Speaker 1: Episode three eighty seven of Bucco Banter presented by Brave
Speaker 1: Bean Coffee Company. We are down on the Farm and
Speaker 1: we were going to talk minor league baseball and trades.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Buco Banter podcast, brought to you
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Speaker 3: Ed Is Snake, Welcome back to another episode of Down
Speaker 3: on the Farm or Minor League segment here at Bucco Banter, Adam,
Speaker 3: we only had unless you're including the rookie leagues, the
Speaker 3: DSL and the FCL, we only had a weekend.
Speaker 4: Of games here.
Speaker 3: So just like our recent episode, we're not gonna do
Speaker 3: Players of the Week anything like that, but we're gonna
Speaker 3: just generally recap level to level and the trade deadline's
Speaker 3: coming up, which is you know, in the current positions
Speaker 3: the Pirates are in.
Speaker 4: I feel like that's very relevant conversation.
Speaker 1: We've spent all year talking about how they've built their
Speaker 1: system with arms catchers, guys that have a ton of potential.
Speaker 1: This is the reason you do it for, right, not
Speaker 1: only to bolster your system and to eventually have guys
Speaker 1: make it to the show, but to be expendable, to
Speaker 1: be able to make trades that help you in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: right now. And they've set themselves up well enough to
Speaker 1: do that. But now it's going to be which one
Speaker 1: of these prospects, which one of these players all the
Speaker 1: way throughout the system, all the way from the Dominican
Speaker 1: Summer League, all the way to Triple A, Which one
Speaker 1: of them brings back a return that's going to help
Speaker 1: this bullpen And I'll say bullpens. We're focusing on the
Speaker 1: bullpen right There might be some other moves that happened,
Speaker 1: there's rumors going around. I'm sure those are going to
Speaker 1: ramp up in the next couple of days. But Scott,
Speaker 1: it's going to be bullpen Helpe and a lot of
Speaker 1: teams are going to look at some guys in our
Speaker 1: system that are very, very compelling that could make a
Speaker 1: difference down the road.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's very few guys that would label as untouchable
Speaker 3: in the system. I think this organization has done a
Speaker 3: good job. Will give flowers where they are due. They've
Speaker 3: done a good job over the last couple of years
Speaker 3: drafting and in the international scouting market, and you know,
Speaker 3: acquiring talent in trades that to booster this minor league system.
Speaker 3: Right the prospects that they currently had, which two years ago,
Speaker 3: if you asked me, seemed pretty bleak. I'm like, how
Speaker 3: are we in year five of rebuild and our system
Speaker 3: still looks this thin, especially on the offensive side. But
Speaker 3: they've done a really good job the last couple of seasons,
Speaker 3: and outside of Seth Hernandez, there's not many guys I'd
Speaker 3: consider untouchable. And there's some guys that I consider untouchable
Speaker 3: unless it's for a specific person. Let's say a Mason
Speaker 3: Miller or a closer type that can come in and
Speaker 3: really be a top of the league, high leverage arm.
Speaker 3: I'd thrown to Edward Florentino. But you know, I think
Speaker 3: when you look at the system at large, there's not
Speaker 3: many untouchables here.
Speaker 1: I think you're holding on the Seth Hernandez at all costs.
Speaker 1: You potentially have had the best three years of first
Speaker 1: round draft picks that anyone's ever seen in Paul Skeins,
Speaker 1: Connor Griffin, and then Seth Hernandez.
Speaker 5: This is just.
Speaker 1: Unworldly talent that you've collected here. But I agree, I
Speaker 1: don't think anything should be untouchable. They're gonna listen to everything, right,
Speaker 1: everything that comes in, just like in the offseason when
Speaker 1: you're having trades come through. They're gonna listen to every
Speaker 1: single proposal that comes in. But it has to make
Speaker 1: sense for this twenty twenty six team, specifically the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six Pirates. We're not looking at twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 1: We're not looking at twenty twenty eight. Obviously, years of
Speaker 1: control do matter to some degree, but this year specifically,
Speaker 1: you're trying to make a push. You're playing really good
Speaker 1: baseball right now and I'm not trying to beat the
Speaker 1: dead horse, but you got to show that you're in it.
Speaker 1: And that's going to take, as our friend Jim Stam said,
Speaker 1: a stomach like you're gonna have to stomach getting rid
Speaker 1: of some guys that you've fallen in love with it,
Speaker 1: Guys that you could dream on. And we're gonna touch
Speaker 1: on some of them here.
Speaker 3: I want to I want to do an exercise with everyone. First,
Speaker 3: Let's let's think back to previous years. Let's even go
Speaker 3: back a decade, if you can go back that far
Speaker 3: and think about some prospects along the way that you
Speaker 3: were really excited about that ended up not being big
Speaker 3: leaders or not being productive big leaders. I'll bring up one,
Speaker 3: Nick Kingham. Remember Nick Kingham.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, it's you're in the pirate system.
Speaker 3: Obviously there were some other factors there, but you know,
Speaker 3: you can you could probably list off a pretty big
Speaker 3: group of names if you really do the thought experiment
Speaker 3: and think about it for a little bit. Because not
Speaker 3: many prospects pan out guys, that's just the facts, right.
Speaker 3: I mean, you can dream on these soles, and it's
Speaker 3: fun to look at a guy like Edward Florentino and
Speaker 3: his swaying and and you know, the names go on
Speaker 3: and on right now in the system. But when you
Speaker 3: have the number one offense in baseball, I think you
Speaker 3: go for it. Even if you're only four games above
Speaker 3: five hundred, I think you go for it in a
Speaker 3: We just were up in Cleveland right watching them play
Speaker 3: the Guardians, who are leading the AL Central.
Speaker 4: This is a team that's better than most teams in
Speaker 4: the American League. I'll say that confidently.
Speaker 1: Thinking back, there's a lot of first round draft picks
Speaker 1: from the Pirates that just simply didn't play out a lot.
Speaker 3: A lot, and obviously they're they've gotten better on that front.
Speaker 3: I bet I can list a handful names in the
Speaker 3: twenty ten or two thousands, early two thousands, but yeah,
Speaker 3: what's some names you got online here?
Speaker 1: Adam Travis Swaggerty I was really high on for a while.
Speaker 1: He just didn't play out. My god, dude, Will Craig.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Newman, Cole Talker, Yeah, there's a lot Austin Meadows
Speaker 5: and Austin Meadows they sometimes had their moment, but yeah,
Speaker 5: flash in the pan.
Speaker 4: Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 1: I mean, look at Tamar Johnson. Tomar is still very young,
Speaker 1: but like it hasn't come to fruition for him yet.
Speaker 3: Still young, but he's Roll five eligible. Guys, right, he's
Speaker 3: Roll five eligible, and that means something, Right, you got
Speaker 3: to Adam to forty man, you gotta protect them and
Speaker 3: for the next season, but yeah, this is this is
Speaker 3: the nature of prospects, and it's it's a harsh reality
Speaker 3: that you have to deal with. And yeah, you're gonna
Speaker 3: trade away a guy that's gonna become a star. And
Speaker 3: it's not just because it's with the Pirates, It's it
Speaker 3: happens to every team. It happens, and and you've got
Speaker 3: to take that chance, especially when you have an offense
Speaker 3: like this. I mean, these these opportunities don't come up,
Speaker 3: come along too often.
Speaker 1: Scott. Let's look at Indianapolis. They played the Columbus Clippers
Speaker 1: this week Friday through Sunday. Friday, you have a W
Speaker 1: Saturday of a W Sunday, a W. Pretty good weekend
Speaker 1: for the Indians. Duce Gorson hit his first triple a homer.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about duce Gorson because last year,
Speaker 1: obviously you love the glove, you love the progression. This
Speaker 1: year a lot slower of a start. Where does he
Speaker 1: fit in with this club? And do you think he
Speaker 1: could gain any interest in trade talk?
Speaker 4: Absolutely. We saw him in spring training.
Speaker 3: He was hot the whole way through, and I think
Speaker 3: he got off to a slow start and it just
Speaker 3: kind of carried through Altuna there because Altuna as a
Speaker 3: team gone off to a very slow start. It was
Speaker 3: kind of contagious. I think he peaked at like two
Speaker 3: thirty there, but.
Speaker 4: Let's just hope that.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is a guy that played at UCLA,
Speaker 3: a top tier college program, and has you know, plus
Speaker 3: back the ball skills. I think it could play multiple positions.
Speaker 3: I do think he's got a big league future ahead
Speaker 3: of him. Whether that's as a low end utility player
Speaker 3: or a utility player for a contending team, I don't know.
Speaker 3: But this team has a lot of those, right. We
Speaker 3: just brought up in Jacob Benzalz. You've got Tyler Callahan,
Speaker 3: who's a little bit more season than dues Cours, and
Speaker 3: obviously you've got Jared Triolo too. And people may laugh,
Speaker 3: but you've got Jared Triola who's won a Gold Glove.
Speaker 3: So where does du sports and fit on this team.
Speaker 3: That's a good question to ask. But I do foresee
Speaker 3: him having some big league value moving forward.
Speaker 1: The only other one, the big one at the Triple
Speaker 1: A level, I think Tramar I don't know how much
Speaker 1: interest he's going to gain from other clubs. Potentially, you know,
Speaker 1: somebody might see something there and there could be a
Speaker 1: change of scenery. But I don't know if the Pirates
Speaker 1: are quite done on Tremorrow yet. Hunter Barco, I think
Speaker 1: could be in a lot of trade talks Scott. I
Speaker 1: know there's the injury history. Things haven't really panned out
Speaker 1: for him in Pittsburgh to date coming out of the
Speaker 1: bullpen at least, but there's still a lot of pedigree there.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of people that probably believe in the
Speaker 1: starter of Hunter Barco and he might be a frontline
Speaker 1: guy in some talks.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he absolutely will be. And he's finally healthy again too.
Speaker 3: I mean, I know durability has been a concern, and
Speaker 3: this is we talked about this before the season. This
Speaker 3: is a guy that I'm like, why, baby, let's just
Speaker 3: go all out. And I don't know if the bullpen's
Speaker 3: necessarily for him. He didn't get off to the best
Speaker 3: start in the big leagues in the bullpen, but when healthy,
Speaker 3: he's shown it. Man, he's shown it for sure, especially
Speaker 3: in double A last year to start the season. I
Speaker 3: think this is a guy that would entice the Mets, specifically.
Speaker 3: The Mets have talked about wanting close to big league
Speaker 3: ready talent, especially arms, and I think this is a
Speaker 3: guy that they would put in the big leagues right away,
Speaker 3: potentially in the starting rotation. He just threw three innings
Speaker 3: on Friday, two hits nowhar and two walks, two k
Speaker 3: He's got a four to fifty four ERA. But again
Speaker 3: that's subject of just some inconsistent inconsistency this year a
Speaker 3: little bit of a roller coaster of a season there
Speaker 3: for Hunter Barco.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they could also listen on the password
Speaker 1: as well. I mean, I truly do think they're going
Speaker 1: to keep him. They didn't want him to be part
Speaker 1: of the few in Pittsburgh, and there's some tools that
Speaker 1: need to be tweaked with a little bit. But I
Speaker 1: think teams are going to inquire.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I think the I think the password is
Speaker 3: definitely going to be in talk. So we've heard his
Speaker 3: name a lot, you know, mentioned here in recent weeks.
Speaker 4: So wouldn't be surprised to see him.
Speaker 3: But I also like em betting on him staying here
Speaker 3: in Pittsburgh because I do think they foresee him as
Speaker 3: a big part of the team's future.
Speaker 4: Let's move on to Alton to Adam.
Speaker 3: They're in Redding playing the fight in fields Philly's double
Speaker 3: A affiliate. Murph Gray first game as a curve double,
Speaker 3: a debut hit, a home run, his twenty fourth of
Speaker 3: a season. I can't stress enough how just incredible of
Speaker 3: a first season of pro.
Speaker 4: Ball this guy is having.
Speaker 3: This is a top one hundred prospect through and through,
Speaker 3: and this is a guy that's going to be having
Speaker 3: a lot of conversations around when he's going to be
Speaker 3: in Pittsburgh next season, because that that is the timeline
Speaker 3: that we're looking at. As a college bat, a sector
Speaker 3: that they don't hit on a lot in this organization.
Speaker 3: They were able to out of the Mountain West Conference,
Speaker 3: really good program at Fresno State.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I mean, Murf Gray is just not even
Speaker 4: just in the Pirates.
Speaker 3: Organization, but in all of minor league baseball has had
Speaker 3: one of the most impressive seasons for a first year bat.
Speaker 1: He's jumped three levels. This is what Connor Griffin did
Speaker 1: on Now, I know that's a nineteen year old high
Speaker 1: school kid. There's a big difference there, but a lot
Speaker 1: of guys still don't make that jump. A lot of
Speaker 1: guys finished the year in Greensboro. They don't make it
Speaker 1: to Altuna or it's for the last week of the season.
Speaker 1: This is some really really good stuff. And there's other
Speaker 1: names here. Two Callen Moss has been a lot better
Speaker 1: in the second half of the year going towards the break.
Speaker 1: Lonnie White's starting to pick it up a little bit.
Speaker 1: Rule five eligible guy, so his name could be thrown
Speaker 1: around if they don't protect him. I think they might
Speaker 1: be okay, like a lot of these other guys, but
Speaker 1: there's still potential there. He's having a good year when
Speaker 1: you need him to have a good year. So there
Speaker 1: are options here. And we talk about how deep they
Speaker 1: are at catcher. Derek Berg went five for ten this weekend,
Speaker 1: four runs, two doubles with a home run. He's hitting
Speaker 1: two ninety three. They they have talent.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they absolutely do.
Speaker 3: And would you call me crazy, Adam if I said, yeah, well,
Speaker 3: you would call me crazy regards. Would you call me
Speaker 3: crazy if I said that Murph Gray might be more
Speaker 3: of an untouchable than Edward Florentino.
Speaker 1: For me, No, and I people might think that, but
Speaker 1: I think you're going to get more out of Murph
Speaker 1: Gray sooner than betting on Edward Florentino to figure out
Speaker 1: at a higher level.
Speaker 4: Sorry, I'm distracting as the Pirates are down four nothing
Speaker 4: in the first inning.
Speaker 3: Really they are, Yeah, NICKI g made a crucial error
Speaker 3: that could have ended the inning, and then it's just
Speaker 3: kind of unfolded from here. Just just a three run homer,
Speaker 3: A little update here. I'm down the farm. You'll already
Speaker 3: know that by the time you listen to this.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I think Murph Gray, this third base is.
Speaker 3: A position of need for this organization. And you know
Speaker 3: they just acquired Jack and Gonzalez. I think he can
Speaker 3: kind of be your Swiss Army knife plague wherever you
Speaker 3: need him to. And yeah, I think he's gonna be
Speaker 3: in the conversation for the future third baseman two. But
Speaker 3: I just think this is a guy that has exceeded
Speaker 3: expectations in his first season and continues, just like Connor
Speaker 3: did last year, continues to produce at every level that
Speaker 3: he goes to.
Speaker 4: Is not overmatched at all.
Speaker 3: You know, I think his prospect pedigree is higher than
Speaker 3: he's being ranked right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I one hundred percent agree. Let's go to Greensboro.
Speaker 1: The fifty six and thirty three Grasshoppers continue with talent
Speaker 1: and just an unconscious run of Sammy Sephora because this
Speaker 1: weekend he was five for nine, five runs, a double,
Speaker 1: two home runs, four rbi, is a walk, only two
Speaker 1: strikeouts in a stolen base. He's hitting three h nine
Speaker 1: where Donnie del Santos went five for ten, Easton Carmichael
Speaker 1: five for nine, Florentino hit two home runs. There's just
Speaker 1: a lot going on here. As always in Greensboro, the
Speaker 1: offense is booming.
Speaker 3: Yeah, someone needs to pour a bucket of ice water
Speaker 3: on Sammis Sefira because this is just on a terror
Speaker 3: right now.
Speaker 4: Actually, don't do that, Let's let him keep going.
Speaker 3: But yeah, the fact, the fact that and I said
Speaker 3: this on the last episode last week, is a guy
Speaker 3: that's already a plus defender up the middle, a plus runner,
Speaker 3: like if the bat is improved, if this is real,
Speaker 3: I know, I think there is a mixture of the
Speaker 3: park factors being part of the equation here and him
Speaker 3: actually making some changes. I think there it could be
Speaker 3: a little bit of both. But yeah, this this increases
Speaker 3: his prospect stoff a lot. And then he said Carmichael,
Speaker 3: I'm just waiting for this guy to be in double
Speaker 3: A because he's definitely earned it at this rate. Uh,
Speaker 3: this is one of the best hitting catching prospects in
Speaker 3: all base.
Speaker 1: I think the big name to watch here when it
Speaker 1: comes to the trade deadline is do or Donnie Delos Santos,
Speaker 1: if a team wants to put them on their forty
Speaker 1: man and protect him for next year, because he's having
Speaker 1: a really good season. He's hitting two eighty three. Scott,
Speaker 1: I just don't know if this is somebody that we're
Speaker 1: going to see long term in Pittsburgh with all the
Speaker 1: talent that they have right now, or if that success
Speaker 1: is going to even continue throughout the next year or two.
Speaker 1: So definitely look to see him maybe packaged or considered
Speaker 1: in some trade talks moving forward. Let's go to Bradenton,
Speaker 1: the forty one forty six Marauders at the Tampa Tarpins,
Speaker 1: the low A affiliate for the Yankees. Ed Glen Perez,
Speaker 1: who they brought back last year, one for seven this
Speaker 1: week with aron, a walk and a strikeout. He's hitting
Speaker 1: two eighty nine. And then Johann Delos Santos, who was
Speaker 1: recently promoted to affiliated baseball about a week ago, went
Speaker 1: two for seven with two runs, a walk, two k's,
Speaker 1: and three stolen bases. What's your takeaway? For this short
Speaker 1: weekend of baseball here, Scott.
Speaker 3: My takeaway is that Levi Sterling is the next pitcher
Speaker 3: in the system to unlock another level. I think he's
Speaker 3: continuing to evolve here as a pitcher. Was raw coming
Speaker 3: out of high school in California. This week on Saturday,
Speaker 3: six innings, three hits or earned off a home run really,
Speaker 3: two walks, but nine k's. I think he's got bat
Speaker 3: missing traits in all of his pitches, especially the fastball
Speaker 3: curveball combo that he can work north to south with.
Speaker 3: This is a guy that's gonna unlock another level here
Speaker 3: very soon. It's gonna be really fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Love that you had the FCL and you had the
Speaker 1: Dominican Summer League. Barco did get a rehab start last
Speaker 1: early in the week on Monday. He went one in
Speaker 1: two thirds, one hit, one earned, one walk, one K.
Speaker 1: Anything else that stands out to you in either of
Speaker 1: these leagues, Scott, that you want to talk about right now?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Carlos Tahara, a guy that was just bumped up, seventeen
Speaker 3: year old outfielder from DSL to the Complex. He came
Speaker 3: state side this week six for fourteen to two homers, four.
Speaker 4: RBIs the stolen base. He's sitting two seventy eight and FCL.
Speaker 3: I think this is the next name to be.
Speaker 4: A guy out of the Dominican.
Speaker 3: Like we mentioned with as Merlin and Tony Blanco and
Speaker 3: some of these other signings. As Merlin signed for one
Speaker 3: hundred and thirty K out of the Dominican. These aren't
Speaker 3: sexy signings. I think Florentino's was a little bit higher
Speaker 3: than that, but it wasn't over a million dollars.
Speaker 4: Carlos to Hera definitely was. I think ninety five thousand.
Speaker 4: It was less than one hundred K.
Speaker 3: So be on the watchout for him because I think
Speaker 3: this is a name that's gonna be a household name
Speaker 3: sooner rather than later. And then in the DSL, they
Speaker 3: had the All Star Game this week, so it was
Speaker 3: a shortened week. But other than Jansher Custodio finally getting together,
Speaker 3: he started. This is their top international signing in this
Speaker 3: recent class. Sixteen years old outfielder started one for twenty
Speaker 3: five with nine k's. He also did start healthy either,
Speaker 3: but this week was four for eight with two doubles,
Speaker 3: So I look for him to get going down the DSL.
Speaker 1: I have a feeling next down on the farm is
Speaker 1: going to be a little bit different. Yeah, guys no
Speaker 1: longer in the system, and I hope it's for the
Speaker 1: best for both sides. I hope some of these guys
Speaker 1: find success in other places, and I hope we find
Speaker 1: success at the big league club. When it comes to
Speaker 1: these trades. They've done so far, so good with a
Speaker 1: lot of the trades recently, which is hard to say
Speaker 1: as a Pirates fan. They've past couple of years pretty decent.
Speaker 1: They've made out pretty well, whether it's just been minor
Speaker 1: league guys or guys that have contributed at the pro level.
Speaker 1: Let's try and keep that going, Scott. This episode's brought
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Speaker 1: Players of the Week this week because they only played
Speaker 1: three days of baseball, so we will be back next
Speaker 1: week with the Players of the Week, hopefully some more
Speaker 1: trade talk, some guys, new guys to discuss whatever is
Speaker 1: happening in the pirate system. We have you covered. Make
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Speaker 2: It best seats at the pirates get it.
Speaker 4: Let me run the base.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my time is like my money because I can't
Speaker 2: afford to waste. Oh why see is alloyans my date?
Speaker 3: To my dates?
Speaker 4: Or to stick by the plate Synick