LATROBE, Pa. — Kicking off the very first of our new reader-chat format …
Damon: After one week of camp, is there any visible difference between the Dick LeBeau defense and the Keith Butler defense?
DK: That’s a difficult read only a week into the process, but from what I’ve seen and from talking to Jarvis Jones out here today, a few things are clear:
1. The defensive ends will be far more active, maybe even more than you’d assume if you already knew that. Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt won’t simply be asked to plug space for the outside linebacker to get to the quarterback. They’ll be tasked with doing the same. And based on early returns, that could work out very well for both. Yes, Tuitt, too. What a beast.
2. Lawrence Timmons could be utilized as something more than a stable presence in the middle. This will be a very welcome development, if you ask me or anyone who’d been befuddled by the lack of stunting he did. With that still-phenomenal ability to pursue, anchoring him was doing opponents a big favor Sunday after Sunday.
3. The other inside linebacker — and there are obviously three from which to choose — had better be exceptional in pass coverage for this to work. That’s why all eyes are on Ryan Shazier. All those big, pass-catching tight ends who crush the Steelers regularly demand an answer. That’s a healthy Shazier.
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Dan16: Did the Pirates know or suspect A.J. Burnett was having arm troubles before the All-Star break? I can’t imagine those popped up out of nowhere afterward. Although you wouldn’t have known from his first-half performance.
DK: Start with this premise, Dan: A.J. is one seriously tough S.O.B., mentally and physically. You’ll recall that, with the Phillies last summer, he pitched through a painful hernia all season rather than punt and collect a paycheck when no one would have blamed him, especially with that team stuck in last place.
Also, as you point out, he pitched so well in the first half. And not complaining at all.
So, taking those two elements into consideration, then add in today’s upbeat news that there’s no ligament tear, and it’s at least fair, I think, to assume the Pirates’ front office and coaching staff could be absolved if they didn’t know the entirety of how much the elbow might have been hurting. A.J. isn’t exactly forthcoming about this kind of thing, as his history shows. He wants to pitch.
That said — and I’ll assume this is where you were going with this — should the Pirates have reacted to those first two starts out of the break, combined with A.J. being 38 years old, combined with the historical knowledge that precious few teams make it through a full season with five fully healthy starters, and done more than grabbing J.A. Happ out of the DFA dumpster.
Yes, absolutely.
But then, they didn’t bother replacing a first baseman the manager no longer trusts, so the uber-cautious approach with a starting pitcher probably shouldn’t surprise.
____________________
DJ: Is Vancouver serious in playing Brandon Sutter in a second-line center role and extending him at upwards of $4.5 million per? If so, wow, and only makes the trade look better.
DK: Can’t argue with you there.
I like Sutter. Seems like there’s a parade of people kicking him on the way out the door, but I’m not one. I like him as a person and, far more important, as a player. If you can score 21 goals from a third-line slot with little power-play time and little in the way of NHL wingers, I don’t particularly care what your Tyler Kennedy Quotient is. When hockey gets advanced data to have actual advanced metrics, and those show Sutter to be some inferior player, I’ll buy it. That day isn’t yet close, as the comparable data in baseball and football will powerfully illustrate.
But man, yeah, Vancouver seems poised to pay up for a trade, and that’s usually not a great idea. In other words, you make a trade, and then feel as if you have to validate by signing the guy immediately to some mega-contract. Sutter is up after next season, and he might well have gotten the five-year, $20 million-plus that’s been reported from the current talks with the Canucks. But it’ll be too much. No doubt in my mind about that, and even less doubt than that when considering a salary cap.
I wrote at the time, part of what I liked about Jim Rutherford’s many moves this summer is that they all weighed bigger-picture elements into the process. Awareness of Sutter’s value into the distant future absolutely had to be part of that.
____________________
Josh Newark: Does baseball need to have stiffer penalties to negate throwing at someone with intent before someone gets killed? I understand the difficulty it would place on intent, but what the Bucs and Reds do each series is just barbaric. Or are you of the opinion the players should police themselves?
DK: I’m very much in favor of supplementary punishment for any pitcher hitting a batter high, doubly so if it’s accompanied by an umpire’s warning/ejection. We’re playing with people’s lives here over some stupid code. And waiting until something truly tragic takes place is playing with fire.
I can’t even bring myself to expound on this. Just seems so obvious.
____________________
bernard.diggins: Does the Brandon Boykin acquisition reflect the Steelers’ growing concern about Cortez Allen’s struggles early in camp, Senquez Golson’s injury or simply regret at letting Brice McCain walk? Maybe some combination of all three?
DK: Believe it or not, it might not have been any of those. Based on one very brief conversation I had here today, the Steelers had been talking to the Eagles about Boykin since before the draft. That probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. Turns out Boykin was one of those many low-price, high-ceiling guys they’d been eyeballing all along, even as they spurned all free agents.
Good to know, anyway. Sure seemed like they had their heads stuck in the sand about corner, didn’t it?
Helmets get tossed into the end zone during the Steelers' opening stretch. -- DAVE DiCELLO
August 3, 2015
Five Qs at 5: A.J., Butler, Sutter, Reds, Boykin
by Dejan Kovacevic • Five Qs at 5 • Penguins, Pirates, Steelers
LATROBE, Pa. — Kicking off the very first of our new reader-chat format …
Damon: After one week of camp, is there any visible difference between the Dick LeBeau defense and the Keith Butler defense?
DK: That’s a difficult read only a week into the process, but from what I’ve seen and from talking to Jarvis Jones out here today, a few things are clear:
1. The defensive ends will be far more active, maybe even more than you’d assume if you already knew that. Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt won’t simply be asked to plug space for the outside linebacker to get to the quarterback. They’ll be tasked with doing the same. And based on early returns, that could work out very well for both. Yes, Tuitt, too. What a beast.
2. Lawrence Timmons could be utilized as something more than a stable presence in the middle. This will be a very welcome development, if you ask me or anyone who’d been befuddled by the lack of stunting he did. With that still-phenomenal ability to pursue, anchoring him was doing opponents a big favor Sunday after Sunday.
3. The other inside linebacker — and there are obviously three from which to choose — had better be exceptional in pass coverage for this to work. That’s why all eyes are on Ryan Shazier. All those big, pass-catching tight ends who crush the Steelers regularly demand an answer. That’s a healthy Shazier.
____________________
Dan16: Did the Pirates know or suspect A.J. Burnett was having arm troubles before the All-Star break? I can’t imagine those popped up out of nowhere afterward. Although you wouldn’t have known from his first-half performance.
DK: Start with this premise, Dan: A.J. is one seriously tough S.O.B., mentally and physically. You’ll recall that, with the Phillies last summer, he pitched through a painful hernia all season rather than punt and collect a paycheck when no one would have blamed him, especially with that team stuck in last place.
Also, as you point out, he pitched so well in the first half. And not complaining at all.
So, taking those two elements into consideration, then add in today’s upbeat news that there’s no ligament tear, and it’s at least fair, I think, to assume the Pirates’ front office and coaching staff could be absolved if they didn’t know the entirety of how much the elbow might have been hurting. A.J. isn’t exactly forthcoming about this kind of thing, as his history shows. He wants to pitch.
That said — and I’ll assume this is where you were going with this — should the Pirates have reacted to those first two starts out of the break, combined with A.J. being 38 years old, combined with the historical knowledge that precious few teams make it through a full season with five fully healthy starters, and done more than grabbing J.A. Happ out of the DFA dumpster.
Yes, absolutely.
But then, they didn’t bother replacing a first baseman the manager no longer trusts, so the uber-cautious approach with a starting pitcher probably shouldn’t surprise.
____________________
DJ: Is Vancouver serious in playing Brandon Sutter in a second-line center role and extending him at upwards of $4.5 million per? If so, wow, and only makes the trade look better.
DK: Can’t argue with you there.
I like Sutter. Seems like there’s a parade of people kicking him on the way out the door, but I’m not one. I like him as a person and, far more important, as a player. If you can score 21 goals from a third-line slot with little power-play time and little in the way of NHL wingers, I don’t particularly care what your Tyler Kennedy Quotient is. When hockey gets advanced data to have actual advanced metrics, and those show Sutter to be some inferior player, I’ll buy it. That day isn’t yet close, as the comparable data in baseball and football will powerfully illustrate.
But man, yeah, Vancouver seems poised to pay up for a trade, and that’s usually not a great idea. In other words, you make a trade, and then feel as if you have to validate by signing the guy immediately to some mega-contract. Sutter is up after next season, and he might well have gotten the five-year, $20 million-plus that’s been reported from the current talks with the Canucks. But it’ll be too much. No doubt in my mind about that, and even less doubt than that when considering a salary cap.
I wrote at the time, part of what I liked about Jim Rutherford’s many moves this summer is that they all weighed bigger-picture elements into the process. Awareness of Sutter’s value into the distant future absolutely had to be part of that.
____________________
Josh Newark: Does baseball need to have stiffer penalties to negate throwing at someone with intent before someone gets killed? I understand the difficulty it would place on intent, but what the Bucs and Reds do each series is just barbaric. Or are you of the opinion the players should police themselves?
DK: I’m very much in favor of supplementary punishment for any pitcher hitting a batter high, doubly so if it’s accompanied by an umpire’s warning/ejection. We’re playing with people’s lives here over some stupid code. And waiting until something truly tragic takes place is playing with fire.
I can’t even bring myself to expound on this. Just seems so obvious.
____________________
bernard.diggins: Does the Brandon Boykin acquisition reflect the Steelers’ growing concern about Cortez Allen’s struggles early in camp, Senquez Golson’s injury or simply regret at letting Brice McCain walk? Maybe some combination of all three?
DK: Believe it or not, it might not have been any of those. Based on one very brief conversation I had here today, the Steelers had been talking to the Eagles about Boykin since before the draft. That probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. Turns out Boykin was one of those many low-price, high-ceiling guys they’d been eyeballing all along, even as they spurned all free agents.
Good to know, anyway. Sure seemed like they had their heads stuck in the sand about corner, didn’t it?