I thought today was going to be a busy day.
When you plan on covering three games live in one day, you expect to be taking on a lot of work. Except I thought this work would include a lot more live updates of players, and a lot less arrests and players leaving the system.
I have no idea who plays for who right now, because there were so many minor transactions throughout the system that I can’t even keep track. Fortunately, John Dreker will break that all down in the Morning Report.
We did get a lot of live coverage of the Triple-Header. The whole thing was a blur, but also an amazing set of games. There were a lot of things to like about Braeden Ogle and Max Kranick, and every time I see Mitch Keller, I get a bit more impressed. I’m not giving any more freebies on these guys. If you want to recap and videos from today, join the site, then check out the Prospect Watch. I’ll have more bigger picture articles on each guy in the coming days.
And then there was the Tito Polo/Stephen Tarpley deal for Ivan Nova, which I thought was an over-pay, and wrote about here. I’ll probably have more about this in the coming days.
But then there was a story that I never thought I’d be writing. It involved Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas being involved in an bar incident after 2 AM. And the best way to summarize the entire event: They were idiots.
You can read all about the case here, with a summary of the police report. But there’s no other way to summarize it other than to say they were idiots.
They weren’t even the people who were involved in the fight. That happened when a Mud Hens player punched a customer whose only crime previously was putting himself between three unruly 22-23 year olds and a female bartender. They waited for him outside, and the Mud Hens player got into the fight with him. Ngoepe and Neverauskas could have separated themselves from the situation then, and possibly avoided getting arrested. But they were idiots.
Here’s the thing. There wasn’t really long-term damage here that they caused. They didn’t kill anyone or seriously harm anyone, or commit any major crimes. So we’re going to get the “they’re young and stupid.” But that is no excuse.
I was once young and stupid. One night in college I had the brilliant plan of taking shots of Jack every 60 minutes, spacing it out so that I wouldn’t get too drunk. The problem with that plan is 60 minutes seems to go by a lot faster after shots five and six of Jack, and soon enough you’ve had 16 shots total in about six hours and you’re doing Cartman impressions while throwing up in the bushes. Or so it has been explained to me.
I was an idiot. But I also was home playing video games that night. The biggest risk involved was “Is he going to make it to the bushes?” I don’t think I put anyone in danger, unless I accidentally tripped someone with a video game cord.
I’ve was an idiot at times when I was younger. But I’ve never gone as far as to be arrested, or getting in a fight with someone, or causing a disturbance that would lead to someone telling me I had to leave. And I’m not alone. There are about 200 players in the Pirates’ system who avoid this every year. It’s not even that hard to avoid. So yeah, Ngoepe and Neverauskas were young and stupid in this situation, but they were much more stupid than all of the other young and stupid people.
When I was driving home after this mess of a day, the entire scope of the situation really hit me. This took place on August 28th. They were days away from rosters expanding. Ngoepe was added to the 40-man roster last off-season so the Pirates could keep him in the system. They’ve called up a speed/defense guy every year, and he looked like he would be that guy this year. Neverauskas went from a Low-A non-prospect to an actual relief prospect pumping 97-99 MPH fastballs. If he didn’t get the call this year, which he might have, then he would have been added for next year.
These guys were not only days away from making the major leagues, but they were days away from making history. Ngoepe would have been the first player from South Africa to play in the majors, and I think the first player from Africa. Neverauskas would have been the first player from Lithuania to play in the majors.
Ngoepe and Neverauskas were days away from being heroes to thousands and thousands of young kids in their country. They would have been the symbol of baseball where they’re from. Every kid in their country who was interested in the sport would have grown up pretending to be them. The kids who decided to take up baseball would be taking it up because of them. They could have impacted lives in ways that 99% of players in the minors never will.
They were days away from that possibly happening. Days away from being the biggest story in the Pirates’ system, and one of the best stories in baseball. Instead, they became part of one of the ugliest stories in baseball this week. As a result, they were suspended the rest of the year from Indianapolis. And I’d be shocked if they get called up this year by the Pirates. Ngoepe would be called up for his defense and speed. Pedro Florimon offers the same thing, with much fewer arrests on his record. Neverauskas has a live arm, but the Pirates have plenty of live arms they can call upon.
These two will probably eventually make the majors, and it would be ridiculous to bar them for this. But they made it that much harder on themselves. They’re both fringe players. Ngoepe provides the speed and defense, and it’s so much easier to go with someone like Florimon for that combo if you’ve got any questions about the makeup of the player like Ngoepe. Likewise, the value of a reliever isn’t that high. I mean, if you’re a lefty that throws 105 MPH, you can assault a woman and still be in high demand. But if you’ve got no MLB experience and just have a live arm, you’re going to find a harder time to break in.
Ngoepe and Neverauskas already had a hard time getting to this point. They were both supposed to wash out in A-ball. There was a small percentage chance that these signings would have worked, and that small percentage played out for the most part. Then they set themselves back by being idiots. Over a night out in Toledo. Toledo. The number one activity on Yelp in Toledo is packing up your shit and getting the hell out of Toledo.
So here’s my message to all of the other young and stupid people out there (Pirates or elsewhere): Don’t be an idiot. Being young and stupid is something that everyone can claim at some point in their lives, but it’s not a free pass to do what you want. Whether you’re in rookie ball, or the majors, you’ve worked too hard to throw it all away on a few beers, or hanging out a few hours past midnight, or just making one mistake in one day that can derail your career.
As for the Pirates, this is the organization of Roberto Clemente, the guy who said ”Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.” If you’re a professional baseball player at any level, you have the opportunity to make a difference. And if you decide to throw that opportunity away on one stupid night, then you are wasting your time on this Earth.
**Prospect Watch: Mitch Keller, Braeden Ogle, and Max Kranick Impress Today. Forget the arrest story. This is the big news today. This is what we do here, covering the best young prospects in the system actually playing ball. Today would have been so depressing without these games.
**Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas Arrested in Toledo Over the Weekend. The full report of the incident.
**Pirates Recall Alen Hanson; Add Kelvin Marte to Roster. I’d expect Hanson to be up for the rest of the year, with Marte potentially up for the rest of the season, but possibly just here to add short-term depth.
**Pirates Send Stephen Tarpley and Tito Polo to the Yankees to Complete Nova Trade. My thoughts on the completion of the deal.
**Mitch Keller Earns SAL Most Outstanding Pitcher Award; Josh Bell Named IL All-Star. Pirates prospects getting awards and honors.
**Morning Report: Thoughts on Nick Kingham, Drew Hutchison and Luis Escobar. John Dreker gives his thoughts on three pitchers from Monday.
