Can We Finally Quit Complaining About the Nate McCouth Trade

For those that haven't been paying much attention, your once favorite player Nate McLouth was sent down to the minors by the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.  Can we please now quit complaining about the trade?

After being dealt away from Pittsburgh, McLouth just wasn't very good for Atlanta, especially this year where he was hitting .168 on the season.  I've said it before and I will say it again.  Being the best player on a bad team makes you nothing more than that.  It doesn't mean you are great or a superstar.  It doesn't make you anything special by any means, yet most casual fans are still upset over the deal.  There are fifty Nate McLouth type players in the big leagues right now.

Granted, he was the best player on the 2008 Pirates team.  He was an all-star and won a gold glove, but his numbers were nothing more than above average.  He hit .276 that season with 26 homers and 94 RBI's.  Solid numbers, but nothing that would make him untouchable.

As for the trade, in which the Pirates received Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernadez and Jeff Locke, I liked it then and feel it can still work out well for the Pirates.  If Neil Huntington could go back and do it over, I'm sure he wouldn't pass on the deal.  Not to mention that by dealing McLouth opened up a spot for Andrew McCutchen to be promoted.

Yes, Morton has been terrible this season, but he showed at the end of last season that he has the ability to pitch at this level.  Hopefully he can figure things out in the minors and become a solid middle of the rotation guy for the Pirates for a few years.

Hernandez still has a ton of upside.  While it likely won't be with the Pirates, he still has value and can be used a valuable trade chip.

Locke was the biggest return in the trade and it's still to be determined on how that will work out, but he's having an outstanding minor league season.  Between stops in Bradenton and Altoona, the lefty starter is 10-3 with a 3.22 era this season.

The McLouth trade still has a chance to work out pretty well for the Pirates.  Now if everyone can just let it go and realize that the Pirates really didn't give up much.

McCutchen wins Fifth Spot in Rotation

Finally we have seen a job won and lost based on performance with the Buccos.  Daniel McCutchen has been named the teams fifth starter, beating out Kevin Hart for the job.  McCutchen has been impressive all spring, although not against major league hitters all of the time.  The main thing that won him the job has been his ability to throw strikes consistently.

That's exactly what cost Hart the job.  After struggling at the end of last season, going 1-8 as a Pirate, Hart couldn't figure out the strike zone this spring either, with an alarming walk rate.  While many in the organization still consider Hart to have the better stuff of the two, his inabilty to throw strikes led to him being one of eight cuts.

Some have said McCutchen doesn't have great stuff, but I disagree.  His fastball may only top out at around 92, but he has pretty decent command of his two-seamer and breaking stuff and generally keeps the ball down in the zone.

While winning the fifth starter competition is big for McCutchen, it's not that big of a deal for the Pirates right off the bat.  Up until April 24th, the Bucs will only need to use their fifth starter once, on April 11th.

In addition to Hart, the Bucs also cut Chris Jakubauskas and Neil Walker- all three will be sent to AAA.  Brian Myrow, Hector Giminez, Brian Burress, Wil Ledezma and Jean Machi were all assigned to minor league camp.

OTHER NOTES
-Zach Duke was named opening day starter.  No surprise, but I didn't feel he was worthy off it.  I feel Ross Ohlendorf or Paul Maholm would have been a better choice.

-Octavio Dotel has been throwing to batters and should be ready for opening day.

- Not that spring averages mean much, but several pencilled in regulars have not swung the bat well.  All hitting under .200 for the spring are Aki Iwumara (.199), Jeff Clement (.194), Andy Laroche (.194) and Brandon Moss (a whopping .038)

-Former Bucco Nate McLouth is only 1 for 30 on the spring with 15 K's.

-Bucs got shelled by the Astros today 11-1.

The Pittsburgh Pirates All-Decade Team

Here goes a kind of fun topic to debate.  With all of the losing and bad baseball, the last deade here in Pittsburgh has pretty much been forgettable.  However, there have been some good players here in the Burgh, all have since been traded. I wanted to take a look at the All-Decade Team of the Bucs.  I decided this by not only stats, but how many seasons spent here this deacde.  Some of the positions were no brainers, but otheres were a challenge to come up with a decent name.  So here is the All-Decade team, feel free to dispute this.

Catcher- Jason Kendall (2000-04)- This was an easy one to pick.  The Piates all-time leader in games caught was one of the more popular Bucs of the last 10 seasons.  Kendall played five seasons in The Burgh and led MLB in games and innings caught from 2002-04.  He rarely struck out and while having no power at the plate was a solid contact hitter while in Pittsburgh.   Runner up- Ryan Doumit

First Base- Adam Laroche (2007-09)- I know this will be a very unpopular choice among everyone, but he wins the job.  This goes to show how very little talent we have had in the system.  I looked at everybody and as unpopular as he is, Laroches just put up better numbers than the whole list of guys that include: Kevin Young (his best seasons were in the late 90's  he has very lousy numbers this decade), Randall Simon, Craig Wilson, Brad Eldred and so on.  Laroche averaged .270/22/85 during his tenure in Pittsburgh.  Runner-up- Young

Second Base- Freddy Sanchez (2004-09)- After being acquired and starting out at third base for the Bucs, Sanchez found a home a the Pirates everyday second baseman.  This was another easy selection.  Sanchez made two all star appearances and brought home a batting title in 2006 when he hit .344.  Runner up- Jose Castillio

Third base- Aramis Ramirez (2000-03) Oh I'd love to kick Dave Littlefield's ass for just giving away Ramirez, but it is what it is and atleast Rammy wins a job on this team. Aramis had fantastic seasons in 01, hitting .300/34/112 and 03 when he hit .282/27/106.  He also got better as a third baseman every season.  It was fun to watch him grow as a Pirate.  Runner up- Jose Bautista

Shortstop- Jack Wilson (2001-09)- Another no braineer here.  While I was never the biggest Wilson supporter, the guy was an amazing defensive shortstop.  While he never could find consistency with the bat, Jack dazzled with the glove.  The only thing we could count on in the last decade were Pirates lossess and Jack Wilson would be shown on Web Gems almost weekly.- Runner Up-  I don't really have a name for this, but I guess we have to give it to Abraham Nunez who got some time in 2000 and stuck around for a while as Wilson's backup.

Outfield- Brian Giles (2000-03) Giles likely brings home Pirate player of the Decade also.  Homerun toals of 35,37 & 38 in 2000-03, while driving in 123, 95 & 103 in those seasons.  Giles was as consistent as any Bucco up until he got dealt.  His career hasn't been the same since he left (or since testing went into effect), but he was a good ball player while he was here.

Outfield- Jason Bay (2003-08)- Losing Giles brought us Jay Bay, who also put up some fine seasons in the Burgh. Bay became the first Bucco to win the Rookie of the Year in 2004 and hit over 21 HR and 84 RBI in all of his full seasons here.  His best two campaigns were in 2005, .306/32/101 and 2006 .286/35/109, both years he went to the all-star game.

Outfield-Nate McLouth (2005-09)- Wow, was this spot hard to find a deserving guy and I choose McLoth by default, because there really just isn't anyone else.  I actually almost chose McCutchen based on a hal;f of a season.  While I don't feel Nate has done enough to be a member of an all-decade team, his one big season in 2008, .276/26/94, trumps anything the rest of the list has done.  Runner Ups- Xavier Nady, Chris Duffy and Craig Wilson.

Starting Pitcher- Josh Fogg (2002-05) Boy this is sad.  If finding a third outfielder for this team wasn't hard enough,  try looking at the pitching numbers.  My original plan was to list five starters, but to hell with that.  The soft tossing Fogg wins this spot.  I'm telling you I looked at everyone's numbers from Kris Benson to Jason Schmidt to Ian Snell to Ollie Perez, to Zach Duke and unfortunatly Kip Wells.  Fogg's numbers have them beat.  No one has had more than one season of double digit wins except Fogg, who had three.  he was 12-12 in 2002, 10-9 in 03 and 11-10 in 04.  The era was kinda awful but no other pitcher has earned the right.  Runner up- Zach Duke.

Closer- Mike Williams (2000-02)- Difficult choice between Williams and Jose Smoke Mesa, but Williams wins.  Even though he was traded in the middle of his Bucco run and resigned, Williams posted seasons of 24 and 22 saves, but had a monster season in 02 of 46 saves.  There have been others along the way like Mike Fetters, Soloman Torres and Matt  Capps, but the nod goes to Williams.  Runner up- Mesa

My Thoughts on the Neil Huntington Rebuild

Many have asked about my overall opinion of Neil Huntington's rebuild of the Pittsburgh Pirates or for my letter grade of it, so here we go. This may be long so bear with me. First of all we are going to look at this as a 2 year rebuild, not just at the current trades of this season.

First I want to look at the guys that we dealt, since opening day 2008. In no particular order, they were: John Grabow, Jose Bautista, Tom Gorzelanny, Freddy Sanchez, Ian Snell, Jack Wilson, Adam Laroche, Nyjer Morgan, Sean Burnett, Nate Mclouth, Jason Bay, Damaso Marte, Xavier Nady, Soloman Torres and Ronny Paulino. A total of 15 guys that had spent time on the big league club the last two seasons.

For the most part, everyone on this list was under 28 and contributed somewhat at the MLB level. I will argue that we really didn't part with much at all. Aside from Bay, who went into an ideal situation, with a stacked lineup, where he will see a ton of fastballs; what did we give up? Maybe you can argue about Mclouth, but I still view him as a very good player, not a superstar. I would rather have Andrew McCutchen in center field than Mclouth, and that is no knock on Nate.

The rest of the list are just simply average to above average major leaguers. Most were upcoming free agents who weren't going to be here anyway. We really didn't give up anything other than a collection of guys who simply were not getting the job done in Pittsburgh. Most of these guys really had no value here and that includes Sanchez and Wilson. A total rebuild was necessary and that's what Neil Huntington did different than his predecessors. You can't rebuild a franchise like the Pirates by dealing one or two guys. The farm system needed replenished. Aside from Bay, none of the guys will be impact players for their new clubs. We really didn't give up anything of value. I thought Huntington said it best when he said, "It's not like we broke up the '27 Yankees."

Now, I will agree that a rebuild like this, requires taking on some risk. It requires an excellent job from the scouting department all the way up to the GM. This time they can't miss with their decisions. Do we know what we got with all the acquisitions? Not at all, and don't expect all these guys to pan out. Out of the 30 guys brought in since opening day 2008, if 15 prove to be solid major leaguers, then it was a great job by Huntington.

Now realize one thing, when Huntington took over the team, the cupboard was bare. Entirely empty. At the minor league level, there was McCutchen and Neil Walker. That's sad. The Pirates farm system was drained completely, by years of mismanagement. In Huntington's two seasons, he has tried to completely give the farm system a make over. You don't think he's doing it? Take a look a the current list of top 10 prospects. Only Brad Lincoln remains on that list from the Littlefield era. Now after the job Huntington did, Walker isn't viewed as a top 15 prospect. I'd say the makeover of the system is working.

The 30 guys brought in, in no particular order: Robinson Diaz, Jeff Clement, Andy Laroche, Lastings Milledge, Gorkys Hernandez, Jose Tabata, Tim Alderson, Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen, Jeff Locke, Argenis Diaz, Ross Ohlendorf, Delwyn Young, Nathan Adcock, Bryan Morris, Kevin Hart, Mariano Salas, Josh Harrison, Brett Lorin, Aaron Pribanic, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, Kevin Roberts, Jose Ascaino, Hunter Strickland, Ronny Cedeno, Tyler Yates, Charlie Morton, Joel Hanrahan and Jason Jaramillo (I hope I didn't leave anyone out). that list doesn't include finally having a couple of good drafts and even signing a guy like Garrett Jones. On paper, it looks like quite the haul in exchange for a bunch of guys who simply weren't in the plans.

It's entirely about value and how you value a certain player. All I hear is complaining that all we got was minor leaguers. Well, that's the point. The idea is to be able to compete for years to come, not just take a shot at .500 one season. While I see value in what we got in return, it is a hard thing to figure out how these guys will do at the MLB level. Could I be over valuing some of these guys? Sure. However, the Pirates fan base definitely is guilty of over valuing guys like Wilson, Sanchez Gorzo,etc. Like it or not, none of those guys brought anything to the table for the future. Take your blinders off and realize that we really didn't part with much during the last two years. Again, the goal is winning, not taking a run at.500.

Now from here on, everything is based on projections and how these guys do at the minor league level. I expect Clement, Milledge,Hernandez, Tabata and Alderson to be solid major leaguers with upside. That's five more than currently on the roster. Mostly everyone else projects into the next tier of guys that should get to the big leagues, especially the 3 arms acquired from Seattle. If a good portion of these guys succeed, then it was a good rebuild.

Now to the question on why we are just getting good prospects in return and not great ones. To start, I thought we did well with Alderson and Clement this week. First part of the answer is that top tier, home grown guys just aren't available anymore, especially arms. Secondly, we didn't have any talent to trade worthy enough of teams shelling out top prospects. We traded average guys with no upside. Which is why I was shocked the Giants parted with Alderson for Sanchez and that we got a guy like Clement in a deal for Wilson and Snell. I thought the whole process of Huntington worked. In each case he sold low and bought high. No longer did we trade trash for trash. We traded trash for upside and I am fine with it. I do feel it was important to rid itself of the losing culture that spreads throughout that locker room like a cancer.

Therefore, we really only brought in 2 big time prospects, but not by lack of trying. So as far as a letter grade, I give the whole process a solid B. Everyone brought in has some upside and something to offer this team in the future. Just look at the organization from March 2008 until today. We had zero power and now we have a few guys with major league power in the system, We had zero arms and now we have a ton of guys with not only potential, but serious arms strength. We are stacked at a few positions, most notably outfield and corner infielders.

I also feel it's important to create competition throughout the organization. We haven't had that in a long, long time. We have more talent all through the organization now, than at any point in the past. The guys currently on the MLB roster now get a chance to prove they belong. They can secure a job for years, by simply producing. If not, there are now guys behind them to push them for jobs. Healthy competition is always good.

Part two of the rebuild is soon to begin. I still expect Duke and Capps to be shipped out, either in August or in the off-season. Now the goal is to start filling in at the MLB level. Spring training will be fun to watch, as many of these guys will be given opportunities to win jobs. Some of the outfield prospects can now possibly be dealt to sure up other positions. So, Neil Huntington's work is no where near done.

Part 3 of the rebuild is on Bob Nutting and I don't know if that's a good thing. He absolutely has to start spending some money on the product on the field. In the next two seasons, we should be able to add quality on the free agent market (I say quality because I know superstars are out of the question). By 2011, there is no reason, a team like the Brewers, in a smaller market should have double the payroll as the Pirates. Fans got the worst news possible today, when Nutting announced that ownership will not change anytime in the near future.

However, this is it. I bought into the plan and have liked the results so far. The payroll is down to the $25-$30 mil range. It's time to start adding and most importantly, it's time to start winning. No more rebuilds. This is the group that the organization likes, well let's start producing and winning. The goal here is 2011 and 2012.

Breaking Down the Nate Mclouth Trade

On Thursday, the Pirates traded the face of their franchise, Nate McClouth to the Atlanta Braves. In the four days since, I have heard it all. "Same old Pirates," basically is what the public thinks. The casual baseball fan has never heard of Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez or Jeff Locke (the players the Bucs received). The casual baseball fan is very upset at the move, but I'm here to tell you why the move makes sense. Look, the facts are this. The Pirates are at least two years away, if that. No knock on Nate, but if McClouth is your best player then you have too many holes.

First, the timing of the move. While the announcement did come out of no where, it was a trade Neil Hunnington had to make and probably wouldn't have gotten a better offer had he held onto McClouth until the trading deadline. Looking back at trades teams have made over the last ten seasons, most teams tend to hold onto prospects as the deadline approaches. The public will say that we were only four games under .500 at the time. It's not Hunnington's job to get to .500, his job is to put together a team that can eventually compete year in and year out. If it takes two more years of stockpiling young talent, then i say keep sticking to the plan.

Secondly, being the best player on a bad team doesn't make you anything more than that. McClouth is a very good player, but not a full fledged superstar. On the season, he is hitting only .251 with 9 homers and 35 RBI. In addition, McClouth is only a .260 hitter for his career, hardly superstar like. He is a great guy and will be missed in Pittsburgh, but if you give me three young players who can possibly make an impact in Pittsburgh in the next couple seasons, then I have to pull the trigger on the deal. I give Hunnington credit on dealing while McClouth's value is high.

Next, is Andrew McCutchen had to get to Pittsburgh some way. When is the last time the Pirates made a deal, when they replaced the player they gave up with someone with equal or in this case, even more talent. McCutchen will go through some growing pains, but will be very fun to watch. The guy can hit, maybe not for the power of McClouth, but he can get on base and will utilize his speed. Defensively, while McClouth did win a gold glove, he just had sub par range. Between McCutchen and Nyjer Morgan, they will cover a ton of ground. The funny part is that the new outfield of Morgan, McCutchen and Brandon Moss has a combined one home run on the season. It's way to early to give up on Moss by the way, he has been playing very well after a slow start, so as it looks, this outfield should be productive.

It was a tough decision for Hunnington to part ways with McClouth, but good teams take those kind of risks and make them pay off. Fan reaction has been very negative towards Hunnington. I believe legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight once said "If you make decisions based on the fans reaction, pretty soon you will be sitting with the fans."

If Pirate fans have anyone to blame, it's Dave Littlefield. Look at the farm system when Hunnington took over. The cupboard was bare. The top prospects in the system were McCutchen and Neil Walker. That's it. With Hunnington's moves the last two seasons, not only through trades but actually drafting for talent instead of budget, Walker is now the 14th ranked prospect in the organization. The farm system was in dire need of repair and this is the way to do it. Now the list of prospects include: Brad Lincoln, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, Brian Friday, Hernandez, Locke, Morton, etc.. Now will all of them pan out? Not a chance, but if most do the light at the end of the tunnel may be in sight.

The positive thing is that this was truly a baseball trade. It was not finacially motivated. There was no Aramis Rameriz for Bobby Hill deal here. However with the excess cash saved, it would be nice to see the Bucs lock up Dominican shortstop Miguel Angel Sano.

Pirate fans probably are sick of hearing about a 3 year plan or a 5 year plan. So am I, but despite hearing that for the last 16 seasons, that hasn't happened. What the Pirates have had was 15 years of bad management, so I am willing to give Hunnington the benefit of the doubt for now. Tomorrow, if he has a strong draft, Hunnington would have done more for this franchise than anyone in the last 16 seasons. I say stick to the plan and watch it pay off. If that means dealing Sanchez, Adam Laroche and Wilson, so be it.

My only problem is the payroll. If they continue to draft quality youngsters, eventually the payroll will have to increase. Comparing market sizes, there is no reason the Brewers should have an 80 milion dollar payroll when the Pirates struggle to hover around 50 mil. Until the Nutting family decides to get in the 70-80mil range, the only way to build is through trades and the draft. No qualiy player in his right mind would want to come play here. That has to change.

Will this turn out to be a good trade? Time will tell, but I like what Hunnington has been able to do so far.

Potential Lineup Opening day 2011 (baring trades)
c Ryan Doumit
1b Pedro Alvarez
2b Shelby Ford
3b Andy Laroche
ss Brian Friday
LF Gorkys Hernadez
CF Andrew McCutchen
RF Jose Tabata
SP Brad Lincoln, Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Charlie Morton

Bucs Notebook- A Winning April

With April almost winding down, one thing is assured, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have a winning month of April. yeah, I know its early, but it's worth noting because it doesn't happen often. Taking a look at this team, even with three of their best players injured, these guys aren't so bad.

After losing Ryan Doumit and Jack Wilson to the disabled list and Nate McClouth to an injury, all the Pirates did was take 5 of 6 from two first place teams in the Marlins and Padres. I know that's not the same as beating maybe the Phillies, Mets or Dodgers, but this same Bucco team a year ago would have been lucky to split the 6 games.

Now if they could only find out a way to beat the Brewers and Cubs, then we may have something bigger to talk about.

Bucco's Notes
- The starting pitching has been excellent. Maholm, Duke, Snell and Ohlendorf have given quality starts almost every time out. Karstens got roughed up a bit last night, but if he can win 10 games, then the pitching should be fine.

- Other than last night, the bullpen has been even better. The Bucs have the best team ERA in the majors and the bullpen has been good. What I like most is the development of Evan Meek and Jessie Chavez. It has been a really long time since the Bucs have had a couple power arms like these guys in the pen. Once they learn a bit more, the pen could become a strength for the team.

- The Laroche brothers. It's April and Adam is hitting .300 with 5HR and 14 RBI, leading the team in both homers and RBI's. Andy on the other hand has rebounded with an 11 game hit streak after opening the season without a hit for the first two weeks. He is suddenly hitting a respectable .263. The key has been that Russell has kept him in the lineup everyday.

- The catching position suddenly isn't that bad. Jason Jaramillo and Robinson Diaz will do just fine until Doumit heals up.

-Freddy Sanchez may be healthy again. He's swinging the stick pretty well. I feel having Nyjer Morgan on base so much has helped Sanchez a ton. Sanchez hits the ball the other way better than anyone on the team. He has taken advantage of teams having to hold Morgan on.

- Speaking of Morgan, having a good leadoff hitter is very important to teams and as long as he keeps getting on base at this rate, the Pirates can score some runs without the threat of the long ball. I used to bash him in the past, but he has won me over.

It's time to make history

Well it's one of my favorite time of the year, baseball season is upon us. The first spring training games have just begun and I guess that means that the Pittsburgh Pirates are now officially mathematically eliminated from post-season play this season.

Bucco fans, not only will you not be playing in October (AGAIN), but your faithful are ready to put their names in history as the worst sports franchise of all time- 17 losing seasons in a row. How can one team be that bad for that period of time? The Clippers, Rays, Lions etc. have all had playoff appearances in the time.

I can list the reason and throw out blame to just about everybody, but you have heard it all before. What i am here to do is offer hope. Yeah i said hope and I swear I'm not on drugs at the moment, although as I keep writing this maybe I should be.

When I say I'm here to offer hope, I don't mean this year or next or maybe not even the year after that, but it will happen eventually (I HOPE). First off all lets get this straight, finishing above .500 accomplishes nothing unless you make the playoffs. That's the goal here, to win.

Lets look at this years team first. The fact is they are not getting better and have no chance to compete this year. It hurts to say but this could be the worst team yet. The pitching staff as a whole stinks. I like Maholm, but not a staff ace and Capps is good at the back end of the pens, but the other 10 on the staff offer nothing for now or the future. Even if you get bounce back years from Snell or Gorzalanny or both, it still isn't any good.

Offensively, Ryan (No-Mitt) Doumitt and Nate McClouth had decent years in 08 and hopefully can continue to progress, but you look at the rest of the offense, guys like Sanchez, Wilson and both Laroche's and there just isn't cause for excitement.

I did say I would give you hope so i will give it my best shot to sell you on their plan. Actually the best hope I can offer is that the Nutting family sell the team, but that won't happen anytime soon.

First thing to do is continue to blow this team up and start over. Not one player on the opening day roster should be considered untouchable. Deal them all, but when you do, you must command top young talent in return. The problem with that is that other than McClouth, Doumitt and Maholm, they just don't have much to offer to teams in return. So if that means trading your best players away, then do it if the return is right. I know fan don't want to hear this, but the Pirates need talent throughout the organization and right now they simply don't have it.

Next, I continue to show confidence in my baseball people and continue to add to the front office. Hunnington has done some good things, give him the time to continue the plan. Don't get overly excited about giving guys like McClouth, Sanchez, Capps, Maholm, Snell and Doumitt extensions. All they did was buy out the arbitration years for these guys. If anything, I give the front office credit for making these guys have More trade value.

Next, I continue to shell out money through the draft. I was very encouraged by last years draft and they need at least five more years of that. Continue to draft the best players on the board and get as many of them signed as possible. The fact of the matter is the Pirates are paying now for having very poor drafts in the past (Matt Wieters anyone?). The early reviews of Pedro Alvarez are great right now. Imagine if you had drafted Wieters, who is hands down the number one prospect in the game, after only one year of minor league ball.

Did I mention the Nutting's could sell the team?

The fact is there are no more excuses. The Rays gave you the blueprint on how to build through the draft and all they did was come from nowhere to win the toughest division in sports. Fluke? No chance. They might not repeat this year, but they have enough young talent in their organization to stay competitive for a long while.

Finally, after you stockpile enough talent in the organization, bring them up together. Bring 3 or 4 up at a time and let them learn to win together. Once enough pieces are in place, maybe the Pirates can use free agency to improve the team and add the missing pieces (Of course Nutting would have to sell the team).

Don't be excited over this team, if the plan works out, none of them will be here when the Pirates start to win anyways. get excited about: Pedro Alvarez, Andrew McCutchon, Neil Walker, Brad Lincoln, Shelby Ford, Jose Tabata and the new class of future Pirates

It is the only thing for Pirates fans to get excited about, because the current group is about to make history, just the wrong kind. I hope i am wrong but it doesn't look good.

Unless........ Mark Cuban still wants to buy a baseball team.