Good news, Buccos fans...Bob Smizik is predicting a winning season for your Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011...and he doesn't stop there. He even thinks they'll be contenders for the NL Central title in 2012. Now I see why the Post-Gazette took his column away. How anyone in their right mind could actually have any sort of hope and optimism when it comes to the Bucs is beyond me. To have a winning season anytime soon, the Bucs are counting on the young talent they've acquired over the past year or so. Yes, these young guys are something to get excited about, but based on the Pirates' track record, I'm not going to the box office to preorder my playoff tickets just yet.
It's good to see that they are trying to put a plan in place. Basically, the Pirates will keep trying to stock the minor leagues with prospects and hope to contend in a few years. Neal Huntington brought this successful blueprint along with him from Cleveland. I respect what they're trying to do, but this team is noted for not developing talent. If you bring in guys who are prospects and don't teach them how to play the game, then they're just another wasted opportunity. That's why teams like Boston succeed. They may have deeper pockets, but when it comes down to the deadline, they still have a deep minor league system to dig into and trade prospects for big league talent. It's not that they necessarily scout better (even though they do) it's the fact that they take these young kids, develop them properly and teach them how to play baseball. The Bucs have had numerous can't-miss guys coming up through the system in the past decade, but none of them panned out. You can put up numbers in the minors based on talent alone, but when you get to the show, you need more than just talent alone. That's why pitchers like Snell, Gorzelanny, Van Benschoeten, Duke, etc. put up big numbers in the minors but struggle to find consistency as they progress through the system. And the Bucs have failed to see this and continue to shoot themselves in the foot. I think about guys like Kris Benson and Chad Hermansen, guys who were supposed to change the future of the franchise but never sniffed the success predicted for them. And take a look at the rest of the Pirates' failed first round draft choices over the past twenty years. If someone asked you who Mark Farris or Clinton Johnston was, chances are you'd say a lawyer or a farmer before you'd say Pittsburgh Pirate. I know all first round picks don't pan out for one reason or another, but the Pirates' ineptitude in developing these guys or missing on them altogether is not just bad luck.
So here's to the Buccos' future, a future that is bright according to washed-up former Pittsburgh sports journalists with toilet-bowl jew fros.
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You're forgetting about all the talent they have had and sold away over the years. Names like Bonds, Bonilla, Drabek, Bay and Nady come to mind. But lets also not forget some of the washed up, overpriced "talent" they have brought in.
ReplyDelete"Coming to a theater near you, Derek Bell in "Operation Shutdown" Rember That?"
yeah. why would you spend over $10 mil on guys like randa and burnitz when you could try to lock up a guy who isn't past his prime for that price? nobody gets excited about those guys, if you open the purse a little more and pick up a recognized name or two, attendance would be up, most likely the product on the field would be more competitive and they wouldn't be stuck in neutral so much. mark cuban would have been huge for the pirates...a man who isn't afraid to gamble. and when you're down on your luck, sometimes you gotta take chances.
ReplyDelete9:09 AM on Thursday morning Tom! Hmmmm.
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