Gary Sheffield, Jr
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In a noticeably slow moving off-season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have come to an agreement to trade first baseman Josh Bell to the Washington Nationals. A nice pick up for the 2019 world champions, but they still have some work to do.
Pirates trade Josh Bell to Nationals for pitching prospects https://t.co/fVKA8fgsUN pic.twitter.com/ih6VShPrmJ
— New York Post (@nypost) December 24, 2020
In 2018, Josh Bell was considered to be an emerging star that had plenty room to get better defensively. Out of nowhere, his performance fell off a cliff as he hit just .226 last year.
Most importantly, Bell is a cheap option that the Nationals can control contractually so they can figure out the rest of that roster. Looming contract extensions with star shortstop Trea Turner are expected to be a problem, so a cheap answer at first base is a solid move.
The deal sends a couple pitching prospects to Pittsburgh that no one’s really heard of. Pittsburgh basically gave up on Josh Bell after a short season to forget. Typical Pirates.
Expect this trade to be the first of many from the Nationals, and for our entertainment’s sake–we hope the big names get involved.
Move that team to a bigger city.
The pirates don’t even try.
The problems with the Pirates has little to do with the city. Pittsburgh will show up and support a winner (i.e. 2013-2015). The organization is dysfunctional because of ownership not willing to pay home grown talent and a former front office who couldn’t maximize talent. Cole improved when he left town while three former Buccos (Morton, Glasnow, Meadows) all played in the WS with a different team.
I agree that its management, not the city.