00:00:10
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
00:00:10
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.
00:00:15
Speaker 1: I'm Noah Hiles.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: Joining me as always are my co-hosts, Josh Harrison, a.k.a. Jay Hay, and Platinum Key, a.k.a.
00:00:21
Speaker 1: Mark. It is Monday, September 21st.
00:00:24
Speaker 2: The Pirates just concluded a very successful weekend against the Kansas City Royals.
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Speaker 1: They're a couple games over 500 now.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: But the big story to come out from this weekend was reported by my pal, Colin.
00:00:37
Speaker 1: Beasley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: He had a nice interview with Brandon Lau over the weekend about the idea of Brandon Lau returning to the Pirates. And that's how we're going to open today's show. Basically, he said, I'm all ears. That he enjoyed his time with the Pirates. He's open to just about anything. He said he's going to listen to all the offers, as he absolutely should. But he said the Pirates haven't reached out, or to his knowledge, haven't reached out. and he kind of hopes they do because he thinks this team has a future.
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Speaker 1: So, Mark, I'll start with you. How do you feel in reading this story? Does it give.
00:01:16
Speaker 2: You any hope that this is actually going to happen, or was it just like, oh, it's nice to see Brandon Lau cares about the Titans? Yeah.
00:01:23
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I mean, that story didn't change too much because, frankly, just watching Brandon Lau, I think you can see that he enjoys being a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Just watching his interactions in the dugout, His comments after the game talking about how much this team has continued to improve. I actually believe that he would absolutely sign a contract if the Pirates offered him a competitive deal at market value. That's a big if, considering it's going to take a lot to sign him. He's not going to be cheap. But I tweeted this out earlier today. One of the biggest hurdles we saw the whole offseason with the Pittsburgh Pirates last year was that they had to pay more than everyone else to sign the big names. And they lost out on a lot of guys because they offered them what the market value was. But they had to pay more if they really wanted them to come to Pittsburgh because they've lost every single year since 2018. You know, it's not like the most appealing franchise if you want to come and win a championship where you could go sign with like the Blue Jays or someone else. And so you've already overcome that big initial hurdle with Brandon Lau. You've convinced him that this is a franchise that he can succeed at, that he can contribute at, that he's a good fit for. And so I feel like that is significant. If you're actually just going to get him at market value, I feel like that's a great expenditure of money. But I, again, that market value is going to be a lot.
00:02:45
Speaker 2: Well, it's just like, why should he be expected to sign for market value? Like what, what, why in the world would Brandon Lau not get the most money possible?
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Speaker 4: Right.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: Like, I'm sorry. Like, I get it.
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Speaker 2: Like, he likes Pittsburgh. His bat plays well in this ballpark. He thinks the Pirates don't have promise. What of those things do you not get with the New York Yankees?
00:03:09
Speaker 4: Right.
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Speaker 2: Or the Dodgers, right? Like, the Yankees have a very short porch in right field, too. They're a lot better.
00:03:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, taxes, I guess. There's that, right.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:03:21
Speaker 1: Taxes, I mean, but I mean, you go to.
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Speaker 4: Go to.
00:03:24
Speaker 1: The Rangers. I don't know.
00:03:26
Speaker 2: There's plenty of other places that you could explore. And it's just like, to build off what you're saying, Mark, he wants to be here So do what you need to do to get them.
00:03:39
Speaker 4: Right.
00:03:39
Speaker 2: And again, it's not just market value here because Brandon Lau shouldn't be a guy who just settles. Like Brandon Lau deserves to get the highest paid deal. And if you, the pirates recognize this, think of the message. And this is where I want to bring Josh in after I finished this point. Think of the message this sends to your team that this guy goes out, has this awesome year right before free agency. Everyone on the team loves him. Everyone on the team thinks he makes the team better. And you go out and you outbid large market teams and get.
00:04:15
Speaker 1: Him to sign here.
00:04:16
Speaker 2: And maybe, yeah, he doesn't take the absolute highest offer. But maybe you overpay for what his expected AAV is. And part of that is rewarding Brandon Lowe. for what he will provide, not just on the field, but off the field in the future. But also it's maybe just a statement to your organization. It's like, hey, you know what? We're still making up for lost time. We got to overpay a little bit here.
00:04:43
Speaker 1: This is a statement and we're making an investment.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: And think of the message that sends to the clubhouse, just to baseball as a whole, that the Pirates were not going to let Brandon Lau leave no matter what. Josh, I mean, you've been on small market teams like this. You've seen some of your teammates get poached. What would that mean for a team like this with a whole bunch of young guys for the team to go out and do anything necessary to retain its leader?
00:05:13
Speaker 4: It's in the big message. Obviously, you said one, you mentioned him being a leader. He's been a guy that stepped in and, you know, one way or another been a very, you know, prominent figure in that clubhouse, you know, through the whole season and he's, you know, strapped it on every day. So that would be something that would be a sending a message to say, Hey, let's run this back. No things might have not have, you know, gone the way that we wanted to this year, but here's a message to say that, you know, we're trying to continue to the momentum that we did gain and, What better way to say that than sending a message by signing, you know, like one of your guys that you consider, you know, a big leader in that clubhouse. And obviously, you know, he's putting on a career year, obviously heading to a free agency. You're going to have to pay. You're going to have to pay. So there's no way around it. But when you have a guy like Lau, you know, speak to the media about the way they did, about how he likes Pittsburgh, how he likes the guys there, his belief that there's something special there. That right there is a sign, too, that, hey, there's mutual interest if there is mutual. You know what I'm saying? So not saying you need to go into this to say, oh, this guy wants to be here. He likes it here. Don't lowball him, as you said. You have to do what you have to do to keep this guy here. And I'm not speaking it, but who's to say that if it's a competitive offer, like you said, Noah, and you overpay a little bit, who's to say that he's like, you know what, I don't even really need to talk to other teams. Cause this was a place that I mentioned to the media that I like being, that I like being here. I like this place here. So, you know, them kind of putting their money where their mouth is, if that's the case, you know, um, would definitely send a message, especially to those guys in that clubhouse. Cause he was a guy that I highlighted on the J now about, you know, speaking to the media in those rough patches and leading by example. So that was another reason why I said, sends a message to the clubhouse, but if it's to happen, we know it won't be easy, but I mean, And it's not going to. Yeah, to y'all point is, I mean, that's kind of their own doing too.
00:07:20
Speaker 1: Yep. Yeah, it's not going to. You could do it. I mean, you could get creative.
00:07:25
Speaker 2: Maybe it means trading Brian Reynolds to offload some salary to have some extra money or trading Mitch Keller, which I think fans would probably be cool with either of those moves. You know, I mean, you could just also just spend money.
00:07:42
Speaker 4: That's, but yeah. Bottom line, you're saying bring him back. Do what you have to do to bring him back. Do what you've got.
00:07:50
Speaker 1: To do to get him back here. Right. All right.
00:07:54
Speaker 2: He's not the only player that deserves an extension on this team, though. We're going to talk about other offseason extension candidates here on Bucko Territory. But first, a word from our sponsors.
00:08:08
Speaker 3: So, Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon, needing a boost, but not wanting to have caffeine that you know is going to ruin your sleep?
00:08:15
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00:08:31
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00:08:35
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00:09:07
Speaker 1: Alright, so.
00:09:09
Speaker 2: Other offseason extension candidates. This last offseason, it was all about the Connor Griffin extension. There have been offseasons where it was Mitch Keller's extension. It was Brian Reynolds, Brian Hayes. There have been talks about other guys who extensions never came to fruition.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: I think there are more than a few.
00:09:29
Speaker 2: Guys that would be wise to extend this offseason.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: Let's get into them. Josh, who do you think? Who's your first pick?
00:09:38
Speaker 4: My first pick that I would say is going to be O'Neal Cruz. I know a lot of the media and everything, the biggest person, biggest name is obviously going to be Paul. We know the dynamic between that is going to be something that we're not even going to go down. But O'Neal, I think he'd be a good candidate just given, you know, I think he just, secured what his third 2020 season. Yep. Which is, that's not easy to do. And given that he missed time this year, I think he's missed some time in the past due to injury. You know what you're getting if he's healthy. And he also plays center field, which I think he's gotten better at. You've extended Conrad short. you extend him in center field, you do something about the catching, whether you go sign somebody as we talked about in the previous episode, or, I mean, that's all directly in the middle of the field, but that's where you want to protect the ball. And that's some of your marquee positions. And O'Neal is a guy for me that, you know, kind of jumped out to me given how he's come back from this injury. I will put O'Neal there.
00:10:42
Speaker 1: I like it.
00:10:43
Speaker 2: I mean, if, Again, we said, you offload Reynolds, you just bring all that money right to O'Neal Cruz. My only hesitancy is, I believe his number was like $ 200 million the last time they talked extension, and I don't anticipate that number going any lower.
00:11:01
Speaker 4: Big lower.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, so good luck.
00:11:07
Speaker 4: Anyway.
00:11:08
Speaker 3: I feel like O'Neal Cruz is one of the hardest players in baseball to offer a contract extension to. Just because that ceiling of what he can do is so high, but also he hasn't really had the production to back up that ceiling quite yet. We've seen the flashes of it.
00:11:24
Speaker 4: Position change.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: He's also had four agents. That does not help.
00:11:33
Speaker 1: Josh knows this.
00:11:34
Speaker 2: In baseball, there's that guy in every clubhouse who switches agents every year. That is difficult for the front office because normally an extension is.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: A process that takes time.
00:11:46
Speaker 2: Like you're, you're floating it out and then you talk a little bit of numbers and then like, okay, like, you.
00:11:52
Speaker 1: Know, Hey, if this happens this year, then we'll talk more.
00:11:55
Speaker 2: And when you're switching agents every year, it's a little difficult.
00:11:59
Speaker 1: So that's where we stand on that one. I'm going to go ahead and give one real quick.
00:12:05
Speaker 2: Josh kind of mentioned the Paul schemes extension idea. We're not going down that road, but what about a different route? What about Bubba Chandler? Um, I think Bubba Chandler took a big step forward this year, uh, as, as the year progressed. I mean, I think you could argue of all the starters who benefited from internal pirates coaching.
00:12:27
Speaker 1: He might be number one on that list. Um, and he's still so young.
00:12:32
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:12:33
Speaker 2: I think he has the highest ceiling out of anyone in this rotation, not named Paul Skeens. And, uh, yeah, if you can't keep Paul, why not keep the next best option? This is a guy who's probably going to be an all-star has ACE quality stuff. Um, and I think it has probably the athletic build to avoid a lot of injury concern. So, and it's still too early to like talk about a Seth Hernandez extension.
00:12:57
Speaker 1: I think this is like the happy medium here with Bubba Chandler.
00:13:01
Speaker 3: And I think it's probably the last year that he's going to be like within the Pirates wheelhouse. Because if he has a blow up year, like where he actually is an all-star next year, I just, I don't think he's going to be within the Pirates price range for much longer. So if you believe in his ceiling, which I personally do, I think this is the off season where you actually go out and get that inked with Bubba Chandler, because that really helps your rotation down the line once Seth Hernandez is up here.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:13:31
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, I don't disagree with, you know, Everything that y'all said, Bubba would be a good candidate, as you said, young, still early in his career, but has shown taking those strides. And you still want to solidify, you know, your starting rotation. And some of those other guys are going to be a little trickier. And if you can get somebody that has been making strides that you know is, I don't like using this word, but controllable, you know, it makes sense, especially with a guy with Bubba's arsenal. And, you know, if he's only going to get better, as you guys mentioned, this is the time to do it.
00:14:06
Speaker 1: All right, Mark, bring us home.
00:14:07
Speaker 3: I'll round us out. Coming in at the end here, you know, makes sense that we bring up the guy who's been coming in at the end of games with a slow heartbeat. Mason Montgomery has been so refreshing to watch in the second half here. The Pirates have their closer to the future, it seems like. And frankly, just like we were saying with Bubba, you know, get him locked up while you still can. He's looking like one of the best relievers in baseball today. but he also has only shown that for a limited sample size. So you have some negotiation power as the pirates just get this guy extended possibly while you can. He's under control. He's not even in arbitration yet. He won't even be, he's still pre-arb. So, you know, maybe this is too early. Maybe this is a guy you look down the line, see, is this just a flash in the pan or do you want to wait? I feel like that he, of the three guys we've mentioned, I feel like he was one, he's the one that makes the least sense to extend this off season. I'd focus.
00:15:09
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, but I still wouldn't be, I was gonna say, yeah, but I still wouldn't jump the gun on that. Cause a full season next year, he could very well be super two to where it's not uncommon for relievers to work out multi-year arbitration deals. Cause sometimes those are, you know, it's not like they're going to have this record breaking starting pitcher, you know, but you know, I think keeping a tap on him is not, is not the worst idea, especially knowing that, you know, the bullpen is something that they want to continue to make sure is good. And if that's your closer to future, you know, that's something that if he does pitch well next year again, and he's doing that, I mean, you know, he's going to be past, you know, going to his first year arbitration. So it doesn't make, I mean, I don't think it's completely out of the question if he continues to do what he's doing that, you know, he could be a potential one next year for sure. what were you going to say, Noah?
00:16:05
Speaker 2: I was just going to say small market teams typically don't extend relief creatures. Uh, that, that is a luxury that is almost exclusive to, to large markets. And cause in the sense where they just look at it, it's like, all right, like we can replicate what happened with Mason Montgomery. And in a way, I don't think that that's an arrogant thing to believe. I know that like you look at their bullpen this year and how bad it was, but, um, I mean, before him, they turned Dennis Santana into a really good pitcher until he wasn't.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: And he used to say that won't happen. Johan Ramirez.
00:16:41
Speaker 2: I mean, David Bednar was a throw-in in a trade and became probably the most successful trade acquisition prior to Brandon Lau or maybe Mason Montgomery.
00:16:51
Speaker 4: So....
00:16:53
Speaker 2: It's just, that's just a luxury where it's like, if you're going to invest, I don't disagree with what Josh said. I don't disagree with the notion of doing it. It's just kind of like, they only have so much money to throw around. And they look at that. I think they would rather him become elite and flip him for something.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: Then try to find.
00:17:16
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:17:16
Speaker 2: Right. Then that's just how it works. Cause they're at the end of the day, they're just thinking we need him for three outs. Now, it also depends on where they are as an organization. Like, if they get to a point in a couple years where they have a couple of starters locked up, they have Conor already signed, they find a way to extend O'Neal. Like, if that's like the final piece, then maybe it's a different conversation.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: But right now, I mean.
00:17:44
Speaker 1: They have a couple of guys.
00:17:46
Speaker 2: Yeah. They have a couple of guys signed along extensions and two of them are guys that you probably want to consider trading. So yeah, it's, it's just kind of like not in the cards for them right now. And the good news is it doesn't need to be because he is extremely controlled. Yeah. There's a lot of time for them. But like, I look back, like they probably regret not signing Bednar to an extension because at that point in time, it made sense because they had just locked up Mitch and, They had just locked up Q. Bryan and Reynolds, and they thought that was going to be their core. And then they had their guy that they weren't going to be able to extend.
00:18:22
Speaker 1: That was O'Neal. So they could have got Bednar. But who knows? Then they wouldn't have Ro Flores. And where would they be without him? All right. We're going to take another quick break.
00:18:32
Speaker 2: When we come back, we'll round out this week's show, or today's show, I should say, with Platinum Keys, Key of the Week.
00:18:44
Speaker 3: With one homestand left here at PNC Park this week starting on Tuesday, I want to make sure you guys all check out SeatGeek. With over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one ticketing app across America. And we'll make sure you get a seamless experience getting into PNC Park for this final homestretch Tuesday through Thursday.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, and in addition to the Pirates, there's another team in town that's playing this weekend. The Steelers return home. They play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. I'm looking at two seats right here, Mark. A pair of seats in the upper deck, $ 156, including fees, which.
00:19:22
Speaker 1: Isn't necessarily a bad deal.
00:19:24
Speaker 2: When you're talking AFC North football. Three yards of clouded dust, and SeatGeek gets you there.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Hey, can't miss that Steelers offense is what I hear.
00:19:32
Speaker 4: Oh, God, I can't.
00:19:35
Speaker 3: And of course, I have a code for you all. You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next set of MLB tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off MLB tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code authorized. added to your account so you can use it later. All right, fresh off some talk of extensions. I feel like we haven't mentioned the guy's name in a while who was extended, as we just said. Connor Griffin, since he's come back, I just wanted to highlight how much improvement there has been in the Pirates' defense, just overall mindset having him batting leadoff. His bat hasn't really gotten hot yet. We saw the 4-for-5 night against the Royals, his third time doing that, third time with four hits in a night, and he's only 20.
00:20:31
Speaker 4: Crazy.
00:20:33
Speaker 3: But just his defense, he's only had one error since coming back from injury. Obviously, that was a hand injury. So the fact that he is already comfortable already looking great and just, you can see the flow of the defense. I just wanted to give a shout out Connor Griffin. We love to see it. I want to see one or two more home runs. This these final two series here from him and on a high note and really going to 2027 and just tear, tear it up.
00:21:02
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:21:04
Speaker 2: I mean, it, it just makes you wonder what could have happened if he was healthy.
00:21:08
Speaker 3: Right.
00:21:08
Speaker 2: And, and, and again, not blaming Connor Griffin, like injuries happen. That's just a part of the game.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: It sucks. But like.
00:21:17
Speaker 2: There were so like the, the expectations for him were like so ridiculous this year. And it's kind of crazy to like watch him play and be like, he probably could have exceeded them.
00:21:27
Speaker 4: Oh yeah.
00:21:27
Speaker 1: And it's like moving forward.
00:21:30
Speaker 2: It is the reason why you think this team can be really good because it's like, They're going to have an MVP candidate playing up the middle for them for the next decade. And that's something not a lot of teams in baseball can say.
00:21:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, just shows his presence being out on the field. As you said, offensively might not have gotten on a tear like you would like to see him. But defensively, that's been a lot of the struggle of this team. You got your shortstop back that can control. a lot of that, you know, controlling the ball, taking care of the ball shows just how valuable he is, you know, on the defensive side. And then offensively, you said, you know, he went four, five, and I know you said you'd like to see another home or two, which would all be good. But, uh, I also know a little bit about coming back from hand injuries. Um, long as he's making contact and he's getting back to the flow of it, you know, the, the power will come back. And, um, I'm sure that's one of the things that, you know, I'm sure he liked to see one or two as well, but, uh, you know, keep building on those four for five hits. Hopefully one of those fall in or fall over the fence. But as you said, Noah, just a big piece of this, you know, team and definitely makes you wonder what if. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:48
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's something I wonder. Oh, my God.
00:22:52
Speaker 3: Just put the thing on the screen.
00:22:55
Speaker 4: Put it on the screen. What if you hit that subscribe button? Yeah, that's what I was going to say. What if you hit that subscribe button?
00:23:04
Speaker 1: This show makes me sick. Hit the subscribe button. Go to the Bucko Territory team store.
00:23:09
Speaker 2: We're all tripping over each other like an Aaron Rodgers fumble trying to get off of a creative little transition.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: Golly that was gross guys any final.
00:23:21
Speaker 3: Thoughts oh that was just too funny oh man um go ahead john.
00:23:27
Speaker 2: The audio of that's gonna be disgusting yeah we're just screaming yeah i'll try and lower that for everyone yeah uh a final thought just.
00:23:38
Speaker 4: I was gonna say nice weekend um and they got what three more at home yep or yeah three more at home um We said it last week, finish these last three at home and finish strong. That's my message to the boys, finish strong.
00:23:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love it. I got nothing else. I just wanted to highlight again, Josh referenced it, but O'Neal Cruz going three back-to-back seasons, 2020. The only Pirates to do that besides him, Barry Bonds, Andrew McCutcheon. Pretty cool list to be on. So I just want to finish with that as my final thought. Anything from you, Noah?
00:24:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've spent time around all three teams in Pittsburgh this week, and I could comfortably say I'm most optimistic.
00:24:23
Speaker 1: About the Pirates' future. I don't know.
00:24:27
Speaker 2: What that's actually saying, but I think they're going to be the least likely to suck next year.
00:24:34
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:24:36
Speaker 1: That's something.
00:24:37
Speaker 3: Take that to the bank, Pirates fans.
00:24:38
Speaker 1: Take that to the bank. There we go. Mr.
00:24:41
Speaker 2: Negative is positive there, or at least not as negative.
00:24:45
Speaker 1: He's Platinum Key, a.k.a. Mark. He's Josh Harrison.
00:24:48
Speaker 2: I'm Noah Hiles, signing off, saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to you by the Fowl Territory Network.
00:24:54
Speaker 4: Take care.
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
00:00:10
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.
00:00:15
Speaker 1: I'm Noah Hiles.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: Joining me as always are my co-hosts, Josh Harrison, a.k.a. Jay Hay, and Platinum Key, a.k.a.
00:00:21
Speaker 1: Mark. It is Monday, September 21st.
00:00:24
Speaker 2: The Pirates just concluded a very successful weekend against the Kansas City Royals.
00:00:29
Speaker 1: They're a couple games over 500 now.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: But the big story to come out from this weekend was reported by my pal, Colin.
00:00:37
Speaker 1: Beasley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: He had a nice interview with Brandon Lau over the weekend about the idea of Brandon Lau returning to the Pirates. And that's how we're going to open today's show. Basically, he said, I'm all ears. That he enjoyed his time with the Pirates. He's open to just about anything. He said he's going to listen to all the offers, as he absolutely should. But he said the Pirates haven't reached out, or to his knowledge, haven't reached out. and he kind of hopes they do because he thinks this team has a future.
00:01:11
Speaker 1: So, Mark, I'll start with you. How do you feel in reading this story? Does it give.
00:01:16
Speaker 2: You any hope that this is actually going to happen, or was it just like, oh, it's nice to see Brandon Lau cares about the Titans? Yeah.
00:01:23
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I mean, that story didn't change too much because, frankly, just watching Brandon Lau, I think you can see that he enjoys being a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Just watching his interactions in the dugout, His comments after the game talking about how much this team has continued to improve. I actually believe that he would absolutely sign a contract if the Pirates offered him a competitive deal at market value. That's a big if, considering it's going to take a lot to sign him. He's not going to be cheap. But I tweeted this out earlier today. One of the biggest hurdles we saw the whole offseason with the Pittsburgh Pirates last year was that they had to pay more than everyone else to sign the big names. And they lost out on a lot of guys because they offered them what the market value was. But they had to pay more if they really wanted them to come to Pittsburgh because they've lost every single year since 2018. You know, it's not like the most appealing franchise if you want to come and win a championship where you could go sign with like the Blue Jays or someone else. And so you've already overcome that big initial hurdle with Brandon Lau. You've convinced him that this is a franchise that he can succeed at, that he can contribute at, that he's a good fit for. And so I feel like that is significant. If you're actually just going to get him at market value, I feel like that's a great expenditure of money. But I, again, that market value is going to be a lot.
00:02:45
Speaker 2: Well, it's just like, why should he be expected to sign for market value? Like what, what, why in the world would Brandon Lau not get the most money possible?
00:02:55
Speaker 4: Right.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: Like, I'm sorry. Like, I get it.
00:02:59
Speaker 2: Like, he likes Pittsburgh. His bat plays well in this ballpark. He thinks the Pirates don't have promise. What of those things do you not get with the New York Yankees?
00:03:09
Speaker 4: Right.
00:03:10
Speaker 2: Or the Dodgers, right? Like, the Yankees have a very short porch in right field, too. They're a lot better.
00:03:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, taxes, I guess. There's that, right.
00:03:20
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:03:21
Speaker 1: Taxes, I mean, but I mean, you go to.
00:03:22
Speaker 4: Go to.
00:03:24
Speaker 1: The Rangers. I don't know.
00:03:26
Speaker 2: There's plenty of other places that you could explore. And it's just like, to build off what you're saying, Mark, he wants to be here So do what you need to do to get them.
00:03:39
Speaker 4: Right.
00:03:39
Speaker 2: And again, it's not just market value here because Brandon Lau shouldn't be a guy who just settles. Like Brandon Lau deserves to get the highest paid deal. And if you, the pirates recognize this, think of the message. And this is where I want to bring Josh in after I finished this point. Think of the message this sends to your team that this guy goes out, has this awesome year right before free agency. Everyone on the team loves him. Everyone on the team thinks he makes the team better. And you go out and you outbid large market teams and get.
00:04:15
Speaker 1: Him to sign here.
00:04:16
Speaker 2: And maybe, yeah, he doesn't take the absolute highest offer. But maybe you overpay for what his expected AAV is. And part of that is rewarding Brandon Lowe. for what he will provide, not just on the field, but off the field in the future. But also it's maybe just a statement to your organization. It's like, hey, you know what? We're still making up for lost time. We got to overpay a little bit here.
00:04:43
Speaker 1: This is a statement and we're making an investment.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: And think of the message that sends to the clubhouse, just to baseball as a whole, that the Pirates were not going to let Brandon Lau leave no matter what. Josh, I mean, you've been on small market teams like this. You've seen some of your teammates get poached. What would that mean for a team like this with a whole bunch of young guys for the team to go out and do anything necessary to retain its leader?
00:05:13
Speaker 4: It's in the big message. Obviously, you said one, you mentioned him being a leader. He's been a guy that stepped in and, you know, one way or another been a very, you know, prominent figure in that clubhouse, you know, through the whole season and he's, you know, strapped it on every day. So that would be something that would be a sending a message to say, Hey, let's run this back. No things might have not have, you know, gone the way that we wanted to this year, but here's a message to say that, you know, we're trying to continue to the momentum that we did gain and, What better way to say that than sending a message by signing, you know, like one of your guys that you consider, you know, a big leader in that clubhouse. And obviously, you know, he's putting on a career year, obviously heading to a free agency. You're going to have to pay. You're going to have to pay. So there's no way around it. But when you have a guy like Lau, you know, speak to the media about the way they did, about how he likes Pittsburgh, how he likes the guys there, his belief that there's something special there. That right there is a sign, too, that, hey, there's mutual interest if there is mutual. You know what I'm saying? So not saying you need to go into this to say, oh, this guy wants to be here. He likes it here. Don't lowball him, as you said. You have to do what you have to do to keep this guy here. And I'm not speaking it, but who's to say that if it's a competitive offer, like you said, Noah, and you overpay a little bit, who's to say that he's like, you know what, I don't even really need to talk to other teams. Cause this was a place that I mentioned to the media that I like being, that I like being here. I like this place here. So, you know, them kind of putting their money where their mouth is, if that's the case, you know, um, would definitely send a message, especially to those guys in that clubhouse. Cause he was a guy that I highlighted on the J now about, you know, speaking to the media in those rough patches and leading by example. So that was another reason why I said, sends a message to the clubhouse, but if it's to happen, we know it won't be easy, but I mean, And it's not going to. Yeah, to y'all point is, I mean, that's kind of their own doing too.
00:07:20
Speaker 1: Yep. Yeah, it's not going to. You could do it. I mean, you could get creative.
00:07:25
Speaker 2: Maybe it means trading Brian Reynolds to offload some salary to have some extra money or trading Mitch Keller, which I think fans would probably be cool with either of those moves. You know, I mean, you could just also just spend money.
00:07:42
Speaker 4: That's, but yeah. Bottom line, you're saying bring him back. Do what you have to do to bring him back. Do what you've got.
00:07:50
Speaker 1: To do to get him back here. Right. All right.
00:07:54
Speaker 2: He's not the only player that deserves an extension on this team, though. We're going to talk about other offseason extension candidates here on Bucko Territory. But first, a word from our sponsors.
00:08:08
Speaker 3: So, Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon, needing a boost, but not wanting to have caffeine that you know is going to ruin your sleep?
00:08:15
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, definitely. Uh, found myself on the golf course a lot lately and, uh, sometimes, you know, it can be long days out there. So I reach in my golf bag, I keep the ultra focus pouch right here with me, keep it in my golf bag. And, um, it's part of my, my golf bag, as I said. Yeah.
00:08:31
Speaker 3: And so, uh, what are some of your favorite effects of the ultra pouches?
00:08:35
Speaker 4: Uh, definitely, you know, it gives me a little bit of focus, uh, that little bit of energy that I'm looking for. And, uh, Obviously not having any caffeine in it is always a plus for me, so I enjoy those things. Ultra is the ultimate guilt-free pouch, delivering instant focus and mental clarity without nicotine or caffeine. New customers can use code BASEBALL to get 15% off at TakeUltra.com. That's TakeUltra.com for 15% off with code BASEBALL. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you.
00:09:07
Speaker 1: Alright, so.
00:09:09
Speaker 2: Other offseason extension candidates. This last offseason, it was all about the Connor Griffin extension. There have been offseasons where it was Mitch Keller's extension. It was Brian Reynolds, Brian Hayes. There have been talks about other guys who extensions never came to fruition.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: I think there are more than a few.
00:09:29
Speaker 2: Guys that would be wise to extend this offseason.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: Let's get into them. Josh, who do you think? Who's your first pick?
00:09:38
Speaker 4: My first pick that I would say is going to be O'Neal Cruz. I know a lot of the media and everything, the biggest person, biggest name is obviously going to be Paul. We know the dynamic between that is going to be something that we're not even going to go down. But O'Neal, I think he'd be a good candidate just given, you know, I think he just, secured what his third 2020 season. Yep. Which is, that's not easy to do. And given that he missed time this year, I think he's missed some time in the past due to injury. You know what you're getting if he's healthy. And he also plays center field, which I think he's gotten better at. You've extended Conrad short. you extend him in center field, you do something about the catching, whether you go sign somebody as we talked about in the previous episode, or, I mean, that's all directly in the middle of the field, but that's where you want to protect the ball. And that's some of your marquee positions. And O'Neal is a guy for me that, you know, kind of jumped out to me given how he's come back from this injury. I will put O'Neal there.
00:10:42
Speaker 1: I like it.
00:10:43
Speaker 2: I mean, if, Again, we said, you offload Reynolds, you just bring all that money right to O'Neal Cruz. My only hesitancy is, I believe his number was like $ 200 million the last time they talked extension, and I don't anticipate that number going any lower.
00:11:01
Speaker 4: Big lower.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, so good luck.
00:11:07
Speaker 4: Anyway.
00:11:08
Speaker 3: I feel like O'Neal Cruz is one of the hardest players in baseball to offer a contract extension to. Just because that ceiling of what he can do is so high, but also he hasn't really had the production to back up that ceiling quite yet. We've seen the flashes of it.
00:11:24
Speaker 4: Position change.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: He's also had four agents. That does not help.
00:11:33
Speaker 1: Josh knows this.
00:11:34
Speaker 2: In baseball, there's that guy in every clubhouse who switches agents every year. That is difficult for the front office because normally an extension is.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: A process that takes time.
00:11:46
Speaker 2: Like you're, you're floating it out and then you talk a little bit of numbers and then like, okay, like, you.
00:11:52
Speaker 1: Know, Hey, if this happens this year, then we'll talk more.
00:11:55
Speaker 2: And when you're switching agents every year, it's a little difficult.
00:11:59
Speaker 1: So that's where we stand on that one. I'm going to go ahead and give one real quick.
00:12:05
Speaker 2: Josh kind of mentioned the Paul schemes extension idea. We're not going down that road, but what about a different route? What about Bubba Chandler? Um, I think Bubba Chandler took a big step forward this year, uh, as, as the year progressed. I mean, I think you could argue of all the starters who benefited from internal pirates coaching.
00:12:27
Speaker 1: He might be number one on that list. Um, and he's still so young.
00:12:32
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:12:33
Speaker 2: I think he has the highest ceiling out of anyone in this rotation, not named Paul Skeens. And, uh, yeah, if you can't keep Paul, why not keep the next best option? This is a guy who's probably going to be an all-star has ACE quality stuff. Um, and I think it has probably the athletic build to avoid a lot of injury concern. So, and it's still too early to like talk about a Seth Hernandez extension.
00:12:57
Speaker 1: I think this is like the happy medium here with Bubba Chandler.
00:13:01
Speaker 3: And I think it's probably the last year that he's going to be like within the Pirates wheelhouse. Because if he has a blow up year, like where he actually is an all-star next year, I just, I don't think he's going to be within the Pirates price range for much longer. So if you believe in his ceiling, which I personally do, I think this is the off season where you actually go out and get that inked with Bubba Chandler, because that really helps your rotation down the line once Seth Hernandez is up here.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:13:31
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, I don't disagree with, you know, Everything that y'all said, Bubba would be a good candidate, as you said, young, still early in his career, but has shown taking those strides. And you still want to solidify, you know, your starting rotation. And some of those other guys are going to be a little trickier. And if you can get somebody that has been making strides that you know is, I don't like using this word, but controllable, you know, it makes sense, especially with a guy with Bubba's arsenal. And, you know, if he's only going to get better, as you guys mentioned, this is the time to do it.
00:14:06
Speaker 1: All right, Mark, bring us home.
00:14:07
Speaker 3: I'll round us out. Coming in at the end here, you know, makes sense that we bring up the guy who's been coming in at the end of games with a slow heartbeat. Mason Montgomery has been so refreshing to watch in the second half here. The Pirates have their closer to the future, it seems like. And frankly, just like we were saying with Bubba, you know, get him locked up while you still can. He's looking like one of the best relievers in baseball today. but he also has only shown that for a limited sample size. So you have some negotiation power as the pirates just get this guy extended possibly while you can. He's under control. He's not even in arbitration yet. He won't even be, he's still pre-arb. So, you know, maybe this is too early. Maybe this is a guy you look down the line, see, is this just a flash in the pan or do you want to wait? I feel like that he, of the three guys we've mentioned, I feel like he was one, he's the one that makes the least sense to extend this off season. I'd focus.
00:15:09
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, but I still wouldn't be, I was gonna say, yeah, but I still wouldn't jump the gun on that. Cause a full season next year, he could very well be super two to where it's not uncommon for relievers to work out multi-year arbitration deals. Cause sometimes those are, you know, it's not like they're going to have this record breaking starting pitcher, you know, but you know, I think keeping a tap on him is not, is not the worst idea, especially knowing that, you know, the bullpen is something that they want to continue to make sure is good. And if that's your closer to future, you know, that's something that if he does pitch well next year again, and he's doing that, I mean, you know, he's going to be past, you know, going to his first year arbitration. So it doesn't make, I mean, I don't think it's completely out of the question if he continues to do what he's doing that, you know, he could be a potential one next year for sure. what were you going to say, Noah?
00:16:05
Speaker 2: I was just going to say small market teams typically don't extend relief creatures. Uh, that, that is a luxury that is almost exclusive to, to large markets. And cause in the sense where they just look at it, it's like, all right, like we can replicate what happened with Mason Montgomery. And in a way, I don't think that that's an arrogant thing to believe. I know that like you look at their bullpen this year and how bad it was, but, um, I mean, before him, they turned Dennis Santana into a really good pitcher until he wasn't.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: And he used to say that won't happen. Johan Ramirez.
00:16:41
Speaker 2: I mean, David Bednar was a throw-in in a trade and became probably the most successful trade acquisition prior to Brandon Lau or maybe Mason Montgomery.
00:16:51
Speaker 4: So....
00:16:53
Speaker 2: It's just, that's just a luxury where it's like, if you're going to invest, I don't disagree with what Josh said. I don't disagree with the notion of doing it. It's just kind of like, they only have so much money to throw around. And they look at that. I think they would rather him become elite and flip him for something.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: Then try to find.
00:17:16
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:17:16
Speaker 2: Right. Then that's just how it works. Cause they're at the end of the day, they're just thinking we need him for three outs. Now, it also depends on where they are as an organization. Like, if they get to a point in a couple years where they have a couple of starters locked up, they have Conor already signed, they find a way to extend O'Neal. Like, if that's like the final piece, then maybe it's a different conversation.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: But right now, I mean.
00:17:44
Speaker 1: They have a couple of guys.
00:17:46
Speaker 2: Yeah. They have a couple of guys signed along extensions and two of them are guys that you probably want to consider trading. So yeah, it's, it's just kind of like not in the cards for them right now. And the good news is it doesn't need to be because he is extremely controlled. Yeah. There's a lot of time for them. But like, I look back, like they probably regret not signing Bednar to an extension because at that point in time, it made sense because they had just locked up Mitch and, They had just locked up Q. Bryan and Reynolds, and they thought that was going to be their core. And then they had their guy that they weren't going to be able to extend.
00:18:22
Speaker 1: That was O'Neal. So they could have got Bednar. But who knows? Then they wouldn't have Ro Flores. And where would they be without him? All right. We're going to take another quick break.
00:18:32
Speaker 2: When we come back, we'll round out this week's show, or today's show, I should say, with Platinum Keys, Key of the Week.
00:18:44
Speaker 3: With one homestand left here at PNC Park this week starting on Tuesday, I want to make sure you guys all check out SeatGeek. With over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one ticketing app across America. And we'll make sure you get a seamless experience getting into PNC Park for this final homestretch Tuesday through Thursday.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, and in addition to the Pirates, there's another team in town that's playing this weekend. The Steelers return home. They play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. I'm looking at two seats right here, Mark. A pair of seats in the upper deck, $ 156, including fees, which.
00:19:22
Speaker 1: Isn't necessarily a bad deal.
00:19:24
Speaker 2: When you're talking AFC North football. Three yards of clouded dust, and SeatGeek gets you there.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Hey, can't miss that Steelers offense is what I hear.
00:19:32
Speaker 4: Oh, God, I can't.
00:19:35
Speaker 3: And of course, I have a code for you all. You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next set of MLB tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off MLB tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code authorized. added to your account so you can use it later. All right, fresh off some talk of extensions. I feel like we haven't mentioned the guy's name in a while who was extended, as we just said. Connor Griffin, since he's come back, I just wanted to highlight how much improvement there has been in the Pirates' defense, just overall mindset having him batting leadoff. His bat hasn't really gotten hot yet. We saw the 4-for-5 night against the Royals, his third time doing that, third time with four hits in a night, and he's only 20.
00:20:31
Speaker 4: Crazy.
00:20:33
Speaker 3: But just his defense, he's only had one error since coming back from injury. Obviously, that was a hand injury. So the fact that he is already comfortable already looking great and just, you can see the flow of the defense. I just wanted to give a shout out Connor Griffin. We love to see it. I want to see one or two more home runs. This these final two series here from him and on a high note and really going to 2027 and just tear, tear it up.
00:21:02
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:21:04
Speaker 2: I mean, it, it just makes you wonder what could have happened if he was healthy.
00:21:08
Speaker 3: Right.
00:21:08
Speaker 2: And, and, and again, not blaming Connor Griffin, like injuries happen. That's just a part of the game.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: It sucks. But like.
00:21:17
Speaker 2: There were so like the, the expectations for him were like so ridiculous this year. And it's kind of crazy to like watch him play and be like, he probably could have exceeded them.
00:21:27
Speaker 4: Oh yeah.
00:21:27
Speaker 1: And it's like moving forward.
00:21:30
Speaker 2: It is the reason why you think this team can be really good because it's like, They're going to have an MVP candidate playing up the middle for them for the next decade. And that's something not a lot of teams in baseball can say.
00:21:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, just shows his presence being out on the field. As you said, offensively might not have gotten on a tear like you would like to see him. But defensively, that's been a lot of the struggle of this team. You got your shortstop back that can control. a lot of that, you know, controlling the ball, taking care of the ball shows just how valuable he is, you know, on the defensive side. And then offensively, you said, you know, he went four, five, and I know you said you'd like to see another home or two, which would all be good. But, uh, I also know a little bit about coming back from hand injuries. Um, long as he's making contact and he's getting back to the flow of it, you know, the, the power will come back. And, um, I'm sure that's one of the things that, you know, I'm sure he liked to see one or two as well, but, uh, you know, keep building on those four for five hits. Hopefully one of those fall in or fall over the fence. But as you said, Noah, just a big piece of this, you know, team and definitely makes you wonder what if. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:48
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's something I wonder. Oh, my God.
00:22:52
Speaker 3: Just put the thing on the screen.
00:22:55
Speaker 4: Put it on the screen. What if you hit that subscribe button? Yeah, that's what I was going to say. What if you hit that subscribe button?
00:23:04
Speaker 1: This show makes me sick. Hit the subscribe button. Go to the Bucko Territory team store.
00:23:09
Speaker 2: We're all tripping over each other like an Aaron Rodgers fumble trying to get off of a creative little transition.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: Golly that was gross guys any final.
00:23:21
Speaker 3: Thoughts oh that was just too funny oh man um go ahead john.
00:23:27
Speaker 2: The audio of that's gonna be disgusting yeah we're just screaming yeah i'll try and lower that for everyone yeah uh a final thought just.
00:23:38
Speaker 4: I was gonna say nice weekend um and they got what three more at home yep or yeah three more at home um We said it last week, finish these last three at home and finish strong. That's my message to the boys, finish strong.
00:23:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love it. I got nothing else. I just wanted to highlight again, Josh referenced it, but O'Neal Cruz going three back-to-back seasons, 2020. The only Pirates to do that besides him, Barry Bonds, Andrew McCutcheon. Pretty cool list to be on. So I just want to finish with that as my final thought. Anything from you, Noah?
00:24:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've spent time around all three teams in Pittsburgh this week, and I could comfortably say I'm most optimistic.
00:24:23
Speaker 1: About the Pirates' future. I don't know.
00:24:27
Speaker 2: What that's actually saying, but I think they're going to be the least likely to suck next year.
00:24:34
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:24:36
Speaker 1: That's something.
00:24:37
Speaker 3: Take that to the bank, Pirates fans.
00:24:38
Speaker 1: Take that to the bank. There we go. Mr.
00:24:41
Speaker 2: Negative is positive there, or at least not as negative.
00:24:45
Speaker 1: He's Platinum Key, a.k.a. Mark. He's Josh Harrison.
00:24:48
Speaker 2: I'm Noah Hiles, signing off, saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to you by the Fowl Territory Network.
00:24:54
Speaker 4: Take care.
