Why the Pirates Shouldn’t Rush Murf Gray Into the Lineup

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We have a couple questions to go through today, including why I'm personally not in favor giving one of the Pirates' top prospects an opening day job.

Good morning, and welcome to OffBeat here on North Shore Nine.

My name is Alex Stumpf, and this is a daily look at your Pittsburgh Pirates.

That question came from Brian Cartwright on Twitter, who asked, Why not Murf Gray at third base next year?

And I'm going to say, there's a lot of logic behind it.

I see the vision.

Because he is, depending who you ask, either the Pirates' number two or number three prospect.

It depends on what your view is of Edward Florentino.

He was their minor league player of the year this year.

He rapidly ascended going up to Altoona.

And honestly, I could see why you look at him and be like, how different is this from the ascent Konnor Griffin had last year?

He started off in Bradenton, finished in Altoona.

Yeah, I think Murf Gray could benefit from some time in AAA.

I think Konnor Griffin could have also continued to develop in AAA.

But they pushed him.

Well, why don't you push Murf Gray also?

Big reason for me why I'm not penciling him in is next year is just too important to be counting on a rookie to handle the hot corner.

A rookie who is not taking an at-bat at the AAA level.

I want Murf Gray to play in the major leagues next year.

I really do.

But I want him to be in that Esmerlyn Valdez situation.

Where Valdez had that great ascent, was doing really well, and then got called up because of injuries.

And had an opportunity, and he made the most of it.

He did great.

There's a reason why Esmerlin Valdez is in a really good position to be, if not the opening day right fielder, a main character of this outfield next year.

But they didn't go into the year thinking Esmerlin Valdez was going to be their right fielder.

No, he got an opportunity.

He showed himself.

They liked him enough to put him on the 40-man roster.

This was always a possibility for it.

But they didn't put all the eggs in that basket.

I'm in the same spot with Murf Gray.

I want to acquire a real infielder, either a second baseman or third baseman, depending on where they play Nick Gonzales.

And whenever the opportunity inevitably does come up, give him that shot.

And if he does really well right there, he can keep the job.

Find a way to keep him in the majors, keep him in the lineup.

I want to make sure he has that opportunity, but I'm not putting all my eggs in that basket.

It's too important of a year.

Bucko Burners asked, have you gotten the sense they'll be active before December 1?

Yes.

I don't know how active, though.

They're going to be talking to people.

They're going to...

Agents, other teams for potential trades.

I did a podcast earlier this week about how vital it's going to be to get moves done early.

Because their track record of spending over $40 million for less than one war for players signed February or later is not good.

They need to do better than that.

So, I think they need to be active early.

I do think they're going to be in discussions.

I wouldn't be shocked if a couple moves get done.

We saw the last time there was a lockout in 2021 where they made their moves.

And it really was end of November, December 1.

The Pirates generally operate pretty well whenever there's a strict deadline.

Like, whenever there's the trade deadline, they will make their moves.

They will go to the wire, to the gun, but they will get moves done.

Whenever there was the trade for Jacob Gonzalez and Brandon Eiser for a draft pick.

They got that done.

They operate well with a deadline.

I can't help but wonder if that could be a little bit of an advantage for them.

Assuming, of course, they have the financial flexibility to spend.

But, yes, I do see them being active before December 1.

To answer the second part of that first, I'm not giving up on him yet.

The upside is too high.

He still has minor league options.

There's no reason to give up on him yet.

But I am skeptical of what he could contribute up at the major league level.

Because all of the concerns I heard whenever they acquired him proved to be pretty true.

I heard that there was, he could really miss on pitches in the zone.

I think we saw that in this brief time up in the major leagues.

We saw some chase.

We saw a lot of swing and miss.

We saw a lot of those concerns.

We also saw tools.

I think he's fast.

I think he could play center field.

Like, whenever he does make contact, there is legitimate power there.

There are tools.

Is it all going to come together?

That's yet to be seen.

This year left a bad taste in my mouth personally.

I think he has been passed on.

Oh, I know he's been passed on the death chart for, Esmerlyn Valdez, Jake Mangum.

There is a lot of outfield possibilities here.

But I'm not giving up on him yet, but that was a rough year.

And I don't know if you, he's in that spot of like a Murf Gray or whoever, of like a prospect that's like, yeah, they get an opportunity, see what they can do.

But I can't budget allocate any playing time this spring trading, this offseason.

He is depth at this moment.

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I got a couple questions here about Sato, and I'm going to take Nate's question here.

With all the talk about Sato, although it being very unlikely the Pirates land him, will we ever see a time when the Pirates successfully land someone from the NPB or KBO again?

Whenever Jung Ho-Gung signed in 2014 going into 2015, the KBO to MOB pipeline wasn't really established.

The Pirates took a big leap of faith.

They saw the tools.

They thought it would translate.

He was obviously great in 2015 and 2016.

But they really haven't made another big splash in Asia before.

They have in amateur markets, but like professional to the major leagues, they haven't really done it.

They have kicked the tires.

Okamoto, they were in until the end process.

They were interested in Yerio Rodriguez a few years before that.

They have been connected to these guys.

And I do think eventually, like maybe not a Sato, but like a good player will eventually come to be.

They'll be able to make that type of signing.

It's always going to be tougher because Pittsburgh is a smaller market.

It's a longer flight from Japan or Asia.

It's not as big a marketing opportunity.

There's a reason why, like, the Dodgers have always been able to attract players from Asia.

Why the Angels were able to land Ohtani.

It's a direct flight to Japan.

You have the marketing opportunities.

You're playing in one of the biggest markets.

It's always going to be an uphill climb for Pittsburgh, but it is always possible.

And I don't know when their next Jung Ho-Gung signing is going to be, but I do think that it is more than a possibility.

It's an inevitability.

At some point, it will happen.

Blue Ranger 183-esque.

Will Seth Hernandez be pitching for the Pirates in 2027?

I'm not saying no.

I'm not saying no.

Here's the – I'll spell a little 2024 tea here.

So 2024, the Pirates go into the trade deadline.

They're very much in the wild card race.

They add to the team.

And they're great glass in case of emergency.

End of season, if we need to get just one more guy, get over the hump.

Bubba Chandler was an option for them for the end of 2024.

If they were, like, really in the – if they had a playoff spot, adding him to the bullpen, from what I heard, was actually a possibility.

I'm viewing that here for Seth Hernandez.

I don't think he's going to be making starts or ascend all the way up.

He needs to get to Altoona first.

He has the goal that he wants to pitch in the major leagues in 2027, and that's a good goal.

I want my top prospect to have that type of goal.

But he hasn't pitched in Altoona yet.

He needs to go to AAA.

There are still development points to be had.

He still needs to build up innings.

It's a long way to go, but, like, I can't shake that feeling of, like, if the Pirates are in the playoffs or going to be going to the playoffs in 2027 and they want to add one more monster to the bullpen, let's see how many innings he throws.

He's thrown.

Let's see how he's holding up.

I'm not going to say the odds are good.

The odds are very low, in my opinion, but they're not zero.

How about that?

We're going to wrap up here with Zachary Chalkin.

Could there be a plan for a right-handed hitter to play first base next year since O'Hearn and Horwitz struggle so much against left-handed pitching?

Could they plan for Valdez to pick up that glove after not doing so in the lineup?

And why not consider Alec Bohm for third base and then slide him to first base better on defense there against left-handed pitching?

Valdez would be my candidate here to play first base.

He played it in the minor leagues.

Whenever he got caught up, the Pirates just wanted to simplify it.

They didn't want to throw too much on his plate.

They said just focus on the outfield.

That was a good call, in my opinion, but whenever you become a more senior player, if you have that club in your bag, why not use it?

I think that's a real possibility.

Alec Bohm, let's see how much he ends up getting.

I've seen some projections that are, in my opinion, more than I would pay him.

That's not even what the Pirates would pay him.

That was me if I was a GM.

I've just never been all that impressed.

But, yeah, I think Valdez is the candidate here.

I think he is someone who can handle the position, could create opportunity in the outfield for the Pirates to either sign a free agent or, if they like what Jake Mangum can bring, get him some more starts out there.

There are ways that I think this team could deploy him differently, and like you said, they have two left-handed options at first baseman who don't have good track records against lefties.

I would look into that.

Thank you so much for these questions for another mailbag here on North Shore Nine.

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Have a great weekend.

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