Signing Ozuna likely marks end of the Andrew McCutchen era in Pittsburgh
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What does the signing of Marcell Ozuna mean for the Pirates?
All right, let's expand our horizons here. High noon will be Super Bowl talk, Steeler talk, Olympic hockey talk, etc. But this doesn't happen every day, does it? That the Pirates go out and sign a guy who is, what, a year removed, basically one season removed from finishing fourth in the MVP race. I just wonder if that hip injury brought him down for a couple months last year limits because he started out last season in April. Not bad May either, by the way, but April was just like the previous season. Right. It makes sense if that was the case. And can you imagine if they're getting any replica of the 33-year-old Ozuna compared to the 35-year-old Ozuna? That would be something.
In the bats that they added with Ozuna, O'Hearn, Lau, they've added 70 home runs. I mean, I think 69 is the exact total. It's a very nice amount of home runs that they're bringing in there, Bob.
That's a lot of home runs for a team last year. Especially for a team that was dead last or next to last in power production.
Well, here's the other part. Oh, my God, they were horrible. Just O'Hearn and Lau combined for like 35% of what the Pirates or nearly 40% of what the Pirates hit as a team. Yeah, Lau hit 31 last year. So here's the other part of this is it's very likely the end of Andrew McCutcheon, who I think is the most popular pirate since Willie Stargell. Would you agree with that, Bob?
Yes, I do. He's been around a long time. He was here when they needed him to be here and what he did in lifting them into those opportunities for wildcard status and playoff.
And yet we've fielded a number of calls today and not one of them has expressed anything about they're doing McCutcheon wrong, or we still need Cutch or anything like that. Now we know he's a beloved figure, so don't get that part wrong. But I think, I think by and large, and this is just anecdotal, and this is certainly my opinion too, um, I think people love the fact he came back for three years, and I think they're ready to move on, by and large. That's what I think. Limits, you wanted them to keep McCutcheon. Are you okay that they won't be, probably?
Yeah, I mean, I understand it, and I'm more okay with it because of the players that they are bringing in to replace McCutcheon. I still thought that he was a valuable bat to be able to come off your bench in big situations, late in games, like if you want to pinch hit for Gonzalez or Triolo, and also to be able to be a left-handed bat as a DH against, or a right-handed bat against lefties. But I have to applaud what they're doing here because they're trying to upgrade over McCutcheon, and I think that's what they're doing. They're not bringing in pieces that would be worse than McCutcheon offensively. They're better and are more proven over the last couple years than McCutcheon's been.
Did they treat McCutcheon wrong here? They did. I think they could have communicated better, and now it appears there's not going to be any sort of send-off. I think Pirate Fest would have been a perfect chance for that. Yeah. It wouldn't have been. I mean, you can always bring him back to, you know, throw out the first pitch or something, Bob.
Or they could announce, say, we're going to retire his number at some point of the season at the beginning of the year. Have an Andrew McCutcheon day, but he also might be on retainer. Your point is well taken, that they could have figured this all out long before now. They had October, November, December, January. All these months go by, and here we are still in this limbo stage, and it shouldn't have come down to that, especially knowing that they were going to go out and get other guys to assume his role. Right.
It's not a pretty ending if this is it.
What are the new players' contributions to the Pirates' lineup?
They could have handled it better.
And he clearly wants to still play. If he didn't, that would be an easier decision.
But I don't think any other team's going to want him, do you?
No, not at the start, but maybe throughout the course of the season there could be that.
Might be.
Might be. If an injury occurs, you need somebody.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What does the signing of Marcell Ozuna mean for the Pirates?
0:00–3:49
2
What are the new players' contributions to the Pirates' lineup?
3:49–5:36
3
How does Andrew McCutchen's legacy impact the Pirates' decision?
5:36–6:29
4
Why do fans feel mixed emotions about McCutchen's departure?
6:29–10:15
5
Did the Pirates communicate effectively with McCutchen?
10:15–12:47
6
What are the implications of McCutchen's potential retirement?
12:47–14:51
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Pomp And Joe Show
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