The Pirates have signed first baseman Darick Hall to a minor league deal, as revealed by Hall on his Instagram page earlier this week. Hall elected minor league free agency at season’s end, after the Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man roster back in August.
A 14th-round pick for the Phillies in the 2016 draft, Hall showed plenty of pop during his time in the minors, including a .253/.342/.458 slash line and 76 homers over 1735 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Big production in the 2022 season in particular earned Hall his first trip to the big leagues, and he continued to impress by hitting .250/.282/.522 with nine homers in 142 PA.
Unfortunately, a thumb surgery cost him over two and a half months of the 2023 season, and Hall hit only .167/.196/.241 over 56 Major League PA while spending most of the year at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Hall last appeared in the big leagues on July 20, 2023, as he spent the entirety of the 2024 season in the minors. Hall hit only .236/.320/.387 over 488 PA for Lehigh Valley last year, so he didn’t do much to force the issue in earning himself another look on Philadelphia’s roster.
It also didn’t help Hall that, as a first base-only player at this stage of his career, the Phillies never had much of a place to play him. Between Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and Kyle Schwarber, the Phils had most of the first base and DH at-bats spoken for, leaving Hall without much of an opening unless someone was injured. (The Phillies only called Hall up to the majors in 2022 after Harper was sidelined by a fractured thumb.)
After spending his entire pro career in Philadelphia, Hall will now head across Pennsylvania to join the Bucs, though he’ll again find himself lower on the depth chart. Andrew McCutchen will continue to garner most of the DH at-bats and the newly-acquired Spencer Horwitz is slated to be the Pirates’ regular first baseman. Horwitz and Hall are both left-handed hitters so that will limit platoon opportunities, though Hall might find a niche if McCutchen is spelled against the occasional righty starter.
Hall has played a handful of games as a left fielder in winter ball, but he has made only one career minor league appearance in the outfield, so it doesn’t seem likely that the Pirates will use him anywhere beyond first base. Hall is out of minor league options, so if he did stick with the Buccos beyond Spring Training, Pittsburgh would have to put him through waivers again if the club wanted to send him to the minors.
Hope he gets his chance and does well!
So do I, although I would be surprised to see him get and maintain regular at bats the entire 2925 season.
Welcome to the Hall of Nutting.
as Pirates fans we all have hope that players do well during any season under this administration but we have learned that hope is only a four letter word with no reality
Instead we endure another word that describes the seasons year after year
Disappointment
What do you think of Yorke?
I think Yorke has real potential to be a very good hitter.
Question is, will Shelton’s style of micro managing adversely affect him
Other than Cutch have the Pirates added a dime to their payroll this off season?
Most of any increase in payroll will be raises for Keller, IKF, and Bednar.
The close followers of team believe there’s only about $10 million left to spend.
Those are increases but you can also subtract the likes of Taylor, Chapman, and Tellez. That’s 18-19mil.
I think it’s pretty clear Pirates aren’t adding much payroll this offseason by what’s transpired so far this winter, and every other winter since Nutting’s acquired the team.
It just blows me away that they don’t see Skenes as a reason to spend, I know it’s unlikely he’ll resign with them but don’t you have to show him some effort to improve the team. If not now when?
Exactly right and what many of us feel
This team has stellar starting pitching
They just need a couple bats to build around it
And look what these clowns have done
10 million?
I’d shed tears of joy for 10 million brotha
Realistically they may spend under 6 on a reliever
RF is likely Davis/Suwinski/Palacios competition
yeah, the three stooges battling it out to see who can strike out the most as a right fielder
They have added new coaches but until either Nutting sells the franchise or Shelton loses his job, it won’t matter how much money they spend,, they will never bring another championship to this city
Shelton and his coaching staff are not the answers for a small market club. They don’t teach the basic fundamentals of baseball and the players lack any discipline
Nutting is both loyal and cheap to a fault.
yes, he’s loyal to his bank accounts and profit margins
You’re being too kind
I don’t know what kind of human being he is
As an owner, he’s a scumbag and carpetbagger.
Outside of being the cheapest owner in baseball, Nutting is also the owner of 300 newspapers so it’s not like he’s destitute or going bankrupt
When is the last time you or anyone else has purchased a newspaper?
Let’s use an example here. The PG is *still* a newspaper, even though it’s only published in hard copy form once or twice a week.
Nutting inherited his publishing companies.
Born on third base much like the next president
Actually, Nutting through Ogden Newspapers owns 54 dailies and 81 weekly newspapers, shoppers and magazines. Ogden employs about 3,500 people.
The newspaper business is not as lucrative as it once was. Only about 21% of Americans subscribe to an online news source. The revenue of newspaper publishers dropped 52% from 2002 to 2020. As revenue is predicted to grow -10.34% between 2023 and 2027. That is negative “growth” not even accounting for inflation. Since 20024, about 2,100 local newspapers have closed. While I doubt Nutting is financially hurting, the newspaper industry of which he is part of is a declining industry and is hurting financially.
The average difference between a ‘good’ manager and a ‘bad’ manager is 3 games a year. Even if Sheldon were to be replaced, statistically they’re still under 80 wins.
This will be Shelton’s 5th season as the Manager and as a team they still haven’t reached the .500 mark.
Granted 2020 was a lost year due to Covid, he has yet to improve the offense and he was a hitting coach before being named manager.
The 10 game losing streak last year should have cost him his job
My problem with Shelton isn’t the wins and losses, Rotini Man, because you’re right. Numbers can mislead.
It’s more about him wanting to be Uncle Sheltie. Let’s give guys days off. If they don’t hustle, say nothing.Don’t run out ground balls or pop flies? Go get ‘em tomorrow Cell phone pops out of the back pocket of a baserunner? Kids will be kids. Stand and admire a long fly ball that drops in front of the wall? No biggie. 3rd baseman has a handful of seeds while a ball is coming in from right field? It’s ok
That’s the problem
Few teams are as ok with losing as this one
Few teams have young players that aren’t corrected for lack of hustle, focus or discipline.
Yeah, he’s a hack where putting a line up card together is concerned. He’s clueless in situations where strategy is needed. He consistently fails to put pressure on opposing defenses
But it’s not about just winning
Except that if those obvious things you suggested weren’t a
problem , they probably would have won more games
those Shelton derived scheduled days off are ridiculous.
He has a habit of giving players a day off when they are in the middle of a hot streak
@Man @Mainst.
Both of you have valid points. I’m not pro Shelton in any way. I just think the problems go further up the food chain. Is he part of it? Absolutely. .
last year when it was obvious that Bednar didn’t have his good stuff and Shelton’stil used him as the closer when Chapman was available is an example of Shelton’s style of managing
Shelton is on spectrum. Rest his best players at home instead of road. Bednar was so toast even Paul seen it!!! Kidding Paul. How you doing buddy.
I’m doing well,Dream.
And you?
Great. Always something but if you can walk and see you are doing good.
whoever made up the term “ golden years “ for those who are retired, never had to face the consequences of aging.
There’s nothing golden about it
And celebrating birthdays and the new year. Getting sicker uglier and closer to death. I guess you can celebrate still being here. I don’t celebrate.
I don’t celebrate either.
I am grateful to be alive but that’s where it ends.
In the 3 years since I retired, I’ve begun taking 6 prescribed medications daily and will be getting an Iron infusion every month starting in January
Hall is a really good kid, but should probably head to the NPB to make some money for a few years.
Hope he gets @350 pas to finally see what he can do and -well- be injury free.
Agree with you about the NPB thing. As his age (29 entering ’24) a couple yrs overseas might net him a decent deal in MLB instead of a non roster invite?
I saw a decent amount of him in LHV, and frankly always considered him to be org depth. Obvious power, but just the one tool. I was rather amazed at that brief torrid stretch when he had to pick up the slack for Bryce’s injury but never seriously considered him to be anything but a AAAA type.
Maybe he can refine the hit tool and plate approach enough in the NPB to have a few years as a viable platoon 1B / DH before it is time to become a coach. ; )
Gotta go through Pittsburgh first before you head over seas
Go overseas or released completely from baseball.
Pittsburgh is the last stop before you’re just another has been or never will be player
Mr. Triple A
Dylan Cozens Jr
Carrying the torch passed by Tommy Joseph and Dylan Cozens admirably.
This is a very good signing.If he makes it big it will be a lot cheaper than giving up Jones in a Casas deal.
The Pirates have not had a power presence since Pedro Alvarez.
well, they certainly have a strikeout presence having set the franchise record last season with over 1500
And before someone says every player strikes out, as a team, they were near the bottom in runs scored
This team needs a run producer not endless minor league signings
Thanks, Mendoza. I blew coffee through my nose after reading your first sentence
Walker. Bellinger. Goldschmidt. Alonso all play first at a high level
But for the Pirates, this is a good signing.
What a pathetic owner this is
Hall drew 2 walks and struck out 48 times last year with the Phillies.
This team has more than enough players who can’t get on base
Always dumpster diving for the league minimum
He’ll fit right into this lineup
Worse than that Paul. So bad he didn’t even play in mlb last year. But year before 18 not 48.
Mr- It’s a minor league signing with power upside.
Are you going to ever quit complaining that they aren’t signing Walker,or Goldschmidt or Bellinger?
Do you think any of them want to play here or in New York?
They aren’t.Never.
Or do you just complain because you can?
They traded for a young good hitting first baseman and only gave up your man Ortiz.
We’ll see who turns out better this coming year.
As long as teams from similar size markets sign and subsequently compete, the answer is no. Never. The big news for the Pirates this season has been Cutch re-upping and the news that the plaza next to PNC—owned by Nutting—will be open in time for the start of the season. You’re right. Why complain?
Feel free to mute or ignore me if you prefer Pollyanna. Maybe if you hold your breath and click your heels together three times, one of these “good signings” will do something here in Pittsburgh before heading off to Asia, which is the custom
Yes. We’ll see who turns out better, as we have the past few seasons. How funny it is that only on the Pirates threads can you find people excited about guys who’ve struggled at the MLB level and are now heading here
Considering that they could have signed Santana before last season ( he wanted to come back) but he cost $2 million more than Tellez, who turned out to be a failed, I think we have a right to complain.
It’s a never ending cycle with this franchise.
Signing the least valuable player for the lowest price
No Pollyanna with me.
This was a minor league signing.Every team does it.
He was stuck behind two players so it may take the will to improve out of many players.
I do not know any poster here who is a Nutting fan,including me whether your realize it or not.
I just try to understand his actions as much as possible.
No matter what you or I post on this site he will not read it nor change if he did.
I for one think that he should be spending big on a reliever like he did with Chapman last year.
He needs a power hitter even if one dimensional.
He needs a left handed reliever.
And we know that Cherington will not get anywhere near the cream of the crop but they should be signing solid players who can help.
These should still be available in January.
By my estimates he should be spending an additional $15-$20M before spring training.
We’ll see if they do.
You continually place the blame on Cherington but it’s reasonable to assume he is provided an incredibly low ball budget from his owner. Whether you are a Nutting fan is inconsequential. Scapegoating a guy who likely tries to be a GM with one hand tied behind his back is ridiculous
Yes, Cherington’s player development program is poor. I believe his scouting is at the bottom, as well. But his trades and signings are reflective of a much deeper problem. Even Oakland/Sacramento/Vegas has a better owner or at least one who tries to improve his team
This guy is the worst. Period
As for guys available in January, it’s more bottom feeding for players who won’t move the needle.
I’d just find a new team. Complain away though. Nutting isn’t paying and massively over paying 25m a year multiple years for a freaking 1b. Goldschmidt would be cheaper and shorter but he doesn’t want to play for a loser.
That’s why I am a Pirates fan. They don’t make awful moves like these. Horowitz was a smart trade. If Nutting wants to spend $ he can extend Cruz Skenes.
You must be joking. Seriously. This is why you’re a fan of the Pirates?
No. I was born into fandom. Again, if you don’t like the complaints, mute or ignore me. And again, save the small market/limited finances myth. If this is your continued explanation for a pathetic franchise run by a carpetbagging owner, just bypass me altogether
Like I’ve said a thousand times, I’ll be happy with a .500 team that battles, thst plays with fire. After an insanely poor off season, that seems to be a pipe dream
the whole small market excuse gets old year after year.
Tampa is a small market team yet they are competitive year in and year out.
And they draw less fans than the Bucs
Pretty much every small market team has done better than the Pirates.Even the Reds made the playoffs since 2015.
The failure of BC to produce a winner has been evident.His failures have been stated by a number of posters here.
Hopefully,no one here believes that the Pirates can ever compete and win a World Series.
Like Dream GM has said,Nutting needs to clean house and get new minds to put together a system that can generally win like you say.
I think that the divergence from being an actual knowledgeable baseball person severely hampers the organization even more than his tight fisted spending.
This off season in particular is astounding, TheMan3
This is beating a dead horse but….
They had/have a stud starting pitching staff
They need two good bats
We know they won’t spend for an Alonso. Or Walker
Even MLBTR throws out mid-tier names that would have been true upgrades. And they do this twice, updating after the first push of signings
It’s evident to EVERYONE. You have Skenes. And Keller. And Jones
Just get a couple bats
But look what they’ve done instead
Outrageous. Ridiculous
Either Cherington is a joke of a GM or more likely, the carpetbagging, profit obsessed owner has given him his marching orders
I’ll ask again. After reading columns stating the window of sign Skenes to a big contract will likely close at the end of spring training, why would he ever sign for more of this?
There is no commitment to competing, let alone winning
Or maybe it’s because it’s not about winning to Nutting, @Mendoza. Maybe it’s all about profits and nothing more. Maybe it’s an obsession.
Seems more likely than any other rationale
Yes, Nutting needs to clean house and it begins with himself. But as Cuban explained, given the money Nutting is making here, he’d be crazy to sell
There’s a reason a hockey guy is hired as president. There’s a reason a Cherington takes the GM job. Because they’re cheap hires and won’t ask questions or make waves
Where I say I don’t like complaints? In fact I said complain away. Why would I mute you? You are on the verge of another breakdown. Won’t be long until you disappear and come back with your 87th new user name. Relax. Take a vacation and snuggle up with Eduardo. It will all be ok.
There’s no born into anything. People born into poverty become rich. This isn’t medieval Europe. Same with baseball. This is 150 100 years ago. You can watch every game of every team. Can easily pick a team that operates more to your liking. Some kids want to root for dads team and some like disappointing old dad. People vote one way their entire life and suddenly switch. People been straight entire life and all then become gay. One gender all life and they change that. Decide to change careers and go to school at late age.
Nutting though. Only change for him is grabbing up every bit of change from his teams fans down to the last cent. He’s more likely to change into a woman than a owner who spends money.
Current pirates payroll 76m. Last years 84m. Cherington has 8m left to get a outfielder and 2 relievers. Hold on attendance went up a impressive 100k to 1.7m so maybe he has 12m to work with. Why can’t we spend the same as other small market teams? Well their attendance is over 2 million. They make playoffs. Playoffs huge revenue for owners. When the last time your attendance was over 2 million was 2016 your aren’t going to have the same money as teams that get attendance. Last playoff game 2015. Last playoff series 2013. Last playoff series win to advance 1979. Lucky Bob spends what he does because these other central teams are making much more $. Yet no small market team has ever spent more than 130m. So 85 with all this losing. Decades and decades of losing. With absolutely pathetic attendance. Well is pretty fair. But but he’s just pocketing hundreds of millions!!!!! If so then so are the other teams. I would pocket it too vs being black listed by my fellow owners. Steve Cohen is one of a kind but he isn’t just spending his profits or own $ because he wants to win. It’s an investment that could make him more.
Paul you go root for Tampa. Or wait for Pittsburgh to be the best team in player development. If Pittsburgh develops players better than every other mlb team they can be just like Tampa.
Tampa was pretty good despite attendance because of their media market size. With cord cutting it’s going to be interesting. Stadium issues interesting.
You guys can’t handle being Tampa. When I was pounding the table to trade Bednar all I heard he’s the best closer in baseball! He’s local kid! Heart of the team! Can’t trade him! Perpetual rebuild! Tampa would have traded him.
There you go again. You can’t help yourself. First off, Edwardo isn’t my type. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. While I’m at it, tell Energel to talk to his wife. Plump blondes from the trailer park aren’t my type, either.
As for your long, rambling screeds, perhaps it’s time to take your own advice. Visit your Thai ladyboy friends. There’s no future for being a legend in your own mind
So in your way of thinking, the carpetbagger Nutting only has $84M to spend and that means all he has left is $8M at this point. Solid reasoning.
You’re on your attendance rant again when it’s been debunked as much as the small market/limited finances myth. Do you work for Nutting? You’ve become adept at regurgitating his logic
PNC’s capacity is 39K
The plans were drawn up by the previous owner
It was paid for by taxpayer money among myriad promises in exchange
Nutting knew all this when he bought the franchise.
Again, it’s common knowledge now that ticket prices/concessions/merch sales pay for the organization’s salaries. While that’s a 3 year old fact, let’s agree that there haven’t been many drastic increases in salaries here
Keep carping about playoffs. You’re the only one, because it’s comical. The actions of the Pirates should only reinforce the idea that winning means very little here
Maybe “Little Bob” is a better nickname for you
Tampa. Cleveland. Milwaukee. Baltimore. Kansas City
All went through rebuilds
All realized that there were missing pieces that the farm didn’t provide
All went out and made moves
Yeah, the rebuild is over. But only with a miserly owner do we already look forward to another rebuild without even getting to .500
Pirates made move! Horowitz!
Still got 8m! Heck maybe 10 or 12!
Maybe Nutting projects attendance will go up so 15!
Having another $8-12 million lett left to reach last year’s payroll doesn’t mean they will spend that much.
In fact if they can get away with spending less, they’ll do just that
I do root for Tampa and last year,Cleveland.
Why?
Because I know that Pittsburgh will never be competitive as long as Nutting owns the team
Careful, TheMan3. These kinds of comments will get you responses from Nutting’s defenders OR a response of pretzel-filled logic replete with sexual innuendo from the legend in his own mind
Any Pirates fans left?
Cherington working? Maybe in Japan!
Any lefties in pen this year?
Getting a outfielder?
Or #JackIsBack?
Abandon ship Bob! Sell the team!
This organization is a freaking disgrace.
Faithfully submitted,
Lifelong Pirates Fan
welcome to my world, SteveM7
Loyal fan since 1966, and a one time 30 year season ticket holder
Right there with you, Steve.
My dad used to take us to Forbes Field
It’s funny. I didn’t think it could get any worse from the drug trial years or the McClatchy era
I was wrong
Darick Hall’s power potential makes him an intriguing signing for the Pirates, even if his path to playing time is crowded. Over 142 MLB plate appearances in 2022, he posted an impressive .522 slugging percentage, hinting at the kind of impact bat teams value. However, his struggles in 2023 (.167/.196/.241 in the majors) and a lackluster .387 slugging percentage at Triple-A last season show he’ll need a strong Spring Training to crack the roster. While his first-base-only profile limits flexibility, Hall’s raw power could make him a solid depth option, especially if injuries open up opportunities in Pittsburgh’s lineup.
Signing Hall is not a bad move for the Pirates. It might even be a sneaky good one.
Signing Hall and doing absolutely nothing else since the questionable trade for Horwitz is not only ample reason to complain, but possible reason to lead a torchlight protest down Federal Street.
Like Horwitz, Hall will likely be remembered as Tellez, Santana and Choi are, come this time next year
Hannibal said it well (above). It’s truly shocking that Cherington looked around, saw a very good starting pitching staff coming into focus, and instead of signing one or two mid-tier, solid bats, did nothing
I give it a couple months until Nutting makes his annual “Losing is unacceptable” speech. Truth is, perpetuating the small market/low budget myth is more important than opening the checkbook
Pathetic
The President of Baseball Operations already made the claim that their only goal was putting a winning team on the field
He must have been talking about a minor league team, because it’s certainly not the Pirates who he was referring to
Santana was good. And fetched a good prospect that won’t be developed.
He hit a few homers. One was memorable. He hit somewhere around .240. Good glove, but not a reliable weapon at the plate
And just got 12.5 million or 12 or something from a team much much much ….. Smarter than Pittsburg. Same player now as he was in 2023
And still, nothing approaching “good”
You just have too high of standard of good or don’t understand how to get wins in baseball. Preventing runs is the same as scoring runs and Santana prevents as many runs as anyone at 1b. He works pitchers as hard as anyone. Nothing good comes from a strike out. Fans just want hrs from 1b. They are in their cave yelling it’s a power position!!! Santana 2.5 war Alonso 2.6 war Walker 2.6 Goldschmidt 1.3
Pirates fans number 1 target last year Hoskins negative 0.2 Fans are stupid. Why owners gms don’t pay any attention to what they want.
Horowitz 1.2 with much much less playing time. Not apples to apples with 2b time. I like his chances of being as good or even better than those guys. Well at least vs RHP. Vs LHP he should be awful unless Pirates out develop Toronto. If not it likely gets Cherington fired. You trades 3 arms for our most glaring need and it was a failure? I think that’s the final straw. The straw for Huntington wasn’t Cole Morton Glasnow. It was Jordan Lyles.
The straw for Huntington was likely the Archer trade, after he fizzled down the stretch and everyone and their grandmother went public to complain
Huntington didn’t suddenly forget how to build a baseball team. Like Cherington, it’s pretty apparent that he was advised of some paradigm shift from the owner that precluded spending any money whatsoever
Meanwhile, he was in much the same situation the Penguins are in now. Not a serious threat for any championship run but vying for the playoffs. A PR crossroads.
His actions decimated the farm system
It was Lyles. I heard it straight out of Nuttings mouth. 5 era with Pirates. 2 era with Brewers. Bob was well aware of the others but that was the final straw.
Also shows that Nutting knows absolutely nothing about baseball. Milwaukee didn’t instantly fix or improve Lyles. It was just random 2 month extremely lucky.
A+ A lot to like.
Bad news Mets interested in Winker. Have to depend on Cherington to be creative. Or #JackIsBack
A who cares minor league contract
I called into the fan this morning and told him about the 1500 strike out from last year and they were astonished that that number was that high