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Looking Ahead to 2026's Starting Rotation · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Bucco Territory,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: presented by the Foul Territory Network. I'm your host Noah Hiles,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and joining me as always are Josh Harrison aka j
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Hay and Mark aka Platinum Key. Fellas, We're still waiting
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: on that big move from the Pittsburgh Pirates. But as
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: we wait, I feel like there's another discussion to be had.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Obviously everyone's pounding the table for hitting. On this show,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about the other side of the game, pitching.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: The Pirates have a ton of it. How much of
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: it are they going to retain, what are they going
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: to add in addition to, if any, and what do
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: they potentially need to add. That's gonna be the focus
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: of today's show. Fellas. We're gonna start off here. The
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Pirates obviously have some depth to trade from. They've already
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: traded Johanno Vieo. Mitch Keller has been in trade rumors
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: for over a year. Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft have
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: had their names attached to rumors. Did someone else. I
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: don't know if it was a rumor or if it
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: was just a proposed trade, but Bubba Chandler potentially. I mean,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: they've got a whole bunch of different options to move. However,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: as Ben Cherrington said last year, your greatest strength is
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: only your greatest strength until it's no longer your greatest strength.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: You know when you have depth until you don't. And
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: unlike any other position in the game of baseball, pitching
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: depth can evaporate like that one bad spring training and
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: one of the greatest rotations in baseball can look like
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: one of the worst. One of the deepest bullpens in
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: baseball can become one of the most one of the
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: biggest liabilities. So it's really tough to trade pitching away.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk to a guy who played on
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: three straight playoff teams who had a whole hell of
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: a lot of pitching. Josh, when you look at what
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: they have right now as far as organizational pitching depth,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: how hesitant would you be to potentially move another arm
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: or two this offseason.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: That's an icy subject because, as you said, if you
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: have a plethora of pitching, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: It's actually a good thing, which means you can definitely
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: delve into your bag to say, Okay, we can make
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: some of these guys expendable. But at the same time,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: as you said, one move, two moves here, there can
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: definitely blow up a bullpen or starting rotation.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: And I'm not even talking trades depth.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: There's typically somebody going on an injured list due to
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: arm fatigue, forearm, strained shoulder, something. So those are things
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: that you have to almost have to kind of keep
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: in the back of.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: Your mind when it comes to that.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: You don't want to hold onto somebody strictly purely off
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: of just oh what if this guy gets hurt, but
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: you also do need to have, as you say, those
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: play those pieces that can can step in in the
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: case of an emergency, because every team is going to
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: go through injuries, every team is going to need to
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: use depth. Some have really good depth of position players.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Some have really good depth with pictures starting pitchers, some
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: have it with relieving pictures. Some have it in other
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: places where you got your depth with the catchers, but
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: you might not have it with the pictures. But having
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: a lot of pictures is not a bad thing to
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: have because that's something that's always needed. So my eyes,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: I don't think it's a bad thing because you can
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: always use it to I don't want to say, pry
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: away what you need, but you can use it as
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: a trade chip to get what you really need. But
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: make sure that somebody that you're trading isn't somebody that
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: you're really counting on to be. You know that that
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: you know, fringe guy that might be able to come
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: up and get some big innings, whether it's you know,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: extra rotation guy, somebody coming out the bullpen. I personally
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: think that when you have pitching, you can definitely use
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: that to make your team better. But you don't want
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: to get rid of all of it because you're gonna.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Need it, right.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, you look at this team mark, there are
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of intriguing trade chips. Oh yeah, which ones
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: do you move?
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: So, I mean, scheme's off the table, right, That's the easy,
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: easiest thing I'll say all night. But then you start looking.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: I think there's like Keller's kind of like a one
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: A tier with Bubba Chandler, where obviously Bubba Chandler has
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: huge upside, might even be more valuable than Keller. I
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: would not move Bubba Chandler or yeah, fan grafts like
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: Steamer projections for Bubba Chandler next year one hundred and
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: sixty four, EM's pitched a four point two seven ERA
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: and one point nine war that's gonna be He's still
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: rookie eligible. He's going to be a stud up there
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: for like MLB or NL Rookie of the Year. So yeah,
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: I cannot move Bubble Chandler unless it's something that really
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: moves the tighter fan, because you gotta give something to
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: get something. But that would that would really hurt. So
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: then you look at like you have Ashcraft and Burrows,
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: the two twenty six year olds, both gonna be around
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: like one hundred thirty hundred and forty innings right around
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: like one and a half to war. Pretty similar as
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: far as like value, I think. But Ashcraft really looked good.
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: I feel like he was overlooked in twenty twenty five
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: sub three e r A absolutely shoved in his rookie year.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: So that would be a tough one to give up too.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: So if I had to give up one right now,
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: it'd be Mike Burrows. I really like his change up,
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: but you're you're gonna have to get someone up, yeah,
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: And then besides.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: You got a good changeup. That's the toughest.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, oh it's nasty, nasty, And then you got Jared
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: Jones coming back, and then Hunter Barco Thomas Harrington right
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: around the corner. So that's eight names right there that
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: are all starters. So I think you look start at
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: the bottom and go up. So start looking to see
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: if Thomas Harrington draws any interest, if Mike Burrows draws
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: any interest, and then go from there.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: The interesting part with all of this too, is you're trading.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: You're theoretically trying to trade away a lot of guys
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: who have very high ceilings but also kind of low floors. Right, Braxton, Ashtraft,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Mike Burrows, and Hunter Barco. They're, like you said, they're
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: all twenty six years old and younger. They've all already
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: had Tommy John once and in some cases some of
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: these guys have had other serious injuries to go along
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: with Tommy John. You look at Jared Jones, he hasn't
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: had Tommy John, but.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Everything, but it seems like.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Everything but right, he came pretty close to it, and
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: you know, like, we don't really even know what he's
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: gonna look like next year. The only two proven things
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: you have because Bubba Chandler is a healthy one hell
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: of a pitching prospect, but that's still what he is
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: right now. The only two proven commodities you have in
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: this rotation are Paul Skins, who is i'd say pretty
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: good proven commodity, and Mitch Keller, who isn't you know,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: an elite tier player, but as a starter that would
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: be in I would say probably every rotation in Major
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: League Baseball. Oh yeah, even on the Dodgers. I think
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: they'd probably work him into be a five just because
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Mitch Keller does something even guys on the Dodgers struggle
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: to do, and that stay healthy and eat a ton
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: of innings. And that's what's interesting about the Keller dilemma
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: is if you're moving him, who's gonna cover that one
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty innings you can write and sharpie when
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Mitch takes them. Mount Theoretically, yeah, you'd hope it's a
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: bubbat Chandler. But can he do it as effective as
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Mitch Keller? Probably, but it's not a guarantee you're taking
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: a gamble. I also think it's worth noting that this
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: isn't a team that is rather balanced trading away pitching.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: This is a team that is built to win from pitching.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: And that makes a difference too. You know, it's not
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: like the Orioles are inevitably going to trade away one
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: of their bats. It could be someone younger, it could
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: be someone a little older, but they just don't have
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: enough spots for everyone. But they still have enough depth
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: to get go to get through it all. But when
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: you're a team that's built to win on pitching, trading
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: away just one of those arms could change the whole
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: dynamic of everything because then you're asking guys to probably
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: cover more innings, And how many more innings can Braxton
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: n Ashcraft cover Because last year was the first year
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: of his professional career, not just in the big leagues,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: of all pros where he clips one hundred innings, you know,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: there are other guys who aren't far away from that
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: mark as well. So it's a lot of high end talent.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: But it is risky when you're looking at this and yes,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: and this is a team where if the pitching bottoms out,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: we're not even having a conversation right now, because regardless
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: of what they do in the offseason, this offense isn't
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: going to be one that will carry the load. It's
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: going to be a pitching first baseball.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: Team, and I think when you look at the free
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: agency market lately, I mean the contracts that starting pitchers
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: are getting, it basically just boxes the Pirates out from
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: starting a lot of those guys unless it's just one
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: guy that they're going to go all in on. And
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: so you have to look at these young guys under
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: team control and realize that it's a huge benefit for
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: the Pirates. So if you're trading a lot of these
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: young guys that they might be twenty six, but they
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: still have a lot of team control left, they're going
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: to be cheap. You're not going to find that kind
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: of value too often if you're the Pirates, So you
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: have to really hold on to it and be sure
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: when you're giving that up because it's a luxury right now.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Right It's also worth noting too that, I mean, you look,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: they're They're pitching development has been very successful, but it's
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: gonna be changing. I mean, they got rid of marine
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: the major league pitching coach, Jeremy Bliche just left for
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: another organization. I mean, they still have Josh Hopper, who
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: is a big time contributor. They bring in obviously a
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: new pitching coach, and there will probably be some other
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: hires on the analytical side as well, But this is
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: going to be an interesting year just on that front
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: to see if they can take that step forward that
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: they were hoping to, and maybe that step forward comes
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: through some additions. You can criticize the front office in
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: this regime for missing on a lot of areas. One
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: thing they've consistently hit on guys is signing veteran left handers,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: guys who have come in and been productive. You could
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: go to Tyler Anderson, you can go to Jose Quintana.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: I mean they're there, yeah, Martin Perez, I mean Marco Yeah,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: I mean in some of those guys, yeah, and some
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: of them. Bailey Falter wasn't a veteran necessarily, but they've
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: been able to identify left handers who pitch well in
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: panc Park and probably get more out of them than
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: a lot of other organizations could. And even like you
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: could point out guy like Andrew Heiny. Andrew Heiny did
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: not finish the season strong at all. They ended up
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: designating him for assignment. But when they signed Andrewhini, they
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: probably looked at him and said, we need this guy.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: To cover like eighty ish innings to get us to
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: a point where our young guns are here. And by
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: the time Ashcraft and Burrows and Bubba Chandler were ready,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: they didn't need Andrew Heiny in their rotation anymore. So
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: maybe that's the type of signing they go with, or
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: maybe you look at it and if you trade away
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Mitch Keller, maybe you need someone who's a little bit
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: more sustainable. So when you look at this pitching market
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: and you look at what the pirates really need to
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: spend their top dollars on, either through adding that payroll
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: in trades or through free agency, how much of these
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: resources available, assuming they're going to have a payroll around
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: one hundred million, how much of their payroll should they
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: dedicate toward the starting rotation, not the bullpen. They've already
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: addressed that, and there will probably be more addressing it,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: probably not to the extent of a seven million dollar contract,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: But how much of the let's say right now, you
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: have forty million dollars to spend on payroll, how much
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: of that are you going toward pitching, starting rotation pitching?
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: I'll start with that. So I think there's an interesting
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: argument right now to be made that I think a
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: sizeable trunk of that could be thrown at starting pitching.
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: If you look at the left handed pictures that the
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Pirates would be interested in starting pitchers, there's two at
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: the top that are really talented, Franber Valdez and Ranger Suarez,
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: and then it starts to drop off with like a
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: Patrick Corbin, Jose Kingitana and the Martin Perez, Tyler Anderson
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: Hey like Nestor Quartez. So it falls off really quickly
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: after those two. And I think Framber Valdez makes a
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: ton of sense, especially if you're gonna move Mitch Keller.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: He's exactly that same Indians eater like one hundred and
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: ninety Indians pitch count it book put in sharpy just
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: like Keller, So you're replacing that lefty veteran. So you're
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: adding a lefty to the rotation, which is a little
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: bit of lacking. Barco's the only lefty right now. Bill Murphy,
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: the Pirate's new pitching coach, worked with Valdez because he
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: was with the Astros in twenty twenty five last year,
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: and Valdez's market might be a little bit not what
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: he was expecting. It to be after that playoff incident
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: where he gave up the Grand Slam. His catcher was
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: trying to tell him to step off the rubber, and
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: then two inches later he calls a curve ball in
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: throat drills him the chest protector with a fastball. And
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: so I that might scare off a couple of teams
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: that say, you know, like I don't know how much
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: because you look.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: At I would, I would, I'll take that point out. Yeah, yeah,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I'd go point out all the all star appearances.
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean he's gotten side of his overall body
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: of work. Yeah, he's gotten side for.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: The last though. Yeah, exactly, But I can understand that.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah. And so I mean he's projected to be
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: like twenty eight years or twenty eight MILLI year, probably
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: like around like five years, and he's thirty two. But
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: if if you're trading Keller and getting a bat that way,
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: this is a way to spend a lot of money
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: still maintain that advantage. I mean maybe even if I'd
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: say Valdez is an improvement over Keller, and so that's
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: a way to fill that gap while spending money and
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: addressing needs. So I think I would go for it.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: If you're not going to spend forty million elsewhere in
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: free agency, why not drop twenty for Amber Veldez.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: I'll say this just real quick. I mean, they're clearly
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: having a tough time signing free agents. Yes, if there's
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: any player in Major League Baseball who would want to
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: come perform in this organization, it would be a pitcher.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Like they've had success. You look at reclamation projects they
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: have worked out, they've hit on most of their high
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: end guys. Obviously they've had some failures right Rowinzie Contreras
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: didn't pan out, and you can point out some other
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: guys as well, But like you know, overall, if you're
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: if you're if you're a starting rote, if you're a
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: guy in a starting rotation, especially a guy like Fromber
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: who has had to carry that. I mean, and obviously
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: they had some other studs in Houston this past year,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: but he's been the headliner really since Verlander kind of
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: cooled down a little bit. So you come here, you
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: have some weight off your shoulders. You could potentially just
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: be like, hey, you know what, like we're just going
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: to ask you to get us six every day and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: would be good to go. I don't anticipate that amount
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: of financial allocation toward a starter. However, it is worth
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: pointing out this team offered Nick Pavetta a multi year
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: deal last year, so they have that interest. They are
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: not above adding to their greatest strength. Josh, if you're
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: a player, though, if you're a position player on the
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: team that had the worst offense in baseball last year
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: and you see them go out and spend tens of
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: million dollars on another pitcher, how are you feeling.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be a little bit up in the air,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Because one, you're talking, pitching is a strong suit. Yes,
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: you go into every game, you know, okay, we got
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: a chance, we got a chance every day, but you
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: gotta score runs.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: And I'm not saying you.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Got to average nine runs a game, but no, and
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: just to go, I don't know the exact numbers, but
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: what type of run support did Paul Skins get this year?
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Not good? Not good?
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: So one exactly, arguably the best pitcher in baseball, and
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: you got a team going out there that is fighting
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: tooth and nail just to try to get this dude
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: a no decision because if he you know, he's human.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: If he gives up one run, they might be looking
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: around like, dang, it's one run not enough to win
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: this game. So as a position player, you've already seen
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: that you got the best picture in baseball, and some
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: of his starts didn't go the way that you hoped.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, his starts out there, you're hoping like, oh man,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: we need to get us two or three runs. But
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: it's not that easy on any given night to go
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: say I'm gonna score two to three runs. But at
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: the same time, if you don't have a good offense,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: making your pitching staff does take some pressure off of
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: the offense. But at the same time, the offense needs
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: to put up some type of fight because pictures are human.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be a game where he goes out there,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: you know pictures and hey, they made some good swing,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: tough pitchers. You know, it might be broken bat bloopers.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: They got three runs, and it's like, are we gonna
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: shut down after giving up one of two runs?
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: And as I said, office is going to be that
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: one thing in the game is gonna ebb and flow.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: But if I'm the worst team offensively, I have to
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: address that need as well. Even if my strength is
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: what it is yes, you want your strength to continue
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: to get better. But if you're only going to make
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: the strength better, that's doing nothing but overshadowing what the
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: real issue is.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, you can't. You can't keep making your lawn
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: great if the inside of your house isn't up the part.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: So I to answer my own question on like allocating
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: how much of it, I think they're in a position
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: to make a bid for a high end reclamation project.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: I look at a guy like Nester Quartec, who isn't
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: far removed from a solid season, and I would offer
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: him maybe like a one year, ten million dollar deal
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: to come with especially if you trade, Yeah, if you
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: trade Keller away, you're still so you lose what sixteen
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: and a half million off your pay roll. You can
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: replace that with Nestor, and Nestor comes into next year.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Regardless of what happens with all these young guys who
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: are gonna be competing for a spot in the rotation,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: you'd assume some combination of Chandler, Burrows, Ashcraft, Jones, Barco
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: and Harrington. They're all gonna fight for those spots. But
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: then you also have the reigning Cy Young and you
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: have a guy who's pitched in the World Series, a
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: veteran anchoring two of those spots down. And then the
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: rest of those young guys, some of them can start
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: in Triple A, some of them can start in the bullpen,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and some of them can earn their spot in the rotation.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: And if Nestor grinds it out for the whole year
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and stays relevant and stays as a top five starter,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: that's great. If he bottoms out, then you can DFM
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: because you have that depth, or you can move him
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: to the bullpen because he's pitched out of the bullpen
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: as well, not particularly well in the postseason. One big
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: home run comes to mind by Freddie Freeman. But overall,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I look at a guy like that who reclamation projects
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: on the mound, have a really good track record in
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: this organization, even predating this current regime. So I think
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: PNC Park is a pitcher's park. Lefties have always done
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: super well here, and I think he's a guy that
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: would fit really well in on this rotation.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: And that's the one thing that I was going to say,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: why P and C can be more.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: What's the word I'm looking for desirable pictures? Yes, for pictures, because.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: I mean take a look at that and you're going
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: there a course, you know what I mean. But then
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: not to say that PNC is this great, big park,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: but P and C is, you know, it's a decent
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: sized park. Like there's no no cheap gimmes per se.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: So when you mentioned the Nester, he's pitched at Yankee
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: Stadium and he's.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: Pitched for the Brewers. Yeah, I mean those are two.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, guys love going ahead at those places. I'll
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: tell you that right now.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: So, and it's not just about Nest Court. These are
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: other pictures that pirates, you know, may be trying to acquire.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: P and C is going to be a selling point
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: because I mean, one, I think it's one of the
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: if not, it is the dopest stadium in Major League Baseball,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: That's a selling point.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: But two also, I mean pictures as you said, have
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: come here and had success and you know, sometimes being
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: a different organization, also knowing that he I ain't saying
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: I got this big part, but you know it's completely different.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: You know, sometimes those those projects come to P and
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: C and they end up I don't want to say
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: striking gold, but you know what I mean, they end
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: up you know, paying paying forward far more than what
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: you might have ever expected, just because like, hey, we're
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: gonna take an opportunity, as you said, if it doesn't
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: pan out sometimes throughout the DFA and whatever.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: But and if it does.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Pan out, he might turn into a trade trade ship
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: halfway throughout the season if he's not going to be
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: in your future plans.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Or I was gonna say, you could be real with
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: them too and say like, look, you can go play
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: for a Dodgers or a Mets and be in the bullpen,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: or you can come here, have a guaranteed spot in
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: starting rotation to start the year, and if you're perform well,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: you can probably get yourself another deal, another multi year
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: deal if you if you do it well enough, it
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: could be through us, or it could be somewhere else.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, Josh, like you played with a guy like
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Edison Volcz who came here and made himself a lot
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: more money.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: And I don't even want to say reclamation project, because
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: he was he had good stuff, but as you said,
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: had fell on a couple of rough years and you know,
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: coming there kind of revitalized his career he had. I mean,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: for us, that was like one of the dark horse
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: signs that I was like, you know what, we ain't
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: here this year without Volki.
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well you guys think about like bringing like older
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: guys in because I mean, Mitch Keller is going to
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: turn thirty and be the elder statesman of this rotation.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Well let's let's refra Yeah, that's that's true. That's your Yeah.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: I was gonna say it was considered older because and
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: that's not to be funny, but.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: You know, yeah, yeah, no like years ago thirty that
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: I guess, yeah, you can go.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I also think that I think veteran points. I guess
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: per se could also like you can make up years
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: as a veteran through achievement. Paul Skins is a veteran
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: leader on this team. Like he's young, I know, he's
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: never Yeah, he has never been to the playoffs. I
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: get that he's still entering year three of his professional career,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: but he has been the best pitcher in Major League
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Baseball arguably since the moment he stepped on a mound.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: When you go through that experience, you can lead a clubhouse,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: you can lead a team. So that that's the leader.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: That's the guy who, in no disrespect to Mitch. Mitch
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: has been an amazing leader. But you know, if you're
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: worried about having someone around that younger guys can come
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: talk to about how to battle out of certain things,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: or hey, what can I work on? How can I
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: adjust this grip? I think Paul's skeins can handle that.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: So and and then you sign like a guy even
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: like again, I just revert back to Nestor Cortez. I mean,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: this is a guy. What. I don't know how old
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Nestor is. I would have to assume he's probably Yeah,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: But there are other guys. Jose Kana pitched here well
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. I don't know if he'd
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: want to come back. I don't know if he would
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: want to come back. I don't know if they bring
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: hain He back, Tyler Anderson, same thing, but there are
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: other guys. Or maybe you make a train out there
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: as well. Mark, what kind of guy are you looking for?
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Is it? Do they need a left hander in this
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: starting rotation that's not named Hunter Barco?
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: I think it would help a lot, just because the
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: only two bullpen options are Soto and Sists right now.
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: They are lefties, so it just gives a little bit
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: more versatility to just your overall game planning and what
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: the other teams are doing. So I feel like it
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: makes way too much sense, even if it is just
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: one of these guys that's going to come in for
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: fifty innings or something on like a million dollar deal
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: or something like Patrick Corbin last year signed for one
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: point one million with the Rangers for a one year deal,
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: and then you're pitching one hundred and forty innings. So
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: I think there's a lot of like dumpster diving, you
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: could say, if they find guys that can work well
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: within the system and develop.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: But yeah, all right, Well that will conclude our pitching
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: talk for today. We want to remind everyone to subscribe
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: to this podcast. We are on a mission to one
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: thousand subscribers. We have eclipsed the seven hundred mark. Let's
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: try to get to eight hundred before the new year.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, one thousand before the new year would be tremendous.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: But you know, we're making ground, so let's let's keep
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: hammering that subscribe button. And guys, next week is our
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: final drawing before Christmas, our final prize drawing, best one
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: yet and yeah it is the best one yet, but
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: what what is it, Josh, you happen to know what
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: this week? This next week's prizes.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: I got a little friend here, he said, you know.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, let's look at this.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: Let's go get him in a camera.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you short that that that might
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: have been.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: That might have been rookie j Hey right there. But
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: I do remember this, uh, this bibblehead. From what I remember,
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: I believe we were playing the Mets, and I think
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: I could be wrong. I want to say that matchup
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: was a j Burnett versus Matt Harvey, Dark Knight versus Batman.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: I remember that game. I was at that game. Yes,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: he was like a four o'clock game.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, that was Batman versus Dark Knight. Like I'll never
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: forget that. My family was in town obviously for the Biblehead.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: But I was like, dang, my Biblehead, we got a
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: four o'clock game with with Hey. You know obviously AJ was.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: He was like, ain't no way of losing this game.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: I'm about to show him what the real Batman is.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: You guys got up really big on that one, didn't you.
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: Ye, So yeah, look anything onto that bibblehead.
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: I actually am.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: I don't have it with me, but uh, would you
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: like me to mention what I'm gonna add?
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Anybody that's seen me play knows that I wear Memes
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: band James Mems Uh's a character wristband. Let me get
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: in the camera, uh, and then it'll have my picture
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: of me. Uh, and I'll let you choose whether you
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: want a black one, a yellow one, or a white one.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Uh.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: I got my Pittsburgh Pirate's color. So you'll also get
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: assigned uh j mems band as well.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, signed Biblehead and assigned Memes band.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, well I was going on. I was adding
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: onto the Bibblehead as well. Yeah yeah, sign Bibblehead, signed
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Meme's band.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: Been nice little package to do.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Sounds like a pretty good prize. So if you are subscribed,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: or if you haven't subscribed yet, now is the time
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: to do it. Subscribe, screenshot it, tweet it at us,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: or email me or show Mark or Josh. However you
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: can get it in front of our eyeballs by Monday evening.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: That's the deadline to be eligible. If you have already
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: applied or if you've already entered this drawing, it's like
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: vote stay in line. Your vote will count, you know,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: do not get out of line. The polls have to
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: let you in. So you're still in the drawing. Don't worry.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: We will be drawing it when we record Monday evening
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: on the twenty second. So this is our final giveaway
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: prize beat big thanks to everyone who's subscribed.
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Climbing. Yeah, the fact that we're climbing these numbers so
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: quickly is pretty cool. So yeah, we're really we're very
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: very appreciative and uh yeah, I can't thank you all
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: enough fellas. Any final thoughts before we wrap up today's show.
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: Safe travels for anyone traveling for the holidays, and I
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: appreciate all the subscribers. Make sure to message us because
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: this is a cool one.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: Yes, they travels. See if anything happens over the weekend,
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: see if we can get one. I know right, I
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: like that. I like that.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: He's Mark a k A Platinum Key. He's j A
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: a k A Josh Harrison. I'm Noah Hayles. Thanks for
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: tuning in to another episode of Buco Territory presented by
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Without Territory Network. We'll see again soon.