I was sitting in a brewery in Tampa a few weeks ago, trying to hide away from the traffic combination of the NHL All-Star Game, and Gasparilla, which is a large parade where people dress up as Pirates, and not the kind featured on this site. I knew that Matt Gajtka was working the All-Star Game. I didn’t know that this would be his final assignment before leaving Dejan Kovacevic’s site. Had I known that, I would have quickly left my beer behind at Angry Chair, and would have made my way a few blocks over to try and recruit Matt.
So when Matt made the announcement that he was a “free agent” of sorts, I didn’t even get through reading it all before texting him. Then texting again. Then drawing up a 2018 site plan and budget that involved him and Alan Saunders sharing the MLB coverage on the site. Then discussing those plans with him. And now I’m pleased to announce that Matt Gajtka has joined Pirates Prospects.
I’ll have details tomorrow on how the 2018 site coverage will go. The quick hits for now:
**Alan and Matt will be the majority voice of the MLB side of things. There will be daily articles during the season, all from them. I’ve loved Alan’s work and take on the team in his year and a half on the site, and I’ve loved Matt’s work from afar. They both have a similar approach to their baseball analysis, and as good friends, they work well together.
**What the above means is that I’m scaling back my own part in the MLB coverage. I’ll still have a weekly column that will look at bigger stories throughout the organization. I’ll still have Spring Training coverage, and a few thoughts here and there. But I want the MLB coverage to come from Alan and Matt, while the majority of my work is heading up the prospect side of things on the site. You know, because of the site’s name and everything.
**The current plan for the site has 5-6 featured articles per day, with daily MLB articles, two features from the minor league side, a daily featured column, plus our normal features like the Morning Report and the Prospect Watch. That doesn’t include news and other unexpected articles. So we could be getting back to the normal average of ten posts per day on the site.
**Those features will include a weekly column from Matt, along with three other Pirates articles. Most of the daily MLB and prospect articles will be shorter, and the features will be the ones that expand beyond 1,000 words, going into greater detail.
In short, if you’re not already a subscriber, you’re going to want to subscribe, because we’re going to have all of the Pirates coverage you want, and now have another talented writer joining the team. I’m looking forward to working with Matt, and I hope you join me in welcoming him to the site.
And now, a brief welcome message from Matt:
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What’s that line from the Hair Club for Men commercials? “I’m not only the president; I’m also a member.”
That doesn’t apply literally in my case, of course. Our man Tim Williams remains the owner/columnist here at Pirates Prospects, but I’m happy to announce that — after being a satisfied member of this ‘club’ for some time — I’m joining the staff of contributors here for the 2018 Major League Baseball season.
I’m looking forward to working alongside Tim and my good friend Alan Saunders in giving you greater insight into the big-league club, something I endeavored to do in my three years previous to this at DK Pittsburgh Sports, both as a beat reporter and an analyst.
Furthermore, I’ve admired Tim’s success with this site from afar. As an online entrepreneur now myself, it’ll be fun to play a role on a team that goes about things the right way. Maybe I can pick up a few pointers along the journey.
For me, baseball is more than a pastime. It’s an endlessly fascinating conversation piece in addition to being an engaging sport and a part of who I am. It’ll be my pleasure to explore the storylines of the 2018 Pirates and interact with all of you (yinz) in the process.
As I write this, I’m looking out the second-floor window of the North Hills house I share with my wife and our young son and all I see are snow-covered roofs and gray skies. Don’t get me wrong: I love winter. But, I’m looking forward to spending the warmer months around baseball once again.
Always nice to have something to anticipate. — Matt Gajtka
