A Sinking Pirate Ship

The week began with the Pirates seven games behind the first place Cubs in the standings, but looking at a schedule that would have them playing the Cubs seven times over the next ten days.  It was a long shot, but win five, six, or, miracle of miracles, all seven of those games, then there was hope that maybe, just maybe, they could get back in the race for the NL Central title.  The Bucs then proceeded to lose the first two games, scoring only one run in each game, and in the series finale, the Cubs managed to eek out a 17-3 win over a team that is now clearly done, finished, and, like Jacob Marley, dead as a doornail.

The sad tale that is the 2017 Pirates could have been foreseen in the 2016-17 off-season when the following took place.

1. The team spent most of it's time talking about and trying to trade its most popular, and perhaps its best, player Andrew McCutchen.
2. Third baseman Jung Ho Kang got into a league jackpot (do I need to spell out the details?) in South Korea, and the team either naively or stupidly, depending on your point of view, thought that things would work themselves out, and did nothing to address what would turn out to be the loss of their leading power producer for the season.
3. Trumpeted the free agent signings of pitchers Daniel Hudson (2-5, 4.70 out of the bullpen) and Ivan Nova (11-12, 4.11 as a starter; 2-6, 6.38 since the All-star break).

Then, two weeks into the season, Starling Marte gets hit with an 80 game PED suspension.  And it became clear that Kang would not be returning to the United States, much less the Pirates, for 2017, and maybe forever.

What did the team do to address these two gaps?  It made 34 year old David Freese, who would have been a great utility guy, the everyday third baseman.  Freese started out well, but inevitably he has worn down.  However, it was the  in loss of Marte that the team showed themselves either unwilling or unable to do what was needed to fill such an enormous gap in the lineup created by Marte's loss.

Vaunted prospect Austin Meadows (see my post from three days ago) was not ready.  No effort that we know of was made to try and trade for another outfielder, and the team clearly had no "fourth outfielder" who could come in and do the job for them.  Instead we have seen infielder Adam Frazier, who has probably been the best of a weak lot, John Jaso, another guy who would have been a great utility guy/pinch hitter off the bench, but who proved time and again, that he is no outfielder, rookie Jose Osuna, and even Jordon Luplow, a Pirates prospect whom I admit that I had never heard of, up from Indy to give it a go.  Jordan managed to get zero hits in 11 at bats in the six games he was here before being sent back to Indy.

We have also seen guys like Max Moroff (.157 BA; still on the team), Gift Ngoepe (.222; back in Indy), Alen Hanson (.193; out of the organization), and Phil Gosselin (.150; out of the organization) playing.  And what seems to have been endless shuttling back-and-forth from the disabled list by Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco.  Good Lord!

And I haven't even mentioned the pitching.  I'm going to pass on that topic for today with one exception.  One of the Pirates big "moves" at the July 31 trade deadline was obtaining fat, 40 year old relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit from the Phillies.  Benoit pitched in seven games for the Pirates, going 0-2 with an 8.59 ERA before he was put on the "He Stinks" disabled list, where he will hopefully never be heard from again.  That this worthless non-entity was brought here when, theoretically at least, the team still had a chance for the post season was an absolute insult to my intelligence as a baseball fan.

Then yesterday the team places Juan Nicasio in irrevocable waivers.  Nicasio was no all-star, but he had a 2.85 ERA and K:BB ratio of 60:18.  He was a serviceable pitcher as a set-up guy, but irrevocable waivers means he's gone, and the team gets nothing for him, other than dumping his salary, which seems to be the most important thing to them.

As I see it, there have been two bright spots for this team in 2017:

• Reliever Felipe Rivero. 4-2, 1.52 ERA, 16 saves, 77:17 K-to-BB ration in 63 innings pitched.
• Rookie first baseman Josh Bell. 23 HR, 77 RBI, .262 BA.

That's it.  That's the list.

I can't even imagine what this upcoming off-season is going to be like.  I am already compiling notes in my head for the Grandstander posts that will follow when McCutchen gets traded and when Clint Hurdle either Gets Fired or Resigns In Disgust.  I feel bad for the folks in the team's PR department who will have to come up with an ad campaign that will generate excitement for the 2018 season.  Good will generated by the "glory years" of 2013-15 has been thoroughly and completely trashed by Bob Nutting and Neal Huntington over these last ten months.  Good luck getting it back any time soon.