PITTSBURGH -- Nearly a month after the Pirates' last game, the Red Sox are World Series champions and the offseason is underway.
Jordy Mercer officially became a free agent on Monday morning. This week, the Pirates must exercise or decline their club options for Josh Harrison and Jungho Kang. Free agents are able to start negotiating with new clubs on Friday.
We answered some early offseason questions a few weeks ago, so let's get to your latest questions in the Pirates Inbox.
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I'm a little worried about not having Edgar Santana next season. How will the back end of the bullpen look without him?
-- Joe D., Pittsburgh
I think you're right to be concerned about Santana missing next year following Tommy John surgery. It's tough for him, obviously, because he really came into his own this year as a good, young reliever; you hate to see him set back like this. It's also tough for the team, because the bullpen looked like a major strength heading into next season.
The back end of the bullpen is still deep, however, with closer Felipe Vazquez alongside right-handers Keone Kela, Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez. The beauty of having those four plus Santana would have been the flexibility it afforded manager Clint Hurdle to rest certain pitchers, deploy them aggressively early in games, avoid using them for multiple innings, etc. Depth can be fleeting at any position, especially one as volatile as relief pitching.
I would anticipate seeing Vazquez in the ninth with Kela -- a big Trade Deadline acquisition that looks even more important now -- as the primary setup man. Crick and Rodriguez have also earned late-inning roles, with Crick probably better suited to face a group of right-handed hitters and Rodriguez more likely to succeed against lefties.
If the rotation can consistently work into the sixth inning, they'll be fine. But the Pirates still need to cobble together a reliable middle-relief corps to avoid some of the issues they had this year. Games too often got away from them when they went to anyone other than those five late-inning relievers.
Is Joey Cora going to continue to be the Pirates' third-base coach?
-- Rob W., Perkasie, Pa.
After dismissing their hitting coaches, the Pirates released a statement that said, "No additional changes to the Major League coaching staff are expected." That wording leaves open the possibility for someone to accept a promotion elsewhere -- like if bench coach Tom Prince had received the Reds' managerial job, which went to David Bell -- but otherwise indicates that the rest of the staff will indeed return.
Cora, Prince, Kimera Bartee, Dave Jauss, Euclides Rojas, Ray Searage and both of their former hitting coaches signed two-year deals after the 2017 season, so they're under contract through next year.
Fans might have been frustrated by some of Cora's decisions at third base. The Pirates' 23 outs at home plate last season were tied for second-most in the Majors, and there were a few memorable instances -- including a 4-3 loss in San Diego on June 30 -- where Cora perhaps mistakenly held a runner at third. But the Pirates seem to be comfortable with his judgment, and they certainly value his experience and knowledge as an infield coach.
It's actually worth wondering if Cora might become a serious managerial candidate in the near future considering the incredible success his brother, Alex, enjoyed as a first-year manager in Boston. Cora has experience as a player, coach, Minor League manager and winter ball manager. And he'd get a pretty strong recommendation from the guy with a shiny new ring ...
"I feel like nobody is more capable than him," Alex told MLB.com's Ian Browne this spring. "If I'm a GM of a big league team, I'd hire him."
With Andrew McCutchen having a very down year, might his value have declined enough for a possible Pittsburgh reunion? It would certainly be popular with fans and possibly increase attendance.
-- Dave I., Prescott, Ariz.
McCutchen still calls Pittsburgh home, actually, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. For one, he didn't decline that much; he's bounced back from a career-worst 2016 season with a couple of solid seasons. He's still a good enough player to land an everyday job somewhere, and he's earned the right to seek that opportunity -- along with a deal that will value him accordingly -- as a free agent.
But Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson were more valuable players than McCutchen this year, and Gregory Polanco was the Pirates' best hitter in a number of categories. Those are their everyday guys. If the Pirates get an outfielder this offseason, it will probably be more of a fourth-outfield type -- someone who can fill in while Polanco recovers, then back up the three starters.