Pittsburgh Pirates Mailbag: October 10th, 2018
By Marty Leap
Welcome back to the weekly Pittsburgh Pirates’ mailbag here at Rum Bunter
What hitters could the Pirates pursue this offseason? Could a currently Marlin be a trade target? And more in this week’s Pittsburgh Pirates’ mailbag.
As always, thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s mailbag by submitting questions. Now, let’s dive in!
This a team with one major glaring hole – power. The bullpen should be of the deepest in the National League, the starting rotation looks strong, and the starting eight has plenty of good hitters. However, this team lacks power.
Now, addressing that issue in the offseason will be tough to do. The team’s biggest position of need is shortstop where power is at a premium. When looking at free agent shortstops Jed Lowrie immediately jumps out, but, odds are, he will be out of the Pirates’ price range.
Ultimately, the best way for the team to address power may prove to be internally. Josh Bell hitting for the power he did in 2017, Colin Moran‘s power surge from the final six weeks of the season continuing in 2019, Corey Dickerson returning to his 20+ home run ways, and Jung Ho Kang hitting for the power he did in 2015 and 2016 might be the team’s best chances at fixing their lack of power.
With Gregory Polanco set to miss the start of the 2019 season the Pirates would love to add some outfield pop this offseason. That said, finding an outfielder in free agency that is a legitimate power threat and is willing to sign with a team where he will be moved to a fourth outfielder role six or seven weeks into the season is much easier said than done. And trading significant pieces for a player that you only need to be a starter for the first six or seven weeks of the season is not smart.
If the Bucs add an outfielder between now and Opening Day, which I believe they will, and they do it via free agency their best bet may prove to be someone like Gerardo Parra. While Parra does not hit for much power, he still gets on base a lot, is a multi-time Gold Glove winner, and at this point in his career is better suited to be a fourth outfielder which is what the Pirates need.
I definitely do not think Jeff Branson was helping the hitters. It was painfully obvious for months, dating back to 2017, that Gregory Polanco needed to back off the plate. In June Branson finally had Polanco made this change, and he took off.
Corey Dickerson’s power vanished when he got to Pittsburgh, and, as was pointed out in the question, Josh Bell’s power was way down in 2018. Colin Moran was also touted as a future power hitter in the minors, and, after months of struggling, finally made similar adjustments to Polanco in late August and he took off.
While Branson’s high contact approach is great in theory, it has not produced power results the past two seasons. So, while Branson was far from the offense’s lone issue, he was definitely a major one.
Derek Dietrich could be intriguing as a super utility man, but I’m not sure there is a whole lot, if anything, he brings to the table that someone like Pablo Reyes does not. Dietrich owns a .254/.335/.422 slash line, .329 wOBA, and a 109 wRC+ in his career. While this may be a little higher than Reyes’ ceiling as a hitter, Dietrich is the poorer defender of the two.
Dietrich played first base, second base, shortstop, left field, and right field for the Marlins in 2018. He had a collective defensive runs saved of -16 last season, and did not own a positive DRS at any of these positions.
So, while Dietrich may be a slightly better hitter than Reyes, he is a lesser defender. Combine this with Reyes be available for the league minimum in 2019, and the team would be better off with Reyes as their super utility man.
That will do it for this week. If you ever have a question for the mailbag, look for our Tweet each week asking for questions throughout the offseason.