The Pirates announced yesterday that they’ve optioned outfielder Austin Meadows to Triple-A Indianapolis. Long one of the game’s top prospects, Meadows posted solid but unspectacular numbers in Indianapolis this season before breaking into the Majors on an otherworldly tear. Through his first 83 plate appearances, Meadows hit .346/.373/.654 with five homers, five doubles and two triples. But, he went on to slash just .247/.291/.288 in his next 79 PAs and had been largely relegated to a bench role when he was finally optioned. General manager Neal Huntington told reporters (link via MLB.com’s Adam Berry) that the move to send Meadows down to the minors “probably happened two or three days later than ideally it would have,” but the team wanted to preserve its outfield depth and flexibility with a doubleheader on Saturday this weekend. “It’s in his best interest and our best interest to continue to grow and develop,” said Huntington of Meadows, who seems certain to factor into the team’s plans at the big league level once again at some point this season.
More on the Buccos…
- Francisco Cervelli hit the 7-day concussion DL for the fourth time in the past two seasons this past weekend, and there’s no indication as to when he’ll return just yet, writes Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. But while Cervelli recently worked out at first base and impressed manager Clint Hurdle with his instincts and athleticism there, the organization isn’t yet considering a move from behind the plate for Cervelli. Huntington stressed that, first and foremost, the immediate concern is getting Cervelli the best medical care he can as he battles through his current post-concussive symptoms. “There is concern that multiple concussions, where do we go long-term, but I’m not at that point where we need to or want to have those discussions just yet,” said Huntington. Cervelli, as Bloom notes, suggested earlier this season that he’d consider retirement if injuries ever forced him out from behind the plate.
- The Pirates’ 7-1 performance over the past week has put pressure on Huntington and the rest of the front office as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches, writes Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Huntington spoke candidly last weekend when discussing the team’s situation, noting that with their record, the Pirates weren’t in position where a run of .500 ball would change their outlook. A sweep of the Brewers and a move to within five and a half games of a Wild Card spot, however, could at least move the Bucs from a definite seller to a team in “wait and see” mode as the deadline draws nearer. Huntington acknowledged as much, stating that the Pirates “need to do more” despite an excellent week of play. Indeed, the Pirates are still just 48-49 and nine games back in the NL Central, but their recent winning streak at least has the potential to alter their deadline approach.
Neil Huntington and Clint Hurdle are a joke. Meadows sat the bench 12 out of 13 games and didnt play in either game of Saturdays double header. They both constantly talk out of both sides of their mouth. They both need fired.
that 5 game sweep of milwaukee may of saved hurdles job. 5 in a row vs brewers is bizarro world. i still think they sell. If they really want something, now is the time to deal dickerson or vazquez
Nothing will happen to Clint or NH no matter what.. None of them are on the hot seat. Nutting gave them 4 year extension for a reason.
Guys on the field just showed that they have guts in past 9 games, but the Pirates will sell anyway, even if the Pirates win all 3 series before the deadline. And, yeah, let’s just wait when NH does something stupid again and then blame fans, league, media, aliens from Mars or Jedi Council for his own failures like he does all the time. I think in off-season I”ll .do some research, revisit every trade he made for the past 10 years to figure out how many of them were successful. I’m sure the percentage of his successful trades are very low.
BTW – how good would Manny Machado look in a Pirate uni? He was available but Pirates took Jameson Taillon instead in 2010 draft.
Machado would either still be in AAA learning how to be a utility player, or would have been traded 4 years ago if the Pirates drafted him.
Are you kidding? Pirates don’t trade prospects until they flame out. They value their prospects far more than any other teams do
Agree. He would have made it to the majors at 24!!
BTW Meadows drew a walk in game 1 of double header, but it doesn’t change a thing. Giving time to some AAA guy who will probably not have even mediocre career in the big leagues over your most prized prospect? That’s brutal.
Well Huntington and Hurdle work for cheap, and The Pirates will take cheap over quality 24/7.
I am a National League lifer but I think the DH rule is a good thing. It gets rid of an easy out and injury potential while prolonging guys like Cerville’s career. Bullpens are used so much now that “strategy” is still important for managers.
1000% agree
You want longer games in the NL? The DH was created to add offense in an era where pitching dominated. Remember when teams had a ten man staff? Increase the roster size to 27 with 25 designated available each game with a pitchers limit of 10 including last and today’s starter. Also eliminate the DH which is no longer needed in today’s game (smaller parks, juiced ball, player and/or bat, etc.). I realize the DH is here to stay but I can still dream of real baseball instead of computer baseball that we have today.
Correction. Numbers don’t work. Limit pitching staff to eleven. Simple enough. Teams and pitchers will learn how to pitch. Right now many just throw as hard as they can.
????Where do you find a connection between longer games and the DH? If there’s a study on that,, I’d like to hear about it.
More offense>more pitches>more pitchers>longer games.
Nonsense. The difference between the runs per game in the AL and NL is about .25 a game, and that number has been steady since just after the DH was instituted. Again, where’s the data?
So there is a difference then. Thanks for clearing that up.
But not a meaningful difference, so thanks for letting me clear that up.
Since beginning of 2014, difference is 0.16 runs per game.
Just did a quick Internet search (not comprehensive). Found on study from 2012 that found a nearly 5 minute difference but found a 2014 study that was basically the same. The problem with the studies is the game continues to change so the worth of each is questionable. What is clear to me is playing without a DH creates pinch hitting and pitching changes that don’t cause mid inning commercial breaks. Combine that with a pitcher v. DH average hitter and common sense says except for factors like the actual involved teams (Boston and New York have deliberately tried on the last fifteen years to run up the pitch count), there has to be a difference. Instant replay is also a huge factor but it wouldn’t explain different average lengths of games in each league.
I’m an AL fan but think only one league should have the DH. Even with bullpens being used more, as you say, having the pitcher hit still brings an added dimension of strategy.
It doesn’t even have much strategy like some people want you to believe. “Hmm, do i Walk the eight hitter to get to the pitcher or not?” The only two pitchers that are worth watching hitting is Ohtani and Lorenzen
Exactly–most of the so-called strategy involved around having the pitcher hit are pretty much automatic–he bunts with a runner on and one out, if his team is down in the sixth you pinch hit, etc. If you had an actual hitter in the nine-spot, you have more options.
Bumgarner can hit, Greinke isnt an automatic out every time and is legitimately good on the bases, Steven Brault earlier this season set a Pirates team record for most at bats to begin a career without a strikeout and theres the fact that if you have ever in your life enjoyed watching the blooper where a ball hits off Jose Canseco’s head at the warning track and goes for a homer then there’s plenty of Bartolo Colon at bats you’d enjoy as well. So I like letting pitchers hit, it brings an element of being a little kid and cracking up on fart jokes to the game sometimes.
If Bumgarner was an everyday player he’d be among the leagues worst players
JD. It still was part of the universal game until 1973. Other team sports have a clock. The DH was artificially created when attendance was down in both big and small markets after lowering the pitching mound didn’t increase offense enough. I used to be a baseball fan. Now I’m more or less just a huge Sox fan. I’ll put on a key playoff game but will not usually stay with it because the game is usually too long. The regular season? Not unless I’m looking to watch someone specific.
Ok? It’s still incredibly stupid to have someone whose more than likely going to strikeout. And not being able to watch other games has nothing to do with this.
Some basketball players can’t shoot foul shots and putting them on the line is strategy. Some pitchers pride themselves into becoming decent hitters. I guess if you just want success, MLB can look to make N even juicier ball or build smaller stadiums.
Ban the DH
Anyone who likes mindless TTO is free to watch as much AL baseball as they like.
Let the people who want to watch something close to real baseball enjoy the NL.
Thanks.
“TTO”? Is that your own cool acronym?
Real baseball? What is that? Rules are constantly changing and they are not the same throughout the world.
Change can be good even for boomers like you.
You are welcome.
The article distorts his stats which to date were .298 for the season. Might be another issue totally that caused Meadows’ demotion. How often is a hot shot rookie hitting .300 with over 150 Abs sent back down? My guess is this was a personal issue or perhaps just a roster crunch.
Not a roster crunch at all. I bet this has something to do with service time. No reason a guy like Jordan Luplow would force Meadows out. Now that Polanco is hitting, there aren’t any ABs for Meadows, so sending him down is the right move until Dickerson is traded. But there’s no excuse for him sitting the bench 12 of 13 games, while Jordan Luplow, who is not a prospect, started 3 of those games.
Is his still super 2 eligible? If so, we will see him back once he says good bye to his potential super 2 status.
He’s cutting it close if they were to hold him in the majors all year. He’s part of the future and the owner probably doesnt want to shill out some money in a few years if his bat continues to be this good.
after Austins initial tear of awesomeness he’s kinda sucked at the plate.
.252/.296/.346/.641 since june 1st over 115 plate appearances. now thats a fairly small sample sure. (so was his initial hot streak to be fair) But with three outfielders doing rather well Austin would have very little opportunity to work it out at the MLB level.
while yeah maybe distorting it a bit by not explaining further.. this move was not unexpected. though i do find it odd they called Jordan up while sending meadows down but i think that might be simply might be working the roster some given the All star break and such..
Austin will be back assuming he stays healthy.
I think it also had to do with getting him ABs during the break. With a team winning like they were last week I don’t justify starting Luplow over meadows but Luplow has a reputation for hitting LHP. And you weren’t going to sit Marte or Polanco with the HR they were ripping and still had Dickerson in the mix. I wouldn’t be shocked if Dickerson isn’t traded by the deadline
Huntington also said the Pirates had to go better than 4-4 in their last 8 games to avoid being sellers. Well….they went 7-1….watch how he changes his story. Remember, this is the same GM who said “this isn’t fantasy baseball” when asked about Sean Rodriguez not producing.
Bottom line is they aren’t going to be deadline buyers, and the previous 4 years (when they were solidly in the hunt) are evidence of that. All Bucs fans are gonna get at the deadline are the same litany of excuses Huntington learned from Shapiro: “We’re not gonna mortgage our future for a rental player.”, “We tried, but teams wanted more of our young talent than we could sacrifice.”, “I like our players and the team’s chemistry. Acquisitions put that chemistry at risk.”
2013-15 when the Pirates were in contention, they bought at the trade deadline. They were not in contention in 2016-17, so don’t pretend like they never add.
2017 maybe not, but in 2016 they where by virtue of winning seven straight going into the all star break. really wasn’t until about September when things got out of hand losing eight in a row. Okay they where not really contending to be much but still posting a winning record up until september 5th and did not recover.
Their biggest moves that summer were dropping dead weight in Niese and Liriano and picking up Felipe and Ivan… hardly move that signify a push to the playoffs.
Last year they only brought in Benoit and he turned out to be a disaster.
He certainly had good offensive numbers but his defense is certainly a work in progress.
I can see why they optioned him. It was purely a baseball financial move as they’re playing the long game here and just want to keep his service time down. MLBPA can arguw him getting sent down but they got enough of an excuse now in a otherwise medicore season.
The Pirates can’t be fooled by one series and consider themselves contenders. They are still under .500, have little or no chance to win the division, and they would need to leapfrog five other clubs to get into a Wild Card game. It’s not time for a fire sale, but there is no one on the 25-man roster that they shouldn’t listen to offers on.
Surely there are more good hitting pitchers than those two.
Put the DH in both leagues. Soccer and hockey have goalies as specialists. The quarterback is a specialist in football. Make the pitcher a pure specialist.
Having the DH takes half a brain to manage a team. Few double switches..less pinch hitting…etc. Hate watching a pitcher hit but still love the strategy.
As a Sox fan who has probably benefited more than most other fan bases (Cepeda at the end, Yaz, Rice, Ortiz, etc.), I’d gladly give up the DH. My first game ever in person, Fenway. Sonny Siebert, the Sox starter, home runs in his first two at bats and a long foul in his third (before he struck out). I remember it well. The team had Siebert a righty and Gary Peters a lefty who would pinch hit for other pitchers!
Only if you add the DF. Designated Fielder.
We can’t have these poor fragile pitchers fielding balls hit back at them. They could get hurt.
Guys like Pedro Florimon can stand behind the mound to handle bunts or cover first, etc.
Or a designated runner…
I am reading your articles. Why would you have Cervelli as a dh? Makes no sense. He is not a power hitter..
Pirates need to change ownership and front office mgt. We have a good group of core players and McCutchen should have not been traded. Also, look at the pitcher we traded to the Astro’s. We need pitching today. If the Indians and brewers can spend money as a small market team, the pirates can too. Nutting needs to sell period. He just wants to put a minor league team on the field.
McCutchen isnt McCutchen anymore. He is a meh outfielder now.
If the Pirates were sending Meadows down for Super Two reasons, they would have done so a week or more ago. He cooled off and now he needs to get regular AB’s, which he will do in AAA.
Unless they are going to extend him, they need to trade Corey Dickerson. They can bring Meadows back up then. An OF of Marte, Polanco, Luplow (who is a whipping boy to the uninformed but is actually a decent prospect himself…former third round pick who has hit better than Meadows in the minors) and Meadows is just fine. They should be able to get a useful piece for Corey.
They also need to trade one of Freese or Mercer (or both if they actually intend to bring Kang or S-Rod back). But, Kevin Newman is ready and has the potential to be a much better player than Mercer ever was, so he needs to play. Trading Mercer would be preferable, but if he stays, he could likely handle 3B and 1B pretty easily.
It’s funny that the same people who wanted the team tossed into a dumpster and set on fire two weeks ago are now insisting that they are legit contenders and not adding would be some great failure by management.
This is still a retooling/audition year. The auditions are just going better than they were two weeks ago.
And I hate to say this, because I like the player and the person, but Cervelli’s career is likely over. He’ll hang around for the last year of his contract as John Jaso 2.0 but if he can’t catch, his value is gone.
Hate to see Corey go because he’s the type of player who gives it 100% all the time. Would like to see a Meadows with Luplow against tough lefties. Maybe Corey for a decent catching prospect?
Every year is a “retooling” year for the pirates.
Truth is as long as the pirates take a half ass approach every year to how the team is built. They will continue to do this constant limbo.
Every other “small market team” knows when you have a playoff caliber team you trade any and all assets you have to make that run for 2-3 years then go in full out wholesale mode for the next 2 years and get all the prospects you can get.
Redevelop, then repeat.
Pirates don’t do this.
Try to lure Bieber or McKenzie away from Cleveland by offering bullpen and outfield help. Dickerson and Rivero… Marte and Rodriguez… Fill their needs with their window open, and bring back a much needed top pitching prospect.
Marte and Rivero are the best trade chips the team has. Marte is great, but not the center of a team–more a supporting player–and down to a few years left on his contract (not sure the Bucs are competing in October in that time). Rivero is a fantastic closer on a team that has more important things to focus on. Trade them to teams who really need a strong supporting player and a fantastic closer, and get back premium prospects in return.
As for veterans like Mercer, Freese, Harrison, Cervelli, Nova… Frankly, ship everyone out for whom you can for a worthy return. I didn’t include Dickerson in that list, only because I like him too much. He should probably be included, too.
I forgot to say that everyone on that list is replaceable for the most part. They may be missed at times, but they do not collectively result in a large amount of wins.
I’m generally not one of those “bah Pirates are cheap” yinzers, but I honestly don’t know if Nutting or Huntington are worse. Nutting has not really had issues with paying players, NH just doesn’t want to keep them and insists in shopping in the bargain bin instead of trying to play with the big boys.
Essentially this team just has to get super lucky and will have a two year window once every 8 years. It’s sad, because the players still play hard, but they are set up to fail.