OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Dull days of July

[td_ice]

For those in the area with cable, same channel as the Pirates games, the Indy Indians will be on live. Tonight at 7pm.

A chance to see Ashcraft pitch, as he is starting.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Davis hits a bomb.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Any outside hope of snatching Luis Robert Jr. from them? I’d really like to see a trade here soon.

I would expect nothing of interest. And be presently surprised with the pirates... And expect whoever they get to have a good two weeks before going ice cold

Davis hits a bomb.

That's good. I think someone say he was 0-4 all Ks the other day. I just don't see a place for him at MLB for us unless he can hit above AAA. But i mean, if we're gonna act like Grandal and his .184 is everyday starter material...

 

[ChaosAgent]

Davis just swung and missed on a flat left-handed 93 mph fastball belt high. Baseball is a game of failure and boy is he ever.

Indy is wearing Harry Potter scarf themed jerseys which is hilarious.

Also the big takeaway from today continues to be Luis Ortiz. I am not comfortable trading him for Ward or Bleday or Vierling, but I can't see Miami interested in him for Chisholm. I understand this org's reticence to ever trade with Tampa again but I can't help but wonder about Arozarena. Ortiz or Chandler is too rich for him but maybe Harrington or Ashcraft + something is in play. Arozarena would add a ton of swagger into this lineup - and is also a really good player. He's probably looking at something like $12M and $16M in arbitration in the next couple years so Nutting may put the kibosh on the thing. But at the same time they won't be paying for Chapman + Perez - and maybe won't pay for Cutch either.

Arozarena for Ashcraft strikes me as close value-wise. I'd love to get a guy like Randy.

 

[td_ice]

DVR'd Indians game, will try and watch it later or tomorrow.

But looking at box, Ashcraft did not pitch?? Any word as why? He was listed as starter, and theFAN (DZ show) mentioned same this morning.

 

[BusinessGoose]

All-Star Futures game:

Termarr Johnson helped turn a double play and went 1 for 2 with a run

Bubba Chandler went pitching in the 7th inducing ground balls and high 98s, good slider, one double given up, one strikeout

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Any outside hope of snatching Luis Robert Jr. from them? I’d really like to see a trade here soon.

If I had to guess, Robert might end up in Baltimore with Coby Mayo being the headliner. He's probably a better centerpiece than anyone else can offer.

The only caveat might be if Chicago really does move Crochet, because then loading up on a couple of pitchers could appeal to them. They have a top prospect pitcher in Schultz and a top bat in Montgomery, but I kind of think they'd try to extend Crochet and sell high/move on from Robert. They are always hard to predict.

Regardless, I think more bonafide contenders have better trump cards to deal and will be more willing to deal them. There could be some consideration that Robert is cost-controlled and there really won't be a better opportunity to get his kind of impact via trade or free agency, but I think the combination of price and injury risk with him will cause us not to be in the mix.

From the little I have heard via a few friends, it is true that Cherington is being extremely aggressive in trying to make a deal. I think we could very well end up with Ward, and at a stretch I think Chisholm would be possible. IMO there's some perception about his maturity that will keep some teams away, and he also isn't a slam dunk impact player, but more of an everyday guy. He's my biggest hope honestly, because I think there's some ceiling there with him.

Our consistent mediocrity might be a weird help in terms of navigating to the deadline when teams are likely going to really sell. With so few, I think early deals will be harder. We have a pretty decent gauntlet after the break, with Philly, St. Louis, Houston, and a bunch of games vs Arizona. That said, those teams are all pretty beatable besides Philly, who is really dangerous. As long as we can avoid the spiral that would really make any kind of run more difficult, then we should be in the position to do some kind of adding at the deadline. All that said, I do think it's reasonably likely that we'll end up selling Chapman as well.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

DVR'd Indians game, will try and watch it later or tomorrow.

But looking at box, Ashcraft did not pitch?? Any word as why? He was listed as starter, and theFAN (DZ show) mentioned same this morning.

Apparently he went back on the IL, maybe just innings management, but I haven't seen much of an announcement anywhere.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Reports from nightingale is teams might take a flyer on Chisholm he isn’t well liked in the locker room and he is now going back to 2nd where he hasn’t played since in 2022. I don’t think i would trade ortiz or ash craft for him

 

[td_ice]

Apparently he went back on the IL, maybe just innings management, but I haven't seen much of an announcement anywhere.

Gotcha. For a sec I was thinking maybe he was being traded.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1812507111781192151

Jim makes a good point here that's worth keeping in mind with whoever the pick is tonight. It's easy to hear "polished college bat" and think "immediate help for our horrid offense", but even in a gangbusters scenario like Langford, the wildest best case scenario is a complementary player by some point next year.

I actually think pitching is a little bit different in that stuff is king above all else. If the stuff is ready, the player can be effective almost right away, with the extent of the role being determined by other important factors such as the ability to manage a game, poise, etc (where Skenes is also leaps and bounds ahead of other draftees).

I'm still really high on Kurtz, not worried about the 1B history, but also open to plenty of other options including the prep bats. I'm a little bit less enthused about Tibbs at this point, but he could open up an interesting scenario with the second and third picks. Still, I like the profile of Benge more and I think he'd also be a discount at 9. There are just too many options depending on what happens at the top, so I don't think it's worth dwelling on hypotheticals or specific players. The wildest scenario would be if Caglianone starts to slip a bit, but I highly doubt he would get all the way to our pick (surely LAA would take him).

 

[ImporterExporter]

ProspectsLive has us taking Kurtz but in on Griffin as well.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Callis and Mayo have us both going Kurtz.

 

[BusinessGoose]

CWS going with a bullpen game

Fingers crossed we can take advantage considering they have the worst bullpen in the league

Cutch doubled off the first pitch... Nice

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think Griffin is a strong possibility and it would be hard to criticize it, other than that the Pirates have not really shown they can develop bats. Griffin is the kind of guy who could end up like a Bobby Witt Jr or Gunnar Henderson if everything goes right (though obviously Bobby was much more highly touted).

The guy I find myself liking a lot in the 11th hour is Carson Benge, at least if we are going to cut a deal. I think he has the kind of traits the Pirates like in terms of contact and hitting the ball hard, and he also has some intrigue as a fielder with a great arm and decent speed. He doesn't yet have the power profile of a guy like Montgomery, but the trade off of very solid contact seems nice.

I definitely like him the most out of the group of players who are outside of the consensus top-10 players. I highly doubt it works out this way, but I'd really love to see a nice deal for a college bat at 9 and then an overslot deal to pull a college batter down to 37. Grabbing Benge as an OF prospect and then Tommy White as a corner guy would round out our prospect group. That said, given the results, it would be hard to complain with a pitcher at 37.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Bases loaded no outs... For Chicago.. Lol.. Come on keller

Alright got two grounders to only give up one and finish the inning

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Kimbrel just gave up a HR to probably lose the game for Baltimore. With the Royals paying a pretty hefty price for Hunter Harvey, a solid but unproven RP, you have to think that Chapman would bring back a decent haul.

The tricky thing will be getting the right return rather than just getting ok value. I think if we make an addition to the outfield, it will be easier to spin whatever the return is, even if the return is prospects. I don't know if this is controversial but I think we should definitely take advantage of the market and trade him. I'm sure I will sing a different tune if we are actually 1 game out of a WC spot in September, but it's too good of an opportunity for a guy who is still somewhat inconsistent and gone after the year anyways.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Adding to that, Holmes ends up one-upping Kimbrel and blowing the game himself. The Yankees actually might be a nice match for a Chapman trade. I tend to like the kinds of players who are often on the edge of the 40-man roster for them, so if you could take a flier on someone there and a prospect, that might be nice. Will have to dig into in after the break to see if anything makes sense.

Pirates screwing around and losing an extremely winnable game would be very on-brand to close out the first half of the season.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Keller laboring threw that 3rd inning....

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Bart! Huge!

 

[metalan2]

Where is Keller?

 

[DJ Spinoza]

ProspectsLive has us taking Kurtz but in on Griffin as well.

The latest BA and ESPN mocks have us taking Griffin. Fangraphs hasn't put up their day of mock just yet.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Where is Keller?

Worst start in a long time. Lost his like 53 game, or whatever he was up to, streak of going 5+ innings.

 

[metalan2]

Worst start in a long time. Lost his like 53 game streak of going 5+ innings.

Ok but he only gave up 2 runs? I saw one in ing and his fastball was 91. Maybe just didn't have it or was he injured?

 

[BusinessGoose]

Ok but he only gave up 2 runs? I saw one in ing and his fastball was 91. Maybe just didn't have it or was he injured?

Just didn't have it. Was pretty poor control. Should be okay, maybe just distracted today.