Here’s a look at Saturday’s action from around winter ball for players on the Pittsburgh Pirates. In case you missed it, we posted our weekly Pirates Winter Report on Saturday afternoon.
In Australia, Dylan Shockley (pictured above) had an impressive day, going 3-for-3 with a double and a walk. He went 0-for-7 in the first two games.
Jesus Castillo went 0-for-4 with a walk. He’s 1-for-10 so far in three games, with two walks and a HBP.
Ernny Ordonez went 1-for-5 with a double and a run scored. He’s 2-for-12 in three games.
Sammy Siani went 1-for-4 with a single and run scored. He’s 2-for-12 in three games.
In the Dominican, Rodolfo Castro went 1-for-5 with a single and two runs scored. He remained in the lead-off spot, but he slid over to second base for this game. He’s only been playing third base. He’s hitting .208 with a .546 OPS in six games.
In Mexico, Jared Oliva went 0-for-4. He’s hitting .278 with a .722 OPS in 25 games.
Fabricio Macias went 0-for-3 with a walk. He’s hitting .252 with a .653 OPS in 26 games.
In Venezuela, Diego Castillo went 1-for-4 with his first winter home run, a solo shot.
In day two in Colombia, Andres Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a triple, walk and three runs scored.
Rodolfo Nolasco went 1-for-3 with a single and walk.
Diego Chiquillo tossed a scoreless inning with no hits, two walks and no strikeouts.
Cristian Charle allowed two runs in his one inning, giving up two hits, with no walks and three strikeouts.
Francisco Acuna went 2-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
how about these Boston Reynolds rumors?
Brubaker and Reynolds for Casas, Mayer, Kavadas and Bello
Easy yes for me, BTV has reynolds and mayer as essentially equally valuable. This is a cant refuse kind of offer
Red Sox won´t be stingy with their prospects like the Mariners and Marlins
“He’s only been playing third base”
nice
Castro isn’t moving Hayes off 3rd. Love him or hate him, Hayes is Pirates starting 3B for foreseeable future.
I see this as Castro being developed as an option for 3B in case of Hayes injury.
Cherington could trade Hayes for sure.
Trade him after a down year offensively after locking him up in a long-term deal would be a firable offense.
It’s not a down year for him. More like a normal one. He’s only had one stretch of good hitting. That small sample of his call up year. He has always needed a swing change to be a good hitter.
His batting line was nearly identical to ’21
Let’s just say for arguments sake this wasn’t a down year for Hayes offensively. He was still the 2nd most valuable player by WAR on the team. Considering his age, his ability to hit the ball hard, his base running ability, to go along with arguably the best defense of any player in MLB, don’t you agree he’s the kind of player a team should build around?
It’s just pure foolishness to think Hayes is available in a trade. 0 of 30 GM’s would deal him this winter. That’s why you never read his name in trade rumors in national publications.
Wins are wins and you can get them from hitting, pitching or defense. If he never hits, he’s never better than a 3 fWAR player because he basically just maxed out his defensive value last year while being a below average hitter. He’s a good starter for sure but the upside is super limited. Brandon Drury was just as valuable as Hayes but did it being good with the bat and bad at 3B. He could be traded and 3 wins or more could be found at 3B or elsewhere.
Your statement only makes sense if you believe Drury’s bat never falters and Hayes’ bat never improves.
A player’s defense is far less volatile than his offense. As such, Drury is a much bigger risk to regress than Hayes.
I’m not super worried about Drury. The point is, Hayes’ upside is set at 3 fWAR without a swing change. He’s more likely to hover between 1.5-3 fWAR because of injuries. That’s a good player but not a franchise cornerstone.
Drury was 2.6 WAR last season, but he’s only 2.0 WAR for his career. He was a similar player to Chavis before he had a career year. Hardly the type of player a competent GM would replace a guaranteed 2+ WAR player for. Especially one who is cost controlled with a much higher ceiling like Hayes.
As for Hayes being a cornerstone player, I’d definitely say he’s not the Superstar player like Cutch, but he’s definitely a great complimentary player like Marte or Walker were for Pirates last decade.
Hayes doesn’t have a high ceiling.
maybe in the depth chart but Hayes has proven to be delicate and dainty
136 games played this season.
Don’t let facts get in the way of opinion.