When the Pirates named a new GM, amid talk of refreshing all their operations, a lot of us expected a housecleaning. That hasn’t happened, at least not yet. Ben Cherington hasn’t replaced any front office people so far, except the unlamented Kyle Stark. That doesn’t mean, though, that changes won’t happen over a longer period of time. Cherington does seem to be trying to make measured decisions about where exactly changes are needed.
One obvious area is analytics:
Cherington said he was impressed by the existing personnel in the Pirates’ analytics department, but there’s “maybe a need for some additional bandwidth in some areas, then also definitely opportunity for more integration” via more collaborative coaching in the Majors and Minors.
— Adam Berry (@adamdberry) December 11, 2019
It’s been difficult over the last several years to understand how the analytics department that was pounding the table for Russell Martin fell so far behind the rest of MLB so quickly. So maybe it wasn’t the analytics folks; maybe they just weren’t being listened to. We know, for instance, that the Pirates have the same pitch tracking technology that everybody else has in the minors. Yet we’ve also seen comments from Shane Baz that the pitchers in the system, or at least at the lower levels, weren’t seeing it.
We don’t, of course, know exactly what Cherington had in mind. We’ve seen stories about Stark being too dictatorial. Maybe, for instance, the team needs to give pitching coaches at the various affiliates more leeway to communicate data. The point is, he is identifying problems.
Cherington also, while acknowledging the obvious need for catching, has talked about upgrading at other positions.
Ben Cherington said the Pirates would like to add to the position player group. Said they didn’t get enough out of certain positions, without specifying. My guess given the current roster: third base and an outfield spot.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) December 11, 2019
That’s a very welcome sign, assuming he follows up on it. One of the most frustrating aspects of the last several years under Neal Huntington was his seeming unwillingness to do more than plug holes. Once he had, say, a guy who looked somewhat like a third baseman, he seemed satisfied, at least until that guy started costing some money. The goal always seemed to be filling every position with a cheap, 1- or 2-win player. Whether or not the team was, for instance, scoring enough runs didn’t seem to enter into it. So hopefully that’s another change that we’ll see going forward.
SONG OF THE DAY
DAILY QUIZ
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
By John Dreker
Six former Pittsburgh Pirates were born on December 11th, plus they have made three major trades that did not work out well.
On this date in 1975 the Pittsburgh Pirates traded pitchers Ken Brett, Dock Ellis and rookie second baseman Willie Randolph to the New York Yankees for pitcher Doc Medich. Both Brett and Ellis had better 1976 seasons than Medich, though none of the three were still with their new team in 1977. That would have been enough to make the trade a win for the Yankees, but Randolph made this extremely one-sided. He posted a 66.2 WAR in 17 seasons after the trade.
On this date in 1928 the Pirates traded star shortstop Glenn Wright to Brooklyn for veteran pitcher Jesse Petty and infielder Harry Riconda. The Pirates received solid results from Petty in 1929, but by 1930, his career really fell off. Riconda played just eight games with the Pirates. That was an awful return for a star player, but it ended up not hurting the Pirates as much as it could have because Wright had injuries in 1929 and 1931 that really slowed down his effectiveness. He had a big 1930 season, but only played 299 games for Brooklyn after the trade.
On this date in 1906, the Pirates traded center fielder Ginger Beaumont, pitcher Patsy Flaherty and second baseman Claude Ritchey to the Boston Beaneaters for second baseman Ed Abbaticchio. This trade was three players for one and all three did better than the return, which shouldn’t have been a surprise. Abbatacchio was a veteran who sat out the entire 1906 season and wasn’t a star player before the deal. In fact, he was probably the worst player in the deal at the time. Owner Barney Dreyfuss seemed to make two major trades due to man-crushes that went south and this was the first one, followed by a horrendous 1913 trade to acquire first baseman Ed Konetchy.
Jay Bell, shortstop for the 1989-96 Pirates. For three seasons Bell was a light hitting shortstop for the Indians, so when the Pirates got him as a player to be named later in a 1988 trade it wasn’t a big deal. He ended up playing eight seasons at shortstop in Pittsburgh, playing 1,106 games, where he was part of three NL East pennant winning teams during his time. He batted .269 with 623 runs scored in Pittsburgh. He won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger award and was named to the NL All-Star team in 1993. The Pirates traded him to the Royals along with Jeff King on December 13, 1996. Bell finished his career with a .265 average and 195 homers in 2,063 games.
Joe Blanton, pitcher for the 2015 Pirates. In a partial season, he went 5-0, 1.57 in 34.1 innings over 21 appearances. In a 13-year career that ended in 2017, Blanton made 252 starts and 175 relief appearances, posting a 101-97, 4.38 record in 1,767.2 innings. He pitched in the postseason six different years, though he didn’t get to pitch during the Pirates wild card game in 2015.
Johnny O’Brien, infielder/pitcher for the 1953 and 1955-58 Pirates. He was a .260 hitter over five seasons in Pittsburgh, while also posting a 5.03 ERA in 59 innings. He turns 89 years old today. See more on him in the next bio.
Eddie O’Brien, infielder/outfielder/pitcher for the 1953 and 1955-58 Pirates. He was a .236 hitter over five seasons with the Pirates, while also posting a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings. He was the twin brother of Johnny O’Brien. Both players signed as amateur free agents in March of 1953 and went right to the majors with the Pirates, then they both missed the 1954 season due to military service.
Art Wilson, catcher for the 1916 Pirates. Wilson played 14 seasons in the majors and was mostly used as a backup, though he got some good time in during his two years in the Federal League, a Major League that existed during the 1914-15 seasons. The Pirates purchased his contract from Chicago of the Federal League in 1916 and in 53 games with Pittsburgh, he hit .258 with 12 RBIs. In late-July, Wilson was traded in a four-player deal with the Chicago Cubs. In 812 major league games, he batted .261 with 226 RBIs. He threw out 44% of base runners during his career. Wilson finished his career as a manager in the minors.
Derek Bell, operation shutdown turns 51 today.
