Let's go Bucs!!! (Pittsburgh, Hometown: town, young, reasons)

[Evergrey]

Huntington says the Pirates have become a "destination for free agents".

Huntington, Pirates make PNC Park a destination for free agents | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[SolitaryThrush]

Too early to tell, as some winning bids don't work out and the player doesn't come over. But it's good to see the start of Pittsburgh getting aggressive in Asia. They've had a few prospects from Taiwan in recent years, but have mostly been unsuccessful with attracting Asian players (claimed Chan-ho Park and Hisanori Takahashi off waivers, had Byunghyun Kim in spring training, had Aki Iwamura for a bad half-year, signed 39-year-old Masumi Kuwata at the end of his career, and had a few others in the minors).

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Huntington says the Pirates have become a "destination for free agents".

Huntington, Pirates make PNC Park a destination for free agents | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I believe that...but I also believe they've been calling. Morneau came calling but they didn't answer. What it doesn't say is what caliber of player is calling. As of right now they're not a better team than last year.

[that412]

Originally Posted by erieguy

As of right now they're not a better team than last year.

I guess this is a step up at least from your pre-2014 party line that they're inextricably headed back to sub-.500 mediocrity for the foreseeable future.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by that412

I guess this is a step up at least from your pre-2014 party line that they're inextricably headed back to sub-.500 mediocrity for the foreseeable future.

That's a soccer goal, not a goal post...but money talks. If they wisely hit $100m they'll have a shot at being a contender. Right now, they're worse than last year. I understand, however, that bigger payroll means bigger tix prices but you can't have it both ways.

[sskink]

No telling what the Bucs have in Kang. Obviously they see something to put up $5 mill and change for a posting fee. Kang says he wants 2 years/$12 or 3 years/$16 or 4/years $20. So between $5-$6 mill/year. That's a lot for a guy most feel is utility IF.

As far as Kang's 40 HRs/117 RBI/.340 BA, let's look at a couple of former Pirates playing in the KBO:

Felix Pie: .326 BA, .897 OPS, 17 HR, 92 RBI. His MLB career in almost 1100 PAs: .246 BA, .664 OPS, 17 HR, 99 RBI. So he's about matched his MLB HR/RBI totals in less than half the PAs in the KBO.

Yamaico Navarro: .308 BA, .969 OPS, 31 HR, 98 RBI in 2014. His MLB career in 400+ PAs: .206 BA, sub-.600 OPS, 4 HRs.

And Rick Van Den Hurk, who's brief Bucco career lasted two innings with a 13.50 ERA is the equivalent of David Price over there - led all league starters in WHIP, went 13-4 with a 3.18 ERA in a league where the average ERA is around 5.50.

Do with that info what you will.

[that412]

Originally Posted by sskink

No telling what the Bucs have in Kang. Obviously they see something to put up $5 mill and change for a posting fee. Kang says he wants 2 years/$12 or 3 years/$16 or 4/years $20. So between $5-$6 mill/year. That's a lot for a guy most feel is utility IF.

It's really not, though, if you go by the market value of WAR, which is getting up around $7 million these days. Kang would only need to produce about 1 WAR per year to justify a 4/$25m (incl. posting fee) expenditure, which is really not hard for a half-decent utility infielder to do.

[that412]

Originally Posted by erieguy

If they wisely hit $100m they'll have a shot at being a contender.

What if they only hit $99,999,999? Man, I would be furious that they wouldn't spend that extra dollar to ensure themselves of contender status.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by that412

What if they only hit $99,999,999? Man, I would be furious that they wouldn't spend that extra dollar to ensure themselves of contender status.

You'll be furious anyway since tix prices will go up.

[guy2073]

it would be nice to see the pirates spend the 5 million to lockup neil walker for the long term