Busy Buccos Cutting Costs-Part Two

The Andrew McCutchen trade will be covered in three posts as it involves two of the teams that we cover here.
It's that important.
In part one, we'll talk about what the Pirates received in return and how it affects Pittsburgh for 2018.
In part two, we'll look at things from the Giants perspective as they attempt to bounce back from an awful 2017 and make a short-term move before their core ages.
And we'll finish with part three, where I'll write about Andrew McCutchen, the player, who grew up as a prospect into a star right alongside this blog.
I hope that the reader will find it interesting.

In this post, the trade that sent the longtime face of the Pirate franchise in Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants clearly ends any hope of Pirate fans of any sort of contention for the 2018 season, despite what the team was attempting to sell after the Gerrit Cole trade with the Astros.
Trading McCutchen, who will be a free agent at the end of the season and will be 32 for his next contract, was thought to be a given before the end of 2018, if the Pirates were not in contention, but trading him now looks to be a salary dump of a player that had given much of himself to the franchise and the community.

The featured player in the trade is yet again another power-armed reliever in righthanded Kyle Crick

Now, this is where I catch a break because there might not be another pitcher that doesn't pitch in the organization's that host teams on the local circuit (Nationals and Orioles) that I have seen pitch more times than Kyle Crick in the minors in addition to his big league season last year with the Giants.
The 2011 "Sandwich" pick has always had one of the better arms in the minors with an A+ fastball and combined with a live slider, Crick's appearance in Hagerstown as an Augusta Greenjacket in 2012 showed an impressive toolbox that gave me hope that the Giants had another future star in their rotation.
After an impressive 2013 at High A San Jose, Crick figured to be tested at the AA level in Richmond, which is where prospects often meet real adversity for the first time.
Little did Crick or the Giants know that Crick would not just meet adversity in Richmond, he would buy property and make a home there as Crick would spend three full seasons with the Eastern League franchise.
Crick walked a lot of batters (a lot), moved from the rotation to the bullpen back to the rotation, his numbers were worse in season three than they were in season one and both Giants fans and Eastern League followers were wondering if Crick was ever going to be able to harness his plus stuff and return to those prospect lists that he was slipping off.

And then something happened.
Rather send Crick to Richmond for yet another year, San Francisco threw up their hands, tried Crick at AAA Sacramento as a reliever and the light clicked on.
Crick put up an ERA under three in 29 innings as the RiverCats setup man before becoming their closer and struck out 39 in 29 innings, but the most important number?
Only 13 walks.
With Crick's arm, there is no doubt that he can be an elite level closer in the league with even average command and the potential seemed to be coming into form and with the Giants suffering through an awful season, it didn't hurt any to bring Crick up to AT&T Park when Mark Melancon was injured, although he wasn't used as the closer of course.
Crick's numbers were solid with the Giants as well in a pitchers park, which should bode well in Pittsburgh as well as Crick's ERA was barely over three, struck out 28 and walked 17 in 32 innings, which I thought was pretty impressive.
I was figuring on (assuming that Crick continued his command improvement) seeing Crick have the first chance on being the eventual closing replacement when Mark Melancon's contract expires after 2020 (Melancon does have a player option after next year), that's how impressed (and surprised) I was with Crick's 2017 season.
Here's the problem- how many times have you seen a player have command issues take a leap forward for a season and then regress?
It happens more than you think and until Crick can repeat (and maybe even another season after that)  can you truly feel comfortable in thinking that things are truly under "Control".

As for the other player in the trade, the Giants used their first pick in the 2016 draft (second round) on Vanderbilt outfielder Bryan Reynolds and many at the time thought that Reynolds was a steal at the point in the draft.
Reynolds turns 23 next week, so for a college outfielder, Reynolds is not excessively old after spending last year at High A San Jose where he hit .312 with 10 homers and 63 RBI.
Reynolds line does send some mixed signals as far as speed and power.
Ten homers in the California league is nothing special, but nine triples does indicate gap power.
Five steals doesn't indicate plus speed, but nine triples is a pretty impressive number, so there are some stats to think about.
Reynolds also switch-hits which is always a plus, but for a player that doesn't have even average power, his 106 strikeouts (and only 37 walks) is a warning sign to me.
I think Reynolds is a pretty similar prospect to Steven Duggar in the Giants system and with Duggar being one step ahead (expected to start at AAA Sacramento) in the system, the Giants likely looked at Reynolds as being the more expendable of the two, especially with Andrew McCutchen being more than likely a one year rental in the outfield.
I think there are similarities between Reynolds and Jason Martin (acquired from the Astros) with Reynolds being the slightly safer bet and Martin having the slightly higher upside due to the better power potential.
Reynolds should join Martin in the outfield at AA Altoona to start the 2018 season.

I can understand Pirates fans being disappointed with the return.
Perhaps had they waited and McCutchen hit well, they could have gotten a better return at the trade deadline, but that carries the risk of a bad year or even an injury and getting a lesser return or even no return at all, so I can understand taking the safe route now, even if it is the less than glamorous return.
The problem for Pirates fans is that it comes so soon after the trade of Gerrit Cole where the team said that they were not punting the 2018 season- there is no way that one could take such a statement with any type of seriousness now.
It's tough to take the Nutting ownership seriously now when they say that they want to build through youth and then when the time is right they will spend the money to take a shot to win a title.
When the time was right to spend and the window was open, they refused to do so- the returns are in and Bob Nutting just is content to make his dollars from baseball.
Winning is secondary.

Unless something breaks, our next post will look at the trade through the prism from the Giants perspective and how the trade impacts their lineup for the season...

Cavaliers leap into round two and late note.

I know the second part of this post is very late,but it fell between the cracks and I decided to combine
it with tonight's post...

The Cleveland Cavaliers did not have a draft pick in the NBA draft,but they saw something that they liked and they were willing to write a check for 2.4 million to the Atlanta Hawks to bring that player into the fold of the World Champions.
In the NBA,you are allowed to purchase draft picks and even though it is extremely rare to buy a first rounder (I don't even remember it happening offhand),it does happen that a second rounder will change hands for some cold hard cash.

The player that will wind up in Cleveland is Kay Felder of Oakland (Michigan),a 5'9 point guard that was a third team All-American last season.
Think about that,a player from a small school,not even considered a mid-major was one of the top 15 players in the country.
Felder proved his skills against two of the best teams in the country as he almost singlehandedly willed Oakland to a win over top ranked Michigan State as he finished with 37 points and 9 assists in an overtime loss along with 30 points in a loss to then-fifth ranked Virginia.
Felder plays the point,led the country in assists with over nine a game and averaged over twenty four points as well.
Take those facts with a reputed mad dog defensive style and a leap that makes you think that he has springs in his legs (his 44 inch vertical was the 2nd highest EVER in NBA combine history) with the youtube highlights below and you wonder what's not to like about Felder and why wasn't he long off the board before the 54th pick in the draft?



Well,Felder is 5'9 and the league has a bias against small guards.
Other than that and a need to improve his outside shot a little,there isn't much that I can find to hold against Felder.
Felder is most often compared to the current Isaiah Thomas (not the Piston Hall of Famer),but watching those highlights,he brought another player to mind-Allen Iverson.
Now,I'm not saying Kay Felder is anywhere near what Allen Iverson was,but some things that he does with the ball makes me think of Iverson.
It's never a guarantee from a second rounder,but looking at the ability,the numbers,the skills and past the size to listen to this guy talk-I have a feeling this could be a very well spent sum by the Cleveland Cavaliers.


The San Francisco Giants had just one selection on the draft's first day.
The Giants had no compensation picks and lost their first rounder for the signing of Jeff Samardizja.

However,the Giants may have gotten lucky at the 59th pick as the team selected Vanderbilt outfielder Bryan Reynolds,who was rated by many as a top 30 player in this draft.

The 6'4 Reynolds switch hits and most scouts like his developing power along with having the athletic ability to perhaps stay in center field.

The Giants haven't exactly been successful in recent season in drafting outfielders with success,although the jury is still out on Mac Williamson and Reynolds doesn't have to do much to surpass the contributions of the Gary Brown types of fairly recent drafts.
San Francisco seems to prefer college outfielders high in the draft as compared to high schoolers,so this pick seems right up their alley,but still from the reports that I have read-Bryan Reynolds was a terrific pick at 59....