Should the Pirates take a flier on Troy Tulowitzki

The Blue Jays released veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki last week during the Winter Meetings and will now pick up the tab on the rest of his big contract while he is free to sign with any team. 

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic has reported that the Pirates are one of the teams interested in his services. The Pirates, in need of a shortstop, are currently also connected to Diamondbacks’ Nick Ahmed and free agents Jose Iglesias and Freddy Iglesias. But should the Pirates take the chance on Tulowitzki?

Tulowitzki, 34, began his big league career in Colorado under then-Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, who is now the Pirates manager. So the connection is definitely there for the team to pursue him and it’s likely that Hurdle has been involved in the process of looking into Tulowitzki.

However, Tulowitzki is nowhere near the same player he was nearly a decade ago when Clint Hurdle was fired by the Rockies. He has fallen off the last few years since being acquired by the Blue Jays in 2015. 

He was good for the Jays the rest of 2015 and all of 2016, where he was still rather productive at the plate and in the field, despite it being nowhere near his prime form, but that is to be expected for most guys on the wrong half of 30 years old. 

However, it all has caught up to him the last couple of years. Injuries, in particular, have derailed him. He was limited to only 66 games for the Blue Jays in 2017 and did not play at all in 2018. His injury-stricken 2017 was lackluster as well. So not only has he not played in awhile, but he hasn’t even been productive in two years. 

However, the reports coming out on his health as of now have been positive, even some saying he’s as healthy as he’s been in years. But there is concern as to why the Blue Jays went through all the rehab with him over the year or so, only to cut him when there’s a potential light at the end of the tunnel. To pay the guy to not play for them when he is expected to at least put up decent production, based on projection, throws up a red flag since the Blue Jays have the inside knowledge on his health right now. 

It also doesn’t help that Blue Jays’ GM Ross Atkins didn’t give Tulowitzki a vote of confidence, saying that he’d have to “overachieve” to play shortstop at an above-average level for even 140 games. That is coming from a guy who knows a lot about Tulowitzki’s rehab and what he’s had to do the last couple of years. For him to say that also throws up a red flag for sure. 

If the Pirates are to take a chance on Tulowitzki, they better have another plan in place to figure out shortstop. As Atkins said, it’s unlikely Tulowitzki can supplant the position almost everyday. While they could do this internally with Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Newman, it is clear that the Pirates want to upgrade the position, not rely on an aging, injury-plagued player and then using the internal options they are already trying to upgrade from in the first place.

So overall, Tulowitzki at the minimum salary could be worth the risk, but only if there’s another move behind it to strengthen the position even further. The Pirates cannot afford to be caught relying on Tulowitzki/Gonzalez/Newman to fix their team’s biggest gaping hole. 

The starter version of Jordan Lyles would not work for the Pirates

The Pirates are expected to sign RHP Jordan Lyles to a 1-year deal as early as Friday. This came on the heels of the trade of Ivan Nova, leading many to think Lyles is the replacement for Nova. Those suspicions were confirmed when it was said that Lyles would get a chance to earn a rotation spot in March at Spring Training in Bradenton. 

But Jordan Lyles, the starter, is not that good. Lyles’ numbers as a starter leave way too much to be desired, and his numbers as a reliever show greater promise for him. The key mechanical fixes he made in 2018 could pave way for the 28-year old to be a solid rotation option, but I still think he is even more valuable as a reliever. 

The other issue here is whether Lyles can even replace Nova’s innings, let alone be productive. Lyles’ career high in innings is 141.1 all the way back in 2013 and he has only reached 100 innings in a season once since (which was 2014). So he’s four years removed from his last 100 inning season. Not too great when trying to replace about 160 innings given by Nova. 

If Lyles is the rotation replacement for Nova, it would draw eerie similarities to the Pirates offseason plan of 2016. They traded Morton that offseason to get rid of high salary for average production, only to sign Ryan Vogelsong for cheap in hopes of replacing that even though it was a long shot. This time, they traded Nova to get rid of high salary for average production and might replace him with a cheap arm that doesn’t have a history of being a productive starter or a history of a lot of innings logged. 

This becomes more true if you subscribe to the theory that they’d ride Lyles for three months until Keller arrives. The Pirates, in 2016, hoped to get okay Vogelsong until June or July when Taillon and Glasnow were expected to arrive and be productive right away. It didn’t work for a couple reasons. First, Glasnow didn’t get it together (and still hasn’t now with the Rays) and second, Taillon wasn’t productive right away, as many rookies aren’t on their first go-around. So if they really do want to use Lyles in the rotation for a couple months as to not block Keller, they better be wary of that after they botched the same idea just a few short seasons ago. 

Personally, I think there’s more here that has yet to be uncovered but will be as the offseason progresses. But for now, if Lyles is a starter in place of Nova, that is quite a step backward for this rotation and the team would suffer for it, even if it Lyles is only a stopgap. 

Pirates to sign Jordan Lyles

Minutes after trading Ivan Nova to the White Sox, the Pirates get right back to work on another deal. This time signing veteran RHP Jordan Lyles.

Lyles has not had that decorated of a career but has shown up better as a reliever, particularly with Milwaukee the back half of 2018. 

Lyles is best known in Pittsburgh for his accidental plunking of Ryan Vogelsong in 2016 that resulted in Vogelsong missing months of the season with facial fractures. 

He will likely slot into a reliever role to fill in for the injured Edgar Santana, who will miss all of 2019 after Tommy John. He won’t take the Santana role necessarily, but he will fill the bullpen out in that regard. 

There is a possibility however he can compete for a rotation spot in spring training or even function as a swingman reliever (bullpenning anyone?). 

This deal will not preclude the Pirates from exploring other options in the bullpen and starting pitching, but this deal does provide the Pirates with depth and insurance just in case. 

Pirates trade Ivan Nova to the White Sox

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they have traded RHP Ivan Nova to the White Sox for RHP Yordi Rosario and international slot money.

Nova spent the last two and a half seasons with the Pirates after being acquired from the Yankees in 2016 for Stephen Tarpley and Tito Polo. He was always able to pitch a good amount of innings and at least hold up numbers akin to a 5th starter. 

The injury bug caught up to Nova the last two seasons with the Pirates though, siphoning away some of his innings and overall production. 

The Pirates return is a rookie ball player in Yordi Rosario, who had some pretty good numbers in the rookie league but is very much still raw at the age of 19. He is another lottery pick prospect for the Pirates. They also get an undisclosed amount of international slot money. 

The White Sox get an innings eater that can stabilize their young rotation for 2019, the final year of his contract. And they have more than enough to give Nova the money he’s owed in his contract. 

 The Pirates clear payroll space and a rotation spot in the deal. The payroll goes down to around $70M with this deal and a rotation spot opens up. Whether that spot will be filled internally or externally is up for debate. 

It seems clear the Pirates were motivated to move Nova to get rid of his salary and open up a rotation spot. It seems feasible to think they would upgrade in the rotation in some way. The offseason moves for the Pirates don’t appear to be done, but we’ll see. 

Pittsburgh Pirates Winter Meetings Primer

The MLB’s front offices will all convene for a few days from December 9-13 in Las Vegas for the MLB Winter Meetings. The Winter Meetings are a big time in the MLB offseason as all the big heads of the games front offices are all in one place at the same time. It is a huge time for teams to make moves in trades and in free agency. 

The Pirates have made their own share of notable Winter Meetings moves, but were mainly quiet there the last couple of years. But the Pirates enter these Winter Meetings fresh off being the surprise of the trade deadline in July and the free agent signings of Jung Ho Kang and Lonnie Chisenhall. So maybe they’ll do something this time around, and they have some things on the agenda to take care of. Let’s look at some of these top things for them to do.

Francisco Cervelli trade:

Whether Cervelli is traded or not figures to be the Pirates’ biggest topic of discussion amongst the media and fans. I think we will see a resolution one way or another on this by the time December 13th rolls around. The catcher market has moved quickly this offseason and I suspect most of the catcher questions around the league will be settled by then. A Cervelli trade is a toss-up as to whether it will happen or not, but the Winter Meetings should provide clarity there one way or another.

Getting another catcher (if Cervelli is dealt)

If Cervelli is traded, the Pirates will need another catcher as it doesn’t seem very smart to start the season with Stallings as a backup to Diaz. They could potentially get another catcher in a Cervelli trade, but if not they’ll have to sign or trade for one. With the catcher market moving fast, as I mentioned, a resolution on this would have to come quickly as well, and very soon after any Cervelli deal (again, if they don’t acquire another catcher in the Cervelli deal). Yasmani Grandal is the big fish in free agency and JT Realmuto in a trade, but more realistic Pirates targets would include Wilson Ramos, Jonathan Lucroy as potential starter/time-share guys with Diaz, or backups like Martin Maldonado, Nick Hundley, Matt Weiters and AJ Ellis. 

Finding a shortstop

The Pirates biggest need this offseason is shortstop, and they need to solve this issue sooner rather than later. This should be priority number one for the team as they need a short-term shortstop to help Newman develop or get them to Cole Tucker maybe a long-term shortstops perhaps (that isn’t likely though). Some options in free agency include old friends Jordy Mercer and Adeiny Hechavarria, but more intriguing starter options include Jose Iglesias and Freddy Galvis (Iglesias is a great fit, in my opinion). Don’t expect Manny Machado to be a Pirate, which should be obvious.

Finding a lefty pitcher

The Pirates need another lefty pitcher, either in the rotation or in the bullpen, possibly both if the right fit comes along. They definitely need another lefty reliever though, and there are some intriguing ones out there this offseason. While Andrew Miller and Zach Britton are likely not in their range, old friends Justin Wilson, Oliver Perez and Zach Duke could provide fits, as well as guys like Jaime Garcia, Jake Diekman, Tony Sipp. 

Whether the Pirates do something at the Winter Meetings or not, it is not the end of the offseason as plenty of moves are made afterwards. These are all things that the Pirates have on the priority list as Winter Meetings begin and Vegas is the place where one or two of these things may garner a solution from Huntington and the Pirates.

The possible underlying impact of Huntington turning the Giants down

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that Pirates general manager Neal Huntington turned down an opportunity to become the President of Baseball Operations for the San Francisco Giants, a job that eventually went to now former Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi. The report goes onto say he would have had the inside track on the job if he wanted it.

The reasons for Huntington not taking the job are mostly the normal things. Geography and family factors of not wanting to move the family and his life out west among the top reasons. However, also cited in reasons he elected to stay was unfinished business with the Pirates. 

Huntington became the Pirates GM in 2007 and took over a mostly empty cupboard both on the MLB roster and in the prospect poll. He built them up into contenders by 2011 (before a collapse plagued them in both 2011 and 2012) and saw his team reach the playoffs each year from 2013-2015, including the league’s second best record in 2015. They haven’t been to the playoffs since, but they’ve sniffed around contention come late August or later every year since 2012 and got into August in contention in 2011 at least. 

But the unfinished business stuff particularly intrigues me. It is quite odd for a general manager of a small market club to not want to become a President of Baseball Operations with one of the big boys of the league. It’s an opportunity almost too golden to pass up, even with family matters at hand. Heck, look at the guy that took the job. He left the sunny side of the Dodgers to earn a promotion with their biggest rival. It’s quite uncommon that jobs like this become available and not taking it is quite the risk. So my question is whether or not Neal Huntington has something up his sleeve for the Pirates.

In July, Huntington made two very bold moves, by Pirates standards, to get Chris Archer and Keone Kela. These are atypical moves for the usually conservative Huntington. Whether it signals a change in philosophy for the Pirates remains to be seen, but it might all just piecing together.

It is possible that more aggressiveness could be on the horizon from Huntington as his desire to complete unfinished business in Pittsburgh, a goal he’s been pursuing for going on 12 years now, might be greater than ever. Turning down the sheer opportunity to be the head man in charge of the moves of the baseball team by the bay is approaching stupidity in its own right. Perhaps now he feels a greater desire than ever before to prove he can do it for the Pirates instead of take the easy way out that San Francisco was offering him. He also might now feel a greater need to justify his decision to remain in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.