next year hopefully fingers crossed and I think there are more moves coming like I said multiple times this episode so we’ll see we got it we got Noah this weekend and I’m excited to talk about these trades these moves um the the shakeup just in general with him get his uh different perspective but until then man I you know I don’t think I have anything else no and you talked about the present and also Christmases coming up hanukkah’s coming up the holidays are coming up you should buy presents at the Bucko banter. merch store show us if you buy anything we greatly appreciate the support if you’re listening download the episodes leave a festar review to all the listeners that we were their number one on their Spotify wrapped or even if we were part of your Spotify wrapped that is so cool for us thank you for sharing we appreciate your support and if you’re watching us you like looking at our stupid faces I don’t know why but apparently you keep coming back to do so leave a comment like the video share it subscribe tell a friend and if you don’t like it maybe don’t tell a friend just keep it to yourself okay but follow us on social media we’re giving away an Andy Rodriguez sign autograph card this week with a closet card and some Consignments go follow them and us on ask for a chance to win Sunday with Noah H raise it raise it whon cuz I like the way it taste best seats at the Pirates and they let me run the base yeah my time is like my money cuz I can’t afford the waste uh wifey is a lawyer take my date to my dates or the STI by the plates

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