CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Malcom Nunez is a 17-year-old Cuban third baseman who posted some of the best hitting numbers anywhere on the planet this year.
He'll someday play for the Cardinals.
He should have played for the Pirates.
Sit down before attempting to absorb these statistics from Nunez's 44 games in the Dominican Summer League, which concluded a couple weeks ago: .415 batting average, .497 on-base percentage, .774 slugging percentage and, in 164 at-bats, 13 home runs, 16 doubles, two triples, 26 walks, three steals and 59 RBIs.
Even while acknowledging the obvious that there's a million miles from the DSL to Major League Baseball, his numbers were the best of any professional hitter at any level ...
... and, within the DSL itself, the league's second-best batting average was 56 points lower, and that player hit one home run.
A headline on the analytical site BeyondTheBoxScore.com read, 'The best hitter in baseball is a 17-year-old Cuban.' and they haven't been alone in raving about the results. Baseball America named Nunez its DSL most valuable player and its 'Helium Watch' recipient as the player on the most meteoric rise.
You've already guessed where this is headed, right?
Yep, the Pirates are cheap and have no idea what they're doing. Not necessarily in that order.
Many months before the Latin American signing period opened July 2, Rene Gayo, the Pirates' former scouting director in the region and the man responsible for a fifth of the current big-league roster, had set up a special workout in the Dominican Republic. That's how it works down there. A player and his buscon -- or agent -- get invited to a workout for just one team, and representatives are there to watch. In this case, there also was a game involved.
Neal Huntington dispatched two of his special assistants, Greg Smith and Ron Hopkins -- more on them in a bit -- to see Nunez. Gayo had been prepared to pay a signing bonus of $1.5 million to earn the rights to Nunez. Hopkins was willing to go as high as $1 million. And Smith ... simply killed it.
No explanation was given.
And so, Nunez, who was being undervalued by other teams, as is common with Cubans because of the difficulty in seeing them, would instead get signed by the Cardinals ... for $300,000.
This despite St. Louis operating at the time under an MLB penalty and restricted to no international bonuses bigger than $300,000. The Cardinals simply swooped in after the Pirates made their mess and convinced the kid to come their way.
Put another way, the Cardinals paid to Nunez pretty much the same amount the Pirates just pocketed from dumping David Freese's contract a month early. Just saying.
There are symptoms and there are causes. This sort of stuff, including Miguel Sano, is the cause.
• Smith has been Huntington's right-hand man since the two came to the Pirates together in late 2007. He had been one of Huntington's assistant GMs until this past winter when he was quietly demoted to special assistant. I'm told his influence within the upper hierarchy hasn't diminished in the slightest.
• Hopkins, just for fun, was the real-world model for one of the old-school scouts derisively portrayed in 'Moneyball.' Funny thing, he was the guy who discovered Tim Hudson, who contributed more to Oakland's success in that stretch than most of the subjects glorified in the book and subsequent movie. Hopkins is quite good at what he does, but his vote with Nunez clearly didn't count.
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MORE PIRATES
• The Pirates are already formulating a plan to help one of their relievers through the inevitable counterpunch from the league next season. Richard Rodriguez, who leads all National League rookies in strikeouts, has navigated this season without using his changeup. That's his plan for left-handers next season. -- Lance Lysowski in Milwaukee
• Jordan Luplow will play more center field in the final three weeks, as the Pirates are taking a long look at him to be their fourth outfielder next season. The coaching staff loves the guy. So does the front office. They think there's more power in there, too. — Lysowski
• The veterans on this roster have expressed a deep respect for the rookies called up Sept. 1. However, there is a significant amount of frustration that the season has come to this. They went from buyers to sellers in just over a month. -- Lysowski
STEELERS
• The Steelers really wanted to keep Tyrod Taylor in the pocket last week and did so. On average, Taylor had 2.98 seconds to throw in last week's 21-21 tie, despite the Steelers sacking him seven times in the game. Taylor completed just 15 of 40 passes for 197 yards, but did hurt the Steelers with 77 yards rushing on eight carries while escaping pressure. "I think we did some things that made it counterproductive to what we did, like showing a four (man rush) but it was really a three," Cam Heyward told me. "Our thinking behind it was that Tyrod is not as good of a passer as he is when he’s on the run. So we were thinking, let’s keep him back there. We’re going to scrap that now and get back to our four-man rush." -- Dale Lolley at Rooney Complex
• Jordan Dangerfield was no guarantee to make the Steelers' roster this season. After all, he'd been released by the team five times before since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2014. But Dangerfield is playing a key role this year. He's replaced Robert Golden as the up-back on punt coverage and is in charge of making protection calls and decisions on the direction of punts, as well as whether or not to fake -- if he gets the proper look. "That's up to (special teams coordinator) Danny (Smith)," Dangerfield told me of the decision-making process. -- Lolley
• On another team, David DeCastro's ballooned right hand might be cause for concern. Though the All-Pro right guard didn't practice again on Thursday, the Steelers have nothing to worry about. B.J. Finney has quietly transformed himself into one of the best backup interior linemen in the league, and his ascent to a starting job is seen more as a matter of when, not if. This week, Finney has been taking reps at DeCastro's spot, just as he did for almost all of training camp when Ramon Foster went down with a knee injury in Latrobe. Finney's best assets are his strength and intelligence, which, according to a team source, trumps pure athleticism. "I know I'm not the best athlete on the field. The way I make up for it is knowing angles and putting myself in positions in order to win my battle and my block," he says. -- Chris Bradford at the Rooney Complex
• Mason Rudolph will almost certainly be a game-day inactive Sunday -- unless Ben Roethlisberger sits out -- but the Steelers' presumptive quarterback of the future could give Mike Tomlin quite the scouting report on the Kansas City Chiefs' QB of the present and his favorite target. Rudolph and Patrick Mahomes aren't just old Big 12 rivals -- Rudolph with Oklahoma State and Mahomes with Texas Tech -- they also served together as camp counselors at the prestigious Manning Passing Academy two years ago in Louisiana. When not working with Archie, Peyton, Eli (and, yeah, Cooper), the two young QBs formed a friendship that lasts to this day. The two even hung out together this summer in Dallas where Rudolph trains and Mahomes makes his home. "He's a good dude, a good person," Rudolph said. As far as a QB? "Everyone talks about his big arm and throwing it all over the field, I think he's kind of a backyard quarterback." Rudolph was also a teammate of Tyreek Hill's for one season in Stillwater. The Steelers' third-round pick started three games as a freshman, two of which were the last Hill played at Oklahoma State before he was dismissed following his arrest and pleading guilty to striking and choking his pregnant girlfriend. "He was a really great person," Rudolph said. "That surprised me a lot about him." -- Bradford
PENGUINS
• The center most likely to slide to left wing, from what I'm hearing, is Riley Sheahan. But don't expect firm answers on that even after the Penguins take the ice this morning. Mike Sullivan and staff are apparently intent on letting a lot of options play out. -- DK
• There's also an undercurrent that the defensive distribution might not be all that changes within the corps. Olli Maatta has been used to Band-Aid pairings over the years, and that might be the case again. Rather than keeping him with Justin Schultz -- and those two were very good together last season -- he might be moved back to a third pairing in search of three-pair balance. Again, though, we'll see. The goal is to get Jacques Martin the ability to roll three, almost without thinking about it. -- DK
• The simple fact that none of the players involved in potential positional switches have been told anything this summer -- and trust me, to a man, they know nothing -- tells me that Sullivan's looking to inject at least a little bit of suspense and/or tension into a process that otherwise would be a fait accompli. In other words, if Phil Kessel wants to play with Evgeni Malkin -- he does -- let's see what he's got in practices, scrimmages and the like. That sort of thing. -- DK
• A few common themes have emerged so far from the locker room during these recent informal skates: The extra rest that comes with a short playoff run has helped this group not only physically, but mentally. Watching Washington win the Stanley Cup only ignited their fire, and newcomers Jack Johnson, Matt Cullen and Derek Grant are welcome additions to this roster. “Obviously, there’s more time to rest and to recover and get in shape,” Patric Hornqvist said. “Overall, it’s a good thing. You want to play into June, but it is what it is. We couldn’t do it, so, now, I hope everybody took the time to rest, get back at it and really have a longer time to build up their body for a long season.” -- Cody Tucker in Cranberry
• Surprisingly, Daniel Sprong says this training camp will be like the last two. He says he will look with "open eyes," compete and see how the cards fall. Jim Rutherford and Mark Recchi aren't so laid back when it comes to what's ahead for the player who will no doubt be on the opening-day roster. Rutherford said the pressure is on. He added that Sprong's development stage is over. It has to be. When he unexpectedly made the squad out of camp in 2015-16, he lost an AHL season. Sprong would have to clear waivers if the organization tries to send him down. With the release and offensive skill set he possesses, he would get snapped up by another team in a heart beat. “Yes and no,” Sprong answered when asked if the pressure is greater now that the threat of being sent back to the AHL is all but gone. “I think I see it both ways. It’s most important for me to take it day by day, and never get too high or too low. I need to come in every day, work hard and see what happens.” -- Tucker
