Get Up Everybody and (Vogel)Sing: The 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates

93 games into the season:

francisco liriano: -0.3 bwar
andrew mccutchen: -0.4 bwar

i have no idea what the pirates are doing

jfc

wouldn't surprise me if the jays immediately cut liriano and pocketed mcguire/ramirez but i guess they have nothing to lose by giving him a few innings. he's been legit awful this year, but he was actually good as recently as 12 months ago -- does he really have less upside than wade miley, whom the orioles acquired on purpose?

i think pirate fans have made their peace with the fact that the team's not going to sign big free agents, which is fine. they seldom work out. giving up two decent prospects just to dump liriano's salary is pathetic, though. i want to see what they plan to do with that $15m they just saved -- essentially nothing in today's market. not only that, the guy they got back from toronto is a fly-ball pitcher who gives up too many homers -- exactly the kind of pitcher they've avoided for years.

at least they're not moving to cobb county, i guess

i think the Jays are planning on moving Sanchez to the pen (due to inning limit) and they like Liriano better than Hutch to step in. he also makes roughly what Dickey does and will probably be Dickey's replacement next year. i guess they're banking on Martin being able to help Liriano settle down.

if the jays consider liriano an asset now, let alone a feasible starter next year, then not only was it a salary dump but the pirates also got fleeced -- they shouldn't have had to throw in the two prospects as well

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Co9l9YkWcAApifW.jpg:small

pirates vs NL west, last three seasons: 69-29 (.704)

pirates vs brewers, last three seasons: 20-27 (.426)

(nice)

David Schoenfield:

The Pirates are just one behind the Cardinals for the second and final National League wild card and just three games behind the sinking Giants.

When Pittsburgh traded Mark Melancon and Francisco Liriano, everyone viewed it as the Pirates waving a white flag. Tony Watson is 7-for-8 in save chances since the trade, and he got the win in the save he blew. Felipe Rivero, acquired in the Melancon deal, has pitched scoreless baseball in eight of his nine appearances. McCutchen has four two-hit games in his past six, so maybe -- just maybe -- he'll get on a tear down the stretch.

One thing Pittsburgh needs to do is clean up when it plays the Brewers and Reds. The Pirates are 10-10 against them, but will play them in 18 of their final 44 games. Of course, they also have seven remaining against the Cubs, against whom they've gone just 3-9 this season. FanGraphs puts the Pirates' playoff odds at 34 percent. But that's a lot higher than two weeks ago, when they were 53-53.

Has Clint Hurdle given up the gum? I think it's three nights in a row I've turned on the Pirates game and he doesn't have a big mouthful.

Pirates vs Cubs, 2016

3 wins
12 losses
58 runs for
91 runs against
.227/.310/.365 for
.294/.388/.512 against

@Buster_ESPN
Prediction: Somebody is holding some kind of a meeting within the Pirates' organization sometime within the next 24 hours. Very ugly.

tbf someone in a lot of different organizations will probably hold a meeting within the next 24 hours.

ffs

no help at all for the Mets eh

http://i.imgur.com/WixvkDG.png

nice

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsgZY3IW8AAA7At.jpg

They were already pretty much dead but this game feels like the nail on the coffin.

pretty much

probably confused the cubs' starter with pittsburgh rocker karl hendricks and wanted to help out his cy young candidacy

Ha ha I always get confused about which one is Kyle and which one is Karl

http://i.imgur.com/y7jtD8d.jpg

trolled by the montgomery biscuits

http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/39/1327/full/n18cdnq8q8ceec7qga0sy3bgr.gif

whaddyagonnado? asked the anthropomorphic biscuit, rhetorically

http://m.mlb.com/assets/images/5/9/0/209534590/cuts/cervelli_ysn49pap_6vxurh3t.jpg

alas, no serpico bobblehead

Thought it was Mac from Always Sunny.

gerrit cole threw 114 pitches before they took him out today