Not just the Rays: Lessons Pirates can learn from 2020's surprise teams

The second annual Gerrit Cole vs. Tyler Glasnow game five matchup certainly had more drama this year than last.

This one also had a different outcome, with Glasnow and the Rays coming out on top Friday to advance to the American League Championship series. A big reason why was because, who else, Austin Meadows did this:

But that homer only tied the game. The game-winner was off Mike Brosseau’s bat. That isn’t too surprising considering Brosseau was one of the Rays’ best players this year. What is surprising is he signed with the Rays as an undrafted free agent.

Chalk that win -- and advancing in the playoffs -- to the Rays’ player development team. Well, them and Neal Huntington.

A playoff victory where Meadows goes deep and Glasnow gives a clutch start on short rest is a particularly cruel punishment to a fanbase that just endured watching the Pirates finish with the worst record in baseball. That jettisoning of players is one of the main reasons why the Pirates are heading into a rebuild, whether or not Ben Cherington wants to refer to it as one or not.

Cherington came to Pittsburgh last year knowing he had to restock the roster. On the day he was introduced and sat down with DK and myself at PNC Park, he discussed what would be the team’s four pillars for success:

Identifying players.

Acquiring players.

Developing players.

Deploying players in situations that would lead to them being successful.

Almost one year later and that gameplan hasn't changed. It's four broad topics, but if the Pirates do them well, they're contenders.

To look at Huntington and the previous regime’s tenure objectively, they had success in identifying and acquiring players. We wouldn’t be talking about Glasnow, Cole, Meadows or Charlie Morton if they didn’t. Their problem was they couldn’t develop or use them to their fullest potential. It’s why that regime was fired.

The Rays excel at all four of the pillars. So why aren’t the Pirates just copying their homework and hoping for the same result?

“I wouldn't identify one single team we're trying to model after,” Cherington said last week. “We're trying to learn from everybody.”

Let’s widen the net a bit further than just the Rays. Cherington cited the Padres and White Sox as rebuilding success stories this year. Both clubs broke long playoff droughts in 2020 and are poised to return to October next year. The shocker playoff team this postseason was the Marlins, who even advanced to the divisional round by sweeping the Cubs.

There are lessons to take from the Athetics, who at least advanced a round this postseason before being bounced, and the Blue Jays, whose young core stepped up, but let’s focus on those first four clubs. How were they built? With draft picks and international signings? Trades a waiver claims? Free agency?  How did they acquire their best players?

And most importantly, what lessons can the Pirates learn from their success that will translate to what they are trying to do?

Marlins

How they were built: 3 homegrown, 17 trades, 8 free agents

WAR leaders: Brian Anderson (1.7, homegrown), Miguel Rojas (1.5, trade), Sixto Sanchez (1.4, trade), Brandon Kintzler (1.3, free agent), Pablo Lopez (1.3, trade)

Would you believe me if I said no team has more free agents on its division series roster than the Marlins? The only team that even matched their eight were the Braves.

That’s mostly because the Marlins are still very much in a rebuild. This team is far from a completed unit, though they have some of the right pieces. Sanchez and Sandy Alcantara are studs who could end up being one of the best 1-2 punches in the league. Their stable of young position players should start getting called up to the majors next year.

Even though their playoff berth was mostly due to the shortened season, this was an undeniably improved club from 2019. Even if they don’t make the playoffs or finish .500, it would be encouraging to see the Pirates take a similar step next year.

The lesson: Short-term free agents don’t have to break the bank to make an impact. Cherington experienced this first-hand with the Red Sox in 2013, adding multiple impact veterans for a World Series winning club. This is a young team that could get younger if Cherington trades some players. It’s important to have veteran voices in the clubhouse.

Padres

How they were built: 4 homegrown, 18 trades, 6 free agents

WAR leaders: Manny Machado (2.8, free agent), Fernando Tatis Jr. (2.5, trade), Dinelson Lamet (2.4, homegrown), Trent Grisham (2.2, trade), Zach Davies (1.6, trade)

The Padres have boasted one of the strongest farm systems the last few years, but this team had just four homegrown players on their playoff roster. That number will increase over the next few years, as 18 of their top 20 prospects were drafted or signed internationally with the Padres, per FanGraphs’ rankings.

But right now, this team is a product of general manager AJ Preller’s aggressiveness in the trade market. When he was hired during the 2014 offseason, he immediately dealt most of the top prospects he inherited to try to make the Padres a winning club. When they failed, he did a hard 180 and sold almost everyone of note, bringing in a fresh wave of talent. That included young players they kept, like Tatis and Chris Paddack, but also others they dealt away for major-league players, like Mike Clevinger, Grisham, Davies and Trevor Rosenthal.

And yes, it sure does help to be able to pull the trigger on a couple big name free agents like Machado and Eric Hosmer.

Preller doesn’t like sitting on his hands, and it can be a fault at times, as some good players slipped away from the Padres the last few years, like Yasmani Grandal and Trea Turner. Despite that, the Padres are arguably the National League’s second best club.

The lesson: Make the team your own. Cherington and Derek Shelton’s first roster looked very similar to Huntington and Clint Hurdle’s last. The group finished last both years. This season was an evaluation year. Let’s see what they do with those evaluations in hand.

White Sox

How they were built: 12 homegrown, 10 trades, 5 free agents

WAR leaders: Jose Abreu (2.8, free agent), Tim Anderson (2.2, homegrown), Dallas Keuchel (2.0, free agent), Luis Robert (1.6, homegrown), James McCann (1.2, free agent)

No team featured more homegrown players than the White Sox this postseason. A case can be made they actually had 13 such players since they were Abreu’s first home, but seeing how that original deal expired  last winter and that he was briefly a free agent, I didn’t count him.

There was a time where the White Sox were hesitant to rebuild, opting to keep bringing in value-priced free agents to try to get them over the hump. That changed after the 2016 season, when general manager Rick Hahn traded his three best players over the course of the offseason and July trade deadline: Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Adam Eaton. In exchange, the White Sox got a haul of eight (and potentially more) future major-leaguers, including Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease.

Now instead of using free agency to only fill holes, the White Sox targeted players who complemented the team. Keuchel, Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnacion don’t turn a franchise around, but they make a good team even better.

The White Sox boasted the best record in the American League for a good chunk of this season before slipping a bit at the end. It was an anti-climatic end to a breakout year, but it looks like they’re here to stay.

The lesson: Don’t fear the teardown. Cherington didn’t pull the trigger on any deals during the Aug. 31 deadline -- outside the minor one that sent Jarrod Dyson to the White Sox -- because he didn’t feel he got the right offer. The deadline is just one window to deal players, but it is a passed opportunity, and many of the Pirates’ trade chips are going to be arbitration eligible this winter. The reason why Hahn was able to get a haul for Sale, Eaton and Quintana is because they each had years of team control. The longer Cherington waits, the less leverage he has.

Rays

How they were built: 7 homegrown, 18 trades, 3 free agents

WAR leaders: Brandon Lowe (2.1, homegrown), Kevin Kiermaier (1.6, homegrown), Willy Adames (1.6, trade), Mike Brosseau (1.3, homegrown), Ryan Yarbrough (1.2, trade)

Check out those WAR leaders. Blake Snell isn’t listed. Meadows isn’t listed. Glasnow isn’t listed. Instead, it’s three homegrown guys and two players the Rays traded for while they were still in the minors. That’s how deep this team is.

The Rays have built, top to bottom, the best organization in the game. They finished with the best record in the American League. They have the top ranked farm system. They have the unanimous top prospect in Wander Franco. And they just punched their bully in the mouth to advance one round away from the World Series.

The Chris Archer heist is obviously their best move, but a lot of this team was assembled in an efficient, unflashy way. They had solid drafts. They found talent in the international markets. When making trades, they would demand that one extra fringe guy. The scouting and analytic departments found undervalued players.

The Rays are the perfect model for how small market teams can be successful.

The lesson: It can be done. A high payroll obviously increases the margin of error, but small market and low payroll teams can still be power players. Maybe that’s more of a reminder or reaffirmation than a new lesson, but money isn’t everything. The three pitchers the Yankees used Friday will make a combined $411 million over the life of their contracts. The Rays out-pitched them with four guys that made a combined $1.4 million in 2020.

Development. Identification. Acquisition. Application. The Rays do all four terrifically. If the Pirates can do the same, they’ll get back to the playoffs again too.