The Pomp And Joe Show
The Bechtold Breakdown - Pirates trade Mike Burrows for Brandon Lowe & more
19 Dec 2025
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What trade did the Pirates make involving Mike Burrows?
Joe, typically we start the Bechdel Breakdown with this. But today, we're instead going to start the Bechdel Breakdown with this. Joe. Joe. Yes, limits. We have a Pirates trade. The Bextel Breakdown is brought to you by Southside Plumbing and Heating on this Friday, December 19th. Merry Christmas to everyone. The Pirates have made a trade.
where the frameworks are still being worked out on everything and being finalized, but this is what it currently looks like from Ken Rosenthal. The Pirates are acquiring slugger Brandon Lau, second baseman, also could play some outfield, from the Tampa Bay Rays at 31 home runs a year ago. He's in the final year of his contract, he's 31. In addition to Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum,
So Montgomery, Mangum, I should, Mangum is an outfielder. He's a switch hitter. He is going into his age 30 season. He made his MLB debut last year. Three home runs, 40 RBIs, but he hit 296. And Mangum, or Montgomery, is a young left-handed pitcher who is going to be 26 next season. He had a 5.67 ERA, obviously not great, but 63 strikeouts and 46 innings out of the bullpen last year.
I don't care about them. Tell me about Brandon Lau. And they're sending Mike Burrows to Houston in the trade. The Rays are getting two players. So, of course, Brandon Lau is the headliner in the deal. Lau, a year ago, hit 31 home runs. He drove in 83. He hit 256. A slug of 477. The home runs would obviously be the most of anybody on the Pirates. He made the All-Star game last year.
Also 19 doubles. Had 130 hits, which was close to a career high. So he immediately goes into the Pirates lineup and is... Honestly, probably their best bat, depending on what ultimately happens with O'Neal Cruz and his development. It's Lau, Cruz, and Reynolds. This should just be the start, though, for the Pirates.
They still need to go get another bat, probably two more, unless they truly believe in this Garcia outfielder that they acquired in the trade with Johan Oviedo earlier. Donnie, what do you think of the deal? I mean, it almost sounds too good to be true for them to only get rid of Mike Burrows. Listen, I like Mike Burrows. I think he's a guy you could toss in the back of your rotation.
Oh, him and Oviado will be competing for the Cy Young, but keep going. But the fact that they just grabbed a guy who, I agree with Austin, you immediately plug him in, and he's the best bat they have. People can argue if they want about the projection of O'Neal Cruz or what Brian Reynolds used to do. This guy, to me, is their best one. He's coming off a season in which he had 31 home runs.
He had back-to-back years of 20-plus. He had 39 home runs a couple of years ago. They also get an outfielder, an extra outfielder in Mangum that... Mangum P.I.?
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Chapter 2: What impact will Brandon Lowe have on the Pirates' lineup?
He doesn't have the huge power numbers, but the guy can actually see and hit the baseball. That means, most importantly, Jack Sawinski can be fired into the sun. Yeah. This is a win-win. I can't believe. Wait a second. You're including Mangum P.I. as a real part of this deal? It means Jack Sawinski is not going to be a guy that we watch play like 80 games in a pirate ship. Well, let's hope.
I'm not so sure about that. How do you even know Mangum P.I. is going to make the team out of spring training? He's a 30-year-old who's played one year, and he only had four homers. Maybe he's a late bloomer. And he hit almost 300 in over 100 games last year. I know batting average is old school. So did what's-his-name. Joey Bart a couple years ago looked like Johnny Bench.
Joey Bart continued to be one of their better players, even though he sucked the last half of last year. That was the problem. Let's talk about Brandon Lau, for God's sakes. Yes, 31 homers last year. I don't know if he repeats that. He had 21 each of the previous two years. Then he had eight in an abbreviated season, then 39. Listen, this is great. This is what we want them to do.
And as Mr. P put it, It needs to be the beginning, not the end. Is he going to play second base here? He's played a couple games at first, and he's been a DH. He doesn't have to play second. He could do a little bit of both. Maybe he could platoon with McCutcheon at DH a little bit. I don't know.
I just know they got a major league bat, but let's not pretend that this is time to plan the parade here. This needs to be one of at least two, and hopefully a higher profile one than him, and maybe three bats that they add. Limits. Yes, and I think that this should carve the way with Lowe only making $11.5 million, guys. This should, other than Soto. So they've signed Soto for the bullpen.
They've signed Lowe. That's $20 million. Not much money. It's really not. They should have another $20 plus to be able to spend on another free agent like Eugenio Suarez and potentially even another trade. But this is now two starting pitchers. where they said they were going to trade from that surplus. Let's see how high the payroll gets.
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Chapter 3: Who are the players the Pirates received in the trade?
Let's see how high the payroll gets. Remember, they stripped it down last year. And I think, in effect, only to build it back up to what it was. So let's see if we get to 100-plus million. That's A, right? Yeah, I'm still not optimistic they will. Neither am I. Got to get to over 100 million to make this believable. They've added one guy who can see a baseball and hit it in Brandon Lau.
That's good. That's just the beginning. Better be, at least. Mangum P.I. had an OPS plus of 96 and 27 steals in his debut season. How about that? He had 27 steals last year? 27 steals. And Montgomery is a left-handed pitcher that they can add to the bullpen. Oh, please. Mangum P.I. looking a little bit more attractive to you now, Joe. You want Sawinski out there striking out every at-bat.
They signed Sawinski to a million and a half. He stinks. Donnie, are you okay with them trading Mike Burrows? Yeah, I mean, again, I like Mike Burrows. I mean, he's a dude that can be like a fourth or fifth guy. He was a good hybrid player for them last year. He kind of took over what Luis Ortiz did a year before, and I thought he was pretty admirable in that spot.
I mean, he had his games where if he didn't give up a home run in a game, which I know that's ā Kind of easy to say, but he would get into trouble when he gave up the big shots. He wouldn't really let a game get away from him, though. He very rarely had a performance where guys strung together five or six straight hits and he just was getting leveled to every part of the field.
His downfalls were normally... it would just be like a three-run shot, and then his line would look way worse than what it actually was. Steven Nesbitt of The Athletic says, this Pirates front office has valued Mike Burrows highly for years. If it wasn't for Tommy John in 23, he would have been up earlier.
An impressive rookie season made him an attractive trade chip in the Pirates' position of strength. Do you have to sign Lau to make this a good trade? No, but I think that it's definitely an added bonus if you can. That would be the first thing that I would try to do is to try to hammer in an extension. Yeah, I would try to do that too.
But hey, at least they have one real hitter that they brought in for next season. I try to make a move with him, a deal with him, because it also shows that, hey, this isn't just a guy on an expiring deal that we're going to flip in late July.
This is a guy that we're bringing in who we targeted as somebody to be the best part of our offense, and we intend to keep it that way for the next few seasons. I don't think we're talking about a superstar here. We're talking about a solid major league hitter who could explode into, and it does every once in a while, into a 30 home run guy, and that's good. He was an all-star last year, too.
Yeah. I mean, he has an OPS under 800. Let's not act like they just brought in an MVP candidate, Lemons.
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Chapter 4: What are the opinions on the value of trading Mike Burrows?
No, I don't think anybody is. I'm in agreeance with you that this is just the first of multiple dominoes that need to fall before I can really buy in. And it's way different than Kyle Schwarber. And my fear for this offseason that it will be characterized as, wow, the Pirates were in on the Kyle Schwarber sweepstakes and they wound up getting low in a trade. What a great offseason.
Everything's changed. They made a trade and brought in a bat. Good for them. Now do something more dramatic or do two other deals like this. Bring in more bats. Spend some money. Agreed? Fully agree with that. Donnie? Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to act like they just brought in Barry Bonds here, but they absolutely made their team better. Yes.
And they did so with a guy that I still think you plug him right in and... He is right now the best bat in that offense, considering where some of the guys finished last year. They had one guy who played regularly last season. Horwitz, who had a higher OPS. Spencer Horwitz, who had an OPS.
He would be their best hitter, but that's like being the fastest guy in a race with a bunch of Harry Callis clones. But something else about Brandon Lau, he's a pretty consistent player. Yeah, he's a professional hitter. His OPS plus has been over 100, which is league average, every single year of his career. This is what you call the price of doing business.
This is simply acting like a normal Major League Baseball team. And because the Pirates have been where they've been and done what they've done, I think there is a tendency to overreact to things like this. Most teams go out and get people who can hit a baseball in off seasons. They seem to have struggled with that. They've made one move. Yay. Make more.
I am starting to become a fan of Magnum P.I., though. Mangum P.I. here. 27 stolen bags last year. An old-school type player, perhaps, Joe. Is he a good defender, too? Limits, can you look that up? You're the beat writer. Did you like the old Magnum P.I. or the new Magnum P.I. that came out not that long ago? Not even close.
The old one with Tom Selleck could never be matched, and they never should have made a new one. Are we off the air? What a mustache that is. No, we're on the air. Okay, we had a momentary scare.
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Chapter 5: How does the Pirates' trade strategy reflect their future plans?
No, we're good. I just looked over, yeah. All right, this guy, here's why I'm a Mangum P.I. fan all of a sudden, because he actually has a really good minor league track record where in AAA, over six seasons, he hit .313 with an .800 OPS and bunches and bunches of stolen bases, oh, limitless wonder. Namely, 100, well, let's see here.
43 steals in four years, and then he came up into the majors and, like you said, stole 27 last year. That's impressive. Yeah, he could be a fourth outfielder for you that fills in in spots. It's possible. What are they going to do about their first three outfielders? Well, Reynolds will be one, and Cruz will be the other, and then they need to acquire somebody to be the left fielder.
Unless it's the guy they got for Roviedo. Jostinson Garcia. Jostinson, yes. The password. The password. Man, the password. You ever see that show, Donnie, on TV, Password? No, I never watched that one. The password is left fielder. and then they have to act out left fielder. Okay, so they're starting to behave like a normal major league team. That is encouraging for as far as that goes.
Good move, Pirates. I mean, there's also, I think, a real chance that by the mid-summer months, or maybe even once we get into summer, like June or so, the middle of that infield could be Connor Griffin and Brandon Lau. Yeah, I do like that idea. Pretty attractive to me. Can Gonzalez play third? I feel like he's played there. Limits, you're the beat writer.
Yeah, I believe he's, I'm going to confirm it, but I do believe that he has played some time over there, whether it was the majors or the minors. Where are we in the Termar Johnson development chain? Not in a good place. No? I thought he came on last season. I mean, he had moments, and he's still young.
He's still only 21, 22, but he's not somebody who is knocking down the door of being promoted anytime soon. Is he strictly a second baseman, shortstop type? Could he play third? He could maybe play some third base, but he's more so of a second baseman. Gonzalez did play five games in Indianapolis in 2024 at third base. Also 14 games in 2023, so he does have some minor league experience there.
Tremar hit .270 last year in double-A. Slugged almost 400. Hit 12. What did he hit? 12 homers? Nine homers? Gonzalez has played two career games at third. He's played, and he has played 13 at shortstop. So maybe that's the guy you have start there. Sure. Or Triolo. I'm okay with Triolo as a stopgap.
50-minute mark on the fan brought to you by South Hills Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Route 19 Peters Township. Windy today. Temps dropping to the mid to low 20s. Low of 22. Andrew McCutcheon. Fan weather brought to you by Myers Law Group. Pittsburgh's choice for affordable. Legal Solutions, a quiz show coming up at 1. What else you got here, Limits? Yeah, unfortunately, it happened again, guys.
Pitt Volleyball lost in the Final Four for the fifth consecutive year in a row. So there was a couple of different opinions that were thrown out there. I think that Pitt Volleyball has very unfortunately become the Buffalo Bills of women's volleyball. Now, Pony and I were going back and forth about this texting last night. He thinks that Pitt should be praised, and I think they should be as well.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of Kyle Louis declaring for the draft?
Marino in Miami for the Dolphins. Elway at home when he was... Oh, and then the Raiders. Nobody. Jay Schrader. I was at that game, 51-3. So forget that one. But they did beat those three guys. It's an amazing accomplishment. So is this. And it's also true that it's become like a situation where they get there and become unraveled. They just do. Both those things are true. Yeah.
And it'll be something that if it continues, we like sadly expect it. Oh, here we go again. Pitt volleyball to the Final Four. Now, I mean, I'll say this, too. They are far and away the best team in the city of Pittsburgh. If you want to count all of the... Well, I mean, I know the Riverhounds just won a championship, too, so maybe not. But the consistency of going to five straight Final Fours.
It's amazing. It truly is. And Dan Fisher and the players deserve a ton of credit for doing what they do every year. But don't you think by year five, though, guys, that expectations should change?
I know that Pitt Volleyball is not a historic program, but by the time you get there for year four or year five and this continues to happen, I feel like it's just more of a disappointment than it is a success this season because of the expectations that were put on them. It is. They were the higher-seeded team. And Nebraska was out. And you have the best player.
And so many of the times, depending on what sport you look at, the best player typically finds a way to win. And Pitt had a great team this year. And they have a great recruiting class coming in next year. So what are you saying then? Should there be a fallout for this or what?
No, what I'm saying is that, yes, they should be celebrated, but I think that it should be taken with a major grain of salt because they keep getting there, but they can't ultimately get over the hump. The Buffalo Bills are considered, you know, fondly in a way, and Joe, you can speak of this greater than I can, but they ultimately never got it done.
And there's that ultimate level of satisfaction that is just never fulfilled. I'll buy that. I'll buy that, limits. Yeah, I mean, there's definitely negative connotations here, but it does suck that they just can't make it happen. Yeah, really unfortunate. And Luke Babcock said something on Instagram last night, or Instagram story, that said, Pitt Volleyball, see you next year.
Can't wait to see the fans out. So any speculation she might transfer looks to be put to breast, which is a good thing for Pitt. Next up, one person that is transferring is... So Penn State true freshman edge Chaz Coleman plans to enter the transfer portal. And where I'm going with this is, so Couchy, which is a new betting service, I guess, out there, Donnie.
So they have filed forms to accept bets on players who enter the transfer portal.
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Chapter 7: How did Pitt volleyball perform in the Final Four this year?
This is farcical. You mean like how JMU and Tulane are in? Yes. That they're in a 12-team playoff and Notre Dame isn't? But forget about Notre Dame. Just that two teams like that are in a 12-team playoff. I think that's ridiculous. I mean, they took advantage of what the rules and regulations are right now.
I think a lot of what happened in this year's selection process, that will be used when they eventually push it to 16. Do you agree that it's ridiculous? I think it's going to look ridiculous tomorrow when you're watching a game and Oregon's up 28 points on JMU. I'm really just hoping one of those two teams keeps it competitive. That's it. I don't expect it to happen.
Yeah, they're still legitimate programs, right? But it feels like two minor league programs have entered the major league playoffs. I think it's ludicrous limits. And I'm a big fan of the underdog. I am. Maybe keep it to one at max. It just seems absolutely silly to me.
that a Notre Dame team that is fraught with NFL prospects and could win the national title if they got in is going to sit at home while we have to watch two blowouts, probably? Oregon is a 21-point favorite against JMU, and Ole Miss is, I think, 17-and-a-half.
against Tulane thoughts Mr. P you know I'd rather just see one but guess what too bad too bad Notre Dame maybe join a then you'll actually have an argument because JMU is Tulane is in and they took advantage of the ACC being poor I'm completely fine with it forget about Notre Dame the idea of those two schools being in is ludicrous yes or no well maybe the ACC should have better teams and be able to have a team the idea of those two teams being in is ludicrous yes or no no okay
Maybe the ACC should have better tiebreakers, Donnie, like an easy one. Who's ever higher in the college football playoff rankings goes to the playoff. What are they doing? Who wrote that stuff? Callous? Now they're even more complicated than the ones they put out there. It's all over the place. Here's our big tiebreaker system, everybody. Higher-ranked team goes. One, two, three, four words.
That's our tiebreaker. Oh, my God. What have they done? What did they do?
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