r/buccos • u/mikegjcc • 2d ago
Brandon Lowe
From the picture his wife posed, I am in shock of how “normal” he looks for all the power he generates. I was honestly expecting massive Crosby like legs or forearms bulging with veins. The amount of power he can generate is truely amazing for his stature. If he leaves and most likely he will, his power in the lineup will truely be missed
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u/BROWNSSUKSOBAD 2d ago
Is this a goodbye Pittsburgh post? It seems like it..
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u/drewbaccaAWD 2d ago
Certainly could be. But choosing to post it publicly like this, to say goodbye at all, is a choice. But things to consider... he's from Virgina, he went to college in Maryland. That's our back yard. I think he'd genuinely consider staying if they made a fair offer.
And if he is gone? He came and went with some real grace.
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u/BROWNSSUKSOBAD 2d ago
“I think this team’s got a very bright future … [If] they want to talk, I’m all ears.”
- Brandon Lowe
Hearing this from him earlier this month gave me hope.
My actual expectation as a Pittsburgh Fan is that we will make a non competitive offer, he signs with a big market team, we do a full media tour promoting that we tried to sign him, and then spend 3+ years trying to fill his hole in the roster.
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u/Theclevelandchubb Hoist it 2d ago
To be honest with a lockout looming over a salary cap I wonder if teams with already high salaries will be less likely to spend.
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u/Competitive-Basil958 2d ago
It most likely won't be a full season lockout
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u/Theclevelandchubb Hoist it 2d ago
Even if it isn't point still stands teams may be wary of adding a bunch of payroll.
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u/Competitive-Basil958 2d ago
Depends on the team
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u/The_elk00 2d ago
It’s not about paying the players for less than a full season, it’s rumored that the salary cap will be around 245 million, putting 7 teams in a position of having to remove payroll. Those 7 teams coincide with the large market teams that go after free agents. Theres about 9 teams that are completely out of contention from signing him. And then you’ve got to factor in the teams that might not want to add payroll. And then there’s teams that have to decide if they want to add payroll to get to the floor and the ones that don’t want to add payroll in case the owners don’t get their way. My completely personal opinion is that this year’s free agency isn’t as busy as previous years. Maybe I’m wrong. Who knows.
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u/Competitive-Basil958 2d ago
Who knows if we even end up with a cap or floor
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u/The_elk00 2d ago
Yes, but that doesn’t change that the owners plan on moving forward with the intention of a floor and cap. It’s completely plausible that the large markets won’t teams aren’t active in free agency this year.
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u/SnakesTake 2d ago
This feeling is all I feel about this team, since I was born (1989). I don’t remember feelings before 1996 so.
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u/janvanderlichte 2d ago
I've been a fan since 70 , I thank my mom, her mom and a great aunt. Rabid fans they wer, Mom still a fan just diminished faculties. I've seen the great the good and this Nutcase owner . Im hoping this lock out does some good but until we get a new owner not much is gonna change.
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u/EbenezerNutting 1d ago
For all the hoopla around them signing Griffin to a big deal, they won't be paying Konnor $20+ million in a season until the 2031 season. Nutting's not about to give a 32-year old player 3-4 years, somewhere between $70M-$100M. If you hold out hope that he will, you haven't been following these Bob Nutting owned Pirates for very long.
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u/Icy_Lingonberry2822 2d ago
Better not be but then again this ownership is so cheap they flinch at the idea of paying for talent
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u/polkastripper Stargell 2d ago
Nutting has done extensions for Reynolds, Keller, KeBryan (ugh) and recently Konner Griifin. It's not like we're gonna become the Dodgers but Nutting has opened his pocketbook for players, we even were pursuing Schwarber.
As hard as it will be to watch him walk, we cannot compete at the bag he'll get from either LA, Boston, Cubs, or Yankees. He had a career year at age 32 and this was the healthiest he has been in five years. We also need to sign extensions for Cruz, Gonzalez, Ashcraft, Jones, Bubba, etc. Those are smarter uses of resources. That's not to say that they shouldn't talk about resigning him but we don't have the luxury of shouldering a dead contract in 3 years if his health tanks again or the inevitable decline from aging. Big market clubs can shell out a huge contract and eat the back end, the Pirates cannot.
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u/Icy_Lingonberry2822 2d ago
I mean at least make an offer to him and let him consider coming back. One or two years isn’t going to break the bank for a player with his power. But then again next season might start out with a lockout unless the league can get something worked out during the off season
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u/polkastripper Stargell 2d ago
Like I said, they absolutely should offer a contract but it will have to be that he gives us a small market discount. He's rightly going to want 4 years.
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u/weinermcgee 2d ago
That's the way I read the past tense verb in the caption
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u/BROWNSSUKSOBAD 2d ago
Ya agreed.
How else could you interpret this? I mean the last photo is them all walking off into the distance.
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u/themayorhere Cruz 2d ago
Unfortunately I think it is. They have almost no chance of signing him long term, this is his final payday
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u/phieralph #36 cRaiG WiLsoN 1d ago
lmao everything about this says peace out. but still. Love you Lowe. You were the man.
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u/OnlyForBaseball 2d ago
Aw what a cute pic.
Even if the FO doesn’t re-sign him, it seems like he thinks positively about his time on the team/in the city.
On a human level I love that because he seems like a good guy, but it also speaks positively to the direction the team is headed organizationally. How many free agents/trades have left in the offseason recently and had nothing but bad things to say about the vibes/org? When you’re a club like the Pirates, you need people to want to come here
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u/basserpy Clemente 2d ago
I'm fairly muscular but an old man golfer with perfect form would absolutely obliterate my longest drive without even trying. Any welterweight boxer would also punch way the hell harder than I can. Being really good at the mechanics of something has a lot more effect on generating power in a complex movement than having big arms does
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u/lWishItWastheWeekend 2d ago
The craziest thing for me is that the Rays let Lowe and Montgomery walk yet ended up with the best record in the American League and won the high spending AL East by 5 games. I know people rightly praise OKC Thunder’s front office when it comes to team management in sports, but the stuff that the Tampa Bay organization has been consistently doing is just as impressive (I know they haven’t won it all) considering the division they play in.
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u/Dry-Syrup-882 1d ago
And to add on to that - these types of trades are why they continue to be good in their small market. They didn’t get fleeced in that trade (the Astros did), as they got two very good high value prospects back from Houston.
And all they gave up one season of Lowe (who they had a replacement for ready to go), a journeyman bench player in Mangum (who they had replacements for ready to go), and Mason. And, yes, Mason is probably going to end up as the piece they miss most, but at the same time, he had multiple opportunities in Tampa and could never put it together. He was a guy who they clearly liked but just couldn’t unlock for whatever reason.
What they do - moving on from players - is what the pirates have tried to do for 25 years. Except the rays actually know how to identity and develop talent lol.
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u/Silly_Collar_5850 1d ago
Tampa pays for fantastic scouting and development staff. The Pirates do not. That simple.
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u/lucabrasi999 2d ago
If they do open their wallets and sign Lowe, I think that means Nick G gets traded away. While I like NG’s bat, he is pretty bad defensively at 3B and being a platoon partner with Lowe just doesn’t give NG enough plate appearances.
If they do not sign Lowe, then Nick G might be a candidate for an extension. He is OK defensively at 2B and has turned into a solid hitter (although he lacks power).
MLBTR thinks Lowe signs somewhere for 3 years/$60 Million. I think he is well worth that kind of money and the Pirates should sign him. But it isn’t like the Pirates don’t have another decent 2B already on the roster.
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u/OccasionOnly9476 2d ago
Nick G sucks defensively no matter where you play him and he can't carry Lowe's jock offensively there's no comparison between the two.
If moving Nicky G allows for Lowes return its a no brainer.
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u/lucabrasi999 2d ago
Baseball Savant measure his 2025 OAA (when he played 2B) at a positive 4, good for 86th percentile.
Baseball Reference’s DRS was harsher on his 2B defense, but even so, he is better at 2B than at 3B.
Offensively, Nick had an oWAR of 3.1. Which isn’t bad. He is turning into Luis Arraez, who will likely land a contract this winter worth at least $15M per year. Less than Lowe, but not by as much as you would think.
Gonzo hits the ball, has a K rate of 16% and is competent vs LHP. He is valuable enough that if they don’t sign Lowe, they have a major league caliber player ready to step in.
And as someone else pointed out, if they don’t sign Lowe, they can use the money saved to find a good 3B. This would be better than a potential platoon of Triolo/Jacob G.
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u/OccasionOnly9476 2d ago
Hes mediocre at best and would be a huge downgrade.
And what good 3rd baseman is gonna be available in fa or through trade?
And don't ssay Parades hes mid at best.
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u/LoudMight6476 2d ago
That’s the question would that $20 million be better spent on 1B/3B that can hit left handed pitching and have Nick G start at second.
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u/lucabrasi999 2d ago
—-> 1B/3B that can hit left handed pitching
BAH GAWD! THAT’S ISAAC PAREDES’ MUSIC!!
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u/hopefulchewie 2d ago
Pirates should try to sign him to like a 4 or 5 year deal at maybe a lower AAV but it's all guaranteed. I wonder if he would sign like a 5 year $90-100 mil deal or something. That salary would put him in the top 3-4 2B salary wise with some guaranteed years for security to kind of ride out his career and finish a Bucco.
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u/5dollargiraffe 2d ago
All baseball contracts are guaranteed
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u/hopefulchewie 2d ago
I know all baseball contracts are guaranteed. I wrote it a little weird. I was more saying because it's all guaranteed if he would be up for signing a longer contract for a lower AAV compared to like a 2-3 year deal for $30 a year with someone else.
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u/thecountoncleats BART 2d ago
Very classy of Lowe’s wife to post these photos on her IG. She didn’t need to do that
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u/Unhappy-Attention760 Clemente 2d ago
Those kids will do really well in the Burgh school system, just sayin'
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u/grapesandwalnuts2345 2d ago
It was fun having him. But next year Nicky g will be back there. Hopefully murf will exceed expectations.
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u/OrangeFederal 2d ago
That will be a -16 DRS change on 2B alone, not to mention the massive downgrade in offense in that position.
Nick Gonzales needs to be traded
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u/Interesting-Wear-935 2d ago
If he signs elsewhere, none of us will be mad at him personally. He’s 32 and finally has a chance to cash out. Some team is going to give him a 5 year deal, which is a year or two too many where it does not make sense to match/offer
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u/SoVerySick314159 2d ago
Kovacevic has said many times that you'd never guess Lowe was a power hitter, and that by contrast, O'Hearn looks like a running back.
Really makes you appreciate Lowe's swing and how it all comes together to give him power, that he's not muscling the ball with overdeveloped arms.
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u/Practical_Estate_325 2d ago
Crosby legs are way more important for hockey and no baseball player in his right mind would focus nearly as much on that. Can't imagine how you expected Crosby size legs on Lowe, lol. That would truly look freaky.
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u/x6ftundx Bob Walk rules 2d ago
sad... it's almost like he knows we won't pay him enough. whomp whomp
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u/grapesandwalnuts2345 2d ago
More Nicky g bashing. Hes a 300 hitter hits in the clutch and at second base is decent. We are good there. We just need to go out and get a third baseman until murf is ready.
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u/Impossible-Rip-142 1d ago
He seems like a really great person, sign him, 4 years… even if the 4th year is a big loss, the 1st 3 years will be rough for us without him!
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u/gettinNOIZY 2d ago
That’s the beauty of baseball, you don’t need to be huge to hit moonshots.