Mark Madden: Pirates have decisions to make, or not make, before next season

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ disintegration since the trade deadline defies belief.

Except I believe it.

Even at their best, this year’s Pirates never truly looked a playoff team. Fringe, no better.

But there was nothing marginal about how they dropped out of the wild-card race, imploding via 10 straight losses. Travesty after travesty.

The Pirates could be doubted as a contender, but there’s no doubting their collapse. This is who they are.

So what happens now?

Nothing of much intrigue, not immediately.

Maybe Paul Skenes gets shut down, maybe not.

There’s speculation Skenes might start sporadically, pitching primarily at home by way of increased revenue via ticket sales. That would be unseemly even by the team’s established standard of greed.

If Skenes’ arm can handle more work, pitch him wherever. If not, shut him down. Run it like a baseball team, not the midway at a carnival.

Next season is when things get interesting.

Skenes basically pitched every sixth day since joining the Pirates. That’s not often enough.

Skenes’ role shouldn’t be to conserve his arm for the long haul. Skenes won’t be here for the long haul. Skenes needs to impact winning as much as possible while he’s with the Pirates.

The Pirates shouldn’t court arm trouble via excessive use. But Skenes should pitch every fifth day, like most big-league starters. That’s non-negotiable next season.

Unless Skenes and his agent attempt to negotiate it. Not contractually. That can’t be done.

But Skenes’ top priority is a monster payday somewhere else. He won’t get one in Pittsburgh.

Will Skenes imagine some sort of minor injury if he feels his arm is at risk, however theoretical? That’s unfair to predict, or even speculate. (But I just did it.)

Elbow problems seem random, anyway. Perhaps inevitable. Tommy John surgery is like a rite of passage for MLB pitchers.

The real fun will be when the Pirates ask Oneil Cruz to switch positions.

He’s not a major-league shortstop. That’s confirmed by his 24 errors, second-most in MLB.

Cruz’s error total doesn’t do his shambolic fielding justice. He is an absolute butcher, bad in every single area of fielding, prone to making easy plays difficult by way of trying to show off his powerful arm.

His low baseball IQ makes things worse. He thinks the game at a T-ball level.

Cruz’s glove has to be hidden.

DH would be ideal. Then Cruz wouldn’t be in the field at all. (But then Andrew McCutchen can’t be brought back. And what do the Pirates ultimately do with Henry Davis?)

There’s talk about Cruz in right field, where his arm would help if he used it properly. Big “if.”

First base suits Cruz’s height, 6-foot-7, but negates his arm.

The Pirates have Bryan De La Cruz to play right field. First base will be wide open after Rowdy Tellez’s contract expires.

But that’s all talk.

It’s very likely that if the Pirates ask Cruz to switch to another position, he will refuse and the Pirates will back down. Cruz surely wants to stay at baseball’s most visible position, seeing himself as a unicorn at that spot. (He is. But a unicorn who can’t field.)

Nobody in the Pirates’ organization is capable of confrontation with a star player. It’s a franchise run in milquetoast fashion.

Cruz was asked to dabble in the outfield once before. He gave minimal effort.

So, that will be fun.

One thing that’s easy to predict is who the Pirates’ next manager will be.

If the Pirates finish with a worse record than last season, Derek Shelton has to get fired. Shelton really should be terminated regardless.

Shelton is amateur hour. He will never manage in MLB again once his tenure with the Pirates concludes.

Mt. Lebanon’s Don Kelly, the Pirates bench coach, will succeed Shelton. Kelly has been lying in wait since taking that job in 2019. He was a fringe big-leaguer, a utilityman, the kind of player who often makes a good manager.

Kelly might confront Cruz if it came to that. Kelly played five seasons (2009-13) under Jim Leyland in Detroit. He’s a Leyland disciple and has a lot of Leyland in him.

I’d be fine with Kelly as manager. He’d do better than Shelton. Kelly eventually would get a chance to manage somewhere, if not Pittsburgh.

Could Kelly make the team better? Maybe, but not a lot better.

The 10-game losing streak gave cause to analyze the Pirates’ collapse, but it’s not rocket science: They have the second-lowest payroll in MLB and, as a result, have about half of a legit big-league team. Developmental failures like Davis and underachievers like Cruz drive more nails into the coffin.

The Pirates added Skenes, who might be MLB’s best pitcher. They are just 10-7 in games he’s started and likely will finish with a worse record than last year despite adding Skenes. Every picture tells a story, don’t it?