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Pirates' longtime failure can be explained by their new prospect's shocking revelation
It's not just a lack of spending or money that keeps the Pittsburgh Pirates at the bottom of the Major League Baseball standings every year. It's also the fact that they are poorly run. Especially when it comes to player development throughout their own farm system. One of their newest prospects, catcher Rafael Flores, who was just acquired before the trade deadline in the David Bednar trade with the New York Yankees, unintentionally gave an example as to one of the flaws with the Pirates. As Flores explained to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week, the Yankees' minor league focus is almost entirely on individual player development, while the Pirates — in his early view — seem more focused on team success at the minor league level. He also explained that the Yankees give their catchers every piece of information and data that they possibly can, while the Pirates only give their catchers the information that they specifically ask for. Those are two very eye-opening comparisons, and the first one is by far the most problematic and shows a very serious flaw with the Pirates' approach. The major league team should never, under any circumstances, care about the team success of a minor league team. Those teams do not exist to win games or win championships. They exist as an avenue to teach players how to play professional baseball, develop their skills and get them ready to be contributors for the major league team. Everything else is secondary. Now, Flores has only been in the Pirates system for two weeks. It is possible his initial perception is not the entire reality. But it's still an eye-opening comparison for a player to make when coming over from a completely different — and far more successful — organization. It would also track with a lot of the recent Pirates issues in developing players. They have been awful at developing position players, especially under general manager Ben Cherington, and tend to be slow to promote players through the system. (Paul Skenes was a rare exception to both issues.) It would also make sense that they want their minor league teams to do well. It makes it easy to sell hope to a frustrated fan base. If the major league team is not winning, it is easy for the Pirates to point out the success of their farm teams and say, "see, they are doing well ... there is help on the way" even if it is entirely misleading. The Pirates do have two of the best prospects in baseball in infielder Konnor Griffin and starting pitcher Bubba Chandler, but neither is currently in the major leagues. It remains to be seen if they will develop them into top-tier major leaguers. Recent history suggests the odds are not in their favor. Especially if the team is more concerned about its minor league teams winning games over individual players developing.
Big Brawl Ignited By Unexpected Steelers Player As Things Got Heated With Buccaneers
The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a joint practice at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday ahead of the two team's second preseason game on Saturday. The game this weekend won't feature a ton of starters from either side, so the scrimmage was the best opportunity to see what the matchup looked like with both team's starters on the field. Unfortunately, local media was not allowed to report much from the practice session, but it did come out that Pittsburgh struggled on defense, and a little brawl broke out between the two sides at one point. Practices ahead of the season always get heated, and while the Steelers were in Latrobe, the team had its fair share of inter-squad brawls. However, things especially get chippy during joint practices. This has been seen around the NFL going on every week, and most of them have some fireworks. That was the case on Thursday for Pittsburgh, as punter Cam Johnston picked a fight with Tampa Bay during a special teams period. A lot of the special teamers for Pittsburgh got in on the action during practice, as Johnston, Christian Kuntz, and Corliss Waitman all got involved in the brawl. It has been said that Johnston was not happy with how close a defender was to hitting his plant leg on a punt, which is not something you want to see, let alone during a practice period. It is definitely understandable why Johnston would have the reaction that he did during practice on Thursday. It is the same exact scenario that ended his 2024 season during the first game of the year. A blocker was rushed back into him while he was punting, and he suffered major damage to his knee that he has spent the last year rehabbing. He does not want an instance like that happening again, especially not during practice. Johnston finds himself in the middle of a position battle with Waitman, who happens to be the player that was able to pull him out of the fight during practice. Both punters will likely have starting jobs somewhere during the 2025 season, with Johnston being the favorite to stay in Pittsburgh. Waitman filled in nicely in 2024, and he has made a name for himself within punting circles in the league. The organization might look to trade one of the punters, which would probably end up being Waitman due to his lower salary. Steelers Seemed To Struggle In Joint Practice With Buccaneers As mentioned, reporting during practice was not allowed on Thursday, but it seems like Pittsburgh struggled when going up against Tampa Bay, especially in the two-minute drill. The defense had issues dealing with the talented wide receiver room of the Buccaneers, and the offense struggled to get anything going outside of a dominant seven shots period. Things are going to need to improve mightily before the regular season begins at the start of September, because after just one joint practice, this team seems like it might be more of the same of what has been seen in years past. Pittsburgh went all-in on winning during the 2025 offseason as it made significant upgrades on both sides of the football. Those upgrades don't seem to be paying off quite yet, but there is still a ton of time for that to change as the organization prepares for its second preseason game of 2025.
Demidov and Evans Shine in LSHL Action
On Tuesday night, a couple of Montreal Canadiens players played in Zach Fucale’s LSHL 3-on-3 summer pickup league. Both Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans stood out in the 2nd game of the league’s Semifinals for the team represented by Accent Assurances. This was the 2nd time both Demidov and Evans played in the summer league, and it was a chance for them to show off the chemistry the two players have. The two Habs forwards were connecting, including Demidov receiving a pass from Evans and using a no-look behind the back pass to find a wide-open Joshua Roy, who just buried it a one-timer into the net. In the end, both forwards scored goals each as linemates for most of the game in their team’s 11-10 shootout loss against Be Healthy Love Berry. They also had some beautiful assists as a result of connecting. Evans wasn’t mentioned among the players I originally thought could be the team’s 2nd line centre mainly because he’s the perfect shutdown role centre right now, but if he can click with Demidov the way he did on Tuesday night, he may be worth a look for the team’s 2C temporarily. The way he was able to read the game and help make things easier for Demidov made it seem like they could work well together. These two know how to find each other so flawlessly, despite it being the first game that these two played together. One other reason why Evans would work with Demidov and likely Patrik Laine if the Canadiens were to try it is that it gives the line a good faceoff man. The truth is, Alex Newhook held the 2nd line back due to his inability to win a draw, causing the Habs to often be held in their zone chasing the puck. Despite needing to wait on someone like Michael Hage to grow into the hole, the Habs are also in a place where they need a competent faceoff guy to play on the 2nd line if they plan on taking yet another step this upcoming season. The third linemate with them was Habs prospect Joshua Roy, who benefited by playing with those two guys but also had a good game in his own right. Habs Defenseman Alex Carrier also benefited from playing with the Habs forward duo as Demidov bounced a beautiful pass off the boards to spring Carrier in for a breakaway goal. It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens use Demidov’s and Evans’ 3×3 chemistry to potentially see if they work on a line with either a Zachary Bolduc or Patrik Laine (who Demidov seems to have already built chemistry with). Unfortunately, we won’t be able to see either player in the LSHL Finals as they narrowly lost in the shootout, but they could potentially still come out to play for the 3rd place consolation game, which will likely be the first game of the final doubleheader in the LSHL’s summer league season. The Habs ‘ round pick from this year’s past draft, Arseny Radkov, was in the net for the Be Healthy Love Berry team. He didn’t rob his potential future teammates throughout, but he did the job to get his team the win and helped them clinch a spot in the LSHL Finals next week against Renobrio, who smoked Habs forward Joe Veleno and the Man Made Team 14-3 in Tuesday’s first game of the night. Veleno and team struggled to score on Buffalo Sabres goaltender Devon Levi, who was the MVP of the week in the LSHL, robbing Man Made players left and right. Veleno did try to play a more defensive game, which sadly didn’t help his team overcome their powerful opponents. Now, next week’s final likely won’t feature any big Habs players on either Renobrio or Be Healthy Love Berry team, but Habs fans may have prospect Arseny Radkov in terms of players within the organization to cheer on. Radkov will also likely be playing with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL this upcoming season, so we should be able to watch the Belarusian goaltender closely in our backyard.
Three NFL teams facing Super Bowl-or-bust expectations in 2025
Saying a team is facing championship-or-bust expectations is a dangerous game. The odds are always stacked against any one team, no matter how talented they are, and every season ends with one team hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. However, that doesn't stop fans from placing those expectations on their respective teams each year, particularly those with a track record of recent consistent success. Let's take a closer look at three teams that stand out as having that championship-or-bust mentality. Buffalo Bills The Bills are near the top of the Super Bowl-or-bust list. They have been one of the NFL's best teams for the last six years, with quarterback Josh Allen leading the way and a strong defense. Still, Buffalo hasn't been able to break through and reach its first Super Bowl since 1993. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have repeatedly stood in their way. The Bills are searching for their first-ever Super Bowl title. Allen's tenure has seen the second-best stretch of success in franchise history, and if any group is going to get it done, it should be this one. The pressure isn't just on Buffalo as a team; it's also on Allen. Fair or not, quarterbacks are generally measured by rings — Allen needs his. Baltimore Ravens The Ravens are in a nearly identical situation to the Bills. Consistent contender, top-tier quarterback, strong defense and always sky-high expectations, but the Ravens have had even less playoff success in recent years than the Bills have. Baltimore has reached just one conference championship game during Lamar Jackson's career, having won just three total playoff games over the past seven seasons. Their playoff track record does not match the talent level or regular-season success the Ravens have had. Like Allen, Jackson must reach a Super Bowl to fortify his legacy in the NFL, and it's hard to imagine the roster surrounding him getting better than it is now. Detroit Lions The pressure on the Lions isn't quite the same as the Bills or Ravens, mainly because they are a relatively new contender in the NFL. They have made the playoffs two years in a row with their current core and haven't consistently fallen short in the playoffs the way Buffalo and Baltimore have. That doesn't mean expectations shouldn't be high. Not only are the Lions one of the NFL's darlings right now, given head coach Dan Campbell's personality, the creativity of the offense and talent on the roster, but they have been knocking on the door of a championship. They blew a three-score lead in the NFC Championship game two years ago to the San Francisco 49ers. Detroit followed that up by finishing with the NFL's best record in 2024 at 15-2, but did not win a single playoff game, losing 45-31 to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. The Lions, who have yet to appear in a Super Bowl, have never really had to deal with expectations throughout their history — they are now.
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