The Bucs were busy yesterday and they continued to show a change in philosophy on multiple fronts. Not that it matters to many of you, because of course everyone they acquire will only be traded later for more prospects.
I honestly don’t care to argue the point anymore, remember the past however you like, ignore that the regime and entire system have changed, if it’s all about Nutting for you, cool.
For those of you ready and willing to live in reality let’s go over some of the moves from yesterday and discuss.
On the International Front
First, we should take a moment and thank Adam Berry for his time on the Pirates beat. He’s announced he’s moving on to cover the Tampa Bay Rays for MLB.com.
The Pirates signed 15 international prospects yesterday and the approach was very much so quality vs quantity. Misconceptions of how this system works and an overall hatred that Bob Nutting has earned for himself tend to ignore the fact that the Pirates spend more money in this front than any other team year over year.
The big difference since Ben Cherington came in has been the targeting of higher value players. Neal Huntington would typically try to get as many as he could under his allotment while Ben has focused on acquiring top end talent.
That’s not to say he’s spending more, the rules haven’t changed, but it does mean if he can get one Shalin Polanco (No relation, ho ho ho) for 2.35 million, rather than 15 other players, he’ll go for the number 11 ranked prospect on the market.
This philosophy dates back to last season where he traded for extra pool space, meaning no money changed hands, just ability to spend. Gasp, he traded for the actual right to spend more of Bob Nutting’s money, hard to believe I know. This led to top talent like Solomon Maguire or Po Yu Chen.
All in all good stuff.
A Minor League Signing
The Pirates picked up a free agent. I know, I know, but it’s a minor league deal, Wilmer Difo comes from the Washington Nationals and is a classic utility infielder. His glove is more valuable than his bat and he provides depth. Probably insurance for trading Frazier, but could also be an excuse to start Tucker in AAA. We’ll see, I honestly get the impression they’ll let the group fight this out in Spring.
Difo isn’t worth getting excited about, but he gives them more options, and puts a death nail in Cruz making the club out of spring at least as an infielder in my mind.
Arbitration Awards
It’s not exactly a surprise. We knew they’d sign all of these guys and if anything it takes the guess work out of what they might earn this year for trades.
We also learned yesterday that the arbitration process was not affected by the MLB narrative that every team is poor after 2020, which is starting to show itself false in the free agent market as well.
They may have lost money, but they won’t let that allow them to stop spending. Expect some dominoes to start falling now.
Inside The Bucs Basement 
Thanks for this great wrap-up Gary, it is great to see all the transactions in one place and see how busy the FO was yesterday. I am very excited about the International signings yesterday. While it will be many years before we see the results, I am optimistic about the talent from the initial scouting reports I’ve read.
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It all adds up my friend. These little transactions are all part of the puzzle. And very happy you liked it.
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Oh no Adam Berry! Well he’s moving to an exciting team and a nice city so good on him!
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It’s his hometown so I’m happy for him.
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I Have a question. The Pirates picked up an outfielder of waivers lasted year and I think his name was Anthony Ashford who played center for a while until he broke his hand and I was wondering if they are going to bring him back this year.
Play good until he got hurt.
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Anthony Alford, and yes, he’ll be back. I can’t guarantee he makes the team but he’ll compete for time in the OF for sure.
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All we want is a contending team with and a World Series win I don’t ever see it happening with this owner and his philosophy. I’ve been a fan since I was a child. I’d like to see another World Series win before I die. 🖤💛🖤💛
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And I’d like to see 1
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