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No Geno, so What's Next? · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
0:09
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucco's Territory, presented to
0:13
Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network.
0:14
Speaker 1: I am your host, Noah Hiles.
0:16
Speaker 2: Joining me as always are my co hosts Platinum Key
0:19
Speaker 2: aka Mark and Josh Harrison aka Jay. Hey Fellas no
0:24
Speaker 2: guest on today's show. We have one later in the week,
0:26
Speaker 2: and it will be a good guest. I'm sure you're
0:28
Speaker 2: all gonna enjoy that one. But we've got some news
0:31
Speaker 2: to discuss today. Ewanio Suarez returns to Cincinnati. It was
0:36
Speaker 2: a bidding war between the Reds and the Pirates and
0:40
Speaker 2: stop the presses. The Pirates didn't win ith Hi, We're
0:44
Speaker 2: gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about the Brandon
0:46
Speaker 2: Donovan tarade. We're gonna talk about what's left to be
0:50
Speaker 2: done by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the first day of
0:53
Speaker 2: spring training is quickly approaching.
0:54
Speaker 1: This episode publishes on February third.
0:59
Speaker 2: I believe the first day media is able to talk
1:02
Speaker 2: to players at spring training is February eleventh, So.
1:05
Speaker 1: Eighteen tomorrow, eighteen days, yeah eleven.
1:10
Speaker 3: It's my daughter's birthday.
1:13
Speaker 2: Happy early birthday, So guys, let's talk about the Suarez thing.
1:18
Speaker 1: First, the Pirates in the Reds were the two finalists
1:21
Speaker 1: on Suarez.
1:23
Speaker 2: He ended up signing a one year deal worth fifteen million.
1:26
Speaker 2: There's an option year in that as well. I don't
1:30
Speaker 2: see that getting picked up regardless of how things go
1:34
Speaker 2: for him.
1:34
Speaker 1: So it essentially was just the one.
1:36
Speaker 2: Year, fifteen million dollar deal, and he cited that it's
1:40
Speaker 2: been reported that he wanted to go to Cincinnati because
1:44
Speaker 2: of the familiarity, because of the ballpark.
1:48
Speaker 1: I'll just say this and then I'll throw it to
1:49
Speaker 1: both of you guys.
1:51
Speaker 2: There were reports from Pittsburgh, multiple reports of the same
1:57
Speaker 2: rhetoric signifying, you know that the Pirates, they tried their best, they.
2:03
Speaker 1: Offered just as much money, we're willing to go higher. There.
2:06
Speaker 2: You see my buddy Alex Stump reporting all this stuff.
2:11
Speaker 2: So you know, they wanted him, but apparently they didn't
2:16
Speaker 2: want them enough. And that's all I'm gonna say. Now,
2:18
Speaker 2: I'm gonna let Mark open us up here on the discussion.
2:22
Speaker 1: What do you have to say on this news?
2:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, it stinks. It felt like a perfect fit for
2:30
Speaker 4: both Suarez, the Pirates, Pirates need power, they need help
2:34
Speaker 4: at third base. You hango Suarez forty nine home runs
2:38
Speaker 4: right there seemed like a great idea. Pirates were showing interest,
2:42
Speaker 4: that was reported throughout the offseason. That was encouraging, But
2:48
Speaker 4: it just really feels like we're right back where we've
2:51
Speaker 4: been so many times this offseason where the Pirates are interested,
2:55
Speaker 4: they make a competitive offer, and then the player signed
3:00
Speaker 4: with someone else, basically using the Pirates as a bargaining tip.
3:03
Speaker 4: Almost that Suarez really didn't seem that interested in the Pirates,
3:10
Speaker 4: at least from what it seems like, if they were
3:12
Speaker 4: willing to offer more money, more years. I really don't
3:16
Speaker 4: think like the excuse of oh, great American is a
3:19
Speaker 4: smaller ballpark and more favorable to Suarez. Teams see those metrics.
3:24
Speaker 4: They understand that PNC is not going to maybe have
3:27
Speaker 4: more numbers on the statute form, but the stuff the
3:30
Speaker 4: metrics under the hood are what they're going to be
3:32
Speaker 4: looking at his bat speed, all the other things. So
3:35
Speaker 4: I don't think coming to P and C would have
3:37
Speaker 4: heard his market. I think it was just he didn't
3:40
Speaker 4: feel like it was a great fit for him. And
3:43
Speaker 4: why is that? It's again, as we've been saying, all
3:46
Speaker 4: the years of neglect building up to this, So it
3:50
Speaker 4: just really stinks to see all this just come to
3:53
Speaker 4: fruition where again, it's just it feels like always the
3:55
Speaker 4: bride's made, never the bride, and that's where we're at.
4:00
Speaker 4: You feel a lot of.
4:00
Speaker 3: Josh definitely unfortunate, you know, when you heard all the
4:06
Speaker 3: stories of how the pirates were linked to him, definitely
4:08
Speaker 3: felt like there could have been, you know, some way
4:11
Speaker 3: to bring them in. And you know, reading that tweet
4:14
Speaker 3: from Alex saying that the pirates were willing. If they
4:17
Speaker 3: were willing, does that mean they did? But that doesn't
4:21
Speaker 3: sound like they really did. It just sounds like, oh,
4:23
Speaker 3: we're willing to do it. But if you don't put
4:25
Speaker 3: the offer there, who's to say that, you know, he
4:28
Speaker 3: might not have taken it. But at the same time,
4:30
Speaker 3: it goes back to what we've always said, the Pirates
4:33
Speaker 3: have done this to themselves for years and years of
4:37
Speaker 3: how they've treated the off season, and when it comes
4:39
Speaker 3: time to make a competitive offer, that competitive offer is
4:42
Speaker 3: not gonna, you know, be enough to outweigh going back
4:47
Speaker 3: to a place that is familiar to You're going back
4:49
Speaker 3: to a place that is considered more big hitters park,
4:53
Speaker 3: and not to mention I mean, the Red snuck into
4:56
Speaker 3: the playoffs last year, so all these things are going
5:00
Speaker 3: against the Pirates. When yes, I think Gino would have
5:04
Speaker 3: made you know, the Pirates a better team. I think
5:06
Speaker 3: anybody would agree to that. But when you have operated
5:10
Speaker 3: the way that you have in years past, as I said,
5:13
Speaker 3: all those things working against you, with the metrics of
5:16
Speaker 3: a ballpark and familiarity of film already been read, those
5:19
Speaker 3: did nothing but sweeten the platform, especially when you gave
5:22
Speaker 3: the exact same offer.
5:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I had too big takeaway from this one.
5:28
Speaker 2: I saw some talk about some fans are saying, you know,
5:32
Speaker 2: maybe it's time to move the left field wall in
5:36
Speaker 2: a little bit, make it a more hit or friendly park.
5:40
Speaker 1: No. No, I mean this is a team.
5:43
Speaker 2: Their strength, Their greatest strength is pitching. Their greatest strength
5:47
Speaker 2: organizationally is developing pitching. You're going to compromise that because
5:52
Speaker 2: you're too cheap. That also cost money, by the way.
5:55
Speaker 1: But my other.
5:58
Speaker 2: Point is, and it goes back to what we said.
6:00
Speaker 2: I think it was like the second episode of this
6:03
Speaker 2: show is like what Josh kind of alluded to. You
6:07
Speaker 2: can do it, you want to do it, then do it.
6:11
Speaker 2: There's a difference between wanting to do something and just going.
6:13
Speaker 1: Out and doing it.
6:15
Speaker 2: To me, that reporting, which is identical between two competitive outlets,
6:24
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna leave it there, tells me that the
6:28
Speaker 2: pirates wanted a certain message out there, and to me,
6:31
Speaker 2: that message is nonsense. You did not want him enough,
6:35
Speaker 2: because if you did, you would have found a way
6:37
Speaker 2: to get him.
6:38
Speaker 1: You didn't want him enough because.
6:40
Speaker 2: You know what's better than playing a great American ballpark
6:43
Speaker 2: for fifteen million dollars playing somewhere else for twenty million dollars.
6:47
Speaker 2: And if you make that offer and he says no,
6:50
Speaker 2: then you ask him if he would play here for
6:51
Speaker 2: twenty one or twenty two. Because at the end of
6:53
Speaker 2: the day, a twenty two million dollar one year deal
6:57
Speaker 2: is worth forty home runs. I think if you could
7:00
Speaker 2: have told any team at the beginning of the offseason
7:04
Speaker 2: that you could get thirty to forty home runs for
7:07
Speaker 2: that price, they probably would have paid it. Now, it's
7:10
Speaker 2: not a guarantee that he's going to replicate that.
7:12
Speaker 1: I get it. I get it.
7:14
Speaker 2: He's on the wrong side of thirty. He had a
7:16
Speaker 2: horrible second half this last year. Those are things that
7:19
Speaker 2: you cannot deny. But when you're the pirates. You do
7:22
Speaker 2: not have the luxury of being picky. Everyone else is
7:26
Speaker 2: going to get a prom date before you. You have
7:29
Speaker 2: to take advantage of your opportunities, and you have to
7:32
Speaker 2: make it attractive. You've been the worst, the worst organization
7:37
Speaker 2: in professional sports.
7:39
Speaker 1: You lose it everything.
7:40
Speaker 2: You don't draft well typically, you don't develop well typically,
7:44
Speaker 2: and you certainly do not win in the regular season
7:46
Speaker 2: or the playoffs because of these things.
7:48
Speaker 1: Oh and you also don't pay well. Because of these things.
7:51
Speaker 2: You are going to have to make a higher effort
7:54
Speaker 2: to get competent players who expect to win, who expect success.
7:58
Speaker 1: From themselves in their own team, to come play for you.
8:02
Speaker 2: And if you if your whole argument is our offer
8:06
Speaker 2: was as good as the other guys, then you don't
8:09
Speaker 2: even understand the problem. And that is what's most frustrating
8:12
Speaker 2: for me as someone who's covered this team, and the most.
8:16
Speaker 1: Frustrating, i'm sure for fans like Mark and even for players.
8:19
Speaker 2: Who've played for them, like Josh is you don't even
8:22
Speaker 2: recognize the problem that you don't get to just try
8:25
Speaker 2: as hard as everybody else.
8:26
Speaker 1: You have to try harder.
8:28
Speaker 2: You're a small market team, and you don't win so
8:32
Speaker 2: you're gonna have to work extra hard and if you're
8:34
Speaker 2: not willing to do that, don't make excuses, just shut
8:38
Speaker 2: up and take your l But they can't do that.
8:41
Speaker 2: So that's that's why there was some frustration on my
8:44
Speaker 2: end just seeing all this, because it's like, this was a.
8:47
Speaker 1: Super attainable thing.
8:48
Speaker 2: This was if you I just I just don't get
8:52
Speaker 2: it like this, this was something that could have taken
8:54
Speaker 2: them over the edge. And honestly, if they made that
8:57
Speaker 2: investment in Suarez and offer him twenty twenty five whatever
9:02
Speaker 2: the case is, overpaid him, people would have showed up
9:06
Speaker 2: to the ballpark all of that positive momentum. You go
9:10
Speaker 2: look on our channel right now, our highest viewed videos.
9:13
Speaker 2: We've had the top prospect in Major League Baseball on
9:17
Speaker 2: We've had an All Star designated hitter on this show.
9:20
Speaker 2: We've had one of the fan favorite relievers on this show,
9:23
Speaker 2: and we had a guy who almost hit three hundred
9:26
Speaker 2: on the show last year.
9:27
Speaker 1: The videos that did better than.
9:29
Speaker 2: That, all those interviews are when we were reacting to
9:32
Speaker 2: the news of moves. That showed that they actually tried
9:36
Speaker 2: their trying to win. That's how desperate these fans are.
9:40
Speaker 2: And if you would have signed Gino Suarez, after making trades,
9:43
Speaker 2: after signing Ryan O'Hearn, there would have been a buzz
9:47
Speaker 2: in this city. And when the most popular team in
9:50
Speaker 2: town is making a series of unpopular moves, fans are
9:55
Speaker 2: desperate to take their attention elsewhere. You could have capitalized
9:59
Speaker 2: on the apathy related to the Pittsburgh Steelers right now
10:02
Speaker 2: and became the talk of the town again.
10:04
Speaker 1: But you fumbled it.
10:05
Speaker 2: And I don't blame Ben Charrington on this at all
10:09
Speaker 2: because he wanted Gino Suarez. I just don't think he
10:13
Speaker 2: had the resources to go get him. And it goes
10:15
Speaker 2: back to what I've been saying all off season. We
10:19
Speaker 2: knew they were going to change the way they reallocated
10:22
Speaker 2: the funds. But if you don't have more funds, if
10:24
Speaker 2: you don't have more resources, what the actual hell are
10:27
Speaker 2: we talking about. The payroll is going to be lower
10:30
Speaker 2: this year than it was when Josh was playing for
10:32
Speaker 2: the team, and Josh has not played for this team
10:35
Speaker 2: since you know, COVID nineteen didn't even exist back then,
10:39
Speaker 2: So it's just gone too long and I'm gonna end
10:41
Speaker 2: my rent now or rent now, guys.
10:43
Speaker 1: Anything else to add on.
10:45
Speaker 4: That period, will stop.
10:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I was just gonna say. We used
10:53
Speaker 3: to say it all the time, even when you know,
10:55
Speaker 3: amongst ourselves in the clubhouse. I think it was something
10:59
Speaker 3: we used to talk about, just going about our everyday business.
11:01
Speaker 3: How we were going to be different was. I think
11:04
Speaker 3: insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
11:06
Speaker 3: expecting a different result. And ultimately, I'm not trying to
11:11
Speaker 3: be funny, but why are the fans going insane? Because
11:15
Speaker 3: it is the same thing over and over. As you said,
11:18
Speaker 3: reallocate the funds and do it's still the same thing
11:21
Speaker 3: that you've done over and over, which is what we
11:24
Speaker 3: alluded to early on. You know in one of our
11:26
Speaker 3: early episodes is we knew they were going to trade,
11:28
Speaker 3: try to reallocate funds, but are you going to spend
11:31
Speaker 3: outside of that? And you know it still remains to
11:35
Speaker 3: be seen, but as we sit here, we know that
11:37
Speaker 3: that is that gap is closing as by the second.
11:42
Speaker 2: And the worst part about all of this, in addition
11:44
Speaker 2: to everything that I just freaked out about, is the
11:48
Speaker 2: destination where Suarez, what that is the team you're trying
11:51
Speaker 2: to pass. You're not going to outsmart the Milwaukee Brewers.
11:54
Speaker 2: No one in major League Baseball is you're not going
11:57
Speaker 2: to outspend the Chicago Cubs. No one in this division
12:00
Speaker 2: and has the financial resources to do that. Maybe the
12:02
Speaker 2: Cardinals in some years, but they're not.
12:04
Speaker 1: They're rebuilding.
12:06
Speaker 2: You have to compete with the Cincinnati Reds. That's the
12:09
Speaker 2: first step in this process. And once you get above them,
12:13
Speaker 2: then you can think about taking down.
12:15
Speaker 1: The Brewers of the Cubs.
12:16
Speaker 2: But before that, there were three playoff teams in this division.
12:20
Speaker 2: Last year, the Reds were far and away the worst
12:22
Speaker 2: of that trio.
12:23
Speaker 1: You have to be better than them this year.
12:26
Speaker 2: You just allowed them to get better and by a turn,
12:29
Speaker 2: that makes you worse.
12:31
Speaker 1: That's it. You can't if he went to Boston.
12:35
Speaker 2: This is not as big of a deal, but the
12:37
Speaker 2: fact that you that's your direct competition right there, and
12:40
Speaker 2: in anything you're doing, if you're selling shoes, if you're
12:45
Speaker 2: you know, doing whatever, you can't allow your direct competitor
12:48
Speaker 2: to steal an asset from you that would make you better.
12:51
Speaker 2: That's just business one oh one, And that happened and
12:54
Speaker 2: they have to respond.
12:55
Speaker 1: So let's pivot. Now, what's next. It clearly seems.
12:59
Speaker 2: Like they're gonna have to make a trade, right because
13:02
Speaker 2: there's the free agent market's just not right there right now.
13:05
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously you have the options of like Marcelo
13:08
Speaker 2: Zuna still out on the free agency market, Cutches obviously
13:11
Speaker 2: still out there, and there are some other guys, but
13:14
Speaker 2: there aren't any three win players on the market right now.
13:19
Speaker 2: They've all been signed. The guys you're getting are able
13:23
Speaker 2: to fill a very specific role for you. If that's
13:25
Speaker 2: power hitting, if that's defense, if that's versatility in the field,
13:29
Speaker 2: if it's hitting for average, You're not gonna get the
13:31
Speaker 2: complete player, but you're gonna get someone who can check
13:33
Speaker 2: a box. Whereas if you make a trade, maybe you
13:36
Speaker 2: can get something like that. But then again, how many
13:39
Speaker 2: more trades are gonna be made. We're in February, So
13:41
Speaker 2: I'll ask you both, what is the play here? Do
13:44
Speaker 2: you load up on role players? Do you just try
13:46
Speaker 2: to solidify the weaknesses on your team through committee, winning
13:50
Speaker 2: through the aggregate is as they say in moneyball?
13:54
Speaker 1: Or are you trying to make one big.
13:56
Speaker 2: Trade you still have all these prospects, go all in
13:58
Speaker 2: and get like a Josh jab maybe try to get
14:01
Speaker 2: one year of Alec Baum.
14:02
Speaker 1: What are you guys trying to do? I'll start with
14:04
Speaker 1: Josh here.
14:06
Speaker 3: Certainly, if you can trade to get one of those guys,
14:11
Speaker 3: if it makes sense, definitely, But as we sit here,
14:14
Speaker 3: it looks like it might be by committee, and if
14:17
Speaker 3: that's what it is, you have to do everything that
14:20
Speaker 3: you can to surround those guys with. You know, if
14:23
Speaker 3: you were gonna spend fifteen million in Gino, what are
14:26
Speaker 3: you gonna do with the fifteen million that you just
14:28
Speaker 3: didn't spend on Geno? So so where does that go?
14:32
Speaker 3: If you are going by committee the third base? What
14:33
Speaker 3: are you going to strengthen? Then are you gonna go
14:35
Speaker 3: get you know, a couple of bats to help platoon,
14:38
Speaker 3: maybe DH or or offset somebody at third base that
14:42
Speaker 3: you know, one guy? I mean, you have to make
14:45
Speaker 3: a move somehow. I mean, you had fifteen million dollars
14:49
Speaker 3: allocated for you, Henios Warz, so you missed out on that.
14:53
Speaker 3: So where's that fifteen million going back in the pocket?
14:55
Speaker 3: Or was that just a phantom fifteen that you know,
14:58
Speaker 3: you he raised the paddle and you're like, I hope
15:00
Speaker 3: they have outbeated because I don't really have it or
15:02
Speaker 3: I don't really want to spend it.
15:04
Speaker 1: You know.
15:05
Speaker 3: But but if you're talking about winning, you have to
15:08
Speaker 3: you have to address the situation.
15:13
Speaker 4: And the way I would say what's next, I would
15:16
Speaker 4: add to your biggest strength, add a lefty starter, give
15:20
Speaker 4: yourself some flexibility around the trade deadline, add to the
15:24
Speaker 4: depth of the bullpen, and if you need to flip
15:26
Speaker 4: someone for a bat, give yourself somewhere that you can
15:30
Speaker 4: actually deal, because I don't think there's any good trades.
15:34
Speaker 4: Like I don't think the Phillies are going to trade
15:35
Speaker 4: bomb after they missed out on third base. I like
15:40
Speaker 4: maybe the Mets would be willing to move one of
15:42
Speaker 4: their Yeah Biento's or like Maurizio or Baby. The Cardinals
15:50
Speaker 4: still are going to be looking to trade some of
15:52
Speaker 4: their infielders and outfielders as well, so there's still options around.
15:57
Speaker 4: But I feel like we would have seen that happen
16:00
Speaker 4: if there was something the Pirates wanted to do already.
16:03
Speaker 4: So I think you gotta add maybe one more bat
16:06
Speaker 4: at DH whether it's a cutcher, I mean, a Zuna
16:10
Speaker 4: for the Braves makes a lot of sense with the
16:13
Speaker 4: power he brings, because I think Pirates are so prote.
16:16
Speaker 2: But does it but because like if you sign Ozuna,
16:19
Speaker 2: that's an everyday d H. He's not playing anywhere else,
16:22
Speaker 2: So where's Ryan O'Hearn playing?
16:24
Speaker 1: Is he playing first? Is what you do? Like?
16:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly Like that to me, that means that Brian
16:30
Speaker 2: Reynolds is your left fielder, and I, yeah, I don't
16:34
Speaker 2: think that's a good recipe for one hundred and sixty
16:36
Speaker 2: two games. If that's your deadline acquisition in July, you
16:41
Speaker 2: can maybe make that work for a couple of months,
16:43
Speaker 2: but like, I just don't see that being the best
16:47
Speaker 2: move for O'Hearn or Reynolds to make them primary outfielders.
16:51
Speaker 1: So but I agree, I mean offensively for sure.
16:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that's I see the stuff, and it's like
16:57
Speaker 2: I don't get the fit there. Or Cutch would be
16:59
Speaker 2: more of a fit as a DH because A he's
17:01
Speaker 2: cheaper and it allows you to make more moves, and
17:04
Speaker 2: B he's a platoon right, so like he's not gonna
17:08
Speaker 2: be anchoring the DH every day, Like he's gonna be
17:12
Speaker 2: doing it against lefties and then maybe an occasional game
17:16
Speaker 2: against righty's when you want.
17:17
Speaker 1: To give Horwitz an off day or an off day
17:20
Speaker 1: or something.
17:21
Speaker 2: Yeah.
17:21
Speaker 3: But I mean, with with pitching being your strength, you
17:23
Speaker 3: also as you said, that would force O'Hearn and Ryandltony
17:26
Speaker 3: off the You want to be able to take care
17:28
Speaker 3: of the ball on the defensive side too, So pitching
17:31
Speaker 3: band the strength. You don't want to just yes, we're
17:33
Speaker 3: talking about offensive bats, but you also want to make
17:36
Speaker 3: sure that it makes sense in the field, right.
17:38
Speaker 2: Right, So that's where I look at this now, is
17:42
Speaker 2: it's it was about third base until all the good
17:45
Speaker 2: third basemen went away, right like like it was more Kami,
17:50
Speaker 2: it was Okamoto, it was it was Suarez, right But
17:53
Speaker 2: now now that these guys are here, I'll just say it,
17:56
Speaker 2: Like Triolo, his defense alone makes him a two war player. Yeah,
18:00
Speaker 2: I don't see anything better than him out there right now.
18:04
Speaker 1: Now I see better hitters. I think Miguel and Dujar
18:07
Speaker 1: is probably a better hitter than Jared Triolo, but like
18:10
Speaker 1: his defense is nowhere near his good So maybe if
18:12
Speaker 1: you want to sign him to be an alternative option,
18:14
Speaker 1: because right now, aside from Triolo, I don't even know
18:16
Speaker 1: anyone who can play third games. That's trust.
18:20
Speaker 3: I'll even go a step for I'll go step further here. Though.
18:23
Speaker 3: It could also be a situation where Triolo has never
18:26
Speaker 3: really gotten that opportunity to man something down. You know,
18:30
Speaker 3: trust me, I was a guy that my first three
18:32
Speaker 3: years I bounced around. You look at my first three years,
18:34
Speaker 3: I don't think I hit over two thirty somebody would
18:37
Speaker 3: have looked at that and been like, oh, this dude
18:39
Speaker 3: can't hit. But I also didn't have over two hundred
18:41
Speaker 3: sum at bats over those years. It wasn't until fourteen
18:44
Speaker 3: where I still bounced around, but I got every day
18:46
Speaker 3: at bats. But some people were different. Some people, if
18:49
Speaker 3: they know they locked in at a position, maybe it
18:52
Speaker 3: gives him an opportunity to really lock in, you know,
18:55
Speaker 3: because you know, as you say, the glove is there,
18:57
Speaker 3: that's something that defensive players are always gonna make sure
19:00
Speaker 3: it doesn't go anywhere. But you know, hitting is completely different,
19:04
Speaker 3: and you know, maybe it's a situation where they've talked
19:07
Speaker 3: to him behind closed doors. Hey, we're putting the faith
19:09
Speaker 3: in you, and you know whoever, maybe hey, so on
19:12
Speaker 3: you guys, And I mean, if that's what it is,
19:15
Speaker 3: that's what you got to roll with that. That's also
19:17
Speaker 3: the flip side. Maybe they're giving him an opportunity, But
19:20
Speaker 3: at the same time, you do have an idea what
19:23
Speaker 3: you have in somebody because I don't really know how
19:24
Speaker 3: he hit in the minor leagues. How did he hit
19:27
Speaker 3: in the minor leagues.
19:29
Speaker 2: It's I mean hit like three hundred, But like it's
19:32
Speaker 2: just I think this is the player that he is,
19:35
Speaker 2: which again, which what I was kind of getting at
19:37
Speaker 2: is like that's okay. Like it at the end of
19:39
Speaker 2: the day, this was a team that was built, like
19:43
Speaker 2: they extended to Brian Hayes, who is essentially the same
19:46
Speaker 2: player as Jared Trioler.
19:47
Speaker 1: It's a great defender.
19:49
Speaker 2: And if he just is in a league average hitter,
19:52
Speaker 2: that's a four war player.
19:53
Speaker 1: That's a really good contract.
19:55
Speaker 2: And so if you look at it, you have a
19:58
Speaker 2: gold Glover at third in Triolo. You have a minor
20:01
Speaker 2: league gold glover that's gonna be your shots shortstop in
20:03
Speaker 2: Connor Griffin. Even if those two guys can just hit
20:06
Speaker 2: league average, which I expect Connor Griffin to be better,
20:09
Speaker 2: you're getting value there, and it's value to the way
20:12
Speaker 2: your team's built because you're saving defensive runs and you're
20:15
Speaker 2: gonna win a lot of close games. But it goes
20:18
Speaker 2: back to what Josh said, how are you spending that
20:21
Speaker 2: fifteen million?
20:22
Speaker 1: And if it's if it's making your rotation better. You know.
20:26
Speaker 2: It's it's like, hey, you got Brax and Ashcraft, you
20:28
Speaker 2: got Jared Jones, They're both gonna be a part of
20:30
Speaker 2: this rotation.
20:31
Speaker 1: Both of those guys are gonna have innings restrictions.
20:34
Speaker 2: So go get someone else who's gonna be able to
20:37
Speaker 2: cover more innings, have a surplus of arms. Make it
20:40
Speaker 2: annoying that you have to have some of these guys
20:43
Speaker 2: pitching out of the pen because you're so deep, or
20:46
Speaker 2: go get another outfielder because some of these guys still
20:49
Speaker 2: like Mangum's exciting obviously the passwords exciting, but a lot
20:53
Speaker 2: of these guys they have minor league options, so you
20:57
Speaker 2: have depth, like you've got to add to other areas. Again,
21:00
Speaker 2: I don't think it's as simple now as just going
21:02
Speaker 2: out and finding a third baseman, but you have to
21:05
Speaker 2: take those resources. And if it's just finding a surplus
21:09
Speaker 2: of right handed bat or bench bats, if it's finding
21:13
Speaker 2: better defenders, if it's finding more speed, whatever it is,
21:16
Speaker 2: it goes back to your front office being able to
21:19
Speaker 2: identify how how do you think these wins are gonna come,
21:22
Speaker 2: and how can we double down on that formula. That's
21:26
Speaker 2: where we're at at this point in the offseason because
21:28
Speaker 2: the simple answer of upgrade third base, have Triola B
21:32
Speaker 2: or tenth guy off the bench because he can play everywhere.
21:34
Speaker 1: That's just not an option anymore.
21:37
Speaker 2: No, Yeah, you know what is an option is subscribing
21:42
Speaker 2: to Buco territory, and I hope you all exercise that option.
21:46
Speaker 2: We're on a mission to three thousand subscribers and we
21:49
Speaker 2: can't get there without your help.
21:52
Speaker 1: Today Today was like a therapy session in a way. Fellas.
21:54
Speaker 1: In addition, I mean, I just.
21:59
Speaker 4: I just yeah.
22:02
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it's just more just it's frustrating to
22:05
Speaker 2: see it because I covered a very apathetic fan base
22:10
Speaker 2: for a couple of years. And I say that not
22:12
Speaker 2: as an indictment on the fan base, because they absolutely
22:14
Speaker 2: deserve to be apathetic, because this franchise does not give
22:18
Speaker 2: them a lot of reason to cheer. And it looked
22:21
Speaker 2: like it was starting to do that right, like the
22:24
Speaker 2: farm systems really coming together, the rotation's coming together, and
22:28
Speaker 2: they added to all stars.
22:29
Speaker 1: There was optimism and then was right, and then the
22:32
Speaker 1: complacency returned.
22:34
Speaker 2: It was it was just that it's just.
22:37
Speaker 1: Because you're better than normal doesn't.
22:39
Speaker 3: Mean it doesn't mean it's not good enough.
22:42
Speaker 1: And that's that's what's upsetting.
22:44
Speaker 2: Is if you would have told me I expected Suarez
22:48
Speaker 2: to sign a multi year deal one not yan a
22:51
Speaker 2: one year with an option, but like an actual multi
22:54
Speaker 2: year deal, and I expected as aav to be way
22:56
Speaker 2: higher than fifteen million. If I knew this was the ballpark,
22:59
Speaker 2: This was something where we've been saying it all off season.
23:03
Speaker 2: The Pirates are gonna have to come to a point
23:05
Speaker 2: where they overpay for someone. This would have been the
23:08
Speaker 2: spot to do it, and this would have been the
23:10
Speaker 2: spot to do it.
23:11
Speaker 4: In you're spending five million. Now, you're making yourself valuable
23:15
Speaker 4: so you don't have to spend five million on every
23:17
Speaker 4: free agent next year.
23:19
Speaker 1: And you would have you would have made it back.
23:22
Speaker 2: You would have made that difference back because people would
23:25
Speaker 2: have actually been excited. Oh but now we're gonna see
23:30
Speaker 2: the same old comments about the Pirates and guess what,
23:33
Speaker 2: they deserve it, And now your only hope to get
23:36
Speaker 2: that rough get that to go away, is that this
23:40
Speaker 2: same payroll. I agree they're a better team than last year,
23:44
Speaker 2: but you better hope they stay healthy because there's just
23:46
Speaker 2: not a lot of depth offensively to get through one
23:48
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty two game season without one of these bats.
23:51
Speaker 2: So that's my final thoughts, fell as, do you have
23:53
Speaker 2: any final thoughts?
23:56
Speaker 3: No, I think you summed it up.
23:58
Speaker 1: Yeah.
23:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, hoping for one more move and looking forward to
24:03
Speaker 4: seeing what it is. Maybe host a Kitana, you know,
24:05
Speaker 4: bring him.
24:05
Speaker 1: Back, we'll see.
24:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can get Cutch Kintana and do horror. Josh Harrison,
24:12
Speaker 2: We'll just get We'll just get every former Pirate. Steve
24:14
Speaker 2: Blast will be out there closing games, sure, coming.
24:17
Speaker 4: Out of the booth to the pen.
24:19
Speaker 1: Yeah.
24:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, Shoot, half half of Josh's former teammates work for
24:23
Speaker 2: sports Net now, so yeah, we can just get.
24:26
Speaker 1: Him out there. All right, it's time to wrap this
24:29
Speaker 1: one up. Four flattenam G and Josh Harrison. I'm the
24:32
Speaker 1: Ohio San.
24:32
Speaker 2: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucko Territory,
24:35
Speaker 2: presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.