Pirates Activate Evan Meek, Demote Danny Moskos

by Charlie Wilmoth on May 22, 2011 6:42 PM EDT

BRADENTON FL - FEBRUARY 20: Pitcher Evan Meek #47 of the Pittsburgh Pirates poses for a photo during photo day at Pirate City on February 20 2011 in Bradenton Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

Jenifer Langosch tweets. This makes sense - the Pirates would risk losing Jose Ascanio if they dropped him from the 25-man, and everyone else in the bullpen is either pitching well or has a good chance to. So, by process of elimination, Danny Moskos heads back to Indianapolis. Hopefully Evan Meek is fully healthy - the Bucs' bullpen goes from really good to downright frightening if he is.

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Comments

For those who will criticize this move:

Ascanio clearly has better stuff than Moskos. He has way more upside.

Ascanio has the lowest xFIP on the team this year. Moskos has the highest. Granted, both have had tiny sample sizes, but it’s pretty likely that gap would stay big.

No jinx no jinx no jinx.

by Suffering Buc on May 22, 2011 6:48 PM EDT reply actions

I actually think this is the right move.

I believe a good number of people will think the same.

Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained

by Kosstic518 on May 22, 2011 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions

im not criticizing the move, i just would prefer two lefties in the pen instead of one

by white angus on May 22, 2011 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I would too but agree with this move because...

There is no point in having two lefties in the pen, if you dont trust one of them to work in Loogy situations, and clearly Hurdle doesn’t have that trust in Moskos. No reason to risk losing Ascaino if Hurdle isn’t going to use Moskos anyway.

by goodtymes31 on May 22, 2011 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions

clearly Hurdle doesnt have trust in Moskos???

ummmmm, then he wouldnt have stayed up in Pitt as long as he did. and Moskos did just fine in his first stint.

im not saying that optioning Moskos down was wrong.

by white angus on May 22, 2011 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions

5.88 xFIP

ehhh I know it was a SSSS (Super Small Sample Size) but I don’t think he was that good.

Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained

by Kosstic518 on May 22, 2011 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not saying he shouldn't trust him...

Just that he didn’t. He used him mainly in low leverage situations, and when match ups called for a lefty late in a close game, he went with Beimel. Unless you are going to use him like a lefty specialist, no reason to let the fact he’s left handed keep him up here. For the record, I’d like to see hime get used more, just not sure who I’d keep him over at this point

by goodtymes31 on May 23, 2011 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions

"ummmmm, then he wouldnt have stayed up in Pitt as long as he did."

There was nobody that needed to be moved until Meek was ready to come back.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on May 23, 2011 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah, good point

i just like seeing the ragging on our players, especially on someone who barely got on the field his first time in the bigs.

by white angus on May 23, 2011 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I have no problem with this. Sneaking suspicion that if ascanio can perform well that he’ll be flipped for a player in trade. Then you’ll see moskos around trade deadline.

by lfhlaw on May 22, 2011 6:51 PM EDT reply actions

I suspect the Dunlap report on this

will contain the phrase “read into it what you will”.

by BurgherKing on May 22, 2011 7:02 PM EDT reply actions

The sensible move for the Bucs, nothing special here.

Let’s see what Ascanio can do for at least a few more weeks, if possible.

パトリック

by patthatt on May 22, 2011 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

The problem with Moskos is

He doesn’t throw 98. So there’s really no room for him.

by bosten7 on May 22, 2011 7:37 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

neither does Beimel

but they’re lefties….they are the exception

by insane_sanity on May 23, 2011 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Wilson

Gave up a few earned runs earlier, but the K/BB and GB/FB for today are where you want them.

by Adam Reynolds on May 22, 2011 7:48 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

quite a few hits to

11 in all….still got the W

by BadAndy on May 22, 2011 9:36 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Why would anyone have a problem with this?

by maguro on May 22, 2011 8:04 PM EDT reply actions

THIS IS THE LAST STRAW

Worst management ever!

by ATribeCalledGreg on May 22, 2011 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions

nothing to see here

SALE THE LACK OF CONTROVERSY

by Garrett122 on May 22, 2011 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Ascanio on Schloarship

Shows to many prospects in the system that results dont matter its how fast ur fasball is Ascanio has done nothing to earn staying with the Big League team Moskos has looked good and he also adds another well needed lefty to the pen. Whats a guy like Tony Watson think when he deserves a shot and the bucs pull off something like this Ascanio should be out righted they lose him they lose him he wasnt that great before he got hurt anyways

by dirtydavid4 on May 22, 2011 10:08 PM EDT reply actions

How many of us

actually considered Moskos a prospect? He’s a relief pitcher and it wasn’t like he was making any sort of impact. As most others have said. No big deal

by PuncSpeedChunk on May 22, 2011 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions

ascanio is a relief pitcher, whats your point?

by white angus on May 22, 2011 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions

That in the grand scheme of things — who givs a fuk!

Apparently two-posts dave does!

Thank you Ned Colletti.

by ryebr3ad on May 22, 2011 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Moskos did absolutely nothing of note in his time up. He was striking out less than 2 per nine innings, walking nearly 6, and throwing a flat 91 mph fastball.

He’s got very, very little value. The only thing going for him is that he throws with his left arm.

No jinx no jinx no jinx.

by Suffering Buc on May 22, 2011 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions

he pitched 4 freaking innings, man. and he didnt pitch badly at all. he walked a few but thats it.

cmon. little value???

by white angus on May 22, 2011 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions

and one of the 3 walks Moskos gave up in 4.2 IP was intentional.

by Thunder on May 22, 2011 10:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes, little value. He doesn’t throw hard, doesn’t have lively stuff, doesn’t project to get strikeouts, and has proven in in the minors that he can’t start.

Where’s the value? He’s a decent relief pitcher, at best. Those are dime-a-dozen, especially for a Neal Huntington team.

No jinx no jinx no jinx.

by Suffering Buc on May 22, 2011 10:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Jesus..

Kid just got done with his first MLB Stint, I think he did quit well. Would rather have Moskos then Resop right now and trust me in about a month lets relive Ascanio. The attitude towards him will be quit differently, I am sure.

by psunate77 on May 23, 2011 8:02 AM EDT up reply actions

Moskos…four decent innings, HE’S SWEET MAN.
Resop…four bad innings, SUCKS!

Thank you Ned Colletti.

by ryebr3ad on May 23, 2011 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Sorry for the lateness of my response.

But the point I’m making is that Moskos has never had intriguing peripherals and doesn’t have nearly the stuff Ascanio does. A shiny ERA through a few appearances is nice, but I still see very little in him other than his handedness.

No jinx no jinx no jinx.

by Suffering Buc on May 23, 2011 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions

He actually does has decent stuff, hard to judge from a few outings

He probably didn’t let it rip…I think he was consistently 92-94 in the minors?

by BigB2323 on May 23, 2011 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions

let me see whom on the 25 man throws the same heat as moskos, or slower...

Karstens, maholm, beimel, d-cutch, correia… you can also argue ohlendorf.

actually, d-cutch was hitting 95 in his last appearance which shocked the bejeezus outta me. gun must be on the fritz.

moskos will be back. i wasnt against him being sent down, i was just defending his performance. he did his job; made LH batters get easy outs.

by white angus on May 23, 2011 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that’s more or less what he was brought up to do. Be a LH specialist not used in late inning situations to keep the pressure off of him. I think he did ok for his first stint in the bigs. Without a doubt we will see him again by the end of the season.

by StripesForLife on May 23, 2011 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Um, every kid playing baseball knows that if you pitch in the high 90's, you're going to get a few more shots than if you don't.

That’s not exactly something new. If pitching prospects don’t already know that, they really should get out of baseball. David, you may want to reference Pittsburgh Pirates, 2010 2nd round draft pick if you’d like to see what throwing hard will get you. Does Allie even get picked (a kid who just started pitching late in his career, thus far) if he doesn’t clock near 100 MPH??

That being said the Pirates would be outright stupid to have outrighted Ascanio and risk losing him. It would show the many prospects that the Pirates have in the system, that this is a dumb organization, that risks losing players when they didn’t need to.

Before you get too upset about it, dirtydavid, let’s not forget that Moskos was only up with the Pirates because Meek went onto the DL in the first place. I’m sure Moskos (and all of the other prospects) knew he would only be up until Meek came back (unless their was another injury to the bullpen.)

by impliedi on May 22, 2011 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions

my point is

dirtydavid is upset by this move. Moskos hasn’t been pitching much and would it be better for him to be on the MLB roster doing nothing or getting more work at AAA? Ascanio could turn out to be a viable reliever down the road but if we outright him, we may lose him. Moskos, on the other hand, is under team control and has options. May as well send Moskos down and keep Ascanio on the roster so down the road we have both.

by PuncSpeedChunk on May 22, 2011 10:24 PM EDT reply actions

oh, i agree about the move.

just like having 2 lefties down there in the pen. people can say whatever they want about Moskos, but he does give lefty batters fits.

by white angus on May 22, 2011 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m not sure that I see the large upside with Ascanio, but we aren’t losing control of a player. I’m sure we’ll see Moskos back on the roster at some point this season, likely to stay.

by Thunder on May 22, 2011 10:51 PM EDT reply actions

mostly upset that ascaino has done nothing to desrve staying

ascaino has pitched in 39 games lifetime with a 4.98 era opp. batting avg of .287 prospects need to earn having a big league uniform and not having it handed to him cause he throws fast

by dirtydavid4 on May 22, 2011 11:00 PM EDT reply actions

Welcome to the world of baseball.....

Yep, throwing hard will get you extra chances. It’s only been that way for the last 50 years. I sure hope this doesn’t upset all of the soft-throwing prospects to find this information out.

by impliedi on May 22, 2011 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions

...

Ascanio wont last its just a matter of time before the bum is on someones triple A team just hope it doent take him costing the bucs a few wins before he is out righted

by dirtydavid4 on May 22, 2011 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions

cut Ascanio a break too

damn, the dude is trying to come back from major arm surgery, and he still throws hard…let him work it out too

by BigB2323 on May 23, 2011 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Bottom Line

The pen turnover is going to be very high at this deadline and the next, I wouldn’t be worried everybody is going to get their shot eventually.

Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained

by Kosstic518 on May 22, 2011 11:02 PM EDT reply actions

FYI

I caught a nasty virus by using that ilemi.eu yesterday.

by Danatural08 on May 22, 2011 11:28 PM EDT reply actions

I've had the same problem in the past.

by BarryJT on May 22, 2011 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

it came on as some 2011 antivirus.

by Danatural08 on May 22, 2011 11:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Never had a problem with it.

Just don’t click any links other than the game links.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on May 23, 2011 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions

well this is exciting, a 2010 Evan Meek means games just got 1INN shorter. This is crazy good news for the Buccos, has to be a top 5 bullpen right now.

We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!

by C Shint on May 23, 2011 9:05 AM EDT reply actions

But what does a 2011 Evan Meek mean?

TravBlog

And on Twitter

by TravisDW on May 23, 2011 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

since im excited about our bullpen

according to baseball reference numbers: WARs of the bullpen

Hanrahan: 0.9
Veras: 0.4
McCutchen: 0.5
Beimel: 0.0
Meek: -0.4
Resop: 0.1
Ascanio: 0.0
Moskos: 0.1
Crotta: -0.5

If Meek edges towards the ride side of 0.0 then we have ourselves one hell of a pen, to no surprise. Interesting is the WAR of DCutch, he’s becoming pretty valuable

We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!

by C Shint on May 23, 2011 10:08 AM EDT reply actions

its the hair, man

mccutchen is Sampson of the bullpen.

by white angus on May 23, 2011 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Moskos

I am actually really proud of the man. Hes dealt with a ton of adversity since being drafted. It isnt his fault that he was picked WAY earlier than he should have been. Personally I think it was a huge victory just getting to the big leagues. Two years ago I didnt think he would ever do so. He has found his niche I think as a lefty specialist and we will see him again in the very near future. This is a good move for now. Ascanio deserves a look, but I think Moskos deserves more credit than he has been given. He is a total feel-good story and actually came up and pitched half decent. Im a huge fan of Moskos and really am rooting for him to succeed.

twitter.com/iandavidjackson

by omar moreno on May 24, 2011 1:55 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs