Pirates trade reaction: Is Spencer Horwitz the answer at first base?
Pirates insiders Noah Hiles and Andrew Destin react to the first big move of the winter meetings, with first baseman Spencer Horwitz coming to Pittsburgh in exchange for pitcher Luis Ortiz and others. Why did Ben Cherington target Horowitz as the answer at first base, and was he worth trading three pitchers? Plus, what other moves could come out of Dallas?
For more sports, visit post-gazette.com.
13 comments
Love to understand why we can’t get our payroll closer to 100 million?? Just insane. I like the move, don’t get me wrong, but with Tyler O’Neill would have been nice. I get our constraints but this is getting beyond embarrassing.
Also at first blush.. I little overpay Otis and 1 prospect should gave been enough.
Horwitz has 1 more year of control than Ortiz.
Ortiz' numbers under the hood weren't good, mostly because guys with low strikeout rates tend to be quite volatile.
The Pirates didn't even like him, as illustrated by them getting Gonzales and Perez so that he was in the bullpen.
MLB Trade Values has the Pirates "majorly underpaying" for Horwitz, by their system.
Yes, this gets you Yandy Diaz. But Yandy has 2 years of control vs 6 years of Horwitz
This guy is no better than Billy Cook. They could've signed a better first baseman for the same price. Just sad that they gave up what they did for him.
One step forward. One step back.
Why not just sign a free agent at market price and not give up anyone?
Nope, but he’s cheap, and that’s music to Bob Nutting’s ears.
This team is just not going to be any good until there is new ownership. The Pirates need at least one more power hitter in their lineup and they never seem to get one who has nothing more than moderate power. Look at the corner infield spots and see how little power there is. Hayes is never going to hit for power and with his injury record I had hoped they would have moved on from him. Lets face it it's going to be another disappointing year.
Ortiz doesn’t miss enough bats to ever sustain the ERA he had last year. Horowitz had success with underlying numbers to back it up. I’m more comfortable with Oviedo going forward than Ortiz.
i'd imagine theyre allowed to spend the same amount, whether it involves a 700k 1b or a $10 million 1b. it's all a matter of what they can spend on the other holes. "horwitz is cheap, so therefore every addition after this has to be cheap" is just a weird leap.
Getting horwitz instead of Yandy almost certainly means they can spend an addtl 9 million on RF,RP, etc
Give him a shot! Why not take a chance on Luis Robert!
Go check out his highlights for 2024. Looks impressive power on base skill. A guy who could be our first baseman for years to come. Cooke or Triolo could platoon against lefties