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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 07/30/10
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Jason Mackey
11:53
Hi folks and welcome to my weekly Pirates chat. A day early because of tomorrow's game and the MLB trade deadline. We'll get started in just a few minutes.
Ty
12:00
Pirates get: Gavin Lux, Dustin May, Will Smith, Yimi Garcia
Sammy Khalifa
12:00
How bad does this have to get before Clint hit the Hurdle Highway?
Ty
12:00
Dodgers get: Felipe Vazquez, Chris Archer, Kevin Kramer
Jason Mackey
12:01
Ty: I have a tough time seeing that happen. What incentive would the Dodgers have for getting Chris Archer? So they could give the Pirates three of their top four prospects and also get a middling infielder (yes middling, not middle) who doesn't have a place in Pittsburgh? I don't think so.
12:02
Sammy: I think the Pirates could lose every game from now until the end of the season, and ownership won't fire Hurdle because they don't want to pay two people to do one job. It's a shame because I worry that this team has indeed quit on Hurdle. At minimum, it doesn't seem capable of pulling out of this current funk with him at the helm.
Rob
12:02
I think it's probably safe to say the Clint Hurdle era is over, correct?
Jason Mackey
12:02
I would be stunned if the Pirates fired him for the reasons I just outlined.
Bill
12:02
Any thoughts on who replaces Steve Blass next he’s in the booth?
Jason Mackey
12:03
I would imagine that Wehner will get a larger role, as I think he should. I could also see them using Michael McKenry in an expanded role, although I kind of like what they have right now with him in-studio. In my opinion, Wehner deserves the chance to do all the games.
Eric Rivers
12:03
You're running the bucs, what are the first three moves you make
Jason Mackey
12:05
They would probably be related, but I would clean house. Huntington, Hurdle, Vazquez ... they need to blow it up, in my opinion. Although the first move I might make would involve actually spending money on players. Is that an option?
Bucsfan
12:05
Why don’t pirates just give Keller rotation spot rest of this year if they’re punting on the season anyway? Might as well let him figure out how to pitch in this league and learn while we’re down and out
Jason Mackey
12:05
I don't know, honestly. I plan on asking Hurdle this today. Kind of got glossed over yesterday. But they want to plug him in and let him pitch. OK, why not do that ... at the major league level? The only way the kid is going to figure it out is by doing it. If they're 2 1/2 games out, I get it; he needs to wait. But they're obviously not.
Steve
12:06
How bout a package deal of marte and Vasquez to Dodgers for lux verdugo and urias and ruiz
Jason Mackey
12:06
Please tell me this isn't going to continue for the entire hour ...
Jeff
12:06
Good afternoon.  I'm hearing Vazquez trade talks with the Dodgers have bogged down.  The Dodgers apparently don't want to part with Lux.  The Bucs, to me, are in a good position that if they don't get quality offered, they can hold on to Vazquez since, I think, he has 3 more years of control.  Are any other teams interested in Vazquez?
Jason Mackey
12:07
Hi Jeff, you could be hearing that because Buster Olney tweeted it. And yes, I absolutely think they can keep Vazquez, obviously. It might be smart, too. As I've been saying, I can see that being the best move, too -- if they're not able to get knock-your-socks-off return.
Hank
12:07
What is up with Bell?
Jason Mackey
12:08
He's in a major funk, swinging at pitches out of the zone, and it seems like pitchers are feeding him a steady diet of sinkers away. Either for physical or mental reasons or (likely) both, he's doing nothing with them.
Steve
12:08
How bout package deal of marte and Vazquez for lux verdugo Ruiz and urias
Jason Mackey
12:08
Welp, I guess it is.
Ryan
12:08
A team in the AL blows you away with a trade for josh bell what do you do? He’s not a 1st baseman.
Jason Mackey
12:08
I wouldn't trade him. Not in a billion years. He's the closest thing they have to star. I know he's not hitting right now, but in my opinion, they can't trade him. They should be trying to build around him. He's one of their few untouchable pieces, IMO.
D.J. Spin
12:09
Setting aside Vazquez, Marte, and the rentals, are there any surprise trade candidates you can envision?
Jason Mackey
12:09
I really can't. The one I could maybe see that we're not talking about a ton, although I wouldn't describe him as a surprise, is Liriano. Contending teams are always looking for solid lefties out of the 'pen with experience. Won't be a sexy deal, but it makes no sense for the Pirates to keep him.
thomastown
12:09
Since this season is a train wreck, shouldn’t they use the rest of the season to try some different things by trail and error? Trial #1: Musgrove has not been a reliable starter. Why not try him as a high leverage ( 8th or 9th inning) reliever? His history in Houston suggests he would be better in that role.
Jason Mackey
12:11
I think they should try some things; however, I would not try Musgrove in that role. Shoot, he might be their best starting pitcher right now, sad as that is. The reason I'd keep Musgrove as a starter: One of his best assets is the number of pitches he throws. He would likely loose that as a reliever. There's just not the volume of innings to maintain a feel. The better plan, if I'm managing, would be to use this year to work on Musgrove's location and trying to be more consistent with that. I have no problem keeping Musgrove in the rotation. Just has to pitch better.
Rob
12:11
If you are Bob Walk. What do you really want to say while on air?
Jason Mackey
12:11
What I would want to say and what I could say are two completely different things.
jds317
12:11
When will the JHK madness end?  Strikes out constantly.   Its almost Aug.  Do you agree they should DFA him and bring up Tucker or Hayes?
Jason Mackey
12:12
Absolutely. I would have done it yesterday. I'd probably bring up Tucker and move Newman to second or third. Given the way his year has gone, I might want to keep Hayes in Triple-A. Although if those who see him every day feel a promotion would be warranted, I certainly wouldn't be against it.
Mike
12:12
What has been the biggest adjustment shifting from the pirates to the pens? How people complain about a winning team to a losing one?
Jason Mackey
12:15
That's a big one, yeah. The biggest changes, though, are winning vs. losing. Fans think I'm all sad because the team I cover now isn't winning. It honestly doesn't matter to us. As Gene Collier told me -- and nobody is better than Gene -- they win, we write. They lose, we write. The adjustments have been nuanced: writing baseball on deadline, digging deep enough for information, seeking out the right information, phrasing questions properly, getting to know people. Honestly, the biggest thing -- and maybe something I didn't take seriously enough -- was taking every relationship I had in hockey and 100 percent starting over. That's been tough, especially with agents, league sources and the like.
Logan
12:15
Will Craig has some experience at 3rd base, I think it’s time to release Kang and just get Craig up here to have the bat in the MLB. He certainly can’t strike out nearly as much as Kang does
Jason Mackey
12:15
Will Craig hasn't played third base in years. I'm fine with giving him a taste, but the third base boat has sailed. He's a first baseman up here, an outfielder (maybe) in the minors, definitely not up here. Could pinch hit off the bench. Third base isn't an option.
Ryan
12:15
Ok appreciate your opinion. But still believe his future is in the AL and he still has major value in the now.
Jason Mackey
12:16
You're entitled to your opinion, too. I'm just saying that I wouldn't do it.
D.J. Spin
12:16
If the Pirates ever spend money on a free agent again, Yasmani Grandal seems like an obvious fit. Fixes the pitch frame issue and injects sorely needed power into the middle of the order. We spent money on Russ Martin once upon a time. Do you think we could actually do the same? Catcher has always seemed important to Huntington, and Diaz took several steps back this year (as a side note, I am wondering if that is partially due to his mysterious illness from spring training).

What's the best guess for him? 4 years, 60 million? Probably excessively steep for us, but if we're foolishly banking on trying to gamble that everything goes right again, he seems like the best one stop shop purchase to not just be insane and try to hit reset on the same team. And it seems like at least a decent bet that teams will be cautious to give him more than 2 or 3 years guaranteed, since he'll be on the wrong side of 30.
Jason Mackey
12:17
D.J., it's a huge waste of time to get into hypothetical contract terms for a player that Pirates aren't going to sign. You bring up an interesting point about Diaz, though. I'm not sure that's why, but it probably didn't help. ... Bottom line, though, I think they're aware they have to get more out of their catchers. I think in the offseason you will see them address that, too, although I certainly wouldn't be expecting a marquee move.
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