You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Bill Brink's Pirates chat: 8.30.17
powered byJotCast
View Full Chat Next Page
Bill Brink
12:00
Good morning from Chicago and welcome to this week's Pirates chat. Thanks for the questions you've already submitted, and keep them coming. Here we go ...
Steven
12:00
Bill, I have never seen a player start game after game like Stewart with an OPS in the 500's. Is he really that much better defensively than Diaz?
Bill Brink
12:02
I think the reason Stewart continues to start is because the Pirates value his knowledge of the pitching staff and game-calling, skills that Diaz, while not bad at, not as advanced as Stewart with this particular pitching staff.
Chuck
12:04
Can you explain why the Dodgers have had 17 Rookie of the Year players whereas the Pirates have only had one, Jason Bay in 2004?  Obviously the Dodgers are doing something that the Pirates are not doing.
Bill Brink
12:07
I cannot explain the Dodgers' ROYs without going back and looking at each one, but I also don't think that the Dodgers' success in recent years is because they've had a lot of rookies of the year in franchise history. To get players who win those awards requires good drafting and development, yes, but there are better ways to evaluate a front office than ROYs in franchise history. Now, the Dodgers have certainly done a good job assembling their roster and covering for an injury to the best pitcher in the league, whereas the Pirates are seven games worse than .500 and on track to finish there for the second year in a row.
Fort Wayne fan
12:08
How will the weak season finish that's unfolding, affect the likelihood of Huntington and Hurdle getting new contracts? Wouldn't most fans want some change as a signal that Nutting is serious about fielding a team capable of competing for a pennant?
Bill Brink
12:10
Some fans might; I hear from them daily, so I know they're out there. But Hurdle can only work with the roster Huntington gives him, and Huntington can only assemble that roster within the limitations that ownership sets, so if Nutting were to relax those limitations that might also show fans he's serious. It will be interesting to see how declining attendance affects that.
Last straw
12:10
Sure the Pirates are out of it but releasing Nicasio like that for nothing is a disgrace. The optics is horrendous. Do you agree?
Bill Brink
12:11
It is indeed a bad look. It's one thing to say, we're nine back and not catching the Cubs (eight back when they put him on waivers) and put him on trade waivers, then work out a deal with a claiming team for a minor leaguer, to get something back for him. But to just offer him up for nothing is strange.
A
12:11
Why not Jaso? He earns more money than Nicasio
Bill Brink
12:12
He does, but only $450,000, and they'd save $666,000 (uh-oh) with Jaso as opposed to a shade more than $600K with Nicasio. Also, Jaso might not get claimed, so this would seem to be intended to make sure the player is taken.
Last straw
12:13
Sir why did owner Nutting pocket all the money from savings from Marte and Kang and Hughes and not reinvest it into the tea
Bill Brink
12:14
That is a good question, and as far as an answer from Nutting himself, I don't have one, though I intend to ask soon. One possible reason would be to look at a season without Kang, half a year without Marte and five weeks without Taillon and see 2018 as a better chance for contention ... but then they didn't fortify for 2018 at the deadline.
Blaze
12:14
Is Cutch really back Bill? He is hitting .180 this month and hasn't hit a homerun in 3 weeks. I am starting to think his 2 month hot streak was the fluke, not his bad few months.
Bill Brink
12:15
I should note that Stephen J. Nesbitt is the official arbiter of whether McCutchen is or is not back, so I'm stepping foot on someone else's turf, but yeah, he's hitting .200/.297/.275 in 91 plate appearances through 23 games since Aug. 5.
Blaze
12:17
Bill do you think NH needs to be held accountable for the bad drafts of late and lack of position players in the farm system?
Bill Brink
12:19
To an extent. General managers can only work with the drafts they're given, and the Pirates picked late for three years. He also has more quality starters than places to put them, so that deserves commendation. But yes, the lack of high-level position players in the system (especially outfielders, though Jordan Luplow has had quite a minor league season) is troublesom.
Paul
12:19
Giving Harrison a night off was the most ridiculous thing I could ever imagine
Bill Brink
12:20
Yes and no. This time of year, these guys are gassed and banged up, and if Harrison and the Pirates decided he needed a day off, then he needed a day off. What was interesting was not sitting him Sunday in the day game after a night game, then letting him play against the lefty Monday night, or playing him Monday against the lefty and sitting him against Arrieta, who he hasn't hit hardly at all (of course he doubled off him last night).
CJ
12:21
Do you see any scenario where Nutting feels enough pressure to sell this team to someone who actually cares about winning? Did the recent playoff appearances by the Pirates hurt any slim chances of that happening? 30 plus more years of losing baseball in Pittsburgh?
Bill Brink
12:21
I don't see a scenario where Nutting decides to sell it by himself. There would have to be some sort of outside influence or extenuating circumstances.
Blaze
12:22
Where did the power go from Marte? He was once considered and performing like a 30-40 HR guy. Now he looks like a worse Adam Frazier, just mostly singles hitting, and that's when he can actually get a hit. He has had 7 days of good hitting but mostly he has been awful.
Bill Brink
12:23
In his best two seasons, he had 13 and 19 home runs, so 20 to 25 seemed a more reasonable expectation. But he also had a high slugging percentage because his speed allows him to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples, and that also hasn't been the case this season. Perhaps the long layoff from major league competition has set him back some.
Lloyd
12:24
what is the percentage that you think Hurdle is coming back for 2018?
Bill Brink
12:25
50.027 percent
I don't know about percentages, it's hard to make a guess when we're a month out from the deadline to pick up his option and they haven't done that yet.
Mark
12:25
Bill, now that the Pirates have been eliminated, do you see any reason to not start Diaz every day and to not release Stewart?
Bill Brink
12:26
They're not eliminated yet, though when they are, I bet we see more of Diaz. Can't release Stewart because they need bodies behind the plate, Cervelli has been banged up all year.
12:28
What other questions do we have today?
CJ
12:30
Where do you see the state off our starting pitching next year?
Bill Brink
12:32
Pretty good. Assuming Cole's there at least to begin the season, they'll have Cole, Nova and Taillon. Then Glasnow, Kuhl, Williams, Brault and Nick Kingham, who is out of options, can duke it out, and Clay Holmes could be an option later on.
Mark
12:32
Are the Pirates better off intentionally walking Rizzo every time?
Bill Brink
12:33
The way he's hitting right now, maybe. (In reality, no. We saw last night how intentional walks go when they put La Stella on to load the bases for Avila.)
12:34
Lightning round. Go.
Mark
12:36
Is Kang on the team next year?
Bill Brink
12:37
On the roster? Yes. In the country, playing? Something would have to change, and nothing has yet. It's possible if he could complete a treatment program, show he's changed, that the Department of State might reconsider, but it's too soon to tell on that.
Keith
12:37
Has Huntington given any explaination for not making a trade earlier in the year to help the team like how the Braves got Matt Adams?
Bill Brink
12:38
We asked him about that the week after the Braves got Adams and he said the Pirates liked their internal options better than what was available, for the price it was available, and that early-season trades are often overpays. Not agreeing or disagreeing with that, but that was his answer.
jsg
12:39
Bill, You mentioned "external pressure" as a way to get Nutting to sell the team. Taking that back a bit, of you think city officials will apply pressure to make Nutting at least spend competitively?
Bill Brink
12:40
The best example of external pressure I can remember from recent years was with Frank McCourt and the Dodgers, a case in which other owners and the commissioner's office was involved.
Connecting…