Five Thoughts at Five

Baseball, in the functional business sense is back today. It’s nice to see all the folks out there including Craig and I who were locked in a holding pattern finally able to talk baseball.

1. Free Agent Dreams Will Remain Fantasy – The welcome return of wishful thinking Pirates Fans started shining bright as soon as the players agreed to report to camps. But much like the late-great Burgess Meredith once said in Grumpy Old Men, “You can wish in one hand and crap in the other”, yup, you guessed it, and you know which will fill first. Thing is, I’m not even mad about it, I’d much prefer they avoid false hope this year and face their issues head on.
2. Pitching Is, Was, and Will Be the Biggest Issue – The pitching staff, at least the starters, can’t compete long term. There is still reason for the type of quirky optimism a 60 game schedule provides, but make no mistake, they need help. More help than they could possibly get from a few unsigned free agents or costly trades. No, they need time. Time for the few pieces of the answer already here to meet up with what is coming into the system.
3. Bob Nutting’s Wallet – Is not the reason for the restructuring layoffs that just came out today. DK Pittsburgh Sports, Jason Mackey have both reported the intention of Cherington to restructure some of these areas. Specifically some of those who had just re-upped their contracts prior to the Huntington firing. If you want to blame Nutting for something here, hammer him for taking his sweet time deciding to move on from Huntington. Also, paying them through the end of October means the savings would be negligible anyway.
4. I’m Happy for Altoona – Altoona deserved to be named the Hub city for the Pirates reserve player pool. I hope it helps them recover some of what they lost during the pandemic. The stadium is really a little gem and I think everyone will be comfortable spending some time there.
5. Expanded Playoffs – I’m glad the players union said they were still willing to discuss expanded playoffs, but it would be best to have that decided long before the first pitch. If you have a team that you think is borderline to make the wildcard if you add a piece, the expansion could force some player movement. Something I don’t feel is going to be too prevalent without it.

As always, catch up with me on Twitter or Facebook, let me know your thoughts.