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Morning Report: Why a Quiet July 2nd Doesn’t Mean Much for the Pirates

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Yesterday was the beginning of the July 2nd international signing period. I mentioned a couple times over the last few days that last year was a slow first day, resulting in just two signings being announced. What I should clarify is that the team doesn’t announce the signings, it is usually something that requires us digging for information, or a couple international signing experts announcing them. Ben Badler from Baseball America and Jesse Sanchez broke the signings of eight players signed by the Pirates back on July 2, 2014. Unfortunately for this year, there wasn’t one signing announced, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there weren’t any signings.

Larry Alcime Jr. from the Bahamas was the only one announced last year, then we found out that they also signed Kyle Simmons, who is also from the Bahamas. We actually interviewed Simmons that day and had a report up on the site. Those were the only two players we heard about and reported here on July 2nd last year. It wasn’t until much later that we found out they actually signed ten players last year on July 2nd. Some of those players were announced within the next week by us and others, while two of them weren’t even known about until October and even then, we had no information on them other than height/weight, age and position.

There should be no reason to worry that you didn’t hear anything yet for a few reasons. In the preview article I did, I broke down the known bonuses for players from last year, pointing out that we didn’t have the bonus information for seven players the Pirates signed. Without knowing those bonuses, we knew that the Pirates spent all of their bonus pool money except for $36,900. Some of those seven players could have signed for $10,000 or less, which would mean they didn’t count against the pool. Saying that though, there is still a good chance the Pirates went somewhere above 1%, but less than 5% over their bonus pool, which required them to pay 100% tax on whatever they went over.

We know they maxed out their pool last year, so there is no reason to believe they won’t do it again this year, especially with a lower bonus pool available. We also know that they plan to sign Jean Robert Eusebio on his 16th birthday (August 22nd), and he could be the best player they sign. We won’t find that out until he signs though. That means they have a lower bonus pool to work with and some of it is set aside for a high upside player they can’t sign until next month. We also heard from Ben Badler that they planned to sign Dominican outfielder Pedro Castillo, who played in the Dominican Prospect League, which is a good sign of a player with talent. We won’t announce it until it’s confirmed, but I have a good reason to believe he signed already.

The other thing to consider is that teams agree to deals with players in advance, sometimes more than a year ahead of time. The Pirates (or any other team) don’t wait around just to see what is left, they agree to signings so they can be official on July 2nd, which is how the Pirates got ten players last year and eight players for more than $100,000 the year before, all on the first day they were eligible to sign.

A quiet day yesterday doesn’t mean they aren’t participating or they are waiting to see who is left after other teams sign players, it just means that we didn’t find out any names. It could mean that today is a busy day for announcements, or it could mean that Eusebio will require a large bonus to sign. The Pirates will spend their bonus pool, maxing out the small amount the best they can, and eventually we will find out who they signed and why they felt those players were interesting. If yesterday was anything like July 2nd last year, the Pirates may have already spent more than half of their pool money.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 4-2 in ten innings over the A’s on Saturday night. Francisco Liriano will be on the mound today. He finished June with a 7.03 ERA in 24.1 innings over five starts. In May, he had a 5.34 ERA and pitched 30.1 innings in five starts. The A’s will counter with Daniel Mengden, who has a 2.81 ERA in 25.2 innings, with 26 strikeouts and a 1.17 WHIP. He allowed two runs over 7.2 innings in his last start, which was on the road against the Giants.

In the minors, Trevor Williams starts for Indianapolis, coming off his best outing of the season. On Tuesday, he allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in six innings. The six strikeouts by Williams is a season high. Buddy Borden makes his second start since re-signing with the Pirates. In his debut on Monday he gave up one unearned run on two hits in 3.2 innings. James Marvel has thrown six shutout innings in two of his starts, and been knocked out of the game early in the other, allowing four runs over 3.2 innings. Logan Sendelbach had a 3.30 ERA in five June starts, after posting a 6.08 ERA in five May starts.

The GCL Pirates and DSL Pirates are off, while Nestor Oronel will likely start for Bristol.

MLB: Pittsburgh (40-41) @ A’s (35-46) 4:05 PM
Probable starter: Francisco Liriano (5.33 ERA, 54:83 BB/SO, 82.2 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (43-40) @ Toledo (36-46) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (4.70 ERA, 13:20 BB/SO, 38.1 IP)

AA: Altoona (45-35) vs Bowie (35-46) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cody Dickson (4.02 ERA, 53:48 BB/SO, 78.1 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (41-36) vs Charlotte (38-40) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Buddy Borden (0.00 ERA, 1:3 BB/SO, 3.2 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (41-38) vs Columbia (39-41) 2:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Logan Sendelbach (3.44 ERA, 23:62 BB/SO, 81.0 IP)

Short-Season A: Morgantown (9-7) vs Auburn (9-7) 4:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: James Marvel (2.30 ERA, 5:10 BB/SO, 15.2 IP)

Rookie: Bristol (6-4) @ Pulaski (5-5) 5:00 PM (season preview)

GCL: Pirates (2-5) vs Phillies (6-1) 10:00 AM 7/4 (season preview)

DSL: Pirates (9-16) vs Cubs1 (11-14) 10:30 AM 7/4 (season preview)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a diving grab by Alen Hanson, who had made just three errors this season at second base.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

7/2: Pablo Reyes activated from temporary inactive list. Trace Tam Sing placed on temporary inactive list.

7/1: Julio Vivas promoted to West Virginia.

7/1: Rinku Singh assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab

7/1: Pirates sign Andrew Walker.

6/30: Jorge Rondon sent outright to Indianapolis.

6/30: Erik Lunde assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.

6/30: Raul Hernandez assigned to Bradenton.

6/30: Jose Regalado placed on disabled list. Tanner Anderson promoted to Bradenton.

6/30: Tomas Morales assigned to Indianapolis. Ed Easley released.

6/30: Jose Osuna promoted to Indianapolis. Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Altoona.

6/29: Pirates sign Nick King and Daniel Cucjen.

6/28: Trevor Williams activated from temporary inactive list.

6/28: Carl Anderson assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.

6/28: Pirates sign Max Kranick. Assigned to GCL Pirates.

6/27: Pirates sign Buddy Borden. Assigned to Bradenton.

6/27: Jeff Roy assigned to Bristol.

6/27: Erik Lunde placed on the disabled list.

6/26: Pirates purchase the contract of Chad Kuhl. Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis.

6/26: Pirates designate Curtis Partch for assignment.

6/26: Pirates unconditionally release Cory Luebke.

6/26: Trevor Williams placed on bereavement list.

6/26: Tomas Morales sent to Bradenton.

6/25: Justin Maffei assigned to Altoona.

6/25: Luis Paula and David Whitehead assigned to Bristol on rehab.

6/24: Pirates purchase the contract of Adam Frazier. Designate Cole Figueroa for assignment.

6/24: Juan Nicasio activated from restricted list. Designate Jorge Rondon for assignment.

6/24: Jacob Stallings optioned to Indianapolis.

6/23: JT Brubaker added to Bradenton roster. Colten Brewer placed on temporary inactive list.

6/23: Tito Polo assigned to Bradenton.

6/22: Pirates recall Kyle Lobstein. Wilfredo Boscan optioned to Indianapolis.

6/22: Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Indianapolis.

6/21: Pirates recall Wilfredo Boscan. Curtis Partch optioned to Indianapolis.

6/21: Pirates sign Braeden Ogle.

6/20: Trace Tam Sing and Erik Lunde added to Bradenton roster. Pablo Reyes placed on temporary inactive list.

6/19: Steven Brault sent to Morgantown on a rehab assignment.

6/19: Pirates purchase the contract of Jacob Stallings. Jason Rogers optioned to Indianapolis.

6/19: Tomas Morales promoted to Indianapolis.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date and we start with the most recent first. Moises Alou played briefly for the 1990 Pirates before he was dealt away for pitcher Zane Smith. It was a deal that looked good short-term and really bad long-term. Alou went on to have a great career, as a .300 hitter with power. He made six All-Star teams.

From the 1942 team, we have pitcher Luke Hamlin, who was also part of a really bad trade. He lasted one season with the Pirates after they acquired him for Hall of Fame shortstop Arky Vaughan.

Going back earlier, we have pitcher Chet Nichols, who was a member of the 1927 Pirates, a team that went to the World Series. Nichols was a mop-up reliever for the Pirates, throwing a total of 27.2 innings, with a 5.86 ERA. He had a son by the same name, who played nine years in the big leagues.

Finally, 1917 first baseman Bunny Brief. He was a great home run hitter in the minors, who never got a good chance in the majors. He began his career during the deadball era, yet he hit 342 career homers. His actual given name was Anthony Grzeszkowski, which couldn’t be any further from Bunny Brief, his baseball name.

John Dreker
John Dreker
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.

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