John Perrotto

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and best wishes for a great 2018. While 2017 wasn’t the best year for me, I plan to keep writing about baseball. I refuse to believe in the whole “pivot to video” idea or that fans would rather read stories written by people watching games on TV rather than a veteran reporter of over 30 years who goes game to games and talks with people inside the sport. I plan on trying some different things in 2018 as far as how I might deliver content and would like to solicit your ideas. What kinds of stories would you most want to read? Player profiles? Opinion pieces? Game analysis? Team-specific stories? Stories that center more on the entire major leagues, such as the Rumors and Rumblings column I did three times a week for Baseball Prospectus and FanRag? Prospect stories? Something I haven ‘t mentioned here? Also, would you take the time to listen to a podcast? How frequently would you listen to one? What would you like from one? I am t...

General manager Neal Huntington said a little more than a week ago that the Pittsburgh Pirates had yet to decide if they would try to contend in 2018. Well, the Pirates’ course is no longer in question. They are going into rebuilding mode. The Pirates might not completely tear their roster apart and it might not take 20 years to field to have another winning team. However, the organization has made the decision to punt on ’18, which is a pretty wise decision in having the fourth-best team in the National League Central behind the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. In-depth talks with the New York Yankees on a potential trade over the last few days has clearly tipped the Pirates’ hand. Right-hander Gerrit Cole and second baseman Josh Harrison are both on the table in what could turn out to be a blockbuster deal. The Pirates know they have no chance of re-signing Cole when he becomes a free agent following the 2019 season. Like most of the p...

A number of people have been in touch on social media or emailed wanting to know why Bob Nutting was not at Piratefest at PNC Park on Saturday morning/afternoon and but at the Pitt-West Virginia game on Saturday night. As a matter of disclosure, I wasn't at Piratefest and haven 't been there for years. I have no interest in it and, from a professional standpoint, don't find any value in attending. Nevertheless, I contacted Pirates spokesman Brian Warecki to ask about Nutting's whereabouts Saturday and he said the owner was on hand for a portion of Piratefest. This  was his response. "Bob was at Piratefest, along with his wife, for a few hours in the morning. He chatted with our players and mingled with season ticket holders." I also followed up by asking why Nutting did not take part in any of the Ask Pirates Management sessions as he has done in other years. This was his Warecki's response: "Ask Pirates management is exactly that, daily...

If I were on the Hall of Fame Modern Era Committee that meets Sunday in Orlando, these are the three men who would get my vote. Marvin Miller I preface this by saying I was raised in a union household. My father was an active member of the United Steelworkers and knew Miller, who headed the USW before being hired to form the Major League Baseball Players Association. It may not be a popular opinion to hold in today’s world, but it is my firm belief that workers are entitled to certain rights, whether they make millions of dollars or are paid minimum wage. Miller won the ultimate battle for the players when he had the reserve clause struck down, which led to free agency. Free agency has made the game better over the past four decades and Miller deserved to be honored for that, even it cut into the owners’ outrageous profits. Tommy John The left-hander pitched in the major leagues for 26 seasons and six different teams, winning 288 games. That is a remarkable ...

One can’t help but wonder if Jordy Mercer’s run with the Pittsburgh Pirates might end Friday night when the deadline arrives for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players. Mercer figures to have a salary of approximately $6.5 million in 2018 if he goes through the arbitration process for the third and final time. On the surface, that price does not seem unreasonable for a shortstop who hit .255/.326/.406 with 14 home runs in 502 at-bats with 1.4 bWAR. However, it is fair to wonder if the Pirates would be willing to pay that much money to Mercer when they already have 10 players under contract for 2018 for a total of just over $75 million. That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for a team that finished last season with a $102-million payroll and figures to pay around $7.5 million to right-hander Gerrit Cole and $3 million to closer Felipe Rivero in arbitration. Furthermore, it is hard to imagine the penny-pinching Pirates opening next season with a higher...

Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan is undoubtedly one of the top baseball writers in the country and I’m proud to call him a friend. However, I am not going to follow his lead and refuse to vote in the Hall of Fame election. I certainly understand Passan’s reasons for declining to cast a ballot. I believe it was quite heavy handed of Joe Morgan and the Hall of Fame to send a letter to the voters last week urging us not to vote for anyone who has been connected to performance enhancing drugs. As I wrote last week, the toothpaste is already out of the tube on that issue. I have already voted for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens during each of the six years they have been on the ballot. My biggest issue with Morgan and the people in Cooperstown is that their advice is too little, too late. For nearly a decade, the Baseball Writers Association of America asked the Hall for guidance on how to deal with players who had been linked to PEDs and the answer was always “sorry, you’re on your ow...