Meet the new Pirate team, same as the last 15 Pirate teams | James Biga's Blog

Last week I sent a letter to the Editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Having perused the free agent market, I found nothing that would add value to the Pirate lineup, mainly pitching. The day after I submitted the letter, Xavier Nady and Damarso Marte were traded to the Darn Yankees. I felt like I had just been kicked in the gut. Then the rumors of Jason Bay being dealt started popping up. I was extremely anxious yet believed that the Pirate Management couldn't be THAT stupid. It turns out I was THAT stupid.
For 15 years I have watched as the Pirates have fed the rest of the league its best present and future talent. Pitching, which used to be good in Pittsburgh, went by the wayside and after developing hitters, they too were shipped off? What do the Pirates and the remaining Pirate Fans have to show for it? Not a Darn thing! The rest of the league probably smiles everytime the pirates get a good player because they know they have a shot at obtaining. The Pirates might as well move to Triple A with the amount of players they provide the league.

I have been a Pirate fan my entire life. My first Baseball hero was Roberto Clemente. With the Pirates down 3 games to 1 against the Orioles in 79 I bet a friend 20 bucks and a meal at McDonalds that the Pirates would come back to win. My stomach still gets sick when I visualize the non-existent strike zone Stan Belinda faced in the 9th inning in 1992. I have watched great ballplayers leave, or be sent to greener pastures. Even though the Red Sox and now the Cubs have gone years without winning Championships, at least they had close calls and continuously play good baseball.

Its hard to even get motivated prior to the start of the season knowing that management is going to do something to prevent the team from succeeding. Is it too much to ask for 82-80?

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July 31, 2008 08:16 PM ET

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Umm, they were something like 6 or 7 games below 500 BEFORE they traded Bay, Marte and Nady, and with Bay only having one year left on his contract, if they kept him, they would have lost leverage to get something decent for him next year, or maybe not gotten anything at all.

And, it seems unlike Littlefield's horrible deals, they actually got some decent young talent for these guys. They got what, 7 or 8 young prospects for three guys when they weren't going anywhere with them due to horrible pitching?

Hunnington's been saying since he came in, they have to rebuild the farm system (which was almost bare due to Littlefield) if they want to have a shot at being competitive again. Getting 7-8 decent prospects can go a long way towards doing that.

perfect360

Pittsburgh , PA

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July 31, 2008 08:33 PM ET

I agree with your Littlefield assessment. However, I believe Bay would have signed a new agreement with the Bucs. Both Bay and Nady had another 6 good years left in them. Out of these 7-8 prospects, how many will make a legitimate contribution. The Pirates need Pitching. I don't see how they have made that situation any better. By giving up Bay and Nady they have just cut back on the amount of tickets to be sold which wioll have a negative impact on the amount of money they can spend.

However, I hope you are right and I am wrong. I would rather eat crow and the team turn into something worth watch than be right and suffer through 5 or 6 more years of this.

James Biga

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August 1, 2008 06:21 AM ET

It's a calculated risk. Yeah, you may lose tickets in the short run without big name players, but they could make that up and then some if these guys develop and they actually have a winning season in the next 5-6 years.

Bay and Nady may have had 6 good years left, but with the current pitching woes, and a depleted farm system, the pitching likely never would have been good enough for them to put together a rotation that could get them over the hump. And realistically, even with Bay and Nady and the revenue they create, the Pirates would never really been able to improve their pitching via free agency as you imply. Starting pictures of any quality are 8 figure contracts. Realistically, the Pirates would be lucky to land 1 such pitcher, which really doesn't fix their problems.

I think of the 8? players they got between the 2 trades, 4 or 5 are pitchers. That may not mean much now, but it could mean allot in 3 years or so.