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Pirates Offseason Outlook · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory,
0:12
Speaker 1: presented to you by the Foul Territory Network. I'm Noah Hiles.
0:15
Speaker 1: Joining me, as always, are my co-hosts, Josh Harrison and
0:18
Speaker 1: Platinum Key, a.k.a. Mark. It is Thursday, October 1st. And
0:25
Speaker 1: we're going to begin our Pirates offseason talk here on
0:29
Speaker 1: Bucko territory for this week's show. The remaining show in
0:34
Speaker 1: this week, we're just going to get into the offseason needs.
0:37
Speaker 1: I think as the offseason progresses, maybe we'll dissect each
0:40
Speaker 1: position group and see how it can be improved. Maybe
0:43
Speaker 1: talk about some guys we'd like to see. more of
0:46
Speaker 1: some guys that maybe shouldn't be back, so on and
0:48
Speaker 1: so forth. Uh, but I think for this show, we'll
0:50
Speaker 1: just keep it generic. Maybe each of us go around
0:53
Speaker 1: and highlight our top off season need and our eyes
0:56
Speaker 1: for the Pittsburgh pirates. Then we will round out the
0:59
Speaker 1: show by talking some playoff baseball playoffs are underway. We're
1:02
Speaker 1: recording this on Wednesday afternoon, Tuesday had one really good
1:06
Speaker 1: game and three not so good games. Uh, but I'm
1:09
Speaker 1: sure that'll be more fun throughout October. But guys, let's
1:13
Speaker 1: talk about the Buccos off season needs. This team was
1:16
Speaker 1: 82 and 80 at full health. It probably was capable
1:19
Speaker 1: of reaching the playoffs. Obviously it didn't stay at full health.
1:23
Speaker 1: It did not get to the playoffs. I want to
1:24
Speaker 1: ask all of you as Mark puts it on me
1:27
Speaker 1: solo when I'm about to throw it to the panel.
1:29
Speaker 1: Come on now. There's no Noah monologue on the way.
1:32
Speaker 1: Come on, come on. I want to ask you guys,
1:35
Speaker 1: what's the biggest area to upgrade? And before I throw
1:39
Speaker 1: it to anyone, I think it's worth noting, all of
1:42
Speaker 1: us agree, bringing Brandon Lau back would be the best
1:45
Speaker 1: move they can make. We're going to talk about that
1:49
Speaker 1: plenty in October, November, however long this offseason goes. We're
1:54
Speaker 1: talking about the biggest need aside from Brandon Lau, essentially.
1:58
Speaker 1: Position groups... team philosophy, whatever the case is. Mark, we'll
2:02
Speaker 1: start with you. Biggest offseason need for the Pirates is?
2:05
Speaker 2: Third base for me. Shocking, I know. A guy who
2:08
Speaker 2: loved watching Key Brian Hayes play. But speaking on that,
2:13
Speaker 2: the defense just wasn't good enough at third base this year.
2:16
Speaker 2: Nick Gonzalez hit.
2:18
Speaker 1: 302.
2:18
Speaker 2: Still just not good enough as to what the Pirates
2:21
Speaker 2: need there. This offseason, it's going to be tough. to
2:25
Speaker 2: address third base quite candidly. The top options for third
2:28
Speaker 2: base would be Bo Bichette, if he opts out, obviously
2:31
Speaker 2: not going to be within the Pirates wheelhouse there. Eugenio Suarez,
2:35
Speaker 2: Alec Boehm, Anthony Rendon, Edmundo Sosa, Jan Moncada, IKF, or
2:41
Speaker 2: Ramon Arias. Not a great collection of third base free agents.
2:47
Speaker 2: So if I'm the Pirates, the one thing I'm looking
2:49
Speaker 2: to do this offseason is find a trade partner for
2:52
Speaker 2: third base. We mentioned in the past, you know, maybe
2:56
Speaker 2: Kobe Mayo with the Orioles or someone like that. Someone
2:59
Speaker 2: that has team control that could be somewhat affordable, maybe
3:04
Speaker 2: a buy low candidate on. But I just feel like
3:07
Speaker 2: adding third base, especially if someone can play shortstop as well,
3:11
Speaker 2: to add that depth behind Connor. I just feel like
3:13
Speaker 2: that left side of the infield needs to be a
3:17
Speaker 2: focus this offseason.
3:18
Speaker 1: All right. jump in real quick here and say this, Mark,
3:21
Speaker 1: I agreed with almost everything you said. I don't think
3:23
Speaker 1: team control is that necessary because they have a third
3:26
Speaker 1: baseman who probably, I mean, I don't, I don't think
3:30
Speaker 1: it would be smart to just plan on Murph Gray
3:33
Speaker 1: being your everyday third baseman in 2027. But I do
3:37
Speaker 1: think it's reasonable to believe that he'll be ready by 2028. Right.
3:41
Speaker 1: So if you want to go out and get a rental,
3:44
Speaker 1: like spend big money on one year of a guy
3:47
Speaker 1: at third, I think that's the position to do it,
3:50
Speaker 1: especially for this year, because you have a long-term answer.
3:55
Speaker 1: And if Murph Gray is, forces his way onto the
3:58
Speaker 1: major league team, you can DH him. You can, you
4:01
Speaker 1: can maybe whoever you go sign can also, like Mark said,
4:04
Speaker 1: can play another position and you can find, you can
4:06
Speaker 1: find at bats for anyone in a league that has
4:09
Speaker 1: a universal DH. So I think. this is when you
4:14
Speaker 1: look at third base, this is the perfect spot for
4:17
Speaker 1: the pirates. If they're looking to just spend one year
4:19
Speaker 1: of big money, knowing this is the last year of
4:22
Speaker 1: schemes pre-arb, uh, or does he go into arbitrate? He
4:25
Speaker 1: goes into arbitration this year, actually, actually, I believe. Um,
4:28
Speaker 1: but anyway, I mean, arbitration numbers are going to start
4:31
Speaker 1: to go up and then like Connor Griffin's money is
4:33
Speaker 1: going to start to go up. Like all of your, uh,
4:36
Speaker 1: internal guys that you already have are going to start
4:38
Speaker 1: making more money as the years progress this year could
4:42
Speaker 1: make sense to spend big money on a one-year thing
4:45
Speaker 1: for one position and if you're going to do that
4:47
Speaker 1: third base makes a ton of sense so if that
4:49
Speaker 1: means acquiring someone on an expiring deal if it means
4:54
Speaker 1: uh signing someone in free agency to a one-year $ 20- plus
4:58
Speaker 1: million deal, I think that that's fine. And if that's
5:01
Speaker 1: your big move and you fill in the cracks elsewhere,
5:04
Speaker 1: even if it means Lau leaving, if you can replace
5:07
Speaker 1: Lau's offensive production at third, move Gonzalez over at second,
5:11
Speaker 1: and the third baseman is just averaged defensively, you've probably
5:14
Speaker 1: made your team better. So that's where I'm standing. Josh,
5:18
Speaker 1: anything to add on third, or do you want to
5:19
Speaker 1: just get into your pick?
5:21
Speaker 3: No, before I get into mine, adding on to third, Um,
5:26
Speaker 3: as you mentioned, defense is something that needs to be
5:29
Speaker 3: kind of shored up over on that side. And obviously you,
5:32
Speaker 3: you go get somebody that has some office production and
5:35
Speaker 3: that is, you know, an average defender. It allows Nikki G,
5:39
Speaker 3: you know, to slide over to second. If, you know,
5:41
Speaker 3: Lyle isn't retained, as we said, even the players have
5:43
Speaker 3: spoken how big of a, you know, you know, how,
5:46
Speaker 3: how big they want him back. But, you know, it
5:48
Speaker 3: still allows Nick to go back to, you know, bouncing around, um,
5:53
Speaker 3: you know, maybe playing second here and, you know, playing
5:56
Speaker 3: third in the pinch but not really relying on him
5:58
Speaker 3: to have to play a position he's not really, you know,
6:02
Speaker 3: too familiar with, especially at the big league level.
6:05
Speaker 4: That's a big ask.
6:08
Speaker 3: So, you know, the better you make your defense and
6:10
Speaker 3: keeping that offense going, you obviously give yourself some help,
6:13
Speaker 3: which is where I'm going to lead to going into
6:15
Speaker 3: my next part. I say catcher just from a standpoint.
6:21
Speaker 3: It shows how important the middle of that diamond is. Roflo,
6:25
Speaker 3: as we've talked about, came up and was able to
6:27
Speaker 3: give the catching core a big boost when it was
6:31
Speaker 3: much needed. Same thing with Indy, but obviously Indy's health.
6:35
Speaker 3: And being able to go back there is going to
6:36
Speaker 3: be a big question mark. But as you look at
6:39
Speaker 3: the middle field, it's the most important part. That's the
6:42
Speaker 3: communication with the pitcher, being on the same page. But
6:44
Speaker 3: you look at the Pirates, where they really broke down
6:47
Speaker 3: this year was Their guys in the middle of the
6:50
Speaker 3: field were hurt. Shortstop Connor Griffin, O'Neal Cruz in the
6:53
Speaker 3: center field hurt. You have catchers that don't produce, and
6:58
Speaker 3: that's a big part of being able to keep a
7:01
Speaker 3: team afloat, a catching staff that can manage the pitchers,
7:04
Speaker 3: and then having your shortstop and center field out there.
7:07
Speaker 3: And they really, I don't want to say missed the
7:10
Speaker 3: mark on all three because you can't really control injuries.
7:14
Speaker 3: But when those injuries happen to shortstop and center field,
7:18
Speaker 3: and then you're in the middle of the diamond where
7:20
Speaker 3: your catcher is, in my eyes, the most important position
7:25
Speaker 3: on the field, that's.
7:27
Speaker 4: Tough to overcome.
7:28
Speaker 3: And, yes, Ro Flo, as we mentioned, came up and
7:30
Speaker 3: showed a lot of promise, but that's a big ask
7:34
Speaker 3: to put on somebody that, you know, has not played
7:36
Speaker 3: a full season at the major league level.
7:38
Speaker 4: But if you go.
7:40
Speaker 3: Out and address this, it just shows you how much
7:42
Speaker 3: better this team can be. You got a healthy Conner.
7:44
Speaker 3: You got a healthy O'Neal Cruz. You got a healthy
7:47
Speaker 3: road flow as a, you know, second catcher to a
7:51
Speaker 3: starting catcher and you address that third base. I'm liking
7:54
Speaker 3: their odds with, you know, but not stopping there. Obviously,
7:57
Speaker 3: there could be more work done in other areas. But
8:00
Speaker 3: since third base was taken, I was just looking at catcher,
8:02
Speaker 3: you know, and just being in the middle of the
8:04
Speaker 3: diamond and showing the value of how important it is
8:07
Speaker 3: to have a catching core that can manage the staff
8:09
Speaker 3: and also add a little bit of offensive value.
8:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love the idea of keeping Rowe in the
8:15
Speaker 1: exact same role he was in in August and September.
8:18
Speaker 1: I mean, they carved out a roster space for Ozuna
8:22
Speaker 1: all of last year to just be a DH. And
8:25
Speaker 1: I'm not hating here. No, I know. It's because he
8:29
Speaker 1: can essentially just be your DH slash third catcher slash
8:34
Speaker 1: first baseman. First baseman. That is a roster spot for Flores.
8:39
Speaker 1: Say they go out. Yeah, it was reported that they
8:43
Speaker 1: went after Goodman, right? I mean, that was something I
8:46
Speaker 1: shared with you guys in the group chat. But then
8:49
Speaker 1: I believe Rosenthal got that. So, yeah. So the Pirates
8:52
Speaker 1: had interest in Hunter Goodman this trade deadline. I don't
8:56
Speaker 1: think the talks were that serious. But it's like, if
9:01
Speaker 1: you can't get Lau, then maybe that's what you do.
9:03
Speaker 1: You go and you get a guy like that to
9:06
Speaker 1: be your primary catcher. And I think you could still roster...
9:11
Speaker 1: Flores and Davis, if you go get a 1A like that,
9:16
Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to necessarily be Goodman, but go
9:19
Speaker 1: get a right-handed bat, a guy who is good defensively
9:23
Speaker 1: and a guy who can produce offensively. against left-handed pitching
9:28
Speaker 1: someone who is just a better overall catching product than
9:31
Speaker 1: what you have and goodman is the perfect example obviously
9:35
Speaker 1: his price tag is going to be high but i
9:37
Speaker 1: do think you have prospect capital that could a bring
9:41
Speaker 1: him here and b might be worth dealing to get
9:44
Speaker 1: him because of what it could allow the rest of
9:46
Speaker 1: the lineup to look like again like you bring in
9:48
Speaker 1: goodman the lefty issues aren't that bad. And like I said,
9:53
Speaker 1: if you want to keep Davis to be Paul's personal
9:56
Speaker 1: catcher or just a true backup catcher, that's fine because
9:59
Speaker 1: you can give that third catching spot on a roster
10:03
Speaker 1: with Flores because of his positional flexibility you're still going
10:07
Speaker 1: to have an opportunity to play him at first base
10:10
Speaker 1: against left-handed pitching. You're still going to be able, and
10:12
Speaker 1: if he's mashing, to make him maybe your primary DH
10:16
Speaker 1: or at least get him three starts a week if
10:19
Speaker 1: it's one at catcher, one at first base, one at DH.
10:23
Speaker 1: That's kind of the role that he should be in,
10:25
Speaker 1: in my opinion. He showed a lot of promise, but
10:28
Speaker 1: maybe not enough to still be an everyday player right now.
10:31
Speaker 1: Let him earn a bigger role rather than being like,
10:35
Speaker 1: Hey man, we think you're better than Henry Davis. Good luck.
10:37
Speaker 1: You're the everyday catcher, even though you might not be
10:40
Speaker 1: ready for it. So I love that. both of those
10:43
Speaker 1: things like that, those are your opportunities and perhaps even
10:46
Speaker 1: more so than bringing back Lau, because I think you
10:49
Speaker 1: can complete your team a lot better defensively. If you
10:52
Speaker 1: can find a right-handed 20 home run bat that can
10:55
Speaker 1: play average defense at either of those spots, you're probably
10:58
Speaker 1: a better team than even if you bring Lau back, honestly.
11:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, completely agree. No, I got nothing else. You
11:06
Speaker 2: guys got it.
11:07
Speaker 1: So All right, well, before I actually say anything, let's
11:11
Speaker 1: get to a break, because I have a couple of
11:13
Speaker 1: more additions, and then we'll keep this talk going here
11:16
Speaker 1: on Bucko Territory.
11:24
Speaker 2: Bucko Territory is brought to you by Fox One. This year,
11:28
Speaker 2: the NLCS and the NLDS are both going to be
11:31
Speaker 2: on Fox One, as well as the World Series. Guys,
11:35
Speaker 2: when you're watching the postseason... Which teams are you tuning
11:37
Speaker 2: into and why? We'll start with you, Noah.
11:41
Speaker 1: I'm just watching Yankees Red Sox. That series in 2003
11:45
Speaker 1: is what helped me fall in love with baseball. And
11:48
Speaker 1: anytime they match up together in October, you can count
11:51
Speaker 1: me in on viewing.
11:52
Speaker 4: Love it.
11:53
Speaker 2: What about you, Josh?
11:55
Speaker 3: Um, I'm, I'm a little impartial, you know, I don't
11:57
Speaker 3: really have any, you know, dog in a fight. So,
12:00
Speaker 3: you know, I can kind of bounce around and enjoy
12:02
Speaker 3: them all. Post-season baseball is the greatest, but, uh, Special
12:05
Speaker 3: moments like last night with Joe Musgrove in San Diego,
12:08
Speaker 3: it's kind of cool to see things, what guys mean
12:09
Speaker 3: to a city.
12:10
Speaker 4: So that was one that was cool to see. I
12:12
Speaker 4: love it.
12:13
Speaker 2: And I'll be tuning in to any Cubs or Brewers game,
12:16
Speaker 2: making sure to hate watch the NL Central, rooting against
12:20
Speaker 2: some rivals. So any team that's playing those guys, good
12:23
Speaker 2: in my book. MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox One.
12:27
Speaker 2: The postseason is here, and we have your front row
12:29
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12:33
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12:49
Speaker 1: All right. So, we have playoff predictions on the sidebar.
12:54
Speaker 1: We got a little too impassioned with our Bucko draft. talk.
12:57
Speaker 1: So we're going to keep it rolling here. Uh, this
13:00
Speaker 1: first segment, um, I, you know what? I feel like
13:03
Speaker 1: I've been really long winded. I apologize guys. And I'm rambling.
13:06
Speaker 1: I just, you know, I'm already excited about the 20,
13:08
Speaker 1: 27 buckles.
13:09
Speaker 2: Uh, yes.
13:11
Speaker 1: So we talked about third base. We talked about catcher.
13:15
Speaker 1: I want to present an idea to you guys and
13:17
Speaker 1: hear what you have to say. Um, so much of
13:20
Speaker 1: the focus around this team has been adding another right-handed bat,
13:24
Speaker 1: adding better defense, um, What if they, you know, their
13:30
Speaker 1: secondary moves, their smaller moves address those needs. You find
13:33
Speaker 1: like a cheap platoon, right-handed hitter. You find some guys
13:38
Speaker 1: who can bring in defense on very affordable deals. Just,
13:42
Speaker 1: you know, platoon defenders who can be late game substitutions
13:45
Speaker 1: and you make your big investments in the bullpen. The
13:48
Speaker 1: starting rotation is going to be what it is. Um,
13:51
Speaker 1: even if, you know, Keller is not there, I just
13:54
Speaker 1: still think you can find enough guys to cover those
13:56
Speaker 1: innings after what we saw this year. And you should
13:59
Speaker 1: feel pretty good about the bullpen. I think we said
14:02
Speaker 1: that on the last episode that I don't know if
14:04
Speaker 1: there's an area of the team I feel more optimistic
14:06
Speaker 1: about heading into 2027 than a bullpen headline by Montgomery
14:10
Speaker 1: and Luke Weaver. What if you went out and you
14:12
Speaker 1: just made another splash signing and you just guaranteed, hey,
14:16
Speaker 1: we're cutting this game to six innings. Because if you
14:19
Speaker 1: get to the seventh, we've got a three-headed monster. You
14:23
Speaker 1: have two already with Weaver and Montgomery. And, I mean,
14:27
Speaker 1: there's potential for Bacher to maybe be that third guy.
14:30
Speaker 1: Who knows? But go and get another elite shutdown guy
14:35
Speaker 1: and just say, hey, We are going to win the
14:39
Speaker 1: game in the first six innings here and just have
14:41
Speaker 1: the best bullpen in baseball. Take it to a whole
14:44
Speaker 1: other level to where it's a potential strength to entering
14:48
Speaker 1: the year where people are saying that Pirates bullpen might
14:51
Speaker 1: be the best one in baseball on opening day. What
14:53
Speaker 1: do you guys think about that strategy rather than investing
14:56
Speaker 1: heavily on offense or defense?
14:58
Speaker 2: Go first, Josh.
14:59
Speaker 4: It's not. too far fetched to think about.
15:06
Speaker 3: Um, cause when you, when you look at it, a
15:08
Speaker 3: good bullpen does solve a lot of things.
15:10
Speaker 4: Obviously we've talked about.
15:12
Speaker 3: A right hand to bat defense that definitely helps a
15:15
Speaker 3: lot of the miscues and stuff that happened. But, um,
15:18
Speaker 3: we're not going to sit here and act like, you know,
15:20
Speaker 3: relievers aren't something that every team is going to need.
15:23
Speaker 3: And if you have a bullpen that is able to
15:26
Speaker 3: go out and get out, especially when it shortens the
15:28
Speaker 3: game in the later innings, um, Um, that's definitely advantage.
15:32
Speaker 3: And even in those moments where, uh, no, I think
15:35
Speaker 3: you mentioned, Oh, we're going to shorten, we're going to
15:37
Speaker 3: get up, you know, before six innings, even if you don't,
15:40
Speaker 3: and you're in those really tight games of, you know,
15:43
Speaker 3: one run ball games or, you know, top ball games.
15:46
Speaker 3: I mean, everybody knows who's coming out of the pen,
15:48
Speaker 3: you know, and if you got, you know, three guys
15:51
Speaker 3: back there, you know, at any given moment, all three
15:54
Speaker 3: guys might not be available, but to know that two
15:57
Speaker 3: or three may be available is even more of a bonus. Um,
16:00
Speaker 3: Because as you mentioned, you got two any given moment,
16:03
Speaker 3: depending on how the flow of the game is going
16:05
Speaker 3: or the previous series.
16:07
Speaker 4: One of them may be down.
16:08
Speaker 3: You know, they both have experience closing games. So at
16:11
Speaker 3: that point, there's going to be situations where, oh, man,
16:14
Speaker 3: he threw 20 pitches back-to-back days.
16:17
Speaker 4: You got three guys like that?
16:18
Speaker 3: Yep.
16:19
Speaker 4: Guys are taking blows.
16:20
Speaker 3: But then it also allows those other guys that, as
16:23
Speaker 3: you mentioned, Noah, you said Lake Barker could be that guy.
16:27
Speaker 4: It doesn't.
16:28
Speaker 3: Put him in a position where he has to rush
16:30
Speaker 3: to be that guy.
16:31
Speaker 4: You know what I mean? It takes pressure off of
16:34
Speaker 4: the rest of the bullpen.
16:35
Speaker 3: It takes pressure off the rest of the team, but
16:37
Speaker 3: at the same time, it does allow for your starting pitchers, too,
16:41
Speaker 3: also to know that, hey, when we're handing the ball over,
16:44
Speaker 3: we know we're in good hands. The whole team knows,
16:48
Speaker 3: and then the other team, that's the other thing. All right, hey,
16:51
Speaker 3: we got to get the starting pitcher because, you know what,
16:54
Speaker 3: we do not want to see the back end of
16:55
Speaker 3: that bullpen. So it's not too far-fetched because teams have
16:58
Speaker 3: done it. And they certainly have shown with this year
17:02
Speaker 3: they got the offense that if you do put that together,
17:05
Speaker 3: it would, I mean, I'm not saying it would overshadow
17:08
Speaker 3: the defensive miscues, but it definitely would, you know, cause
17:12
Speaker 3: for a little bit more room for grace.
17:14
Speaker 4: Yes.
17:15
Speaker 2: And there's also a guy who's going to be a
17:18
Speaker 2: free agent who I think the Pirates actually would be
17:20
Speaker 2: interested in and would be interested in the Pirates in
17:23
Speaker 2: David Bednar. He's going to be a free agent this year.
17:26
Speaker 2: bring Bednar back, add him with Montgomery and Luke Weaver.
17:32
Speaker 2: I mean, not only does that give you depth in
17:34
Speaker 2: case of injury, it also gives you depth in case
17:38
Speaker 2: there's volatility in the bullpen. We saw Mason Montgomery be really,
17:42
Speaker 2: really good this year. Maybe he just doesn't have as
17:45
Speaker 2: good of a year next year. And you need to
17:47
Speaker 2: have a backup plan for that beyond just one guy.
17:50
Speaker 2: So adding David Bednar in addition to Luke Weaver I
17:53
Speaker 2: think would really, really help. you feel a lot more comfortable,
17:57
Speaker 2: especially because we've only really seen it from Montgomery from,
18:00
Speaker 2: for one year. Uh, but you know, we've seen that
18:02
Speaker 2: from David Bednar in the past where he had to
18:04
Speaker 2: go down to triple eight one year and now he's
18:06
Speaker 2: back to being a great, or great relief arm. Uh,
18:10
Speaker 2: so yeah, I would absolutely love adding to the bullpen,
18:13
Speaker 2: even if it's not David Bednar, maybe you want to
18:15
Speaker 2: add a left-handed pitcher. Um, cause you know, Gregory Soto's
18:19
Speaker 2: not going to be coming back unless you bring him back. Uh,
18:22
Speaker 2: maybe you consider bringing Soto back. I don't think that's
18:25
Speaker 2: a popular idea around Pittsburgh right now. I don't think
18:28
Speaker 2: he's as bad as he was in the latter half,
18:31
Speaker 2: but at the same time, I don't know if he's
18:33
Speaker 2: worth the cost. So yeah, I think you definitely bring
18:37
Speaker 2: one bullpen arm in just for the depth alone. But
18:43
Speaker 2: if it's not a high-end guy, that's okay. But bring
18:46
Speaker 2: back David Bednar.
18:47
Speaker 1: I mean, Mark, to build off your point, the thing
18:50
Speaker 1: that makes it so interesting is they already have a
18:53
Speaker 1: really good high leverage righty and a really good higher
18:56
Speaker 1: leverage lefty. So you can, you can really get creative.
19:00
Speaker 1: Like you were thinking Bednar, Aroldis Chapman, why not bring
19:03
Speaker 1: him back too?
19:04
Speaker 4: That's what I thought he was, yeah.
19:07
Speaker 1: Yeah.
19:07
Speaker 4: But I forgot about Bednar.
19:08
Speaker 1: Cause I think, I mean, Bednar, it's his, he's hitting
19:12
Speaker 1: free agency. He's probably looking for some multi-year opportunity and,
19:16
Speaker 1: and maybe just cause of the off season being what
19:18
Speaker 1: it is, he takes the safe play and, If the
19:21
Speaker 1: Pirates offer him $ 12 million, he comes here on a
19:24
Speaker 1: one-year deal and sees what happens. And man, I would
19:28
Speaker 1: love that just as much as anyone. But I mean,
19:30
Speaker 1: Chapman is a guy, he's probably just going to be
19:32
Speaker 1: signing one-year deals for as long as he continues playing.
19:36
Speaker 1: But there's so much room for creativity if you go
19:39
Speaker 1: this route because you have, like what Josh was saying,
19:43
Speaker 1: not knowing who you're going to see as far as guys,
19:46
Speaker 1: it's also being like, how do they want to approach
19:49
Speaker 1: this righty-lefty? You're going to have the opposing manager guessing
19:53
Speaker 1: as far as what he wants to do with his
19:55
Speaker 1: bench in the back third of a game. And then
19:58
Speaker 1: not to mention, by adding that extra leverage guy with
20:03
Speaker 1: a splash move, you free up Carmen and Lake Bacher
20:06
Speaker 1: to be your Swiss Army Knives. from the early relief
20:10
Speaker 1: opportunities to the middle relief, that one through five, you
20:13
Speaker 1: say it's Bednar or Chapman. Bednar, Chapman, plus Bacher, Majinski, Weaver,
20:20
Speaker 1: and Montgomery, that is a lethal middle to back end
20:25
Speaker 1: of the bullpen. It's actually not because the Shark Tank,
20:30
Speaker 1: in all honesty, was a lot of guys who were
20:33
Speaker 1: very unestablished that all kind of put it together.
20:35
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
20:36
Speaker 1: Around the same time it was it was kind of
20:38
Speaker 1: an island of misfit toys those names that i just
20:41
Speaker 1: read off i mean montgomery is going to enter next
20:43
Speaker 1: year as one of the top closers probably in fantasy
20:45
Speaker 1: baseball luke weaver was is a very established named and
20:50
Speaker 1: maginski has his own track record already too so and
20:53
Speaker 1: then you make you add in a chapman or bednar
20:55
Speaker 1: to it like that is that is a very very
20:58
Speaker 1: well established bullpen uh that i think a lot of
21:02
Speaker 1: teams would hate to see coming yeah um Before we
21:04
Speaker 1: move on to our playoff predictions and wrap up the show,
21:06
Speaker 1: I want to also just express one other offseason need,
21:10
Speaker 1: something that we don't necessarily need to talk about, something
21:12
Speaker 1: that is definitely not going to be at the forefront
21:14
Speaker 1: of conversation today, for fans this offseason, but I think
21:17
Speaker 1: it's something worth noting for this franchise. They are looking
21:21
Speaker 1: to fill one major front office spot, and it is
21:23
Speaker 1: the head of amateur scouting. And why is this important,
21:26
Speaker 1: you ask? Because at the end of last offseason, the
21:30
Speaker 1: Pirates lost their director of amateur scouting, Justin Horowitz, to
21:34
Speaker 1: the Washington Nationals. He went there to be an assistant GM.
21:37
Speaker 1: He was in charge of amateur scouting for two years
21:39
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. The primary responsibility for someone with that job
21:43
Speaker 1: title is they oversee the MLB draft. Who were the
21:46
Speaker 1: two first round picks that Horowitz had in his time
21:49
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh? Connor Griffin and Seth Hernandez. This guy nailed
21:54
Speaker 1: those draft picks. He also drafted guys like Wyatt Sanford,
21:57
Speaker 1: Levi Sterling, Murph Gray. Like his drafts are aging incredibly well.
22:03
Speaker 1: And I'm not, I think it's way too early to
22:06
Speaker 1: judge how their draft went in 2026, but it definitely
22:12
Speaker 1: lacked kind of the sizzle and pop that the last
22:15
Speaker 1: two did. Um, and I'm not saying that it's just
22:19
Speaker 1: Horowitz or whatever, but that's a position that like an
22:22
Speaker 1: organization like the pirates really needs to be filled and
22:27
Speaker 1: filled competently. And this past season, they kind of just
22:31
Speaker 1: had guys who were in other roles fill in and
22:35
Speaker 1: fill that void collectively as a committee, which maybe you
22:38
Speaker 1: can get by on in one year, but not long term.
22:42
Speaker 1: That is not a smart strategy. I think they recognize that.
22:45
Speaker 1: And that's a hire they really need to nail this
22:47
Speaker 1: offseason because you see what happens when it's going well.
22:52
Speaker 1: And you also see, if you look at the guy
22:54
Speaker 1: who held that job before him, what can happen.
22:57
Speaker 4: If it's not going well.
22:58
Speaker 1: So, all right, that wraps up our off-season needs. Real quick, guys,
23:03
Speaker 1: playoff predictions. We'll go through. Everyone give me your World
23:06
Speaker 1: Series prediction real quick, and then we will wrap up
23:08
Speaker 1: the show.
23:10
Speaker 2: Josh, you want to start us off?
23:13
Speaker 4: Make me lead off.
23:16
Speaker 3: Man, it's always tough. It's always a flip of a
23:19
Speaker 3: coin or maybe a couple coins.
23:20
Speaker 4: But I'll be honest.
23:22
Speaker 3: Somebody asked me this the other day, and the momentum
23:25
Speaker 3: that I've seen this team gain kind of grabbed is
23:27
Speaker 3: one that scared the face I would say is the Padres.
23:29
Speaker 2: Yeah Michael King looked pretty good last night too.
23:35
Speaker 3: And just like the last week of the season I
23:37
Speaker 3: feel like they they got a little hot and just
23:40
Speaker 3: I mean momentum is real momentum is real.
23:45
Speaker 2: Yeah and speaking of that yeah speaking of that momentum
23:49
Speaker 2: I feel like this might be the year the Brewers
23:51
Speaker 2: finally do it that team is just it's so so
23:55
Speaker 2: good obnoxiously good, just built really well, built to last.
24:00
Speaker 2: I feel like they don't have to really get lucky.
24:03
Speaker 2: They just have to go out there and play. Built
24:06
Speaker 2: for the postseason kind of deal. I feel like the
24:08
Speaker 2: Brewers will come away and finally win a World Series.
24:10
Speaker 2: What about you, Noah?
24:13
Speaker 1: I picked the Boston Red Sox before the playoffs started.
24:17
Speaker 1: By the time some people are listening to this episode,
24:19
Speaker 1: they might be eliminated. So that's not a great look
24:22
Speaker 1: on me. They got crushed in game one by the Yankees. But,
24:27
Speaker 1: you know, who knows? I just I love watching this
24:31
Speaker 1: Red Sox team this year from afar. I thought their
24:34
Speaker 1: story was tremendous because as someone who has covered a
24:38
Speaker 1: baseball team that started atrocious in its season and fired
24:43
Speaker 1: the manager, it was kind of. It was like living
24:47
Speaker 1: out a dream of seeing that firing spark something and
24:50
Speaker 1: they win 17 in a row and make the playoffs.
24:52
Speaker 1: I was like, man, could you imagine if that happened
24:55
Speaker 1: in 2025, how fun that would have been? I don't
24:59
Speaker 1: feel entirely confident with that prediction now. I do think
25:02
Speaker 1: that the winner of that Yankees-Red Sox series wins the
25:05
Speaker 1: American League. And I'm hoping that... I just think it
25:10
Speaker 1: would be very funny if an American League team won
25:12
Speaker 1: the World Series this year. After how bad it was
25:15
Speaker 1: all season, it would be really funny. So that's kind
25:18
Speaker 1: of what I'm rooting for.
25:19
Speaker 3: I do want to throw not necessarily a dark horse,
25:23
Speaker 3: but to go along with the Brewers, they very well
25:25
Speaker 3: remind me of them because these are two teams that
25:28
Speaker 3: I just feel kind of have an old school feel.
25:29
Speaker 4: Or the Tampa Bay Rays. Like, them and Milwaukee are.
25:34
Speaker 3: Two teams that just, man, they play ball.
25:37
Speaker 4: And Yeah, that's my dark horse, man.
25:43
Speaker 3: San Diego's hot, but Tampa.
25:46
Speaker 4: Bay is that. Yeah.
25:49
Speaker 1: It's funny that we feel like we're making a bold statement,
25:53
Speaker 1: picking the Brewers or the Rays to win the World
25:55
Speaker 1: Series when they're both the one seed. I'm sure the
25:57
Speaker 1: Brewers are.
25:59
Speaker 2: The betting favorites.
26:00
Speaker 4: I forgot about both of them because they had a bye.
26:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, right. And it's just like, I mean, they were
26:05
Speaker 1: the two best teams in their respective leagues. All year.
26:08
Speaker 1: They clinch their divisions early. They are probably pound for
26:12
Speaker 1: pound two of the top three best franchises in baseball
26:16
Speaker 1: as far as what they get out of everything. But yeah,
26:20
Speaker 1: it's just, you know, October baseball typically goes to the
26:23
Speaker 1: big markets. So that's how it is. We want to
26:27
Speaker 1: remind everyone to hit that subscribe button if you have
26:29
Speaker 1: not already. We're on a mission of 3000 subs. Want
26:33
Speaker 1: to build it up over the off season. Can't get
26:34
Speaker 1: there without your help. Also be sure to check out
26:36
Speaker 1: the bucket territory team store. I saw Mark's got the
26:38
Speaker 1: hat on guys. Any final thoughts before we wrap up
26:42
Speaker 1: the show?
26:43
Speaker 4: Um, yeah, I'll just say something.
26:45
Speaker 3: I know it's going to be going on all October
26:48
Speaker 3: during the NFL games. Somebody at my daughter's school, it's
26:51
Speaker 3: going to be breast cancer awareness for October.
26:54
Speaker 4: Uh, just wanted to throw that out there.
26:56
Speaker 3: Um, this constant reminder, you know, those that are affected
26:59
Speaker 3: by it, uh, My daughter's school mentioned it to their
27:02
Speaker 3: staff members, so I was like, let me say that
27:03
Speaker 3: on the show.
27:04
Speaker 1: I love it.
27:05
Speaker 4: Perfect.
27:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got nothing. Anything for you, Noah?
27:09
Speaker 1: All right. No, nothing for me. Nothing for me at all.
27:13
Speaker 1: All right. Just ready to watch more playoff baseball. He's
27:15
Speaker 1: Platinum T. He's Josh Harrison. I'm Noah Hiles, signing off,
27:19
Speaker 1: saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucko Territory,
27:21
Speaker 1: presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.
27:23
Speaker 4: Take care.