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How can the Pirates improve their OF defense? · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:10
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
0:11
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to
0:14
Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network. I'm Noah Hyles. Joining
0:17
Speaker 2: me as always are Josh Harrison and Platinum Key aka Mark.
0:21
Speaker 2: It's Wednesday, which means it's time for another Bucko Territory
0:25
Speaker 2: Mailbag where we answer all of your.
0:27
Speaker 1: Questions that we oh so appreciate you submitting us. We've
0:32
Speaker 1: got three.
0:33
Speaker 2: As always, we're gonna get into it right now, Mark,
0:37
Speaker 2: what's our first question?
0:38
Speaker 3: Yeah? So our first question comes to us today from
0:41
Speaker 3: Scott Braun, Foul Territory's own. Yes, I know that guy, Yes,
0:47
Speaker 3: and he asks. Scott asks. I'm not sure if Alec
0:50
Speaker 3: Thomas was the answer, but it sparks the question again.
0:52
Speaker 3: What should the Bucks do, perhaps the trade at the
0:54
Speaker 3: deadliner sooner to tighten up the outfield defense?
0:59
Speaker 1: Yeah?
0:59
Speaker 2: I mean that's been the question everyone's been asking this season, right,
1:04
Speaker 2: I mean, internally, let's just start here. You have Jake Mangum,
1:09
Speaker 2: who was pretty much playing every day before he got injured.
1:12
Speaker 2: I would assume that he returns to that level of
1:16
Speaker 2: playing time, yeah, whenever he's back, But when he's not here,
1:20
Speaker 2: I mean, what else do you have. You have Billy Cook,
1:22
Speaker 2: who's simply just not a major league player, at least
1:25
Speaker 2: at an everyday level. He is a good bench guy,
1:28
Speaker 2: a good bass runner. But you know there's a need
1:32
Speaker 2: for Yeah, there's a need for an everyday.
1:36
Speaker 1: Outfielder on this team.
1:37
Speaker 2: And you could argue that maybe Justins and Garcia will
1:42
Speaker 2: be that guy. We're gonna talk about him later in
1:45
Speaker 2: this show, but I mean right now, he's still in
1:48
Speaker 2: a rehab assignment. So I mean your your two options
1:52
Speaker 2: internally really with Mangum and Garcia, they're there. Neither of
1:55
Speaker 2: them are healthy, So I don't know what you do.
1:59
Speaker 2: I mean, I think if if you can make a trade,
2:04
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe you do it. But honestly, if you're
2:07
Speaker 2: trading for anything right now, it should be bullpen death
2:09
Speaker 2: for my opinion, because while the outfield defense has been
2:13
Speaker 2: atrocious and it's it's hurt them, the fact of the
2:16
Speaker 2: matter is the three guys they play most frequently in
2:19
Speaker 2: the outfield or are three of their four best hitters.
2:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's why they're all here.
2:25
Speaker 2: So I think long term, yes, you don't anticipate if
2:30
Speaker 2: this team is still playing competitive baseball in August and September.
2:35
Speaker 2: The outfield simply cannot be o'hearne, Reynolds and Cruise. It
2:39
Speaker 2: had someone has to move somewhere, if it's first base,
2:43
Speaker 2: if it's designated hitter, wherever. But for now, I think, yeah,
2:48
Speaker 2: like this is what you kind of roll with until
2:51
Speaker 2: you make that addition. I mean, and again, I think
2:54
Speaker 2: they have some internal options. What about you, guys, I mean,
2:56
Speaker 2: is it do you think they need to make a
2:59
Speaker 2: trade right now?
3:02
Speaker 4: I just because I'll keep it short, I was just
3:05
Speaker 4: gonna go off of that, I don't necessarily think they
3:07
Speaker 4: do have to.
3:10
Speaker 5: You.
3:10
Speaker 4: You mentioned your outfield is what it is right now
3:13
Speaker 4: and you're not at the deadline, and I mean, if
3:16
Speaker 4: that's the case, something's got to happen with O Zoom
3:19
Speaker 4: because that would push one of those guys to DH.
3:20
Speaker 4: So if you're really gonna do that, that means you're
3:23
Speaker 4: pulling the plug on Azuna, which I mean, we haven't seen.
3:29
Speaker 4: You know, that's something that you really got to commit to,
3:31
Speaker 4: And that, to me is something that I don't think
3:34
Speaker 4: there obviously what we do right now. So I think
3:38
Speaker 4: that makes a little trickier because, as you mentioned, you
3:40
Speaker 4: don't know how long Minglem's going to be out, but
3:42
Speaker 4: as just as he comes back, you would assume that
3:45
Speaker 4: he would assume kind of the playing role that he had.
3:48
Speaker 4: And uh, if Garcia can get healthy, if he can
3:50
Speaker 4: force his way up there, obviously that that's another, you know,
3:54
Speaker 4: piece that you trade for this offseason. So it's more
3:57
Speaker 4: about these guys getting healthy. And I don't know how
4:00
Speaker 4: long their their shelf life is as far as you
4:02
Speaker 4: know being on an injured list, but I don't think
4:06
Speaker 4: it's an immediate need. I agree that you need to
4:11
Speaker 4: address the bullpen first right now, if anything, but I
4:16
Speaker 4: think if that was to happen, they'd be making a
4:18
Speaker 4: move with those on them, and I don't foresee that happen.
4:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'll just follow that up. So Jake Mingham,
4:25
Speaker 3: he's on the ten DAYIL, it should be a quick trip.
4:28
Speaker 3: Doesn't seem like he's gonna even need off ten days.
4:31
Speaker 3: And then just Hinton Garcia, he's finishing up a rehab
4:35
Speaker 3: assignment right now down in Bradenton. So both those guys
4:39
Speaker 3: should be back pretty soon. And I think those are
4:41
Speaker 3: your two best options right now, because it just the
4:45
Speaker 3: biggest problem is who are you going to take out
4:48
Speaker 3: of the lineup to put a better defender in. And
4:51
Speaker 3: you're not going to take out O'Neil Cruz, You're not
4:53
Speaker 3: going to take out Ryan O'Hearn, You're probably not going
4:55
Speaker 3: to take out Brian Reynolds. So where does that leave you?
4:59
Speaker 5: Right?
5:00
Speaker 3: Like, obviously one of those guys has to shift either
5:02
Speaker 3: the first base or DH and then you give up
5:04
Speaker 3: on Azuna or you move forwards to just a platoon role.
5:09
Speaker 3: But all of that is to say, like, I don't
5:12
Speaker 3: think there's a big enough need to fill that, like
5:15
Speaker 3: the hole that is this outfield defense. Given the production
5:19
Speaker 3: we're getting from the other side of the ball at
5:21
Speaker 3: the plate, Pirates are crushing the ball from the outfield.
5:27
Speaker 3: A lot of that production is coming from those players.
5:29
Speaker 3: So if you're gonna swap in at Jake Ingham for
5:32
Speaker 3: a Brian Reynolds, does that make this team better by
5:35
Speaker 3: improving its defense.
5:37
Speaker 2: It's it all comes down to they just need to
5:40
Speaker 2: make a decision on us. Yeah, the sooner they call
5:44
Speaker 2: a spade a spade and end this for everyone, Yeah yeah,
5:51
Speaker 2: because right now, none of their three everyday outfielders deserve
5:56
Speaker 2: to get benched. I mean, defensively, they all deserve offensively
6:02
Speaker 2: they are, Yeah, offensively, they're not just like three of
6:09
Speaker 2: the better hitters on the team, they're three of the
6:11
Speaker 2: better hitters in the National League right now. I mean
6:13
Speaker 2: when you look at some of the metrics at everything,
6:15
Speaker 2: I mean, they're all very productive, borderline all star offensive performers.
6:22
Speaker 2: And you want those guys there. And the thing is
6:26
Speaker 2: Ozuna at the end of the day, and I've said
6:29
Speaker 2: this a million times, he.
6:31
Speaker 1: Hurts you offensively and defensively right now.
6:34
Speaker 2: So, I mean, the reality is they're gonna keep giving
6:37
Speaker 2: this guy opportunities. They're gonna keep trotting him out there
6:41
Speaker 2: throughout the rest of May, and it'll be sporadic. It'll
6:44
Speaker 2: be you know, if he's playing well, like if he
6:46
Speaker 2: if he has a two hit game on a Monday,
6:48
Speaker 2: you can bet your bottom dollar he's gonna start four
6:51
Speaker 2: times the rest of that week. If he's struggling, then
6:54
Speaker 2: they're gonna, you know, play him in spurts here and there.
6:57
Speaker 2: And then if this continues by the end of May,
7:00
Speaker 2: then we're gonna see him get reduced to a platoon player.
7:04
Speaker 2: And then that's that's when you can finally start to
7:07
Speaker 2: think about it.
7:08
Speaker 1: The reality is come July.
7:11
Speaker 2: Like Scott mentioned in his question, they absolutely should be
7:15
Speaker 2: looking for a corner outfielder come July if they're still competitive,
7:19
Speaker 2: because that will make their team better in two ways.
7:23
Speaker 2: Not to say that Mangum doesn't deserve to have every
7:25
Speaker 2: day playing opportunities, but I mean, if you could keep
7:28
Speaker 2: Mangum as a defensive replacement slash fourth outfielder and go
7:32
Speaker 2: find a real left fielder, you know, someone who can
7:37
Speaker 2: provide a little bit more offensively, I mean that that
7:40
Speaker 2: takes your team to a whole another level. I would
7:42
Speaker 2: look for someone who hits from the right side of
7:44
Speaker 2: the plate. That way, you could still start them against
7:46
Speaker 2: left eas and there you go. You're you're all set.
7:49
Speaker 2: So but like, yeah, right now, I don't think you're.
7:52
Speaker 1: Finding that guy.
7:53
Speaker 2: I mean, Alec Thomas would have been a nice addition,
7:55
Speaker 2: but I mean, right right now, it's just very visible
8:02
Speaker 2: because they're not playing Mangum every day.
8:04
Speaker 1: And again, it all just comes down to a zoona.
8:07
Speaker 1: They he needs to figure.
8:09
Speaker 2: It out or because again, if Ozuna figures it out,
8:12
Speaker 2: then their offense is going to be that much better
8:15
Speaker 2: and the defense is still gonna stink out there in
8:17
Speaker 2: the outfield. But they're gonna be scoring more runs, so
8:20
Speaker 2: you can you can stomach it.
8:21
Speaker 1: But if this continues, like you just have to cut bait.
8:26
Speaker 2: And I personally think we're getting close to that, like
8:30
Speaker 2: if I were, if I were running the team, that's
8:32
Speaker 2: where i'd be. But you know, they have more patience
8:36
Speaker 2: than me, probably because they're the ones spending.
8:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and May is probably a good cutoff, I think.
8:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we'll see, we'll see. But that's that's what
8:47
Speaker 1: it all really comes down to.
8:49
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9:56
Speaker 1: All right, Mark, what else we got?
9:58
Speaker 3: All right? Next question comes to us from Uncle Junior,
10:01
Speaker 3: who asks when is the password going to replace cook?
10:04
Speaker 3: He's hitting three sixty four in his rehab assignment? Why
10:07
Speaker 3: not get him up here? Detel would seem to be
10:10
Speaker 3: a good bullpen option to give them some length when
10:13
Speaker 3: they need it and effectively, why is he still down?
10:17
Speaker 3: So two part question.
10:18
Speaker 4: Here, I mean we can't kind of first kind of yeah, yeah,
10:22
Speaker 4: let's say. First one, you hit a little bit on
10:24
Speaker 4: and obviously password is on a rehab assignment and up
10:29
Speaker 4: until then, from what I remember, you guys said he
10:30
Speaker 4: wasn't really necessarily killing the.
10:32
Speaker 1: Triple A, right, No, he's hitting under two hundred A.
10:35
Speaker 4: So so that right there, he's going to kill it
10:38
Speaker 4: down in Hya. You know, he's going to get more
10:40
Speaker 4: mistake pitches, and so he's got to go back to
10:44
Speaker 4: triple A once he clears there, and if he's playing
10:46
Speaker 4: well there, he obviously could force his way. That's the
10:49
Speaker 4: way I see it.
10:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think September is when you start thinking that
10:54
Speaker 3: the password no even earlier, you think I think earlier.
10:57
Speaker 4: I mean, you just I think he can force his
10:59
Speaker 4: way with the outfield situation. They were like, if he's
11:03
Speaker 4: playing well, like say he tears it up like he
11:05
Speaker 4: was in spring, that might be incentive to say, okay,
11:08
Speaker 4: oh zoom as. You know what I mean, Like there
11:10
Speaker 4: really hasn't been any initiative or any reason for them
11:14
Speaker 4: to cut bait with o zooma. But if he was
11:16
Speaker 4: the force's way, I think that would put them in
11:19
Speaker 4: a tough position. That is, like, you know what, he's
11:22
Speaker 4: earned it, but you know, hitting under two hundred obviously,
11:26
Speaker 4: but you know, if he comes back and he kills
11:29
Speaker 4: it over a stretch of man, say it's two weeks
11:31
Speaker 4: by the end of May. As you guys say, you
11:34
Speaker 4: know what, it could very well could make a decision
11:37
Speaker 4: very easy for him.
11:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, And I want to hit on another
11:40
Speaker 2: thing real quick there. You don't want Garcia to replace
11:46
Speaker 2: Billy Cook exactly.
11:47
Speaker 1: If you call him up, you want him to play.
11:50
Speaker 2: But my point is, like what I was saying earlier,
11:54
Speaker 2: you have an opportunity to play. Like in an ideal world,
12:01
Speaker 2: Mangum and Garcia both get healthy, Mangum takes over in
12:05
Speaker 2: left field in the interim, and then Garcia earns his
12:09
Speaker 2: way onto the big league roster, and now you have
12:11
Speaker 2: a platoon in left field, and now you don't have
12:15
Speaker 2: to make a move. And both of those guys are
12:18
Speaker 2: quality defenders, and Garcia probably provides a little bit more
12:22
Speaker 2: of what you're.
12:22
Speaker 1: Looking for as far as an offensive player. I mean,
12:25
Speaker 1: both of them give you something.
12:26
Speaker 2: Mangum gives you speed, gives you, you know, a contact approach,
12:30
Speaker 2: where Garcia is a little bit more boom or bust,
12:32
Speaker 2: has some more rale power. But no one's getting promoted
12:36
Speaker 2: from success in low A on a rehab assignment. That's
12:40
Speaker 2: just not how that works, especially a guy who has
12:42
Speaker 2: like six major league at bats. So yeah, he's got
12:45
Speaker 2: to prove that he deserves to be in the major leagues.
12:47
Speaker 2: And I understand he had a great spring. I understand
12:49
Speaker 2: he's a top former, top one hundred prospect. I understand
12:52
Speaker 2: that he has a bright future in this game, and
12:55
Speaker 2: I personally would rather prioritize it bats to the major
12:59
Speaker 2: league level for a guy like Garcia, who fits in me,
13:04
Speaker 2: who has six years of control, who is in his
13:06
Speaker 2: early twenties, as opposed to a Zuna who candidly looks
13:10
Speaker 2: like he's washed right now. But one guy's getting paid
13:15
Speaker 2: twelve million dollars and is with the major league team.
13:18
Speaker 2: One guy's not healthy enough to play in Triple A
13:20
Speaker 2: right now. So that's where that stands. As far as Totel,
13:23
Speaker 2: I mean, when did they option him.
13:25
Speaker 1: He's got to be down for fifteen days. Yeah, so
13:28
Speaker 1: I don't think.
13:29
Speaker 4: Unless the only way you can be brought back up
13:32
Speaker 4: to before that is but yeah, yeah, and I would
13:38
Speaker 4: think that with him being a starter. I know, he
13:41
Speaker 4: like backed up the opening, you know, like the opener.
13:44
Speaker 3: I think Montgomery, Yeah, they had him pitch for Ys, Yeah.
13:47
Speaker 4: But I mean I still think right and with him,
13:50
Speaker 4: I think you'all mentioned he's twenty three. They probably still
13:52
Speaker 4: want the plan for him is to be a starter.
13:55
Speaker 4: But still, hey, if we can use you, you know,
13:57
Speaker 4: for we can make your start a shortened start like
14:00
Speaker 4: that four inning, you know, because it's still getting work
14:03
Speaker 4: and it's getting value. But I don't that that bullpen
14:07
Speaker 4: is just dicey. I don't think you want to take
14:09
Speaker 4: a starter, a young starter that you're trying to develop
14:12
Speaker 4: and just you know, say, man come to the big
14:14
Speaker 4: leagues unless he's down in Triple A and they got
14:17
Speaker 4: him throwing an inning or three innings out the pen.
14:19
Speaker 4: You know, I've seen it happen before, where hey, we're
14:22
Speaker 4: gonna go down, We're gonna have you work out of
14:24
Speaker 4: a pen, just so you can be ready to do
14:26
Speaker 4: it here. But I think he's probably gone down and
14:29
Speaker 4: been starting, hadn't he.
14:32
Speaker 2: I haven't looked, but I do know that he was
14:34
Speaker 2: on the eighth, so so he was option on the
14:37
Speaker 2: twenty eighth. So like theoretically, like you could be here
14:40
Speaker 2: this week, and I I hear what you're saying, Josh,
14:43
Speaker 2: But like at the end of the day, like all
14:45
Speaker 2: of these guys, they're designed to help the Major league
14:48
Speaker 2: team win games, and right now, I mean next year,
14:52
Speaker 2: is Wolbert Hotel really going to be in the starting
14:54
Speaker 2: rotation next year?
14:55
Speaker 1: Like whose spot is he taking?
14:57
Speaker 2: So like I just look at it, it's like, yeah,
15:00
Speaker 2: I mean, I the way I look at it, it's
15:03
Speaker 2: like you've had success through Carmen, through Braxton. Call him
15:10
Speaker 2: up as a middle reliever and see what happens. Let
15:12
Speaker 2: him develop that way, especially just now, I mean, he
15:15
Speaker 2: fits a need. I don't love the idea of rushing
15:18
Speaker 2: a guy's development to fill a need at the major
15:20
Speaker 2: league level, but in this case, I mean, when it
15:23
Speaker 2: looks like he is a better alternative one and two,
15:28
Speaker 2: call space a spade. I mean, he's not necessarily their
15:30
Speaker 2: highest priority prospect. So yeah, Like, I mean, his greatest
15:35
Speaker 2: value to this team and the foreseeable future is probably
15:38
Speaker 2: going to be a long relief role, back end starter,
15:42
Speaker 2: or trade capital and he can provide all three of
15:46
Speaker 2: those things at the major league level this year. So
15:49
Speaker 2: but we gotta wait fifteen days unless someone I know,
15:52
Speaker 2: Davinski went on the IL, but they recalled someone else, so.
15:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, they just Brandon Badua just got called up today
15:59
Speaker 3: and camp Seeing was sent sent down. There, you go,
16:03
Speaker 3: So yeah, and I think the nice thing about Totel
16:05
Speaker 3: is the Pirates can call him back up when they
16:08
Speaker 3: get into another one of these long stretches of a
16:11
Speaker 3: bunch of games in a row without off days, where
16:13
Speaker 3: the bullpen's been taxed and they say, heyres of those
16:16
Speaker 3: coming up, yep, and we're gonna need three four innings
16:19
Speaker 3: from you again, and then maybe option and back down.
16:21
Speaker 3: Maybe he stays up that time, depending on what the
16:24
Speaker 3: bullpens looking like, if there's a spy, if they've given
16:27
Speaker 3: up on anyone else. So yeah, it's a nice option
16:30
Speaker 3: to have, and also nice that he can be a
16:32
Speaker 3: starter just in case, like things really go haywire. But
16:37
Speaker 3: rotation has been healthy knock on woods so far, so
16:40
Speaker 3: good there, and he's.
16:42
Speaker 4: Got options, so yes, those guys.
16:44
Speaker 2: Are snipstock yep, yep. All right, another break and then
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Speaker 1: All right? Final question? What we got Mark?
18:32
Speaker 3: All right? Final question comes to us from Grip and
18:35
Speaker 3: Rips sports Cards, who asks, I know Esmerlin Faldez has
18:38
Speaker 3: been struggling in Indy, but do you think the time
18:40
Speaker 3: is coming to give him a chance in the big
18:42
Speaker 3: leagues or maybe use him as trade bait.
18:46
Speaker 4: Not a struggling Yeah, I just don't.
18:51
Speaker 2: Well, I wouldn't say he's no, he's like.
18:57
Speaker 1: Ops, which isn't which isn't working college right right? Yeah,
19:02
Speaker 1: but like struggling, struggling, struggling right.
19:07
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, Like he's it's his first taste of Triple
19:11
Speaker 2: A and he's hitting probably like league average right now.
19:14
Speaker 1: Which is fine. He's still in his early twenties. As
19:18
Speaker 1: Merlin Valdez is.
19:19
Speaker 2: Just a weird prospect in the grand scheme of things.
19:23
Speaker 1: I mean, one, he doesn't really have a position.
19:26
Speaker 2: Two he was never really like a highly touted guy.
19:30
Speaker 4: Uh.
19:30
Speaker 2: But because of the lack of minor league bats in
19:35
Speaker 2: this system for such a long time, he really stood out.
19:41
Speaker 2: And then he obviously put on a huge show in
19:44
Speaker 2: the Arizona Fall League this past UH Fall and that
19:48
Speaker 2: kind of gained some attention.
19:50
Speaker 1: I think he is a major league player. I don't
19:53
Speaker 1: see where.
19:54
Speaker 2: He really helps this team, especially right now, because they
19:58
Speaker 2: have like five better versions of es merlin Val does
20:03
Speaker 2: on this team. As Merlinville does is a sketchy fielding
20:08
Speaker 2: corner outfielder slash, first baseman slash, probably should be playing
20:12
Speaker 2: Dhu familiar.
20:13
Speaker 1: We have talked about that exact player.
20:17
Speaker 2: However, many names you want to throw into that category,
20:21
Speaker 2: like all season.
20:23
Speaker 1: So the fact that he's just another one uh in
20:27
Speaker 1: the minor leagues. He's young.
20:28
Speaker 2: I mean, some of these guys won't be around in
20:30
Speaker 2: two three years and maybe he'll take their spot.
20:33
Speaker 1: In reality, I think this is a guy that I think.
20:37
Speaker 2: He tried to float as a trade chip personally, and
20:39
Speaker 2: I know he has this cult following among a certain
20:43
Speaker 2: fraction of the Pirates fan base, which I think is great.
20:45
Speaker 2: I mean I love when, yeah, I love when Pirates
20:47
Speaker 2: fans get excited about prospects, because prospects are fun to
20:51
Speaker 2: interview and write about and can lead to.
20:54
Speaker 1: Some good storytelling.
20:55
Speaker 2: But like I just personally, I don't see where this
20:57
Speaker 2: guy fits short term or long term you have, you
21:00
Speaker 2: have O'Hearn and Horowitz are going to be back next
21:04
Speaker 2: year at first base.
21:05
Speaker 1: I mean, I.
21:05
Speaker 2: Don't love the idea of him playing outfield in the
21:08
Speaker 2: major leagues. I don't think he's playing DH ahead of
21:12
Speaker 2: Reynolds or Cruz. And again, I don't know how good
21:17
Speaker 2: of a major league he's going to be.
21:18
Speaker 1: I don't see him. I mean, he might play in
21:20
Speaker 1: the major leagues this year, but if it does.
21:22
Speaker 2: If he does, it's it's probably more out of like necessity.
21:27
Speaker 2: There's an injury, then like somewhere it's like, oh, this
21:30
Speaker 2: guy's banging down the door, we gotta get him in
21:32
Speaker 2: the lineup.
21:33
Speaker 1: He just there's not one thing as Merlin.
21:35
Speaker 2: Valdez does that this team doesn't already have God or back.
21:40
Speaker 2: So I think that, yeah, his biggest contribution to this
21:44
Speaker 2: team is being traded.
21:45
Speaker 4: Personally, I'll take back mine not a chance because his
21:49
Speaker 4: struggling made it seem like he was hitting one thirty
21:52
Speaker 4: or you know what I mean. So he's not doing
21:53
Speaker 4: he's not doing bad by any means. But as you said,
21:56
Speaker 4: if they already have you know a lot of guys
21:59
Speaker 4: that do what he does, and he's not setting himself apart.
22:02
Speaker 4: Just as we mentioned with the password, if the password
22:05
Speaker 4: can force his what like nobody has done anything to say, Okay,
22:09
Speaker 4: this dude is down there just making triple A look
22:11
Speaker 4: too easy. So and they're not necessarily in the need
22:15
Speaker 4: for like a bat like that if he's not providing defense.
22:19
Speaker 4: So if you can float him as a trade chip
22:22
Speaker 4: or trade bait, if that is possible, But he also
22:25
Speaker 4: might just be a good depth piece because you really
22:28
Speaker 4: don't know what's going to happen with anybody. It's too
22:30
Speaker 4: early to pull the plug on anybody if they haven't,
22:32
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. So if he's in a
22:34
Speaker 4: league average down there, that lets you know he he
22:36
Speaker 4: can provide some service at some point if you need it.
22:39
Speaker 4: So if there's no need to get rid of him,
22:41
Speaker 4: or you just kind of let him stay put and
22:43
Speaker 4: see if he can force himself in a situation where
22:45
Speaker 4: it's like, oh, we got to bring this guy up,
22:47
Speaker 4: or hey we can trade this guy.
22:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I'll just wrap it up by saying he's
22:50
Speaker 3: only twenty two still, so plenty of time to develop.
22:54
Speaker 3: It's not like we need to rush him up to
22:56
Speaker 3: the majors like he's getting like you have to get
22:59
Speaker 3: in the playing time and right now if he does
23:01
Speaker 3: come up to the majors. It's that same issue with
23:04
Speaker 3: Justinson Garcia, where he's probably going to be the fourth,
23:07
Speaker 3: fifth outfielder, and you don't really want to just strand
23:10
Speaker 3: those young guys on the bench and give them the
23:13
Speaker 3: number of at bets that Billy Cook's getting lately. They're
23:16
Speaker 3: not going to really develop or get in a rhythm,
23:18
Speaker 3: and especially being young, transitioning from Triple A to the majors,
23:21
Speaker 3: that's a lot to ask, but it is a good
23:25
Speaker 3: problem to have. I mean, it's crazy that we're seeing
23:28
Speaker 3: here saying the Pirates might trade a power hitting outfielder
23:31
Speaker 3: because they have so many guys like him already. I
23:34
Speaker 3: mean just a few years ago that was not present
23:37
Speaker 3: in the system. Now you have jo just Tinson Garcia,
23:40
Speaker 3: you have Edward Florentino, who he's further away, he's younger,
23:44
Speaker 3: but the ceiling on him is crazy. As far as
23:47
Speaker 3: like an outfield corner outfield prospect goes so lots of
23:52
Speaker 3: good things in the system. I love Asralan Valadez. He's
23:55
Speaker 3: the reason why he's so beloved by the fan base.
23:57
Speaker 3: He's always like tweeting he's very he's learning English and
24:01
Speaker 3: like puts himself out there is just kind of yeah, exactly,
24:06
Speaker 3: interacts with the fans. Yeah, he's more like a Latin
24:09
Speaker 3: like easy to root for. Yes, Yes, and especially last
24:16
Speaker 3: I mean the year before he wasn't on any top
24:19
Speaker 3: one hundred prospect lists and just dominated. He had an
24:23
Speaker 3: ops close to nine hundred. Last year just really exploded
24:27
Speaker 3: on the scene. Yeah, and so I mean it was
24:30
Speaker 3: a breakout year for him, So again easy to root for.
24:32
Speaker 3: He's like, oh, I knew about this guy before anyone
24:35
Speaker 3: else did, so it makes it a little bit, you know,
24:37
Speaker 3: easy to root for him. But I don't know what
24:40
Speaker 3: his trade value would be.
24:41
Speaker 2: What do you think, Noah, I mean I don't know,
24:44
Speaker 2: Like I think he's an easy sell for an organization
24:46
Speaker 2: that you know needs a guy. Because that's how I
24:52
Speaker 2: view him right now, is if you had a team
24:56
Speaker 2: that say, like I mean, in a way, if the
24:59
Speaker 2: corner outfield wasn't so cluttered with bad defenders, I would
25:03
Speaker 2: consider bringing him up because I think, like if Ryan
25:07
Speaker 2: O'Hearn wasn't on this team, Spencer or as Merlin Valdes
25:11
Speaker 2: would make sense to like get excited about because he
25:13
Speaker 2: would platoon well with Spencer Horowitz at first base and
25:17
Speaker 2: then you could play him in right field and it
25:19
Speaker 2: would be fine. But Ryan O'Hearn is on this team,
25:23
Speaker 2: and he's one of the most important players on this team.
25:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, so like you can hang.
25:27
Speaker 2: On to as Merlin, but like again, I just don't
25:29
Speaker 2: know where you're going to play him. Also, want to
25:31
Speaker 2: make a correction. His ops is seven eighty four, not
25:33
Speaker 2: seven thirty four. Okay, so he's yeah, I mean he's
25:36
Speaker 2: hitting like below two thirty, but he's got a good ops.
25:40
Speaker 2: He's he's a bad yeah. Yeah, so he's he's doing fine.
25:44
Speaker 2: And I think he's a guy that, like, I don't
25:47
Speaker 2: think it's a bad thing if he spends a whole
25:49
Speaker 2: year in a at twenty two years old and then
25:51
Speaker 2: next year he's probably you know, one of your bench guys.
25:55
Speaker 2: He's a platoon guy, like, unless you want to trade him,
25:58
Speaker 2: and what his trade value is, I don't know. I
26:01
Speaker 2: do think there are teams that will see that and
26:04
Speaker 2: just be like, you know what, like, hey, we have
26:07
Speaker 2: a need for this type of player. It's just for
26:09
Speaker 2: the way the Pirates are currently constructed. His flaws add
26:14
Speaker 2: to their flaws and his strengths. I mean, yes, they
26:16
Speaker 2: add to their strengths, but it's like, who are you
26:18
Speaker 2: going to play?
26:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're not as strong as other options.
26:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, like you're not. There are two better first
26:24
Speaker 2: base options than him. And then in right field, you're
26:28
Speaker 2: not playing him ahead of Reynolds or Ohr. So I
26:32
Speaker 2: mean and you're I mean d h Yeah, you could
26:34
Speaker 2: maybe argue Dhim over Ozuna, but like again, there are
26:37
Speaker 2: other guys who should be doing that now in the
26:39
Speaker 2: major leagues. So yeah, I just I don't see I
26:42
Speaker 2: don't see a spot for him, but like yeah, he
26:47
Speaker 2: also just needs to keep playing in Trip Away, he
26:49
Speaker 2: needs to keep getting better. So what you guys need
26:53
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