Hope for the future

[KG Erwin]

The Pirates are not as bad as some of you think. You may have to look hard, but some talent is there. Being a small-market team, they have to build from the inside out. It's a cold hard fact, and you guys know it's true.

Now, maybe, just maybe, the team is conserving cash in order to sign a decent free agent, but it's gotta be a guy who will sign at least an ironclad 3-year deal.

There is just no way that the Bucs can become a win-it-all-in-one-year team.

The new regime wants to win, of course, but we're gonna have to be patient for a few more years.

[BeatEmBucs]

Well said. Of course if this wasn't "rebuilding VI" it wouldn't be so bad. Looking back at the previous "rebuilding" projects, I hope the current administration learns from the mistakes.

Rebuilding I (1993-96) Plugging in holes with young players (Al Martin,Carlos Garcia) along with leftovers from the division winners (Van Slyke,Jeff King,Jay Bell) Not much emphasis on Pitching (except for Denny Neagle, Bucs gave up on Tim Wakefield during this period) overall record during this period: 259-323 (.445)

Rebuilding II (1997-99) The most "successful" run during this losing streak. Decent production from young players (Jermaine Allensworth,Tony Womack, Jason Kendall, Jose Guillen) 4-5 year veterans leading the way (Kevin Young,Al Martin) Youthful rotation (Lieber, Loaiza, Schmidt, Cordova) it seemed the pieces were in place to go over 500 and beyond...overall record during this period: 226-259 (.466, eliminate 1998 that figure goes to .486)

Rebuilding III (2000-2001) This was the period where the Bucs were looking to the future, and the idea of building a contender for the 21st Century, with a new ballpark on the way it seemed that the Bucs were gonna get "over the hump" of course the exact opposite happened. Jason Kendall gets a big $ contract, but his RBI and power production slip big time The "promising players" from the minors (except for Aramis Ramirez) produced nothing (chad hermansen, Adrian Brown,Emil Brown) The "young guns" pitchers from the previous rebuilding were traded away in questionable deals (Esteban Loaiza for Warren Morris, Jon Lieber for Brant Brown, Jason Schmidt for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong) This is the period that sealed Cam Bonifays fate, and IMO set the Pirates back for years. Overall record during this period: 131-193 (.404)

Rebuilding IV (2002-2003) David Littlefield sifts thru the wreckage of "rebuilding III" and tries to plug holes with veteran players (pokey reese, Reggie Sanders,Matt Stairs) young players start coming in to their own as Pirates (the Wilsons, Brian Giles, Jason Kendall) Littlefield scored a major coup early in this phase picking up Josh Fogg and Kip Wells for Todd Ritchie. Pirates start strong in April 2002 (14-8) but fade as the year goes on. It seemed "500 or bust" was the mantra of the 2003 season, but after a 51-57 start of the 2003 season, "or bust" happened and the Pirates trade away just about every player of value except for Jason Kendall and Reggie Sanders (who left after the 2003 season anyway) Overall Record during this period: 147-176 (.455)

Rebuilding V (2004-2007) Mistake after mistake after mistake does in Littlefield. Littlefield kept trying to plug holes with Veterans, but his success rate wasn't as good in this period (Chris Stynes,Darryle Ward, Jeromy Burnitz, Raul Mondesi, Benito Santiago) trades didn't work out too well either (Kendall to Oakland, Benson to New York) players acquired in the deals didn't quite pan out (ty wigginton, Matt Lawton) Managerial change from McClendon to Tracy didn't work out well either. Young players excite (Sanchez, Bay) but still not enough to get the Pirates over the Hump. Overall record during this period: 274-373 (.442)

Here's hoping "rebuilding VI" will be the one.

[maxcarey]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pittsburgh-Baseball-T-Shirt-Pirates-Funny-Steelers-Pens_W0QQitemZ250215543016QQihZ015QQcategoryZ15687QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Silver Blaze]

The Pirates are not as bad as some of you think. You may have to look hard, but some talent is there. Being a small-market team, they have to build from the inside out. It's a cold hard fact, and you guys know it's true.

Now, maybe, just maybe, the team is conserving cash in order to sign a decent free agent, but it's gotta be a guy who will sign at least an ironclad 3-year deal.

There is just no way that the Bucs can become a win-it-all-in-one-year team.

The new regime wants to win, of course, but we're gonna have to be patient for a few more years.

How many is a few more? They need to overhaul the scouting, and sign the best available players. If they are not going to do that, forget it, because that is the mainstay of a small-market franchise.

However, there doesn't seem to be any reason why they can't spend more than they have, and from what I've heard, they've been loathe to give out more than 2 year deals in a lot of cases, which isn't going to cut it. In fact, you aren't getting any decent FA for 3 years either. It's four - probably now five - years minimum, and I have a hard time seeing the ownership committing that amount of jack to one player.