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Jason Mackey's sports chat: 09.11.25
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Jason Mackey
11:34
Hello, everyone. Thanks for finding my every-other-week chat. You know the drill. We'll get started around noon.
11:47
And away we go ... few minutes early.
Mediocre Mikey
11:47
Jason, where and when was your first Dead show? Who turned you on to them? For me it was the Providence Civic Center in 1984. My College roommate bought me a ticket so I could experience them live.
Jason Mackey
11:49
I'm a poser. Ha. I've never seen them live. Never really had a chance. I'm 41, born in November '83.  My parents hated/hate the Grateful Dead, so I was too young to find 'em on my own. Got into them around 16 or 17. Then it just increased over time.
Bill
11:49
JM--What's your best guess as to why BN keeps Cherrington employed??
Jason Mackey
11:51
They viewed bringing general manager Ben Cherington back for 2025 as a full-year commitment. That's not an endorsement. I think that's ridiculous. I'm just relaying what I know. That it meant the draft, free agency, all of it. I think that's why they've stuck with him, realizing kind of, "OK, we're gonna see where the chips fall." It isn't going to be good. This recent stretch made me question whether they would indeed fire Cherington. After seemingly crashing back to Earth, I slightly better about that earlier prediction.
Gene
11:51
What is the answer at LT if Jones contract to play bad?
Jason Mackey
11:52
Man, hope and pray? I don't know, Gene. It's not good. Short-term: Play Darnell Washington there more to help out. Which obviously hurts personnel. Then, they could turn to Calvin Anderson as a starter. Don't love it. But you certainly can't continue with how Broderick played against the Jets.
Momo
11:52
Why do the Pirates continue to give Jiwan Bae chances? Is the farm system that bereft of talent that's there's no one else to give a chance to?
Jason Mackey
11:54
Not quite sure, Momo. I feel like I know what Ji Hwan Bae is ... and it's not an every-day MLB player. On the other hand, who else has earned a chance? It's damning for the organization, certainly. But if you need a body, Bae does give you that. I just don't have any confidene that he's going to figure it out.
House
11:54
For the Pirates, which of the young arms (majors or minors) are you willing to trade for hitting?  Also, do you have concerns about having too young of a rotation since many will have to have their workload managed?
Jason Mackey
11:56
Second part first: definitely not concerned. I'll take all the young pitching I can get. Happy to manage the innings. They just use people creatively, and they've done that.

Most any of them, honestly. The only one off the table is Skenes. Obviously you're looking for different value lines for each, right? People are charged with evaluated current players, as well as external players, and you need that math to work.

But I actually don't hate the idea of keeping Keller to preserve MLB-ready pitching and trading, say, a Thomas Harrington or Hunter Barco if it brings something back.

Bottom line, they need to fix the offense. You're gonna have to give up something to do that.
12:00
Not sure what's going on here folks. I normally have 40-50 questions sitting here. Right now, I have none. Gonna exit & rejoin. If you're holding back, please don't. We have the space.
Mark
12:03
Hi Jason. Not to defend Bob nutting but when he does spend money on long-term contracts, the guys all turned to mush. Polanco, Hayes, Reynolds, Keller.  My point is Nutting is not the only problem. What do you think?
Jason Mackey
12:07
Yeah, I don't disagree with you, Mark. People tend to take that the wrong way, like I'm defending Nutting. Absolutely not. But you should be able to win on a budget in MLB. Cleveland, Tampa and others have done it. The Pirates haven't been good enough with that stuff. It's not directly relative to money.

Now, should they spend more? Of course. But of the guys you mentioned ... they didn't develop Polanco well enough ... they didn't get the most out of Hayes; his offense never came around. ... Reynolds is having a down year. ... Keller has been at 3.2 bWAR on ~ $21 million over the past 2 years. I can't get too much. Industry standard is roughly 1 bWAR = $8 million. But it's about to get a lot harder to achieve that value.
Ryan
12:07
Good afternoon Jason what do you think about the play of Aaron Rodgers he looked good against the Jets also what do you think about Chris Boswell that was a good kick on Sunday GO STEELERS
Jason Mackey
12:08
Good afternoon, Ryan. I was very impressed. Love how he spread the ball around & used the middle of the field. If you give him time, he can very clearly make all the necessary throws.

I've been even more impressed with Rodgers as a leader. Both in the Jets game and in general. Way, way different than his reputation. I'm glad to have learned that a lot of that is wrong.
Big Steel
12:19
What a waste of Paul Skenes! Went to game last night in Baltimore. Will the Pirates do the right thing and let him play for a "real" major league franchise, very soon?
Jason Mackey
12:20
I don't think they're going to trade Skenes, if that's what you're asking. I understand the frustration, though. That's why they need to get really aggressive this offseason in terms of fixing the offense. Need at least two heart-of-the-order bats -- outfield and third base. Spend money on 'em. Multi-year contracts. They can compete, I really believe that, but they need to do a big-time fix on the offense.
Luke
12:20
Jason - what is the Pirates level of concern with Cruz - all that feel good HR derby afterglow seems to be a distant memory
Jason Mackey
12:23
I mean ... it exists. How could it not? He has a .692 OPS. Nick Gonzales has been better. But are you gonna do? I'm not cutting bait. Neither are they. They're working with him, trying to realize potential, etc. He'll be Arb-1 this offseason. They'll tender him. You wanna give him runway to figure it out. But, yeah, you certainly expect more than an 87 wRC+ (100 is average) at this point.
PrinceBob
12:23
Next year Penn State becomes an adidas school after decades as a Nike school. Drew Allar just signed an NIL deal with Nike which won't be a problem because he'll be gone when Penn State leaves Nike. But how would it work if he had another year? Would he play in Nikes but with the Three Stripes on his jersey? That happens in the NFL but I've never seen a college player in shoes from a company that doesn't sponsor his school.
Jason Mackey
12:24
Not sure, honestly. I feel like that's one of those things where logic would prevail, right? If Adidas knows it's a Nike school, either that player would be off-limits or, yeah, you wind up wearing two things. It's not like you would enter into something like that and wind up surprised the player can't wear your stuff. I don't know whether the team apparel deal takes precedence, however. I'd have to hit the Google.
Guest
12:25
Do you think Sid is willing to go through this tanking season if the Penguis try to compete next year? It doesn't make sense for them to compete this year, and he's getting tired of it.
Jason Mackey
12:26
That's not the impression I get -- him being tired of it. I think there's some BS floating around out there. Sid wants to win. We know that. I also think he's willing to go through a rough year in 2025-26 if there's progress, if young guys are developing and they're building toward something.

My impression with Sid is that he's always wanted to leave the team in better shape than he found it. Helping this transition would do that.

Now, if things go awry, the plan sucks, etc., maybe he cuts bait. But I don't think we're there yet.
Gene
12:26
Will the Steelers put Howard on the active roster after 4 games?
Jason Mackey
12:28
It will depend on his health and readiness. Gonna learn more when I go down there tomorrow, but I think there's probably more information to gain there. I would see the benefit there because he could then practice and get more meaningful reps. But just have to make sure his hand checks out and he could theoretically play in a game.
Andy Carnegie
12:28
Not sure why you say AR used the middle of the field.  He only completed four passes, completing two of them. I'm dismissing the TD "pass" to Jonuu Smith since it was behind the line of scrimmage. The rest were to the right or left of the field, mostly on PA plays. Was that by design so he could roll out to avoid pressure or did they simply not want to attack the middle of the field?
Jason Mackey
12:30
The Skowronek touchdown didn't come on a pattern run over the middle? According to NextGen Stats, six of his 30 attempts (20%) came between the hashes. I didn't say Rodgers exclusively used the middle of the field. I said he used it. Which he did.
Hopefully that links. Having some technical issues. But that's the tweet from NextGen.
PrinceBob
12:31
If the Pirates are serious about contending next year can they simply plan on O'Neil Cruz as a starter? Shouldn't there be some sort of contingency plan in case he keeps being the guy he's been? How much longer do you think they'll give him to live up to his potential?
Jason Mackey
12:32
Yeah, they can live with Oneil as a starter -- and should. I'm not giving up on him. There's too much there. I agree it hasn't been good enough. But it's in there. Just a matter of bringing it out. It doesn't cost me that much in 2026 to try and find out.
Wayward
12:32
Jason, I cannot believe I am saying this but should they bring Pham back, if the price is right and he can live with being the 4th OF?  Also, how do the Bucs diplomatically move on from Cutch?  They really need the DH spot for Reynolds.
Jason Mackey
12:34
If I'm Pham, no way I'm doing that. He's played well. I'd want to start and/or play for a team with a better chance of contending. I wouldn't want to be a 4OF in a place with a not good history of addressing the two things it needs (spending & offense).

The Cutch exit strategy is easy. If they would spend on a couple of actual bats -- multi-year deals, on names -- people will let the Cutch thing slide. Show you're serious by spending serious money on good players they've heard of, signing them to multi-year contracts.
Wayward
12:34
Jason, regardless of the GM, the Bucs have too completely turn over the hitting program group this offseason, right?
Jason Mackey
12:34
I'd sure hope so. I don't see what you would want to cling to at this point.
Aces High
12:34
Jason, with a few national media reporters calling out Mr. Nutting about actual spending some money on payroll to surround Paul Skenes with some talent, what are the odds he actual forks out some cash to add a bat at 3rd and in the OF?
Jason Mackey
12:36
You think Nutting is gonna change his spending habits because Buster Olney said something on his podcast? Come on. That said, the Pirates will have a lot of money cleared out. If you look at their 2025 opening day payroll -- we'll go with $86 million -- even getting back to that number, with the young talent they have, there's room to spend on bats. That's what I want to see. That and signing players who actually produce. I don't suddenly think Nutting is gonna raise the payroll to $120 million, although I wish he was willing to take that chance. People would support it.
T.K.
12:36
Hi Jason - did the Steelers basically allow Cam Heyward to save a little face with the (reported) payoff game incentive?  Seems as if Cam lost the battle pretty convincingly.
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