The latest on a few National League teams…
- The Dodgers are “setting a high bar” on potential reliever acquisitions this month, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal says (video link). In the end, though, Rosenthal doesn’t expect the Dodgers to make any trades for outside bullpen aid, noting that closer Kenley Jansen (on the DL since Aug. 9 with an irregular heartbeat) is among their soon-to-return reinforcements. Further, August deals are generally difficult to make, with Rosenthal reporting that “most relievers are getting claimed on revocable trade waivers, then pulled back” by their teams.
- The Cardinals have decided to shift right-hander Luke Weaver from the rotation to the bullpen, manager Mike Shildt told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com and other reporters on Sunday. It’s not clear whether Weaver will return to the team’s starting staff in 2018, but for now, his vacated spot will go to fellow righty Daniel Poncedeleon. The 24-year-old Weaver has been subpar at preventing runs over 125 1/3 innings, as his 4.67 ERA shows, though FIP (4.14), xFIP (4.26) and SIERA (4.37) indicate he has deserved somewhat better results to this point. Poncedeleon, meanwhile, has held his own as a starter in the minors since the Cardinals drafted him in 2014. The 26-year-old made his first and only big league start July 23, when he stunningly held the Reds without a hit in a seven-inning, 116-pitch performance, and has appeared in five other games as a reliever this season. While Poncedeleon has managed to log an appealing 2.04 ERA through his first 17 2/3 major league innings, his K/9 (5.09), BB/9 (4.58), strand rate (91.6 percent), batting average on balls in play against (.133) and groundball percentage (31.9) suggest negative regression is around the corner.
- Pirates shortstop prospect Kevin Newman earned a promotion to the majors earlier this week, but they’ve been reluctant to use him thus far in the midst of a playoff race, and he’s not a lock to start in 2019. Even though fellow Pirates shortstops Adeiny Hechavarria and Jordy Mercer are set to become free agents in the offseason, that doesn’t mean the team won’t re-sign one of them or bring in another veteran at the position. The club would like to have a vet mentor the 25-year-old Newman for “at least some of next season,” according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (subscription required), who wonders if Pittsburgh will wind up signing a pending free agent such as Asdrubal Cabrera, Freddy Galvis, Jose Iglesias or Jose Reyes over the winter. While general manager Neal Huntington admitted the Pirates are indeed “open to” the idea of a veteran-Newman tandem at short next year, he added that finding a more experienced option is “not necessarily” a must.
Newman will get a chance to start when hes 28 or 30
lol I know seriously
Newman will be traded before he ever gets to start.
So, the narrative has flipped entirely? Now it’s Huntingdon trades all of his prospects instead of Huntingdon never trades his prospects? K.
Back in reality, more than half their lineup and of their pitching staff came through the Pirate system.
Pirates in a pennant race? LOL!
I know right
It said “playoff race”. There’s a difference.
This is what frustrates me as a Pirates fan, the guy is 25, if he’s not starting at the beginning of next season, he’s already getting too old. They keep these guys down forever, you can usually tell early on whether a player has it or not. Seems like all their hitting prospects just end up being simply average, I’m not optimistic anymore.
You do know that the Pirates are actually one of the more aggressive teams when promoting players. If anything there have been signs that the Pirates promote almost too fast especially with position players. Newman is on the same path as most players drafted out of college. It’s very rare that players come up before 24-25 unless they are full blown stars like Trout, Machado, Harper, Correa, or Bryant. Judge was 25. Donaldson was 27. Goldschmidt was 24 I believe. Those are just stars. Newman probably won’t be a star. He may hit .315 with 10-15 homers at most. 25 is actually quite a normal age for a player of his caliber and he hasn’t gone thru the system slowly.
I think that the Pirates may have brought Osuna,Luplow,and Moroff up too quickly as all three have been fairly good hitters at AAA but not in MLB.
Newman will be the starter next year as long as he plays well,and I think that AH will be the backup for both 2B and SS.
The reason that Newman and Kramer have not been brought up also has to do with not having convenient open spots on the 40 man roster.Also,until recently,they were actually thinking that they were in the playoff race.
If not, they certainly should. Hechavarria is better anyway.
Not only are the Pirates insincere when it comes to their future plans regarding Newman, they obviously called him up with intent to humiliate him enough to ask for a trade. This is what Pirates manager Clint Hurdle had to say about Newman’s call-up:
“We brought in Newman, but if Mercer’s not hurt, he’s not here. He’s earned this opportunity because of an injured player. You don’t force playing time for him right now, in my mind. You wait for playing time to be presented and open up, and I believe it will come his way because I don’t think we’re giving enough credit to the guy playing shortstop right now.”
triblive.com/sports/columnists/kevingorman/1398487…
In other words: if Hurdle and Pirates management have their way, they’ll sign Hechavarria in the off-season and retain the services of Sean Rodriguez as a backup, with Newman rotting in AAA as a Minor League lifer and a handful of emergency call-ups until the Pirates finally release him in his thirties.
Like previous former Pirates top prospects, Newman’s only chance to somewhat blossom lies in getting away from Pittsburgh. He should ask for a trade or for participation in the Rule 5 draft coming December.
Hurdles condescending remarks towards Newman make it more than clear that the Pirates don’t think much of their 2015 first round pick. It would only be fair to give a 25-year-old former prospect an opportunity to continue his baseball career with a more competent franchise.
If you don’t plan to play him why not call up moroff? He’s the kind of low ceiling utility infielder that’s perfect for the job. Taking away ABs from your top SS prospect to ride pine just doesn’t make sense.
He isn’t our top SS prospect anymore though. Oneil Cruz has shot up prospect rankings and was above Newman in MLB Pipeline’s rankings as of July. Cruz is only 19, and he’s yet to reach AA, but they clearly think he’s their future at SS, not Newman. Moroff isn’t as good as Newman anyways. Newman should want out, because he’s more of a major league player than the Pirates give him credit for, and he’s certainly better for the team than Moroff, or any other Pirates prospect right now
Oneil Cruz has shot up to 6’6″ and they probably will be moving him to another position soon.He is also very young,and years away from MLB.Certainly a good addition,but one too far away from the Majors to be anything near a sure thing at shortstop.
More Pirate draftees should refuse to sign with them, ala Mark Appel. Their management crushes the dreams of some picks, and never lets any other FULLY blossom into home-grown potential superstars. The Pirates will never have another Hall of Fame player start & end their career with Pittsburgh with the current ownership. I would never buy a Pirate’s player jersey because it’s just more money in the owner’s pocket. Why would a fan of this team buy a shirt, thus giving this owner/management more money for a player they aren’t willing to keep?
In all fairness, we may never see another player reach the HOF being drafted and retiring on the same team. Not sure why people think this is commonplace anymore.
Thank God Mark Appel,the “head case”, did not sign with the Pirates.
A perfect example of someone who believed in his own hype.
it was telling when the pirates got a shot stop in the trade market. the team has little faith in Newman at short. to be fair most decent scouts arnt high on him there either.
in the end hes just a place holder at short anyway
Some Bullpener will clear Waivers. Lirano has,
Watch out for Martinez/Flaherty/Mikolas/Reyes/Wacha in 2019, I’m pumped!
Get prepared for disappointment.
Seems like jealousy…Cardinals are just deep with pitching prospects that are already helping in the majors!
Jealousy? Of what?
Maybe its lack of baseball education, on your part.
Reyes in the rotation is a big question mark. Hopefully he can stay healthy which might involve him being a reliever.
While that rotation would have a ton of potential there’s also a lot of question marks. Mainly the health of Reyes, Wacha and Martinez. They seem to get hurt every season.
i believe Wachas odd man out next year aka lance lynn.
I must admit that looks like a stellar rotation and if not the Cards have so many pitching options that it is unreal… now let’s go get that 3rd baseman with the power bat! Go Cards…
Glass is half full for these guys. Cardinals pitching is a great problem to have..
Does Newman have behavioral issues or something that requires a “mentor”? It makes it sound like he’s a kid out of high school or somebody like Josh Hamilton who needs a Narron-like babysitter to keep him out of trouble when he’s a college-educated man in his mid-20s. Haven’t his minor league coaches and managers “mentored” him enough by 25?
Two of those players mentioned as possibilities aren’t positive influences anyway, so what’s the point? Send Newman to a seminar on “leadership” in the offseason if he needs to learn about “grit and hustle” or whatever intangibles they preach.
Well said
This
Dodgers fan saying why the eff are we gonna be selective? We have already blown 17 chances to improve our bullpen…and why would the buccos bring up Newman to not see what he can do? Why are clowns running front offices? Rant over
If you set the bar high enough you can never be expected to jump over it. After having avoided jumping over bars of any height so far even a low or medium bar would be something.
I’m really liking the Cardinals chemistry since Shildt has taken over. Moving Martinez and Weaver to the bullpen are insightful moves. Keeping arms fresh, a nice mix of young guys and grisly vets. 1 more grisly vet would be nice, playing 3rd if some miracle happens. Either way I believe there a dark horse for the NLCS.
Here come the Cards
“Not only are the Pirates insincere when it comes to their future plans regarding Newman, they obviously called him up with intent to humiliate him enough to ask for a trade.”
Obviously…
“Their management crushes the dreams of some picks, and never lets any other FULLY blossom into home-grown potential superstars. The Pirates will never have another Hall of Fame player start & end their career with Pittsburgh with the current ownership. I would never buy a Pirate’s player jersey because it’s just more money in the owner’s pocket. ”
Why would they want to keep around a 4th outfielder on name value? To sell a few more jerseys…that everyone who wanted one would already have?
I have some crazy and stupid stuff about the Pirates (someone gifted me a DK subscription) but…
They want to embarrass their top prospects and crush their dreams?
To what end?
I do agree that Hurdle should not have said what he said about Newman.That is not encouragement for a young player.On the other hand,he always favors the veterans,and makes the young players earn their keep.In my opinion he does both too much.One must remember though that Jordy Mercer has been a loyal employee for a number of years,and gets too much negativity for a lack of mobility.He has been a good shortstop for the Pirates,a player who was expected to play with little rest,and one who makes only a handful of errors.He is a decent hitter,and a decent clutch hitter.I think that all of this influenced Hurdle when he made the remarks about Newman.
He also may have been afraid to put too much pressure on the young man if he anointed him as the next regular before he even played a game.
Bottom line is he will play if he is good enough because he is cheap.
I do not think that there is anything more than that to it and all this negativity must be draining to those thinking it.