Latest / Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast / What do the Pirates do next? (ft. MLB Hall of Pretty Good)

Transcript

What do the Pirates do next? (ft. MLB Hall of Pretty Good) · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucco Territory, presented to
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network. I am your host,
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Noah Heiles, and as always, joining me are Platinum Key
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: aka Mark and j Hey aka the newest member of
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: the Hall of Pretty Good.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: That is how we're starting today's show.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: We actually have another surprise guest joining the show. It
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: is the commissioner of the Hall of Pretty Good on
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: too officially.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Congratulations God.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Josh, mister Hall of Pretty Good, please introduce yourself.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, my name is Bryce Whitlow. I run the Hall
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: of Pretty Good social media accounts just like you said,
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: and Josh, I just wanted to take a second and
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: congratulate you on being the thirty fifth member of the
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: illustrious Hall of Pretty Good eighty one percent of over
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: thirty five thousand votes. That's huge. How does it feel
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: to be inducted into the Hall pretty Good?
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: Oh man, it's an honor man, appreciate you know. I
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: think I saw the tweet said I was the first
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: pirate as well, so definitely honored, you know. When I
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: saw Noah's tweet saying I can tell somebody that I'm
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: a co host with you know, that's what made me
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: spark off, like hold on what happened? And you know,
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: it was one of those things where I read and
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: I said, oh, that's pretty cool. You know, accolades continue
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: to come even when you're not looking for them, you know,
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: no matter how big, how small, grateful for all love it.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: And I know the term pretty good might make you
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: laugh or something like that, but I just want you
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: to know it is a genuine appreciation of your skill
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: set and your talent as a player. I mean, you
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: meant a lot to a lot of people. I'm in
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: a jay Hey Jersey right now, a lot of the
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: PNC when I was a teenager, so it meant a
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: lot to watch you play. I was a big fan
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: and I just wanted to congratulate you face to face
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: in a way.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: Oh no, I appreciate it, man, And no, I didn't
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: take it as any slight or anything like it.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: Whatn't you know.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: I just looked at it like, oh, man, that's kind
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: of that's kind of dope. I know that existed, you know,
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: and it was just one of those things where it
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: caught me off guard, but I enjoyed it.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Bryce.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: I have a few questions for you. You know, I've
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: been following your account for a while. I feel like
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: I was around when you were just getting started. So
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: tell us take us through the genesis of this and
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: give us some background. Are you a Pirates fan and
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: just a baseball fan? Tell us your backstory and how
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: this account got started.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: So, honestly, I'm a Red Sox fan. I'm sorry, I
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: know that's kind of odd to be on Pirates podcast,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: but I have a genuine appreciation for all players and
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: all teams. The account started as just a way to appreciate,
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: you know, guys who aren't in the Hall of Fame necessarily,
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: because I mean there's plenty of players like Josh who
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: made a couple of All Star teams, you know, over
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: a thousand hits, you know, very productive members on playoff teams,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: but once they retire, it's kind of they're not on
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: the whole of thing. You don't see too much appreciation
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: from them, unlike MLB's social media accounts, And so I
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: kind of just wanted to create a baseball community where
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: we could appreciate guys like Josh Harrison, you know, or
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: other members I think of like a Steve c Schek
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: or a Headeki mat Suie, Shane Victorino. Just that type
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: of lane is kind of where I wanted to specialize in,
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: and they've always been my favorite types of players as well,
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: and so it's just a way to get in touch
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: with your nostalgia, you know, Like how you ever sat
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: around with your friends and just named random ball players
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: like role players?
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, been a lore. When Noah was on the Pirates Feet,
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: there would always be a rain delay name a random
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: infielder or something from the two thousands, right.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: No, yeah, yeah yeah, and those would get like one
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty replies.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Guys love naming dudes.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, so your your content, Brice is right
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: up our rally.
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah yeah.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: How long have you been doing this?
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: How long?
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: I started in January of twenty twenty four, so almost
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: two years now.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Okay, And have you met any other Hall of Pretty
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Good inductees.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: I've never met any of them in person or anything,
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: just like this over a podcast. I met with Steve Seeschek,
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: first ever member. That was really cool. But this is
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: pretty much a first for me ever getting to do
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: anything like this, and it just made my whole year.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Seriously, It's a really quick question for you for those
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: that aren't familiar, What are the requirements for someone to
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: be a Hall of Pretty Good member?
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So, like I said, we're trying to appreciate, you know,
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: some guys who aren't in the Hall of Fame maybe
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: popped up on the ballot for a year or two.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: So the requirements. You got to be officially retired obviously,
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: or inactive for three seasons, not in Cooperstown.
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: Of course, you got to.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Have a B war of thirty eight point six or lower.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: And that seems kind of random, but that's Harold Baines's
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: b War, and so I wanted to keep it a
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: little bit below that. No, Cy Young's no MVPs, and
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: you can't be in the top FI fifteen and saves
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: and so other than that you are eligible. So it's
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: a pretty wide range of different guys from different eras,
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: and I think Josh Harrison perfectly embodies the type of
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: person we're looking to honor with this account.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Final question here for you Bryce. Now, you said Jay
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: is the first pirate. What other pirates do you have
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: in mind to contend for the next spot in the
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Hall of Pretty Good?
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: If I'm thinking since we got a position player, and
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking pitching somebody like an Aj Burnett I think
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: would be a great add to the Hall of Pretty Good.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: Francisco Loriano too. And then you also have that bullpen.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: I think of a guy like Tony Watson, Jason Grilly,
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: Mark Mullansen. Just I mean, you know, Joel Hanrahan even
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: like I would love to appreciate that bullpen because Josh
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: Harrison and all those guys were doing was amazing. But
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: that bullpen was lights out for a few years there,
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: So I'd love to appreciate those.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Guys the Shark Tank. And I was a member of
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: the Shark Tank. I got my first pitch in a
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: peer in Colorado, so they gave me a shirt. All
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: those guys you mentioned, like grill Ley, Melance and like
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: all those guys. So when you said that, I was like, nah,
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: that they were referred to as a shark tank.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Brace you really know your baseball man. We really appreciate
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: you having or coming on with us. And again, congrats
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: to Josh Harrison, the newest member of the Hall of
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Pretty Good.
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: Appreciate it. It was an honor.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: It was an honor. Thank you guys and congrats Josh.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: This was amazing.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: Appreciate you, Bryce, Thank you.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Goodbye.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: So, now that we're done talking about Josh's accolades, we're
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: gonna get into some.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Current baseball here.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: But before we do so, we're gonna take a quick
• 6:41
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• 7:46
  Speaker 2: All right, guys, So an active weekend on the hot Stove.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Jorge Polonco signs a two year, forty million dollar deal
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: with the Mets a Dolas Garcia a one year, ten
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: million dollar deal with the Phillies that happened today. I
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: believe we're recording this on Monday. Both of these are
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: just notable deals because we're at the point in the
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: offseason where every time a hitter signs in free agency
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: and it's not a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: large contingent of the fan base will yeah, will start
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: to freak out.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: And deservedly so.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Again, as we said numerous times on this show, fans
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: have every right to be skeptical of all these reports
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: about the Pirates' desires to spend and make a difference
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: and do something different, And every time a new name
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: falls off the board, it's one less that the Pirates
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: can do to add so I'll open up the floor here, we'll.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Start talking about Polonco.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Originally, there were a couple of things that were interesting
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: to me about this. The first being that he was
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: reportedly going to be more of a first base and
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: designated hitter than a second baseman, so he's essentially just
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Pete Alonzo's replacement for the Mets. And then the other
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: was the AAV two years, forty million. He's getting twenty
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: million a year. That seems like a bit of an
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: overpay in my opinion.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: I'll let you guys discuss both matters. We'll start with Josh.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Josh, your overall thoughts on that move by the Mets.
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, when I when I saw the report that said
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: he was gonna play first base in DH that that
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: definitely made me not necessarily say it's Peter Lonzo's replacement,
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: you know, but now that you said that, that's what
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: I could see it as. But also know he has
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: the ability to bounce around play second third base. Still
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: don't know what they're gonna do with, you know, McNeil.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: So he could also provide something that might not just
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: be first base dch. He might find his way playing
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: a little bit of second base here. And there. But
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: the two years for twenty million, I know it was
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: projected I think three years around fifty five. But at
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: the same time, he probably got a deal that he liked.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: But at this he also said he wanted to be
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: somewhere where he felt he can win. Maybe this is
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: a place where he feels he can win. The overpay
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: could be something where he's looking at as well, or
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: the Mets. They didn't go the third year, but that overpay,
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: when you look at taxes and living in New York
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: might really offset. So if you're asking me, I don't
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: know if it really is an overpay because he's going
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: to be coming out of pocket for something with those
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: you know, New York taxes. But maybe that he felt
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: that was the best fit for him, you know, playing
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: in the postseason again and getting a chance to win
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: a ring. But as you said, another player off the
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: board for the Pirates, which means you got a pivot
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: left or right. But I don't think the Pirates were
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: looking for him to play first in DH at least
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: I don't think.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: No. I don't think so either. I think their intention
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: was more for him to play in the infield.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Mark.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you I mean, even with their
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: intention to spend a little bit more money this offseason.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Obviously the Pirates budget isn't the same size as the
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Mets budget. It would it have been in their best
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: interest to give twenty million a year to a guy
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: like Jorge Polonko, who is good, yeah, but he's not
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Kyle Schwarber, Pete Lonzo type of an impact on the land.
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: I think the Pirates have to look at that and
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: just say, you know, we can spend that twenty million
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: a lot better elsewhere. But you do get to the
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: panic point where it's like the Pirates are going to
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: have to go over market to sign a lot of
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: these guys. So I mean, if it was twenty million
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: to the Pirates, that makes more sense for Polanco, but
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: twenty million to the Mets that it just seemed a
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: little weird to me, especially playing them out of position.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: But I mean, if the Mets want all second basemen,
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: they're on their way. But I thought Josh brought up
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: an interesting point like maybe they move McNeil. Maybe that's
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: just a public facing statement right now, like oh, we're
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: gonna play him at first, we don't need to trade
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: McNeil yet, And don't want to lose any leverage with that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean, it's it would be. I wouldn't
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: hate it for the Pirates. It would be an overpay
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: if they gave Polanco that deal, But you're the Pirates.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: You gotta do something. They convinced guys, and so yeah,
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: I wouldn't have hated it, but wouldn't have been my
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: first choice either.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: I mean I look at that deal and I think
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: that that would have been the type of overpay they
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: could make for that type of player. Like I would
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: if they made that offer to Polanka, I would say
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: that's an overpay, But that's what you're gonna have to
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: do if you're the Pirates. I also think the Mets
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: overpaid because they were panicking too.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: You know, they in this offseason, they've traded.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Away Nemo, they have watched Pete Alonzo go and it
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: looks like McNeil's on.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: His way out and so I mean, y.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the best closer in baseball is gone, So
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: you know, their their team is quickly vanishing, and I
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: know they probably want to shed a little bit of
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: payroll because they have all this young pitching come up
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: and coming up, and they might be willing to invest
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: in that or you know, who knows what the Mets
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: are going to do financially just any year. But yeah,
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: I think that they were willing to overpay and the Mets.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Just when two teams are overpaying for your services, you're
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: going to go to the better one.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: And the Mets despite missing the playoffs the past year.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're gonna be in a lineup with Lindor
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: and Soto and some other guys as well.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: So I think there was a lot to like.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: I guess if you're Polanco and then a Doulas Garcia,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: we can move on now to the Phillies one year,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: ten million dollar deal.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: I don't think this was an overpay. I think this
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: is pretty hard for the course.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: I don't think the Pirates were super in on him,
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: at least that's not what I heard, and I don't
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: think it's a huge miss. But this is another guy
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: where it's like one year, ten million, that's not breaking
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: the bank. That's the type of signing they should be
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: making while they're looking to hone in on a bigger acquisition.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: And when you're seeing teams like the Phillies do this
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: in other clubs, it's like, like Mark, you kind of
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: mentioned you're starting to see just like, all right, well,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: how are they going to spend money as these names
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: continue to go away?
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: And I think there's still plenty of moves that you
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: can make if you're the Pirates. I mean, if you're
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: a fan, you just have to look. I mean, there's
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: you still got Ryan o'hear, and there's still you Hanio Suarez,
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: there's both of the Japanese players still when he's Haakimer
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: Ecami consuming O Komodo. There's still plenty of options. And
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: that's just free agency. You still have trades, you know,
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: So there's there's plenty of ways that this team can
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: still be a lot better. But I think we all
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: were expecting to see a little bit more at this point,
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: given the rhetoric out of the Pirates for ant office
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: coming into this offseason.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Josh, if you're a player that's a free agent right
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: now and the Pirates have been talking to you and
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: you hear about how they want to invest, to how
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: they want to be different, and if you're skeptical about that, are.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: You waiting for them to make another move? Well? Would it?
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Do you think that them trading for a Brandon Lao
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: or a Katel Marte or a Jeff McNeil. Do you
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: think acquiring one of those three guys will help them
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: land a free agent signing as opposed to the other
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: way around, where they might need to make that signing
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: first and then see how they can compliment it through trade.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Do you think the trade has got It's gotten to
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: a point where the trade has to show that they
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: actually mean business.
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: At this point, I don't want to say yes, and
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: I don't want to say no, because everybody's going to
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: be subjective to their own decision based off of where
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: they want to go, what they feel. But it does
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: get to a point to where, you know, it makes
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: you wonder Wood Schwarber had entertained it if there was
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: another move made that made it seem like, Okay, yeah,
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: they say they want to go for it, but I'm
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: just one guy. You know what if everybody's having this thought,
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: I'm just one guy. Well, you know, if they were
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: to go make a trade or whatever you say, it
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: could entice you know, Mitch Keller. Trade could bring back
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: somebody you know that we've talked about. That might be
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: like okay, I see the offense could be a little better.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: You know, it's going to be a little bit better
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: with the acquisition to this guy. But you know, it
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: could be a thing too where once you're a free agent,
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: you're also in a situation where the ball is in
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: your court and you're going to make a decision based
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: off what was best for you, at least you would think.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: And uh, for teams like the Pirates, we keep saying
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: there are going to have to overpay, and the question
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: is who do you overpay? What makes sense because a
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: Dollars signed to the Phillies for ten million, but you know,
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: for the for the Pirates, pirates might have had to
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: go to fifteen to sign them. Yeah, you know, just
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: based off of the nature that the Pirates are in
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: with you know, the signings of free agents and the
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: stuff that they're in. So a trade could be a
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: possibility where you trade for you know, you trade Mitch
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: kell or you trade for brand LAO. Okay. Now, a
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: free agent might be like, okay, I know I can
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: help anchor this lineup, but you know they might be like, hey,
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: I can help anchor this lineup, but what about the
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: other you know six seven sports my protection?
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, I think at this point, Josh, Like, I
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: want to follow up on one of the things you said,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: like who are you going to overpay at this point,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: because that's that's a great question where I don't know
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: how many overpay worthy guys are still out there that
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: can be difference makers.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think Gino Suarez is one for sure.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Ryan O'Hearn, but I mean those guys are a little older,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: especially Gino. Do you look at the international market at
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: this point and you just say, look, this is a
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: bigger risk. But if you overpay for Marikami, if it hits,
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: then you might end up getting a bargain here, which
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: is ultimately what every team's looking to get. They're looking
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: to get a player who plays above the value of
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: which they're paying them. In Marikami's case here where he
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: is probably the highest caliber international free agent this offseason.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: He's only twenty five years old, He's got a lot
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: to prove. They're going to be other teams certainly interested
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: in his services. But is that the case where the
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Pirates They're going to have to take a gamble either way,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: and it may be offering the highest payday to a
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: player like that with a team of their payroll will
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: be a huge gamble, but maybe.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: They're just in a position where that big of a
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: gamble makes sense.
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: Markin yeah, oh josha, Yeah. I think it really comes
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: down to what the like the scouting department is telling them,
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: because yeah, it's a huge risk. It's clearly like MPB
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: is a very different league from MLB. But at the
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: same time, Murkami, he's a guy with eighty grade power,
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: he's twenty five. How many times are the Pirates gonna
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: have a chance to sign a guy that says, hey,
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: I'm twenty five, I don't want to play with any
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: other Japanese players. So I think there's a lot a
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: lot of reason there's a gap at third base. Murakami
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: makes a ton of sense. And then for Okamoto, I
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: feel like he's a lot less risky than Murakami. Higher floor,
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: lower ceiling, he's twenty nine, also brings some power, but
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: has better like back to ball skills. So I think
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: Okamota makes a lot of sense for the Pirates where
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: it's it's low risk. For as like as far as
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: international signings go, he could still be like a sayas Azuki,
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: where he is all right, but it's overpaid. So I
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: don't know. I think it makes a lot of sense
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: for the Pirates to go after these guys because you
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: just don't see that kind of caliber talent for them
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: available too often. But again, you're gonna have to overpay
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: because you're the Pirates on the most risky players in
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: the free agency market, and that's just a recipe that
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: end up with egg on your face. So I don't know.
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: It's uh. I really like Murakami Okamote. It seems like
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: a great signing, but I'd beat head over heels with either,
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: at least initially. We'll see how they play.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: But I mean, I think one was my kind of
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: guest that I said we might sign before with like
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: Holidays or whatever. So as I said, I'm right with
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: showing that. But I mean, the whole overpaid thing, that's
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: just the nature of what it sounds like the Pirates
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: are gonna have to do. You know, whether you're overpaying
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: one million, five hundred whatever the market is, it seems
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: if you're going to have to overpay what other teams
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: are offering.
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: And yeah, and you knows, Murkami projecting like six years,
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: one hundred and forty millions, like around like twenty three
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: million AAV and if he does sign with an MLB team,
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: it has to be by December twenty second.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: So that's coming up quick.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: I mean that is what that's Monday, so a week,
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: a week from today, he's got to sign.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, somewhere.
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: The Okamotos is January fourth, okay, and his like projected
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: AAV is like sixteen seventeen million range for like three
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: to five years, so a little bit more affordable. But
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: again those are just projections and bump that up five
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: ten million for the Pirates for if you want to
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: be competitive.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Right, So the way I look at I think the
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: biggest move they're going to make it this At this
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: point in the offseason, I think the biggest move that
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: they're gonna make is come through a trade.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at it now. I have four names written down.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, Katel Marte is the highest caliber guy I
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: think they could go after. But three other names that
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I think are very realistic for them to go and
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: get are Lao McNeil and then because of the Alonso signing,
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Ryan mount Castle I think makes a lot of sense. Yeah,
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: and I think that all three of those guys, based
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: off of their years of remaining control might not require
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: a Mitch Keller to be on the other end of
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: the deal to get So that's the other question here
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: now is how much of the young pitching are you
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: willing to give up for any of those guys in
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: between those three? Who is the best fit that you
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: that you think for this lineup? Is it mount Castle,
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: who could be a right hander at first base you
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: could play a little outfield, you get Dhm. Is it
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: McNeil or is it Lao, who I believe has the
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: least amount of can control of the three but probably
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: the best offensive production at this point. If you could
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: pick one of those three, which one are you guys
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: going for?
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: Take it away, Josh, I'm still gonna go with Lyle
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: mount Castle, right handed hit her. I think adding a
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: left handed power bat is going to be able to help,
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: and McNeil obviously can make the line up longer, but
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: I think you need a bat that they're going to
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: be that that needs to be an impact back.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: I completely agree. Loud checks off a lot of boxes.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: He brings left handed hitting, he's got power, he's got
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: the pop in that bat, and he's at a position
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: to meet if you're trying to improve second base, So
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: it makes a ton of sense. And even with the
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: one year left on his contract, if you can't sign
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: anight free agents, why don't you just extend him, you know,
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: take that money and offer him an extension. Maybe show him, Hey,
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh's great, you love it here, you like her staff,
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: you like the players. Be renegotiate with him. Maybe you
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: get him a little bit cheaper than you would a
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: free agent after he acclimates. So I think loud just
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: makes perfect sense. I I'm not the biggest McNeil fan,
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: he's just seems to not be as much of the
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: player that the name recognition comes with. He's kind of
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: dropped off a little bit and also just really expensive.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: So in less then that's want to eat a lot
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: of that contract. Not not the best fit and mount Castle,
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: I mean, that's that's great power like first base DH,
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: but again like it not the most exciting deal, especially
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: when Spencer Horwartz played pretty well last year, so that
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: would that shift him the second You know, how does
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: that impact your DH conversation? Yeah, so what do you think?
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: No?
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: I mean I think Mount Castle, like trading with the Orioles,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: is still intriguing because I just think there's so many
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: other guys you could package with Mount Castle. I mean,
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: if you want to trade for Mount Castle in a
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Heston Kerstad, who has been a bad big League player
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: since he's debuted, but former top one hundred prospect, left
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: handed bat, and then you have that platoon with him
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: and Garcia out in the outfield, you have two essentially
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: your two guys who essentially have all of their rookie
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: contracts still. I think, ye, yeah, Kurstad still might only
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: have five years of control remaining, but yeah, so you
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: have the next five years of that one outfield. They're
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: in the platoon, and ideally, you know they could develop
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: into being two of your three outfielders. And then but
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: even if it's not a prospect like Cursedad or Mayo,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: maybe you could get a Mount Castle and a guy
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: like what's his name, Tyler O'Neill. No, I was gonna
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: say Tyler O'Neill. They're gonna have the trade away an outfielder.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: And O'Neill was horrible for them last year. He couldn't
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: stay healthy. But I think that if the Orioles eat
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: a little bit of that salary, I think he's a
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: guy that might make a little bit of.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Sense to be a throw in.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Now, if he's your biggest offseason acquisition, then you're not
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: really trying to win baseball games. But if you're packaging
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: him with a Mount Castle or something, and Baltimore eats
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: a little bit of that salary, then then maybe you
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: bank on him playing one hundred games. You could platuone
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: him at DH a little bit with a corner outfield spot,
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: and I mean, he's not far removed from a thirty
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: home run season in Boston, So between Mount Castle and
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: what else you can get with him, that's intriguing to
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: me because the Orioles are going to have to start
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: trading some of these bats away just because I mean, yeah,
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: they just only nine guys can bat in the game
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: at the same you know, obviously you can have pinch
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: otters everything, but they've got guys who are probably twelve
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: guys are capable of being everyday big leaguers if they're
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: healthy and.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: Young, talent, lineup house.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: Or maybe you go for an Adley Rushman or somebody.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: They've They've got probably two guys at every position that
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: you can make an argument for. Okay, the Pirates could
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: get one of them and they could plug and play.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: So I don't know.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: I'm starting to just I don't I wouldn't say worry,
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: but I'm starting to get confused as to what's going
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: to be this first domino.
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you're I'm feeling I think everyone's just feeling a
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: little anxious answer.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's more I feel like they would have liked
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: to have made a big signing by definitely, and the
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: fact that a deal hasn't gotten done I think is
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: in a good look. But maybe that changes. Maybe that
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: changes between now and the new year.
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: So you're not getting any more desperate or less desperate,
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: and right something to change.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Though, Something's got to change.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: I want to remind everyone to hit that subscribe button
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: if you haven't all already. We're on a mission to
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: one thousand subscribers and we are quickly climbing toward that goal.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: You have all made it an attainable goal and we
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: hope that you can continue getting us there. And as
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: a reward for your subscriptions, we have been giving out
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: cool prizes each week. Last week's prize was an autographed
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: Josh Harrison baseball card.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: You have it right there, show it?
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah, there we go this week's Yeah, oh.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: My goodness, we're about to announce the winner of this
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: prize right now, Mark, pick a winner.
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: All right, let's see, give me a random number between
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: like one and twenty one.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Noah, let's go with seventeen seventeen.
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: All right, we have that will be pulling this up
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: on the secondary list. Here scroll Matthew midel or if
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: I absolutely butchered your last name, Matthew, but you you
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: emailed Noah, So congrats, you're gonna get this sick gold
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: parallel of Josh Harrison argraph card. Such a cool picture, Josh,
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: you have some of the best like tops pictures on
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: like all your Pirates baseball cards. They got some good Yeah,
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: yeah they did. I mean, I guess when you play
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: as hard as you did, you know, it's a little
• 28:27
  Speaker 5: easier to find some good pictures.
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: But I gotta give them something. I had to make
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: sure I was dirty somehow.
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Yeah, there you go.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: I was gonna say, yeah, if there was a dirty
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: uniform Hall of Fame, you would.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: You never had a clean jersey.
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: Ever, Hey, let me know. I was putting in work.
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: Yeah, put the club us to work.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, your mom's laundry detergent. Bill had to high back.
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: I was I was the youngest of three, but I
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: probably was the dirtiest one, though it is probably.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Probably when I was done nice.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: All right, So that is our prize for this past week.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Our prize for this week we will announce on next
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: week's show. It is a good one and it will
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: be our final prize that we have for our December
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: giveaway series.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: If you want to be eligible to win it, what
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: do you need to do?
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: You need to be subscribed to this show, send us
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: a screenshot. You can email it to me. My email
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: is Enhiles at Post dash Gazette dot com. It's in
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: my Twitter bio and it's at the bottom of all
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: of my articles that you can read.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: At the Pittsburgh Post Cazette.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: Or you can just screenshot it and comment below on
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: any of Bucco Territory's social media posts. That's how you
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: do it, or you know, get the attention of Mark
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: or Josh as well, and we will put your name
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: on the list and we will see if you are
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: one of the lucky winners for our next prize. I
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: will say, objectively, this is probably going to be the
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: best prize out of all of them. We've given away
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: a pair of pirates tickets to any game, not Opening
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: Day or Paul Skins Babblehead Day, but every other dame
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: a Paul Skiing's rookie card or is it just a
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: Paul Skins card? Yeah, rookie card, yep, Paul Skin's rookie
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: card and autographed Josh Harrison card in this last prize,
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: it's it's going to be a good one. It's going
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: to be the best of them all. So make sure
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: you're subscribed and enter the answer for a chance, a
• 30:14
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• 30:17
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• 30:20
  Speaker 2: this drawing. So again, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Want to remind
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: everyone we're on a mission to one thousand subscribers, fellas
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: any final words as we wrap up yet another.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: Show, I can't think of anything other than hey, something's
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: got to shake soon.
• 30:37
  Speaker 5: Winter Abandon is coming.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Here we go big thanks to Bryce for joining us
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: on the show. Shout out to the Hall of Pretty Good.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Give that a follow on social media if you don't
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: as well or as already He's Josh Harrison.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: He's Platinum Key.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: I'm Noah Hiles, thanks for tuning in to another episode
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: of Buco Territory.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: We'll see you again soon.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: The Past a turntact