Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Jacob Stallings when the Pirates selected Henry Davis first overall in Major League Baseball's draft this past summer.
The club saw a lot of the same leadership and pitcher management skills that made Stallings so valuable. And while Stallings was on pace to win his first Gold Glove at the time, Davis was considered the top college bat in the draft. The catcher job was set to be Davis’ in the future.
But that seemed years away, and that Stallings would stay with in Pittsburgh until then. That changed this week when Stallings was traded to the Marlins for a trio of players.
The Pirates signed another Gold Glove catcher, Roberto Pérez, to take Stallings’ spot. With that move, Ben Cherington said the Pirates feel they maintain the strength of the catcher position while adding more young players to the system. It’s a mindset that has built one of the strongest farm systems in baseball, but also dismantled the major league roster.
Even if the Stallings trade came together quickly, there was plenty of precedent something like this could happen. Davis was one day going to take that catcher job, but the idea that the two could have existed in the same system, even for another year or two, seemed logical.
“I always was thinking that I would be there and playing those scenarios out in my head,” Stallings said over Zoom after the trade. “Like maybe they’ll keep me around and want me to back up Henry when he’s ready. Just those thoughts instead of getting traded. I just tried to be where my feet are.”
It might not have been so far-fetched, at least from the two player’s point of view. Before Davis officially signed his contract with the Pirates in July, he was invited to spend a day with the major league team. Unsurprisingly, his locker was set up right beside that of Stallings.
“It was so cool because there was the walk-off grand slam the night before,” Davis told me at the Get Better at Baseball camp in Bradenton, Fla., recently. “When he walked in, everyone started clapping. Pretty cool to be there, talk to him a little bit.”
It could have been a sample of what was to come: Davis’ bat with Stallings’ elite glove. It wouldn’t have been practical in the long-term, if for no other reason than playing time, but it was clear the Pirates were hoping Stallings would leave an impression on their new backstop.
The two didn’t talk much after Davis’ trip for the signing, though Stallings told me he would be happy to talk craft if Davis reached out. Even if it didn’t happen as conversations when they were both Pirates, Davis is going to benefit from Stallings’ defensive work regardless.
That includes work with weighted balls and other catching drills that Stallings came up with to help make himself into a better defensive catcher.
“Anything that challenges you, challenges your body and how you move is going to help you become a better baseball player,” Davis said. “Whatever we do, I’m all in on it.”
Davis will probably never win a Gold Glove like Stallings, but he could one day emerge as the same sort of clubhouse leader Stallings became. For example, the Pirates gave him a simple goal of improving as a catcher. One way he’s doing that is learning Spanish, a decision he made so he could communicate better with his Latin teammates.
Cherington would not have made this trade if he didn’t feel comfortable about the catching depth in the organization. They’re a different type of player, but Davis and Stallings share plenty of similarities.
MORE PIRATES
• Speaking of the Stallings trade, I got a report on outfielder Connor Scott, one of the players the Pirates received, saying his bat speed might not be able to consistently hit high-velocity pitches. That obviously could be problematic as he reaches the upper-levels of the farm system, as he is projected to do in 2022. The Pirates are hoping that he started to figure some things out about his swing in high Class A this year, and he is definitely a plus fielder and runner. It’s going to come down if he can hit enough. I had an analyst describe him as a fourth outfielder. -- Stumpf
• Well, we might as well settle in for a while when it comes to the lockout. Teams cannot communicate with players on the 40-man roster during this time, so for anyone rehabbing from injury, such as Blake Cederlind, they’re going to have to do it away from team facilities. For non-rehabbing players, coaches could potentially check in once every couple weeks in a normal offseason, and while that may not seem like much at first, it’s only going to be a hindrance, especially for new coaches, such as Andy Haines, who are trying to build relationships with players. -- Stumpf
STEELERS
• Mike Tomlin is one of the few -- to my knowledge -- coaches in the NFL who actually puts out his own depth chart each week. Most simply have one of the PR people handle that duty. But Tomlin does it with the idea that he can send messages through how that depth chart is aligned. I mention this because this week, Henry Mondeaux was moved to the top of the depth chart at nose tackle, ahead of Isaiah Buggs. This came after Buggs was inactive last Sunday against the Bengals and Cam Heyward wound up getting snaps at the nose. Nose tackles are a bit of an enigma in today's NFL. If you've got a really good one, the opposing team can scheme things up so that he's rarely on the field. If you don't have a capable one, they can run on you all day. The Steelers are falling into the latter. Buggs has been so disappointing on the nose, the Steelers signed defensive tackle Montravius Adams off the practice squad of the Saints and immediately began getting him snaps at nose tackle this week. They're searching there, as they have been all season since Tyson Alualu went down with a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
• All 32 NFL teams recently received a list of 11 vetted head coaching candidates and 20 general manager candidates who are minorities and deserving of consideration for 2022 openings at those positions. We bring this up because Steelers GM Kevin Colbert is working on a year-to-year contract that runs through the 2022 NFL Draft. There is a growing belief in league circles that Colbert, who turns 65 in January, could definitely retire after his current contract is up. Two of the names on the list of 20 minority GM candidates have strong Steelers ties. One is current Steelers Vice President of Football & Business Administration Omar Khan. Another is former Steelers front office executive Samir Suleiman, now the Director of Player Negotiations and Salary Cap Manager for the Panthers. Khan has been with the Steelers since 2001, rising up through the ranks. Suleiman was with the team from 2013 through 2020 before David Tepper lured him away with a promotion to Carolina. Could one of those two be on the short-list to replace Colbert, along with current Director of Pro Scouting Brandon Hunt, another minority candidate who was not named on the league's list of vetted candidates? Certainly, though Khan seems a stretch to fill the duties of Colbert, who still does a lot scouting. Remember, the Steelers went outside the organization to hire Colbert in 2000. -- Lolley
• One player to keep an eye on the rest of this season is cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. The Steelers acquired Witherspoon from the Seahawks in a trade at the end of training camp for a 2022 fifth-round draft pick. But other than playing four snaps in a Week 2 loss to the Raiders, Witherspoon hadn't been active all season -- until Joe Haden missed the Steelers' game two weeks ago against the Chargers. Witherspoon played 20 snaps in that game, then played 15 last week against the Bengals, replacing James Pierre late in the game. Over the past two weeks, he's made three tackles and has a pass defensed. Still just 26, Witherspoon has appeared in 50 career games, starting 33, with four interceptions and 25 pass defenses. He's only signed for this season -- having joined the Seahawks on a one-year, $4-million deal, but if the Steelers like what they see the rest of this season -- and they have thus far -- he could be in the mix to be a starter and be re-signed in the offseason. Witherspoon wasn't active earlier this season because Pierre was the No. 3 corner and both he and Justin Layne are better special teams players -- or at least more trusted special teams players. The Steelers believe Witherspoon can be part of their future. -- Lolley
PENGUINS
• Mike Sullivan's selection to coach Team USA at the Beijing Olympics should remove any doubt about how he's viewed inside the industry -- not that there should have been much after he led the Penguins to Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. But it's worth noting that assistant coaches Todd Reirden and Mike Vellucci seem to be pretty well-regarded around the league, too. Consider this blunt, not-for-attribution observation from someone who fills a personnel capacity with another club: "Look at all the injuries they've had. I would say that coaching staff has gotten more out of their players than most. Look at what Todd Reirden has done with (Mike) Matheson. Matheson couldn't even play in the league, and Todd kind of revitalized him. You've seen Pittsburgh's lineup some nights. It isn't pretty." While that assessment of Matheson toward the end of his time in Florida might have been a bit hyperbolic, there's no question that his game has been dramatically upgraded since he joined the Penguins in 2020. Being able to get the most that their players have to give will be increasingly important for the Penguins as the guys who have made up this club's core for many years -- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang -- move farther from the days when their physical talents were at their peak. -- Dave Molinari in Vancouver, British Columbia
• The Penguins started their four-game Western road trip by facing two quality opponents in Calgary and Edmonton. After having to deal with the Flames and Oilers, getting to spend Saturday night with the Canucks looks like it could provide a welcome respite, and perhaps it will. After all, Vancouver is one of the NHL's bottom-feeders, and the Penguins beat the Canucks, 4-1, little more than a week ago. The catch is that the Penguins have lost several games this season to teams stuck on the dark side of .500., including the Sabres, Senators, Blackhawks and Canadiens. That speaks, on some levels, to the parity that exists in today's NHL -- it's not just a cliche to suggest that any team is capable of beating any other on a given night -- but it also underscores that the Penguins have relinquished some gettable points that they might desperately need in the closing days of the season. One other note of caution about Saturday's game: The Penguins often turn in a lackluster performance in Vancouver. More often than not, however, they have faced the Canucks 24 hours after playing in Edmonton. This time, they have two days between those games. -- Molinari
• Brock McGinn has fit in nicely on a line with Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese, taking much of the sting out of the Penguins losing Brandon Tanev, who had been playing there, to the Kraken in the expansion draft this summer. Seattle, though, surely is pleased that the Penguins were willing to expose him, for Tanev is putting together a career season: He has eight goals and five assists in his first 23 games. That's not bad for a guy who's never put up more than 14 goals or 15 assists. And Tanev isn't even the most productive member of the Kraken who spent last season with the Penguins. Jared McCann, who was traded to Toronto for Filip Hallander and a seventh-round draft choice in 2023 and subsequently made available in the expansion draft by the Maple Leafs, has 10 goals and four assists in 18 games. The Penguins will get a first-hand look at how McCann and Tanev are adapting to their new surroundings Monday, when they face the Kraken for the first time at Climate Pledge Arena. -- Molinari
