By many standards, it wasn’t really that long ago – five seasons - that the Pirates made three consecutive playoff appearances. Yet, in a lot of ways, the last five years also seemed more like five decades.
Especially because 2020 was the longest, shortest season ever. The beleaguered Buccos won just 19 of 60 games for a .317 winning percentage which computes to just 51 wins over a full season. Only the 1952 Pirates were worse (,273) and sadly the 2021 club could make a run at that.
I crossed out “sadly” because, as painful as the 2021 major league season may be, that has to be the cost of doing business - if Ben Cherington is going to build the ’23 or (more likely) the ’24 Pirates into any kind of contender. The part that does make me sad is that Cherington is forced to trade some really good people.
Even if he never could pick up the first base position, I hate to see Josh Bell go. He is a solid as they come and I do think he can be an impact hitter if can ever trust himself to stick with a consistent approach through the inevitable slumps. I’d have thought he’d bring back more than a Quad-A pitcher, although the other pitcher, 19-year old Eddie Yean, is considered a legitimate prospect
Joe Musgrove was the next to go. Even as a newcomer, Musgrove quickly established himself not just as a good teammate but as a team leader.
Good for Musgrove who not only gets to go home to San Diego, but joins a Padres team that is winning the off-season. He could be the best 4th or 5th starter in MLB.
For Musgrove, at the very least the Pirates got numbers in return – 5 prospects, 4 of them 22 years old or younger. The pick of that litter is a 19-year old outfielder with a cool name - Hudson Head. 20-year old catcher Endy Rodriguez is intriguing and they get 2 more young pitchers. The “old guy” in the deal is 26-year-old pitcher David Bednar who is from Mars, Pa. so he is actually happy to be joining the Pirates, not just because it’s his hometown but because he’ll get a chance.
Then wouldn’t you know as I was putting this story together Sunday afternoon, even before I could write that Jameson Taillon needs to go as soon as the Pirates can get a decent package in return, Taillon did go - to the Yankees.
Just like Bell and Musgrove, I hate to see him go. Just like Bell and Musgrove, Taillon is one of those guys you’d love your daughter to bring home. In between Tommy John surgeries, Taillon survived cancer and getting hit in the head with line drives twice, yet always kept a positive attitude even as the wild card team that he first joined was disintegrating. It is impossible to not like – and respect – Jameson Taillon.
But, again like Bell and Musgrove, Taillon had to be traded.
This deal yielded 4 prospects between the ages of 18 and 22, two pitchers, an infielder and outfielder. At this point, names don’t seem important, although 21-year old RHP Roansy Contreras was considered the Yankees 7th or 8th best prospect.
We don’t know yet if Ben Cherington is making all the right moves but, going back to the Marte trade last off-season, the Pirates have picked up 13 players, only two of them over 22-years old. No reason to stop now.
So, who’s next? Adam Frazier? Richard Rodriguez? Michael Feliz? All of the above? Why not?
It will take shrewd drafting (and the Pirates have the top pick in June), plus productive development (sorely lacking under the previous regime), but Ben Cherington is making some bold, but necessary, moves. Keep them coming.
The aforementioned 2020 Pirates’ short-season record translates to 111 losses and the 2021 record may very well be worse. But, that’s okay. The Houston Astros lost 111 games in 2013, then 92 in 2014. In 2017, they won the World Series.