Tag: Francisco Liriano

Leading up to the Trade Deadline, the hope of many fans wanting to see the Pirates buying from just a few weeks ago had been replaced with sadness and despair due to the team’s recent swoon. Instead of hoping to pick up a piece or two at the deadline, now all fans could do was […]

There are plenty of roster intricacies in the Major League Baseball Rulebook that can be difficult to understand in theory and application: Designated for Assignment, waivers, outright assignment, 25-man roster versus 40-man roster, and service time, just to name a few. These intricacies have consistently interested me, and I always had to rely on sites […]

Well, as Ron Burgundy might say, “That escalated quickly.” This wasn’t a topic I anticipated visiting quite this early, but after the entire pitching staff’s performance has seemingly fallen off a cliff, and twenty losses in their last twenty-nine games (as of June 20th) have the team hovering around last place in the division, it […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on Saturday morning that left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano and outfielder Melky Cabrera will both be added to the 40-man roster and they will make the Opening Day roster. The Pirates currently have a full 40-man roster, though that includes reliever Edgar Santana, who will miss the entire season due to Tommy […]

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Pittsburgh Pirates have reached a deal with left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano. No word yet if it’s a Major League or minor league deal. The 35-year-old Liriano spent 2018 with the Detroit Tigers, where he made 26 starts and one relief appearance. He had a 4.58 ERA and a 5.11 […]

Ivan Nova currently has a 3.87 ERA and a 4.06 xFIP. For a free agent signing on a three-year, $26 M deal, those aren’t bad surface numbers. He’s making about $8.5 M per year on average, and is currently worth 1.5 fWAR, with the typical $/WAR figure for free agents coming in at $8-9 M […]

I made a decision last week: I’m done discussing the Francisco Liriano trade, unless something new happens that updates the discussion. This decision probably should have come a lot sooner. Liriano was traded on August 1st, and since then, there has been five months of almost daily conversation about the trade. Actually, conversation isn’t the […]

The Pirates didn’t have a good off-season last year when it came to pitching. You could argue that one of their biggest mistakes was watching J.A. Happ sign elsewhere for an affordable three years and $36 M. They received a lot of criticism after trading for Happ, and then took even more criticism when they […]

For years, the Pirates followed a pretty consistent strategy when it came to trading prospects and taking on payroll. That strategy was always to defer to taking on money, rather than giving up additional players. They did this in 2011, when they were barely contenders, and traded for Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick, taking on […]

When it comes to discussing good trades or signings the Pirates have made, the expiration date for talking about those moves is short. When it comes to discussing bad trades or signings the Pirates have made, there is literally no expiration date, even if you talk about it daily. We are now entering day number […]