Making Peace With the Pirates

Now that the dust has finally settled across the Pirates organization I have had some time to think about the mega-fire sale that just destroyed the Pirates’ starting roster. When all these trades started last summer I was angry. I continued to be angry this summer when Nate McLouth was traded. It seemed like more of the same. Once it appears that the Pirates will actually have to pay their players higher salaries, they send them backing to Boston or New York to save payroll in order to fund alternative jerseys, fireworks night, free bobble heads, or some dreadful country music concert after the game. Yet as the trades continued it appeared that the Pirates’ management was up to something. While I don’t share their optimistic spin, I believe that local sports commentators are right in saying that these moves are part of Neal Huntington’s plan to rebuild the Pirates’ farm system and that this is a step in the right direction.

Huntington has said that his vision for the Pirates’ is to build a “championship-caliber team,” not merely an above .500 team. To actualize this, Huntington felt that the current Pirates’ roster was of mediocre talent at best and could be traded off to bigger ball clubs in exchange for young talent. I still wouldn’t under value the Pirates’ former players as much as Huntington and some commentators have. If Bay, Nady, McLouth, and Sanchez were still Pirates I think that the team would have had a chance to make .500 this season. On the other hand, these players would have become too expensive for their worth and probably wouldn’t have vaulted the Pirates to the playoffs anytime soon. Thus I have come to accept that the trades are for the best.

Nevertheless, I have some reservations. First I fear that the talent that Huntington has brought into the club isn’t of the caliber he claims it to be. If the players that have been traded are as mediocre has Huntington claims, then why is the talent they got in return expected to be so good? I hardly think that the scouting for Atlanta, New York, or Boston is poor. But perhaps Huntington and his scouting crew are geniuses? The fact that Huntington gave large (for the Pirates) contracts to Snell and Sanchez only to trade them this summer gives me some room for doubt. This is also considering Snell clearly did not have the mental or emotional ability to compete in the majors. Also, if the new prospects do pan out, the Pirates ownership must be willing to give out good contracts to rising talent. Bob Nutting cannot expect a team of rookies to win the World Series. To build a winning franchise requires patience. If Huntington and Jim Russell feel that the talent coming up through the minors is good, Nutting must be willing to pay big money. It could be several seasons after these players come up from the minors before the team really becomes a “championship-caliber team.” I have serious doubts about this as I believe that Nutting is more committed to a “high profit-caliber team.” A good sign of whether or not ownership is committed is, if McCutchen, Jones, and Milledge become good outfielders, if ownership will reward them with big contracts or force Huntington to trade them for yet more prospects.

In conclusion, I will remain a loyal Pirates’ fan at least through 2011. By then I should have a better understanding of the direction of the organization. Perhaps Huntington will prove to be a scouting genius and the rising talent will finally end the Pirates’ woes. Then again perhaps in true Pirates’ fashion, ownership will force management to trade off any player with a hint of talent to the Yankees due to “payroll concerns.” Like I said, the situation of McCutchen, Jones, and Milledge will be a good marker of the organization’s commitment. If, however, Huntington’s grand over-haul of the Pirates’ farm system is a failure and the losing season keep on coming, I will sever my relationship with the Pirates indefinitely. In the meantime, I will remain a fan, but I will be tempered of any “this year is the year!”-type hope. Either the Huntington’s plan works or I will forsake the Pirates once and for all due to all the time I wasted with them.