Normally, I do a pre-season analysis, where I fill in my own depth chart and playing time estimates for the upcoming Pittsburgh Pirates season, along with ZiPS projected WAR totals. This year, I'm looking at the...
All of the articles on Pirates Prospects this year will be my voice, with the exception of one: Roundtable. I wanted to find a way to give the fans a voice, but in a more structured...
I am not going to spend much time talking about Ron Cook’s article in this morning's Post-Gazette. There are plenty of misguided thoughts in the article, but I just wanted to make a single point.
According to John Russell, Neil Walker will receive the majority of playing time at second base moving forward. This pushes Aki Iwamura to the bench. With Iwamura out of the lineup, Andrew McCutchen has moved back to the leadoff spot.
The Akinori Iwamura acquisition made sense at the time, but things have changed. Even if we factor in expected positive regression, Iwamura is likely to provide slightly below average production for the season. At 31-years-old and on a one-year contract, that’s just not very valuable. It is time to replace Iwamura with the rejuvenated Neil Walker.