Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – Holidays Over, Back to Business

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

The baseball off-season is a long one, one that was delayed a few days over the holiday weekend. As far as I can tell, no major deals were made over the weekend as most business took a backseat to the holidays. Now, however, the Pirates and other teams get back to business.

Before the holiday weekend, a few things happened of note. First, the Indians signed Edwin Encarnacion to a three-year, $60 million deal. Yes, the Indians went to the World Series last season and got all of that additional revenue from the postseason. And yes, many people are sick of hearing about the team payroll being brought up at every turn. But it’s worth mentioning that the Royals and Indians both started spending a bit more money once they made deep playoff runs. It would be interesting to see how the Pirates spent money if they were able to get to the World Series.

And secondly, the Pirates were heavily connected to White Sox lefty Jose Quintana last week, but those rumors seemed to have quieted over the past couple of days. Of course, I attribute this to the holiday weekend. Now we’ll see if those rumors kick back up or not. I have t think the White Sox will move Quintana to someone, even if it’s not the Pirates.

In terms of a trade, I’d prefer not to part with Josh Bell. I’m okay with parting with Tyler Glasnow, and even Kevin Newman and Mitch Keller. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen what Bell can do and I haven’t seen what Keller and Newman are capable of. Bell seems to be a part of the future in Pittsburgh, We’ll see what gets tossed around in the coming weeks.

Baseball Talk Around the Web

• What free agent sluggers could be on deck to sign next? Jim Bowden of ESPN lists a few players who could.
• The past few years, the Pirates have extended a few of their own. Mixe Axisa of CBS Sports lists 15 extension candidates around the league. Do any Pirates make the list this year?
• Oh, and apparently the Blue Jays have discussed trading for Andrew McCutchen. The list of suitors for the former MVP grows slightly…

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