Ray Fittipaldo

Okay, well, that's an aside.

Let me gauge Donnie Baseball's excitement level on the Pirates going into this season, especially relative to recent years.

Scale of one to five, Donnie baseball, if you're a one, it's same as ever or maybe even lower.

Two, all the way up to five where you are just, you are so beyond fired up for this, you don't even know what to do with yourself.

Where are you?

I'll meet you at like a three or maybe like a three and a half.

Uh, because something that, uh, I, I texted you about before the show, Joe was that they, they came out of the gate and actually made a couple of moves that should get people excited.

They, they acquired, uh, Brendan Lau, who's going to be, I think he steps right in.

He's their best offensive player.

Uh, and I also think that helps out everybody else, uh,

In the lineup, there's finally some protection there for guys we have been hoping to take that next step up.

Maybe like O'Neal Cruz or Brian Reynolds getting a bounce back year in him.

The Ryan O'Hearn signing, another good one.

You bring somebody in that can knock 15-ish points.

balls out of the ballpark.

So they added power, and that was nice.

A guy that had 30-plus last year, a guy that I think had 16 in O'Hearn.

They added something they desperately needed, but then the next question became for us, Joe, when is that next Pirates move?

Yeah.

Because it seemed like after that, folks who cover the team, and I know Jason Mackey, who will be on his way down to Bradenton in a couple of weeks, he said, well, at the time...