TIOPS Daily 5: Rivero’s greatness will eventually be some other teams gain & Penguins Trade Talk

 Daily 5 *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. The Pittsburgh Pirates showed a killer instinct in Thursday’s sweep of the Brewers. A fifth straight come from behind victory, but in not sitting the likes of Andrew McCutchen, others, that is a norm for Clint Hurdle in these situations, it showed the importance Hurdle saw in being able to pluck another game away from the Brewers. You have to treat games against teams ahead of you with a different outlook. The Pirates did Thursday and that has to continue. Moving three games behind the Brewers, Pirate officials still see the team being in a peculiar place with the trade deadline 10 days away because of where Pittsburgh sits in the wild card standings. This

TIOPS Daily 5: The Pirates continue to becoming more intriguing

TIOPS Daily 5 *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. Gerrit Cole is never going to be the No. 1 Ace in the mold of a Max Scherzer so many want to see out of him on a consistent basis and envisioned as the No. 1 overall pick in 2011, but he can still give you a night like this where he looks unhittable that will at one point in the near future have the Pirates receiving the type of Chris Sale offer they seek down the road for Cole. As for the present, the Pirates rallied again for a third straight win over the Brewers, 3-2 in 10 innings at PNC Park. They’ve now trimmed a seven game deficit for the division

TIOPS Daily 5: Pirates July surge highlighted by finding different ways to get a ‘W’

TIOPS Daily 5 *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. Here come the Pirates! Another come from behind win, this time a 4-run sixth inning fueled by a 2-run Josh Harrison homer as the Pirates rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 win over the Brewers on Tuesday night at PNC PArk. On a night where they got Starling Marte back from an 80 game suspension, the Pirates are surging. Winners in 9 of their last 11 games, Pittsburgh has moved to five games back of the surprising Brewers. The Pirates during this run are finding ways to win in games that easily could have went the other way. They could have been swept against the Cardinals last weekend but instead took 2

NHL Chatter: Penguins simply sending a message for Kessel to change with leaks?

 Daily Five *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. One NHL executive on the Phil Kessel trade speculation last week: “The leaks are coming from Pittsburgh [Penguins organization] and it grabs your attention [hide] that something isn’t right [behind the scenes].” Surveying the scene a bit the last couple days, the chatter among some other clubs is Pittsburgh’s simply sending a message to Kessel with the off the record leaks in that he needs to change. Other NHL folks seem to think Pittsburgh see’s a diminishing asset and want to move the contract in the next year or so while there’s still some value, with the $6.8 million cap hit being the primary reason they’ve investigated the trade market for Kessel at one

TIOPS Daily 5: Quintana trade stings for frustrated fan base

 Daily Five *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* The Pittsburgh Pirates don’t play today and haven’t made a transaction but today was bad a PR day for the club. The Chicago Cubs didn’t go out and buy a player with a $200 million contract, which they and the Yankees, Dodgers have the ability to do at anytime. What the Cubs did was acquire a pitcher in Jose Quintana with a great contract who is the perfect trade acquisition for small and mid-market ball clubs like the Pirates to make. They made the type of trade today that small and mid-market teams often make. It’s a lot easier for the Cubs to sell off top prospects because they can go out and replace them

Source: Pens weigh extending Hornqvist

TIOPS DAILY FIVE *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. Penguins management is building their roster with a 3-4 year window in mind where they don’t want to be locked into many bad contracts four to five years down the road when the time comes that some of their core might start to begin regressing. How much do the Penguins value Patric Hornqvist with the Penguins window still wide open to win a couple more Cups? We’re about to find out. [hide] Hornqvist, 30, enters the final year of his contract that carries a $4.25 million cap hit and he’s scheduled to make $4.75 million in 2017/2018. Pittsburgh believes Hornqvist’s trade value is so high around the league, they protected him as one of

TIOPS Daily 5: Penguins brass see’s potential for dominant blueline with healthy 58

 Daily Five *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. A longer term deal between the Penguins and Brian Dumoulin beyond two years does not look feasible but the Penguins will live with a one or two year deal from arbitration and take another run at signing Dumoulin long-term next summer. Dumoulin’s hearing is July 24. He qualifies to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019. Despite disappointment that a long-term extension is looking bleak, the Penguins still regard Dumoulin as a big part of their future. This is another reason, though, why Olli Maatta’s contract is still highly valued by the organization because of their being certainty with five years left on the contract. Maatta is far from being unavailable but the