It's been a cumbersome two decades for the Pirate Parrot and the rest of the organization.
Over the past decade, one axiom in MLB has held true: if it's July in Pittsburgh a veteran (or four or five) is being traded.
This year, the latter held true.
With the trade deadline looming, the Pirates turned one last double play with shortstop Jack Wilson and second baseman Freddy Sanchez, sending their two most popular players packing. That put the finishing touches on a complete roster overhaul since general manager Neal Huntington took over. Only four players remain from the original 2007 25-man roster.
Once more those trades seal Pittsburgh's fate, 82 losses are now inevitable and so is the infamy that comes with it. The Pirates will replace the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies for the most consecutive losing seasons in pro sports history (17).
In a sick way, that's an accomplishment. But what's gone wrong?
The simplest answer is years of mismanagement.
First of all the Pirates tried to build their franchise by drafting pitchers, a high-risk strategy. Between 1996 and 2006, Pittsburgh picked eight first-round hurlers and all but one of them (Paul Maholm) suffered major elbow or shoulder injuries. None of those draftees were named Scott Kazmir or Cole Hamels. The payoff for this strategy, Maholm has made it to the majors, but isn't much more than a solid No. 3 starter.
Also, Pirates coaches messed up pitchers' deliveries that were working. Take Zach Duke for example. He arrived in the bigs in 2005 and went 8-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 14 starts. What happened next year? New manager Jim Tracy and his staff decided to change Duke' delivery despite his numbers from '05, and Duke hasn't fully recovered yet. The story is eerily similar for Oliver Perez.
Next in this horror story, Pittsburgh wasted millions on mediocre veterans like Derek Bell, Sean Casey, Jeromy Burnitz and Matt Morris. Really!?! What's even better is they traded away one of their few productive players in 2006 (Craig Wilson) for Shawn Chacon, who was going to be cut by the NY Yankees. That's brilliant!
Even more brilliant are other numerous mind-numbing trades.
Since 2000, the Pirates have shipped the likes of Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay, Jason Schmidt, Mike Gonzalez, Jose Guillen, Kenny Lofton, Jeff Suppan, Xavier Nady, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez.. the list continues.. Brian Giles, Nate McClouth, Adam LaRoche, Jason Kendall, Tony Womack, Oliver Perez and Bronson Arroyo out of the Burgh.
Who have they gotten in return? I can't say for sure.
The most egregious of these trades happened in July 2003. Trailing the division leader by less than 10 games, the Buccos decided to trim their payroll trading away their only homegrown power prospect in decades. Then 25-year-old Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton headed to Chicago's ivy confines, while the Pirates brought in Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill and Matt Bruback (who?).
Ramirez hasn't hit fewer than 25 home runs in his time in the Windy City. He's also batted better than .300 three times in five years as a Cub and driven in 100-plus RBIs four times. The players Pittsburgh got, well none of them are playing baseball anymore. That sums up the plight of the Pirates.
Pirate fans have been wandering in the wilderness since 1992 when, dare I say it, Sid Bream hobbled around the bases for a Game 7 soul crushing loss in the NLCS.
How great would that be now? Losing a meaningful game in October sounds amazing. I haven't watched the Bucs play a meaningful game beyond June since I was seven.
Once upon a time the Pittsburgh Pirates were a flagship franchise. They won five world series, produced 11 batting champions and 34 Hall of Famers (including Honus, Willie and Roberto). Hard to believe you will soon add longest pro-sports losing streak EVER to that list.
Trading away the team's last popular veterans seems like a fitting close to this decade. While it's been painful, I hope GM "wheel-and-deal" Neal (Huntington) knows what he's doing.
Hey that's saying something... there's a little hope out there.
6 comments:
Sniff! I love the Pirates. I wish the management would actually try to win some games.
Your column rings oh so true. I almost feel sorry for them. Too bad you didn't blame the ownership. That's where it all begins.
I agree with Peter B. It's the ownership that's to blame for this !@#%^ mess. What's worse is that fans make it a profitable strategy for the owners by continuing to support the team. If I were the owner of the Pirates I'd be reluctant to spend the kind of money that it takes to become a consistent winner if I could make decent money with a losing squad. The Pirates are the poster child for why baseball needs to wise up and impose a salary cap.
At least you have comfort in knowing that the trades often determine who pulls ahead in the playoffs.
Pete and Nich, you guys both bring up a good point. I did not address the ownership situation in Pittsburgh. They have a BIG role for the mess that's the Pirates organization. However, if you look at teams like Minnesota, Florida and Colorado, they are smaller market teams that have seen success.
There certainly is a Scrooge like mentality about spending money in the Burgh, I think the poor player decisions has done more in contributing to 17-straight losing seasons. Ownership forced the Aramis Ramirez trade, but I don't think they had a part in turning down the trade of then power-hitting prospect Ryan Howard for Kip Wells.
Smooth, this would take some work, and I know it's football season, but you should do a comparison of the Rockies and Florida since the expansion of '93. Look at records each season, payrolls, and obviously wildcards, penants, batting champs, homerun champs and how the humidifier changed things, etc.
Anyway, it would be fascinating if you have the time and motivation.
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