Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports in Baltimore had an update on the Travis Snider trade today, saying that he’s hearing the player to be named later won’t be determined until Spring Training.
Last night I wrote about the possibilities for the PTBNL, noting that it might be a 2014 draft pick that can’t be traded until mid-season. I don’t think this news rules that out. Kubatko has been saying that the player will be “determined” in Spring Training, which doesn’t necessarily mean he will be traded at that time. Last year the Pirates made a similar deal in sending Blake Taylor to the Mets for Ike Davis, and there were some rumors saying that the Mets didn’t decide on Taylor right away, and were deciding between a few other players.
This update does lead to a stronger possibility that the reason for a PTBNL is so that the Pirates can get a closer and more recent look at a few players. Kubatko says that the two teams didn’t settle on whether the second player is a pitcher or a position player. He also said that an official didn’t know what Neal Huntington was referring to with his “similar” comment, saying that Huntington could be referencing the lower levels of the farm system or prospect status.
It looks like we won’t be hearing much about this subject for at least a month, and most likely two months, since I’d imagine the point of all of this will be for the Pirates to evaluate a few players before they make a decision.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Seems odd that any team would make a decision in March and then leave a player in another team’s development system for another 4 months (meaning basically all of 2015). Is this common? I seem to remember that the Mets let us keep one of their players for a couple weeks, not this length of time. Maybe the O’s would send him to extended spring training where the Bucs would have some oversight of his workouts? If that happens, we’ll probably know who’s going to be named.
If it is a player from the 2014 draft (which it likely is) then that player can’t officially be traded until a year after he signed his contract. So the Bucs have no choice but to wait and let the player continue in Baltimore’s system until the 1 year time. This is assuming it is a 2014 draft pick. If it isn’t, I expect the player to be announced right around opening day.
Tim is saying the decison is to be made at end of spring training regardless. But why should the O’s care about the player that is chosen in spring training? Why should they spend any time on him, if he’s coming to us in July? How do we ensure he stays on some type of training regimen?
There is a list of players agreed upon by the GM’s so even though Baltimore may suspect who we want the can’t be 100% sure until we select. Keeps them honest about watching out for all their players.
So Tim or John any idea where Tarpley will rank in the Pirates Prospect Rankings? Also, any chance NH may be looking at position players signed from the international ranks???
Looking forward to hearing their opinion. Tarpley certainly doesn’t appear to have any less upside than Cody Dickson, PP’s #14 prospect. I think Tarpley becomes the top lefty in the system, which essentially is only battling against Dickson.
Yeah, I think he has a lot of upside with two strong pitches right now and you know the pirates will make him work on his change up…i’m thinking they will go with a second lefty for the PTBNL, however the 3rd basemen Reyes (I believe) sounds interesting…we shall see soon enough. Fun times!
Jomar Reyes is the most interesting possibility to me, I think. He’s young for his level, is huge and has the power to match his size, and has an advanced approach.
Any ideas, Tim and John, on whether or not there’s a chance Reyes ends up being the guy?
The more prospect reports I read about Stephen Tarpley the more I wonder just how good of a second prospect the Pirates can really expect.
Usually the trade partners will settle on a list of several players to choose from that fit a value proposition or even cash if it’s a rather low proposition. Due to Huntington’s words I expect this will be a C prospect from a short season or low A club. Probably the O’s didn’t want to make player #2 as good as NH wanted so he’s hoping someone shows up at camp looking better than the O’s rate them today.
What are the rules on this? The Pirates can decide on a player they want – what’s the obligation on the part of the Orioles to give them their man? Are the Orioles allowed to disagree, and say that the Pirates are asking for too good of a prospect? Did the Orioles already put a few names on a list that the Pirates are allowed to choose from?
Can’t they get someone from triple a
there should be an already agreed upon list of guys for the Pirates to choose from
Thanks. This is something I’ve seen many times over the years, but this is the first time I found myself really wondering how the selection process works.
Hoping they’re waiting to see if Pat Connaughton gives up on his NBA dreams to play baseball.