Let's go Bucs!!! (Pittsburgh: buying, subsidized, stadiums)

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

If there is a year where we see a slight regression, this will be it. I'm not sold on Liriano repeating his mastery (his track record is one year off, one year on), Wandy staying healthy, and Volquez being any more than a decent five. I'm just hoping we finish with another winning season and see improvement out of some of our young hitters (Marte, Alvarez, Mercer, eventually Polanco) and pitchers (Cole, Morton, eventually Tailion, maybe even Locke if we are lucky). Hopefully this is the year where Cole establishes himself as our ace, though a sophomore slump isn't out of the question. We also need to see some of the youngsters make continued progress in the minors (notably the guys closest to the majors such as Kingham, Sanchez, Hanson, Glasnow). An eventual rotation of Cole, Tailion, Morton, Kingham, and Glasnow sounds pretty nice. Throw in a veteran signing and it could be dominant.

Also, if the upper-minors talent pans out, we will have quite a lot of depth from which to make trades. Guys like Bell and Heredia would net a quality return.

[erieguy]

While its not at all a surprise, the Bucs are 19-26 and the season is slipping away. When's Bob gonna pay/put up and let Polanco come up?

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

I'm pleasantly surprised that they were willing to dump Wandy so early on, even with his high salary. I figured he'd get a chance to ruin 2-3 more games.

[erieguy]

Not a big deal. He's done and they're only paying half his salary. Its not like they're gonna put money into a MLB pitcher unless they exhaust the farm system and have no choice.

Not wanting to bring Polanco up to save a bunch of money is the much bigger issue.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by erieguy

Not wanting to bring Polanco up to save a bunch of money is the much bigger issue.

Of course, that's an opinion shared by almost nobody within MLB or most thinking fans. You know this to be the case since the vast majority of teams, especially those not prone to panic or rash decision making, follow the same exact path the Pirates are. Another year of control of Polanco, especially one where he's at his MLB prime, is far more valuable than 3 months at the beginning of 2014.

To put it into statistical context, let's assume that Polanco breaks camp with the Pirates and plays everyday to the level of Andrew McCutchen, as unlikely as that would be for a 22 year old rookie. With a WAR of 2.5 for the reining NL MVP, your 19-26 Bucs are most likely 21-24, maybe 22-23. Keep in mind that's by far best case scenario.

Much more likely is that Polanco plays to the level of Marte (.9 WAR) and your 19-26 Pirates are now 20-25. Maybe I'm nuts, but if Polanco becomes the player he can be, I'll take a 6 or 7 WAR in a future season than one win this May.

Polanco will be up in three weeks when they're certain he's beyond qualifying for a year of service, which is the prudent call, especially given the fact that Polanco already rejected a $60 million contract which would have put him in the majors already. It doesn't really have anything to do with being cheap and everything to do with being smart. Admittedly, it's harder to see the wisdom when your views of the franchise and owner are frozen and intractable.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Lobick

Of course, that's an opinion shared by almost nobody within MLB or most thinking fans. You know this to be the case since the vast majority of teams, especially those not prone to panic or rash decision making, follow the same exact path the Pirates are. Another year of control of Polanco, especially one where he's at his MLB prime, is far more valuable than 3 months at the beginning of 2014.

To put it into statistical context, let's assume that Polanco breaks camp with the Pirates and plays everyday to the level of Andrew McCutchen, as unlikely as that would be for a 22 year old rookie. With a WAR of 2.5 for the reining NL MVP, your 19-26 Bucs are most likely 21-24, maybe 22-23. Keep in mind that's by far best case scenario.

Much more likely is that Polanco plays to the level of Marte (.9 WAR) and your 19-26 Pirates are now 20-25. Maybe I'm nuts, but if Polanco becomes the player he can be, I'll take a 6 or 7 WAR in a future season than one win this May.

Polanco will be up in three weeks when they're certain he's beyond qualifying for a year of service, which is the prudent call, especially given the fact that Polanco already rejected a $60 million contract which would have put him in the majors already. It doesn't really have anything to do with being cheap and everything to do with being smart. Admittedly, it's harder to see the wisdom when your views of the franchise and owner are frozen and intractable.

And that's exactly what the Bucs want you to believe. They're headed for more of the same of the last 20 years until they start paying up and actually try to win.

"Most thinking fans" predicted more of the same of last years season where I said it was a fluke. Watching and knowing baseball pointed to this team not spending and once again going by the wayside, hence their 19-26 record. Leaving Polanco in the minors isn't doing anything but saving Bob money. Don't blame him for turning down the money. Cutch was duped and Polanco isn't gonna do the same until the Bucs pay up and put stock/money into actual MLB talent in an effort to win.

A wild card berth isn't out of the question yet, however, by the way this team is set up its soon to be out of the question.

There's a whole lot of MLB talk about Polanco deserving to be brought up. As far as the Bucs and reality goes, the only true words keeping him from being here is "Super Two".

[sskink]

At this point, given Polanco will be up June 9th and Harrison is playing lights out, it's a moot point. Polanco would've had to be up beginning of May or earlier to have really mattered.

And with the way the team has been pitching, it wouldn't have mattered.

Holding Polanco down is something the Rays would do, among other small-market clubs. In fact the Cards are doing it with Oscar Tavares.

Nutting's problem isn't not bringing up Polanco. It was praying that Edinson Volquez would effectively replace AJ and Lambo would claim the LH side of the 1b platoon, instead of spending on an actual MLB player or re-signing Morneau. While Byrd is doing well, I have no issue with not re-signing him.

[erieguy]

They're 19-26. What they should have done, contrary to many said, was to pay up in the offseason, improve the team, and of course they didn't. Rather than doing what another team might do, do right by the guy, the team, and all the fans that were duped and bring him up.

Harrison is anything but "lights out" unless you're comparing him to Snider.

[bmust71]

Obviously Harrison is not "lights out" but he provides a much needed spark. Just hit an RBI single as i am typing. Polanco is not going to make us a championship team on talent alone but he could be the fuel to the fire to get us going.

[erieguy]

The Bucs will never be a championship team under current ownership...but when/while they have them, the best players should be put on the field.