Hello, yinz crazies. Welcome to Jason Mackey’s bi-weekly mailbag, where the Post-Gazette columnist alternates between this and a chat on Thursdays. If you have a question or comment, drop him a line at jmackey@post-gazette.com. A few bricks shy of a full question load this week, but let’s get started anyway …
Grumpycraig23 (@grumpycraig23): Not to pile on the Pirates, but part of PNC Park’s charm was the limestone bricks behind home plate. Those are mostly gone now as well, replaced by more ads.
Jason Mackey: I should start by congratulating you, Craig. You’re not grumpy. You might be the one person in our city who’s worried about piling on the Pirates.
Serious, though, I get what you’re asking. It’s a good opportunity to talk about bricks of all shapes and sizes.
I don’t disagree with your assessment. It’s also not uncommon throughout all professional sports to have advertising overtake value spaces (Craig, Clemente Wall; Clemente Wall, Craig).
The Bucco Brick debacle, however, hits different. It’s awful. I feel so bad for those affected.
My family never bought a brick. However, baseball was what my dad (who passed away in 2018) and I shared more than anything. Had we purchased a brick, you better believe I would have touched that thing every single trip to PNC Park. It must be heartbreaking for people who can no longer do that.
The missteps here were also easily preventable.
For example:
• It’s a sidewalk in Pittsburgh. Everyone understands they require maintenance over time. How do you not communicate that with brick purchasers ahead of time, assuring them their bricks will return as soon as possible? Also, and related: Don’t allow them to get photographed at a garbage dump. Kind of a big one there.
• Also, if there are genuine delays, for whatever reason, communicate those as well. Most people will understand if you’re honest and straightforward with them … and it doesn’t look like you’re essentially dumping baseball gravestones in Reserve Township.
• Can’t communicate with those who purchased bricks? OK, no problem. Work with local media — writers, radio and TV — and ask for their help communicating it to fans. Tweet it yourself. Put it on your website. Tell the town crier, I don’t know.
We need to do some maintenance work on the sidewalks outside of PNC Park. There could be a delay in the bricks returning to PNC Park. Depending on the seriousness of the repairs, we might also have to repurpose them into a vertical display. If you’d like your bricks, please contact us here and by this date.
Not that hard, right?
Instead, the Pirates ventured to a place much worse than removing a Clemente logo, covering the home-plate area with advertising — again, not a huge deal, in my opinion — or the many baseball-related blunders we’ve seen over the years.
They took scissors to the emotional, heartfelt ties that make baseball awesome, especially around here, the links to former generations, the love of the sport that has amazingly kept the passion burning despite so much losing.
Look, I don’t think anyone over there intentionally sat back and thought, “Gee, how can we tick off as many people as possible.” But the fact that nobody thought first how fans might see this, it’s just a shame.
Think about the past three months for the Pirates. We’ve seen Bucco Bricks, the Clemente ad, the fan surveys and spelling Andrew McCutchen’s name wrong at PiratesFest, not to mention a plane flying overhead urging Bob Nutting to sell the team on opening day, the impossible-to-ignore boos directed at Derek Shelton and so much more.
If ever a team needed an out-of-nowhere hot streak, where the talk became solely focused on the field, it’s now.
Brian Davis (@TeacherLoungin): The Pirates seem to have no emphasis this year on players playing their natural position. To start this year, they did not have a natural center fielder, shortstop or first baseman. And you could kind of argue left fielder. Is that a philosophy of some sort or how the cards played out this offseason?
Jason Mackey: Little of both. It’s also consistent with how this group has operated … and, no, I don’t like it, though I do understand some of what we’ve seen this season.
What I mean …
Shelton repeats often how much they value versatility. It’s a running joke between the Pirates manager and writers. Why, you ask?
It does help with roster- and lineup-construction, especially given the financial constraints under which general manager Ben Cherington and Shelton must operate. However, they’ve gone off the deep end with this stuff.
The lineup doesn’t always have to change. One position, if you play it well, is OK. You can also just go out and sign a guy and let him do his thing — assuming he wants to play here.
Maybe that meant a first baseman this past offseason. It’s also an argument for spending differently than the Pirates have under Cherington.
They have essentially prioritized quantity over quality. Instead of one bigger signing, they’ve skewed toward several smaller ones that most of the time haven’t worked out.
A few more points, quickly:
• I don’t have an issue with Cruz playing center. A team like the Pirates needs a better defensive shortstop, and Cruz doesn’t fit that bill. The issue involves his lack of progress in center. We also need to remember that he’s played fewer than 300 MLB innings in the outfield.
• I do like Kiner-Falefa as a utility guy. The problem is that Jared Triolo does that job for a lot cheaper. It’s why I was a little surprised they didn’t try to trade Kiner-Falefa this winter and fill the shortstop void with an actual shortstop.
• I also don’t mind Spencer Horwitz as a platoon option — and maybe a part-time second baseman. There’s some intrigue to what he’s done offensively. My problem remains what the Pirates gave up to get him (Luis Ortiz and two top-20 pitching prospects) and not adding another legitimate MLB bat somewhere this winter.
Josh (@Jayesskayeye): There are talks that Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty’s successful debuts have made Rickard Rakell more likely to be moved this offseason. What do you see the Penguins’ top-six looking like next year? Can Mike Sullivan commit a majority of the season to the young guys playing big minutes?
Jason Mackey: Thank you for the hockey question, Josh. Glad for a break.
I don’t know where you heard or saw that, but I vehemently disagree. Now, I’ve liked what I’ve seen from those guys. I also hope McGroarty’s lower-body injury isn’t too serious after what happened on Tuesday. (He blocked a shot with his left skate/foot, hobbled off and was spotted in a walking boot postgame.)
McGroarty been good on the forecheck, has a knack for finding open ice and brings skilled physicality the Penguins have missed in their top-six. Koivunen is a gifted skater and playmaker. Some of his setups have been very impressive, his vision evident. There’s more goal-scoring in there.
So, your question …
I’m glad Dubas kept Rakell at the deadline, and I think they should do the same this summer. He’s the exact type of player they should want: production on a cheap contract, with term left. He has filled the Jake Guentzel void. Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust have been one of the best lines in hockey.
That said, McGroarty and Koivunen look like top-nine options to me, maybe top-six. I’d also like to see them sign another physical wing this offseason, while Tommy Novak intrigues me as a third-line center with some offensive punch. His injury has been a bummer.
I guess I’m not answering your question as it pertains to an exact top-six — Sullivan wouldn’t be able to answer this either — but I certainly see those guys, along with Rakell, playing meaningful roles.
I also think Sullivan will play young guys … if they earn his trust. McGroarty and Koivunen have done a better job of this than any young forwards I can think of since 2015.
Adam Siegel (@house068): Any chance the Steelers pick up Mike Hilton or a veteran receiver like Keenan Allen?
Jason Mackey: I don't see either happening, unfortunately. If I had to pick one as a possibility, it would probably be Allen.
As much as I like Hilton, it would create an odd situation in the slot. In other words, what happens to Brandin Echols and/or Beanie Bishop? Again, it's nothing against Hilton. Solid player. But I think they already addressed what Hilton does best.
Allen ... again, same deal. Everything I've seen points to him returning to the Chargers. I'm not sure why he’d eschew that opportunity to perhaps be limited on targets, in an offense where he likely doesn't know who's going to be throwing him the ball.
LEW38 (@LEW3838): Why do the Pirates hate Matt Gorski? I’m not sure why he isn’t with the big league club getting time at first base and in the outfield.
Jason Mackey: The Matt Gorski Phenomenon is a fascinating one with the Pirates.
On one hand, fans see a guy who mashed this spring. So far, with Triple-A Indianapolis, he's hitting .310 with a .892 OPS. He’s been good. Wanting to see him promoted is fair.
It has been somewhat weird to see the Pirates refuse to give Gorski weightier assignments. However, whenever that has happened over the past few years, it typically has not resulted in the same level of production.
I think they're waiting to see if this recent stretch is real, then react accordingly. The problem, on the first base side of things, is that Horwitz might be back by then.
In the outfield, I understood why the Pirates started the season with Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Tommy Pham, Jack Suwinski and Ji Hwan Bae. (Even if you dislike Pham, he's on an MLB deal. They're gonna put him on the opening day roster.)
Things have obviously changed. If Gorski keeps hitting, he deserves a chance.
First Published: April 10, 2025, 2:35 p.m.
Updated: April 11, 2025, 2:00 a.m.
