BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Welcome to Tuesday 10 Qs, our cyber-chat that takes place each week at 9 a.m. and offers readers a chance to carry the conversation. The format is simple: Use the comments below to submit an entry, beginning now. I’ll pick from those, as well as the ones that arrive once the session goes live.
UPDATE 9 a.m.: And away we go …
ImblumAJ1: Awesome to see that the incomparable Josh Yohe has joined your team! Really looking forward to his Pens coverage.
Speaking of which, I’ve found it curious that, while everyone around the team has taken great pains to say that Jim Rutherford’s and Mike Johnston’s jobs are safe, no one has said anything about David Morehouse. I understand that his role with the team has increased since Ray Shero was fired last summer, and that Rutherford reports to him instead of directly to ownership as Shero did.
Given some questionable team decisions this season in terms of deadline acquisitions (Daniel Winnik, Ben Lovejoy) and mangling the salary cap, could you see Morehouse being on the hot seat?
DK: For trades?
Unlike the situation with the Steelers and Pirates, the sports moves stay almost entirely with the sports people over at Consol. That doesn’t mean Morehouse isn’t aware. It doesn’t mean he isn’t consulted. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t advise. But it does mean there’s a clearer line there than between Art Rooney II and Kevin Colbert, or Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington. In the Steelers’ and Pirates’ cases, the team presidents are very much hands-on, especially as it relates to contract matters.
Morehouse, for the most part, runs the business. And the business he runs does pretty well. So let’s at least discuss what he does on its own merits.
Two related points here:
1. I’m increasingly leery of anyone pointing to one or even two Rutherford trades without full context. His body of work for the season as related to trades was, in my view, more good than bad. In particular, I get this with people mentioning Lovejoy repeatedly but never uttering a syllable about the other trade that day that brought Ian Cole for Robert Bortuzzo, an apparent heist. And Lovejoy, along with Winnik and Nick Spaling, were forced to play roles they had no business playing. If left to their place from the beginning, they might both have been just fine.
Isolating on one deal when there were many — and if you don’t love bringing Patric Hornqvist to Pittsburgh, I can’t even have free coffee with you — that’s just cherry-picking.
Daniel Winnik had no points and a team-worst minus-6 rating in the playoffs. — GETTY
2. I’m equally leery of Morehouse suddenly coming to the forefront of a lot of criticism, especially since a ton of it is openly political in nature. I get that we’re entering a presidential election year, and emotions will run high on both sides of the figurative aisle. But speaking solely for myself, I’m not remotely interested in anyone assessing his work with the Penguins — for better or worse — based on political affiliations. That’s just plain weird.
Oh, and thanks for the kind words regarding Josh. My goodness, that caused a stir last night, huh?
ccunningham914: The Pirates’ starters have the second-lowest ERA in the National League, currently. Although I had my doubts, I’ve been very impressed with A.J. Burnett and, of course, Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole. My biggest concern as a fan is the bullpen. Tony Watson and Arquimedes Caminero have been very good, and Jared Hughes has been solid. But Mark Melancon and, more important, the long relief efforts of Radhames Liz and Rob Scahill have been OK at best. Do the Pirates have any decent minor-league relievers they can call up other than Big John Holdzkom who can help stabilize at least the long-relief efforts?
On a side note, congrats on winning #StealYohe! Welcome, Josh!
DK: Thanks again regarding Josh. He’ll be here on the site soon enough. As fate would have it, he was picked for jury duty this very week, so his full contributions will have to wait a bit.
Let’s talk about ‘recency bias,’ shall we?
I love this term. It’s a favorite of the advanced stats community and, as such, it comes with the requisite level of condescension mixed with harsh, provable reality. And what it means is this: We tend, as humans, to weigh the last thing we’ve seen as being more important than something we saw previously. It’s indisputably true, too. None of us can deny it.
That doesn’t mean it’s right or fair.
The Pirates’ bullpen ERA is 3.04, and it’s the 10th-best of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams. Individual ERAs mean little for relievers, but it works as a team stat because of all the innings. They also rank 12th in strikeouts and have the 10th-fewest walks. And they’re credited with 18 official holds, or held leads, a figure that ranks sixth-best in the majors.
This is your “biggest concern.”
From there, you single out Liz, who has a 3.60 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 10 innings, and Scahill, who has allowed one run all season over 10.1 innings.
So can it be safe on my part to deduce that you plain and simple didn’t like the very last thing you watched on your TV Sunday afternoon from St. Louis?
Meaning Liz and Scahill giving up one run each?
Meaning the bullpen giving up just those two runs over 7 2/3 innings of relief?
I’m not picking on you, I swear. I heard and read this sentiment far and wide Sunday, and I couldn’t believe it. It was everywhere. People were furious with the bullpen, and they even took it to the ridiculous extreme of wishing that Clint Hurdle had pitched Watson on three consecutive days in the first week of May!
I’ve got your biggest real concern right here.
Take ranking 29th in on-base percentage, take two 2014 MVP candidates and the everyday shortstop all being stuck below .200, mix in stranding 37 runners over three games — an almost impossible feat — and then figure out where a pretty good bullpen ranks on the Pirates’ list of problems.
We will strive to stamp out recency bias in our time!
Ronak Singhal: Now that the draft is done, who are the Steelers’ starting 11 on D on opening night in New England?
DK: Yikes, that’s a challenge in May. But OK, let’s give it a shot …
Up front, it will be Stephon Tuitt, Steve McLendon and Cam Heyward, but that comes with the significant footnote that Daniel McCullers should be given every opportunity in Latrobe to show he can plug the middle as a run-stopper. Which I think he can. I like McLendon more than most, but any Keith Butler defense is going to be built on freeing up linebackers, not a nose tackle who penetrates.
The linebackers will be, left to right … oh, my, there really isn’t anyone for the left side other than Bud Dupree, is there? Wow. Could he get that job by default? Jarvis Jones needs to start at the other edge, but that’s also the natural side for both James Harrison and Arthur Moats. Seems to me that Mike Tomlin would do well to get Moats and former CFL star Shawn Lemon lots of work on the left side. And in the middle, it will be Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier, with a fair nod to Vince Williams, who shouldn’t be shut out just because of Shazier’s draft position.
At safety, it will be Mike Mitchell and Shamarko Thomas. No question.
At corner, it will be Mel Blount and Rod Woodson.
At least I’d rather process that blissful image than Willie Gay manning one side, Antwon Blake at the other and The Cortez Allen Project back at nickel. Gay and Blake have strengths, sure, but the notion of 15-16 solid starts is way out there. And I’m telling you right now, every vibe from the Steelers is that Allen will be not just a priority this summer but the priority. Butler wants height in his secondary, and Allen is the only member tall enough to ride the Jack Rabbit.
Mosca: So who do you figure the Steelers will go for in the 2016 draft?
DK: Linebacker! And one who they couldn’t believe kept falling and falling!
Alan Gifford: There is a lot of talk, and rightfully so, about how losing so many defensemen hurt the Pens this past year. How much do you think the loss of Pascal Dupuis hurt the scoring?
DK: I’m glad you brought this up, Alan, as it’s possible I didn’t make a big enough deal about one specific aspect of this during the playoff series with the Rangers. And that’s speed more than scoring.
The night the Penguins were eliminated, in some long talks outside the visitors’ locker room, the subject that kept coming up again and again was how the Rangers had built their breakout — the most controlled strategic aspect of five-on-five hockey — on the all these blazing left wingers. Everything they did was about one-touch firebombs up the left side to Carl Hagelin or Mats Zuccarello or Mr. November himself, Rick Nash. Mike Johnston did a good job of adjusting to this, so credit where due, but the disparity in sheer speed and talent here still felt like the most striking gap between these opponents.
The Penguins’ speed up the wings — either wing, actually — was close to zero.
This was why Chris Kunitz kept playing, mind you. As much as he’s slowed down, he was still one of the team’s faster wingers, maybe its fastest. Crazy as that sounds.
This was also why I continued risking looking like a fool in advocating that Jayson Megna should be recalled. Because even though he hasn’t shown much of a touch at the NHL level, he was the fastest winger available not named Kasperi Kapanen and, to be fair, he did have 25 goals in Wilkes-Barre. I was just looking for someone, anyone to come through the neutral zone with enough speed to push back the big, blue New York clothesline. And of course, it never happened.
That’s what was most missed about Dupuis, and Sidney Crosby would tell you no differently. Dupuis’ mad-man rushes on the breakout created all kinds of room for the captain, even as his solid touch often converted chances into points.
Will he be back?
I fear some might have read a little too much into Rutherford’s expressed optimism after breakup day. Same goes for Dupuis’ own statements. They won’t know anything until the doctors give clearance.
Jimmy Streich: Which contract is worst in terms of talent and worst in terms of hurting the team: Kunitz, Allen or Jose Tabata?
DK: Not to excessively pick on Cortez, but I’ll go there again. And that’s partly because he never came close to illustrating he was worth five years and $25 million, or even half that, but also because it was a clear case of trying to cover up a mistake. The real issue with Allen’s contract is that it was given out for no reason other than that Colbert and Tomlin blew it by letting Keenan Lewis walk to New Orleans. Never, ever, ever should have happened. And that’s not hindsight on my part. Wrote it at the time.
So Allen was given the deal Lewis should have gotten because … well, just because he couldn’t be lost right after Lewis was lost.
That, if you ask me, is the worst kind of contract mistake.
Kunitz never should have gotten four years. Not at his age.. Not with all his wear from years of going hard to the net. But I can’t put that in the Allen class.
Tabata actually was seen as a fool at the time for accepting the insanely long term. Most in the industry thought the Pirates jobbed him and his since-ostracized agent. Well, funny how that turned out.
meglasdad: Curious of your thoughts on moving Andrew McCutchen to right, and playing Gregory Polanco or Starling Marte in center to take some of the pressure off his knee. I think you could argue he was the Pirates’ third-best center fielder before the knee injury.
Do you think he would accept such a move?
DK: Those are two distinct questions but both with the same answer: No way.
As last week’s Friday Insider uncovered, there’s legit worry over the long-term health of Cutch’s knee. That’s very real. So is the pain he’s experiencing, judging by his many contorted expressions with seemingly every extra effort he’s got to give, whether in the box or in the field.
And now the idea is to add to all that moving him to a position he’s really never played?
Cutch has been at center field since Day 1, and that doesn’t mean his time in Pittsburgh but his rise the whole way through the system. Flipping from left to center to right, in any order, is no picnic the first time it’s tried at any level. The ball comes off the bat differently. It’s read differently. It’s got to be tracked differently. I’ve had many players describe this over the years, and there’s a lot more to it than just shifting over a few feet.
Now, couple that with the fact that PNC Park’s left field is arguably just as demanding physically — if not more so — than center, and the whole argument gets blown out on the spot.
Based on what I’ve heard, including that in-season surgery isn’t an option, the best plan would be one that takes as much pressure — that’s physically and mentally — off the player. Having him try out in left doesn’t strike me as much of an answer. And if the point gets reached where he can’t play center at a big-league level, then, hey, it’s time to shut him down altogether.
Let him take a day or two here or there, couple it with a scheduled team day off, and hope for the best.
flesh2dust: Ray Shero was hired by the Devils, and I realize there is a monetary factor in the millions of which the the Pens are now relieved. However, under the CBA, the Pens are entitled to a third-round pick if they wish to enforce.
Why on earth would they not ask for this in a draft that they have hardly any picks and also a draft that is as deep as it’s been in a very long time?
Not to mention the Devils are a divisional opponent.
DK: Was waiting for someone to bring this up. Took a little longer than expected.
The simplest way to explain this is that it’s seen as awful form to block a fired employee from taking employment elsewhere, especially when it’s a position that’s equal or better than the one previously held. Shero was getting a real opportunity in New Jersey, and rather than run the risk that Lou Lamoriello or the Devils might discount his job candidacy because he came with the baggage of a third-round pick, that slate was cleared out of respect to Shero.
I’ve seen that some fans are upset about this, but it can’t be had both ways: I’m betting a lot of the same folks were fuming at how the Penguins kept Dan Bylsma strung along for an extra month rather than firing him immediately after the 2013-14 season. I thought that was lousy, too, and not only wrote as much but also asked both Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle in person why they were doing it. In that session, both men — passionately, I might add — insisted they weren’t keeping Bylsma or anyone from getting outside work, as that would be a no-class way to conduct business.
That’s all this is. Shero had his shortcomings as a GM, and I had no issue with his firing. But he also meant a lot to the Penguins and their third Stanley Cup championship. And blocking — or even hurting the chances — that he could get another GM job, that would be a no-class way to conduct business.
And yes, let the record show that I did check with the Penguins on this, expecting it would come up today. They didn’t want to stand in Shero’s way.
Jon New: Are you surprised the Steelers didn’t draft a running back in later rounds? Or are they happy with Dri Archer and Josh Harris as their depth behind Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams?
DK: Well, for full context, not that he’s the answer, but the Steelers did make a running back, Ross Scheuerman of Lafayette, one of their 12 free-agent signings immediately after the draft, so there’s at least another name in the pool.
Yes, the Steelers had thrown hints about adding a back in the draft, and it seemed plausible that it could come late, as they’ve had some success with late-rounders and even free agents, notably Willie Parker. That’s becoming more prevalent across the NFL, actually. And even when the draft passed, it was easy to detect from both Colbert and Tomlin that they weren’t done looking to bolster the position, at least from a depth standpoint.
Bearing in mind that Bell will miss the first three games to his DUI suspension, it’s all the more important to have at least one other back who could carry the full load on a short-term basis if Williams were to go down. One supposes that could be Harris, given how he was talked up in advance of a playoff game, but I don’t think so.
Josh Bell has nine RBIs through four games in May for Class AA Altoona. — GETTY
Big Daddy: DK, why not trade Pedro Alvarez and get what they can for him (which will be next to nothing) and bring up Josh Bell to get his feet wet? Go with Corey Hart and Sean Rodriguez at first if Bell doesn’t work out at the present time.
Do you see any logic in this?
DK: No, no, no and just for the heck of it, no.
Bell is off to a strong start in Altoona, no doubt, batting .376 with eight extra-base hits and 15 RBIs in 85 at-bats. And this plus 24 at-bats last season make up the entirety of his experience at the Class AA level. That’s it.
That’s not cause for a promotion, and neither is a need at the major-league level. Ever.
This topic comes up quite a bit, in general, especially when the parent team isn’t performing well, but promoting players at the risk of hurting their development is the stuff of losers. Dumb organizations do this. The Pirates used to do this. I’ve not always seen eye to eye with Neal Huntington, to put it mildly, but I’ve always admired his resolve in situations like that, to never risk the individual prospect’s future for the sake of some short-term yippee moment.
Bell will have his chance. He’s very talented, as everyone knew when the Pirates basically blew up the modern draft system by paying him $5 million in the second round. But his time will come.
And by that, I mean his time in Class AAA, whic represents the biggest leap in quality that minor-league hitters make.
cmupensfan: Without obvious personal intel, how long did you work at executing the #StealYohe campaign?
DK: Guess this is a good way to end today, since that hashtag was trending on Pittsburgh Twitter last night and it really seemed to get a ton of attention. Legit news!The seed was initially planted a few months ago. I genuinely don’t remember the exact time period. A lot of these nine months have just blurred by, to be honest. But there was a real discussion, as well as the realization that we’d be a lot better off waiting until we were both more sure of everything. It was going to be a really big commitment on both ends.Once we did, and our little company had enough revenue to ensure that Josh would be paid better than ever — something I’ve long felt was deserved — everything was revisited during the playoffs, then culminated by this past weekend.So, did I have a good idea when the #StealYohe hashtag was hatched a couple weeks ago?Actually, no. Neither did Josh, who saw the hashtag the same time everyone else did.
But all’s well that trends well, right?
Thanks to everyone for reading and participating this morning. I’ll be at PNC Park tonight catching up with the local baseball team. Josh will be there, too, getting the lay of the land.
May 5, 2015
Tuesday 10 Qs: Morehouse, bullpen, Cortez, Shero
155by Dejan Kovacevic • Tuesday 10 Qs • Tags: Penguins, Pirates, Steelers
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Welcome to Tuesday 10 Qs, our cyber-chat that takes place each week at 9 a.m. and offers readers a chance to carry the conversation. The format is simple: Use the comments below to submit an entry, beginning now. I’ll pick from those, as well as the ones that arrive once the session goes live.
UPDATE 9 a.m.: And away we go …
ImblumAJ1: Awesome to see that the incomparable Josh Yohe has joined your team! Really looking forward to his Pens coverage.
Speaking of which, I’ve found it curious that, while everyone around the team has taken great pains to say that Jim Rutherford’s and Mike Johnston’s jobs are safe, no one has said anything about David Morehouse. I understand that his role with the team has increased since Ray Shero was fired last summer, and that Rutherford reports to him instead of directly to ownership as Shero did.
Given some questionable team decisions this season in terms of deadline acquisitions (Daniel Winnik, Ben Lovejoy) and mangling the salary cap, could you see Morehouse being on the hot seat?
DK: For trades?
Unlike the situation with the Steelers and Pirates, the sports moves stay almost entirely with the sports people over at Consol. That doesn’t mean Morehouse isn’t aware. It doesn’t mean he isn’t consulted. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t advise. But it does mean there’s a clearer line there than between Art Rooney II and Kevin Colbert, or Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington. In the Steelers’ and Pirates’ cases, the team presidents are very much hands-on, especially as it relates to contract matters.
Morehouse, for the most part, runs the business. And the business he runs does pretty well. So let’s at least discuss what he does on its own merits.
Two related points here:
1. I’m increasingly leery of anyone pointing to one or even two Rutherford trades without full context. His body of work for the season as related to trades was, in my view, more good than bad. In particular, I get this with people mentioning Lovejoy repeatedly but never uttering a syllable about the other trade that day that brought Ian Cole for Robert Bortuzzo, an apparent heist. And Lovejoy, along with Winnik and Nick Spaling, were forced to play roles they had no business playing. If left to their place from the beginning, they might both have been just fine.
Isolating on one deal when there were many — and if you don’t love bringing Patric Hornqvist to Pittsburgh, I can’t even have free coffee with you — that’s just cherry-picking.
Daniel Winnik had no points and a team-worst minus-6 rating in the playoffs. — GETTY
2. I’m equally leery of Morehouse suddenly coming to the forefront of a lot of criticism, especially since a ton of it is openly political in nature. I get that we’re entering a presidential election year, and emotions will run high on both sides of the figurative aisle. But speaking solely for myself, I’m not remotely interested in anyone assessing his work with the Penguins — for better or worse — based on political affiliations. That’s just plain weird.
Oh, and thanks for the kind words regarding Josh. My goodness, that caused a stir last night, huh?
ccunningham914: The Pirates’ starters have the second-lowest ERA in the National League, currently. Although I had my doubts, I’ve been very impressed with A.J. Burnett and, of course, Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole. My biggest concern as a fan is the bullpen. Tony Watson and Arquimedes Caminero have been very good, and Jared Hughes has been solid. But Mark Melancon and, more important, the long relief efforts of Radhames Liz and Rob Scahill have been OK at best. Do the Pirates have any decent minor-league relievers they can call up other than Big John Holdzkom who can help stabilize at least the long-relief efforts?
On a side note, congrats on winning #StealYohe! Welcome, Josh!
DK: Thanks again regarding Josh. He’ll be here on the site soon enough. As fate would have it, he was picked for jury duty this very week, so his full contributions will have to wait a bit.
Let’s talk about ‘recency bias,’ shall we?
I love this term. It’s a favorite of the advanced stats community and, as such, it comes with the requisite level of condescension mixed with harsh, provable reality. And what it means is this: We tend, as humans, to weigh the last thing we’ve seen as being more important than something we saw previously. It’s indisputably true, too. None of us can deny it.
That doesn’t mean it’s right or fair.
The Pirates’ bullpen ERA is 3.04, and it’s the 10th-best of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams. Individual ERAs mean little for relievers, but it works as a team stat because of all the innings. They also rank 12th in strikeouts and have the 10th-fewest walks. And they’re credited with 18 official holds, or held leads, a figure that ranks sixth-best in the majors.
This is your “biggest concern.”
From there, you single out Liz, who has a 3.60 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 10 innings, and Scahill, who has allowed one run all season over 10.1 innings.
So can it be safe on my part to deduce that you plain and simple didn’t like the very last thing you watched on your TV Sunday afternoon from St. Louis?
Meaning Liz and Scahill giving up one run each?
Meaning the bullpen giving up just those two runs over 7 2/3 innings of relief?
I’m not picking on you, I swear. I heard and read this sentiment far and wide Sunday, and I couldn’t believe it. It was everywhere. People were furious with the bullpen, and they even took it to the ridiculous extreme of wishing that Clint Hurdle had pitched Watson on three consecutive days in the first week of May!
I’ve got your biggest real concern right here.
Take ranking 29th in on-base percentage, take two 2014 MVP candidates and the everyday shortstop all being stuck below .200, mix in stranding 37 runners over three games — an almost impossible feat — and then figure out where a pretty good bullpen ranks on the Pirates’ list of problems.
We will strive to stamp out recency bias in our time!
Ronak Singhal: Now that the draft is done, who are the Steelers’ starting 11 on D on opening night in New England?
DK: Yikes, that’s a challenge in May. But OK, let’s give it a shot …
Up front, it will be Stephon Tuitt, Steve McLendon and Cam Heyward, but that comes with the significant footnote that Daniel McCullers should be given every opportunity in Latrobe to show he can plug the middle as a run-stopper. Which I think he can. I like McLendon more than most, but any Keith Butler defense is going to be built on freeing up linebackers, not a nose tackle who penetrates.
The linebackers will be, left to right … oh, my, there really isn’t anyone for the left side other than Bud Dupree, is there? Wow. Could he get that job by default? Jarvis Jones needs to start at the other edge, but that’s also the natural side for both James Harrison and Arthur Moats. Seems to me that Mike Tomlin would do well to get Moats and former CFL star Shawn Lemon lots of work on the left side. And in the middle, it will be Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier, with a fair nod to Vince Williams, who shouldn’t be shut out just because of Shazier’s draft position.
At safety, it will be Mike Mitchell and Shamarko Thomas. No question.
At corner, it will be Mel Blount and Rod Woodson.
At least I’d rather process that blissful image than Willie Gay manning one side, Antwon Blake at the other and The Cortez Allen Project back at nickel. Gay and Blake have strengths, sure, but the notion of 15-16 solid starts is way out there. And I’m telling you right now, every vibe from the Steelers is that Allen will be not just a priority this summer but the priority. Butler wants height in his secondary, and Allen is the only member tall enough to ride the Jack Rabbit.
Mosca: So who do you figure the Steelers will go for in the 2016 draft?
DK: Linebacker! And one who they couldn’t believe kept falling and falling!
Alan Gifford: There is a lot of talk, and rightfully so, about how losing so many defensemen hurt the Pens this past year. How much do you think the loss of Pascal Dupuis hurt the scoring?
DK: I’m glad you brought this up, Alan, as it’s possible I didn’t make a big enough deal about one specific aspect of this during the playoff series with the Rangers. And that’s speed more than scoring.
The night the Penguins were eliminated, in some long talks outside the visitors’ locker room, the subject that kept coming up again and again was how the Rangers had built their breakout — the most controlled strategic aspect of five-on-five hockey — on the all these blazing left wingers. Everything they did was about one-touch firebombs up the left side to Carl Hagelin or Mats Zuccarello or Mr. November himself, Rick Nash. Mike Johnston did a good job of adjusting to this, so credit where due, but the disparity in sheer speed and talent here still felt like the most striking gap between these opponents.
The Penguins’ speed up the wings — either wing, actually — was close to zero.
This was why Chris Kunitz kept playing, mind you. As much as he’s slowed down, he was still one of the team’s faster wingers, maybe its fastest. Crazy as that sounds.
This was also why I continued risking looking like a fool in advocating that Jayson Megna should be recalled. Because even though he hasn’t shown much of a touch at the NHL level, he was the fastest winger available not named Kasperi Kapanen and, to be fair, he did have 25 goals in Wilkes-Barre. I was just looking for someone, anyone to come through the neutral zone with enough speed to push back the big, blue New York clothesline. And of course, it never happened.
That’s what was most missed about Dupuis, and Sidney Crosby would tell you no differently. Dupuis’ mad-man rushes on the breakout created all kinds of room for the captain, even as his solid touch often converted chances into points.
Will he be back?
I fear some might have read a little too much into Rutherford’s expressed optimism after breakup day. Same goes for Dupuis’ own statements. They won’t know anything until the doctors give clearance.
Jimmy Streich: Which contract is worst in terms of talent and worst in terms of hurting the team: Kunitz, Allen or Jose Tabata?
DK: Not to excessively pick on Cortez, but I’ll go there again. And that’s partly because he never came close to illustrating he was worth five years and $25 million, or even half that, but also because it was a clear case of trying to cover up a mistake. The real issue with Allen’s contract is that it was given out for no reason other than that Colbert and Tomlin blew it by letting Keenan Lewis walk to New Orleans. Never, ever, ever should have happened. And that’s not hindsight on my part. Wrote it at the time.
So Allen was given the deal Lewis should have gotten because … well, just because he couldn’t be lost right after Lewis was lost.
That, if you ask me, is the worst kind of contract mistake.
Kunitz never should have gotten four years. Not at his age.. Not with all his wear from years of going hard to the net. But I can’t put that in the Allen class.
Tabata actually was seen as a fool at the time for accepting the insanely long term. Most in the industry thought the Pirates jobbed him and his since-ostracized agent. Well, funny how that turned out.
meglasdad: Curious of your thoughts on moving Andrew McCutchen to right, and playing Gregory Polanco or Starling Marte in center to take some of the pressure off his knee. I think you could argue he was the Pirates’ third-best center fielder before the knee injury.
Do you think he would accept such a move?
DK: Those are two distinct questions but both with the same answer: No way.
As last week’s Friday Insider uncovered, there’s legit worry over the long-term health of Cutch’s knee. That’s very real. So is the pain he’s experiencing, judging by his many contorted expressions with seemingly every extra effort he’s got to give, whether in the box or in the field.
And now the idea is to add to all that moving him to a position he’s really never played?
Cutch has been at center field since Day 1, and that doesn’t mean his time in Pittsburgh but his rise the whole way through the system. Flipping from left to center to right, in any order, is no picnic the first time it’s tried at any level. The ball comes off the bat differently. It’s read differently. It’s got to be tracked differently. I’ve had many players describe this over the years, and there’s a lot more to it than just shifting over a few feet.
Now, couple that with the fact that PNC Park’s left field is arguably just as demanding physically — if not more so — than center, and the whole argument gets blown out on the spot.
Based on what I’ve heard, including that in-season surgery isn’t an option, the best plan would be one that takes as much pressure — that’s physically and mentally — off the player. Having him try out in left doesn’t strike me as much of an answer. And if the point gets reached where he can’t play center at a big-league level, then, hey, it’s time to shut him down altogether.
Let him take a day or two here or there, couple it with a scheduled team day off, and hope for the best.
flesh2dust: Ray Shero was hired by the Devils, and I realize there is a monetary factor in the millions of which the the Pens are now relieved. However, under the CBA, the Pens are entitled to a third-round pick if they wish to enforce.
Why on earth would they not ask for this in a draft that they have hardly any picks and also a draft that is as deep as it’s been in a very long time?
Not to mention the Devils are a divisional opponent.
DK: Was waiting for someone to bring this up. Took a little longer than expected.
The simplest way to explain this is that it’s seen as awful form to block a fired employee from taking employment elsewhere, especially when it’s a position that’s equal or better than the one previously held. Shero was getting a real opportunity in New Jersey, and rather than run the risk that Lou Lamoriello or the Devils might discount his job candidacy because he came with the baggage of a third-round pick, that slate was cleared out of respect to Shero.
I’ve seen that some fans are upset about this, but it can’t be had both ways: I’m betting a lot of the same folks were fuming at how the Penguins kept Dan Bylsma strung along for an extra month rather than firing him immediately after the 2013-14 season. I thought that was lousy, too, and not only wrote as much but also asked both Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle in person why they were doing it. In that session, both men — passionately, I might add — insisted they weren’t keeping Bylsma or anyone from getting outside work, as that would be a no-class way to conduct business.
That’s all this is. Shero had his shortcomings as a GM, and I had no issue with his firing. But he also meant a lot to the Penguins and their third Stanley Cup championship. And blocking — or even hurting the chances — that he could get another GM job, that would be a no-class way to conduct business.
And yes, let the record show that I did check with the Penguins on this, expecting it would come up today. They didn’t want to stand in Shero’s way.
Jon New: Are you surprised the Steelers didn’t draft a running back in later rounds? Or are they happy with Dri Archer and Josh Harris as their depth behind Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams?
DK: Well, for full context, not that he’s the answer, but the Steelers did make a running back, Ross Scheuerman of Lafayette, one of their 12 free-agent signings immediately after the draft, so there’s at least another name in the pool.
Yes, the Steelers had thrown hints about adding a back in the draft, and it seemed plausible that it could come late, as they’ve had some success with late-rounders and even free agents, notably Willie Parker. That’s becoming more prevalent across the NFL, actually. And even when the draft passed, it was easy to detect from both Colbert and Tomlin that they weren’t done looking to bolster the position, at least from a depth standpoint.
Bearing in mind that Bell will miss the first three games to his DUI suspension, it’s all the more important to have at least one other back who could carry the full load on a short-term basis if Williams were to go down. One supposes that could be Harris, given how he was talked up in advance of a playoff game, but I don’t think so.
Josh Bell has nine RBIs through four games in May for Class AA Altoona. — GETTY
Big Daddy: DK, why not trade Pedro Alvarez and get what they can for him (which will be next to nothing) and bring up Josh Bell to get his feet wet? Go with Corey Hart and Sean Rodriguez at first if Bell doesn’t work out at the present time.
Do you see any logic in this?
DK: No, no, no and just for the heck of it, no.
Bell is off to a strong start in Altoona, no doubt, batting .376 with eight extra-base hits and 15 RBIs in 85 at-bats. And this plus 24 at-bats last season make up the entirety of his experience at the Class AA level. That’s it.
That’s not cause for a promotion, and neither is a need at the major-league level. Ever.
This topic comes up quite a bit, in general, especially when the parent team isn’t performing well, but promoting players at the risk of hurting their development is the stuff of losers. Dumb organizations do this. The Pirates used to do this. I’ve not always seen eye to eye with Neal Huntington, to put it mildly, but I’ve always admired his resolve in situations like that, to never risk the individual prospect’s future for the sake of some short-term yippee moment.
Bell will have his chance. He’s very talented, as everyone knew when the Pirates basically blew up the modern draft system by paying him $5 million in the second round. But his time will come.
And by that, I mean his time in Class AAA, whic represents the biggest leap in quality that minor-league hitters make.
cmupensfan: Without obvious personal intel, how long did you work at executing the #StealYohe campaign?
DK: Guess this is a good way to end today, since that hashtag was trending on Pittsburgh Twitter last night and it really seemed to get a ton of attention. Legit news!The seed was initially planted a few months ago. I genuinely don’t remember the exact time period. A lot of these nine months have just blurred by, to be honest. But there was a real discussion, as well as the realization that we’d be a lot better off waiting until we were both more sure of everything. It was going to be a really big commitment on both ends.Once we did, and our little company had enough revenue to ensure that Josh would be paid better than ever — something I’ve long felt was deserved — everything was revisited during the playoffs, then culminated by this past weekend.So, did I have a good idea when the #StealYohe hashtag was hatched a couple weeks ago?Actually, no. Neither did Josh, who saw the hashtag the same time everyone else did.
But all’s well that trends well, right?
Thanks to everyone for reading and participating this morning. I’ll be at PNC Park tonight catching up with the local baseball team. Josh will be there, too, getting the lay of the land.
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