TIOPS DAILY FIVE
*Rumblings, Musings, Opinions*
Photo: David Hague
1. With Gregory Polanco looking like a potential superstar, I was asked a great question on twitter.
“How long before Andrew McCutchen is not the Pirates best outfielder”
That is so tough to say.
When it comes to which outfielder has the best tools, McCutchen might arguably be third behind Starling Marte and Polanco, but that doesn’t mean both are going to pass McCutchen in the next year or two. What makes McCutchen so special is how consistent he is on a year to year basis.
2. Looking more into the future, three years from now everyone will be fretting over Andrew McCutchen’s long-term future.
However, McCutchen will be 31 years old at the end of his deal in 2018. Some good years left in him but can anyone imagine Bob Nutting paying McCutchen $20-$25 million per season for a player in his 30’s or anyone for that matter?
The Pirates would be paying for a handful of down years.
When it comes to the time of dealing with McCutchen’s contract, Marte and Polanco are likely to be stars in the prime of their careers and the Pirates have another potential gem in their system in outfielder Austin Meadows.
If there’s anyone deserving of a $150 million+ deal and someone you’d want to continue to be the face of your franchise it’s McCutchen, but the decision with McCutchen three to four years from now is going to be an easier one from the Pirates end than it may seem to the public eye.
Unless of course he’s willing to be different from any other star player in baseball and take a substantially below market deal.
3. The Penguins pending continues to move forward that a new majority owner could be in place before the new year. According to NHL sources, three potential ownership groups have passed the NHL’s first stage of the approval process and the Penguins sale is expected to heat up over the next 4-8 weeks.
The Lemieux group and their hired brokers met with two of the potential ownership groups this month, Inside Pittsburgh Sports has learned.
A source in the know described a sale of this magnitude as having five phases and things are heading into Phase Three where the process starts to get serious with bids being made.
4. Some flexibility on the blueline, the Penguins almost had it. NHL sources say the Penguins had a deal in place about three weeks ago to send defenseman [hide] Ben Lovejoy to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for prospect Brendan Woods and a late round draft pick.
The deal was so close word even got back to the Lovejoy camp that he was about to get traded.
What happened?
No one is saying for sure but word around the league is Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos nixed it.
5. Rejoice Steelers fans. You won’t have Landry Jones on your television screen for three years this afternoon. Ben Roethlisberger will play most of the first half, while Mike Vick is expected to see significant action today in the second half.[/hide]
Related posts:
TIOPS Daily 5: Rivero’s greatness will eventually be some other teams gain & Penguins Trade Talk
Daily 5: Joe Blanton time in the rotation; Steelers Trade Talk
Daily Five: Who Goes by October? Penguins have 8 players for 7 spots on the blueline
Daily 5: Brandon Sutter trade talk, Rob Scuderi, Alex Semin & more
