Well it’s October, which means it’s time to wrap up what was the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates season. The season actually started off pretty decent, as the starting staff quickly showed signs of improvement under the tutelage of Coach Kerrigan. But then predictably, their road woes started catching up, then the trading started, the team couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat, and it then finally all unraveled in the heat of the summer, culminating in the never-to-be-mentioned-again-record. But if you look up on the top of this page, you can see that our very own GM had dramatically different goals going into 2009, and really a total annihilation of the roster was the ONLY way he was going to achieve that. The likes of Papa Roche, Grabow, Freddy and Jack sure didn’t stand much of a chance to survive the year with a P on their caps. A little more surprising was the departures of Ian, Gorzo, Hinske and Nyjer. Downright shocking was cutting bait with Nate. But all these moves were justifiable, and necessary to truly rebuild the program that in the last 2 decades has only been tinkered with. I’ll let you decide if the bounties were enough; I think they were.
What’s left for 2010 and beyond is a new core, highlighted by Doumit, Cutch, GI Jones, Lastings, and Andy LaRoche. Maholm, Duke, Ollie and Morton should be mainstays in the rotation for awhile. Rookie Chavez and Hanrahan should settle in as bullpen studs. But there are obviously a lot of holes, as you would expect for a 99 loss team. And it’s now to the point where Neil’s plan is going to be put to the test. There are few if any real trading opportunities left short of those mentioned core players, which would begin a true revolt. Capps and Doumit are probably the only value guys left, but that’s selling low right now. Ultimately, this roster needs to stand pretty pat, mostly because it’s out of lack of options for now. Some like Dejan say the club needs to spend. Others say don’t spend for the sake of spending. But the 2 glaring holes I see are Right Field and the Bullpen.
I think this team really needs a right fielder stopgap, as Tabata needs at least a full season in Indianapolis, and Moss and Pearce had their chances. A guy like Nady would be perfect. He can rebuild some value for his future, and would take some of the pressure off the lineup which badly needs some confidence building. Anyone who watched August baseball knows that the club needs some bullpen arms, now. Especially an 8th inning lefty like ex-Bucs Grabow or Beimel. The 3rd hole is really a want, not a need, and is just to replace 4A players like Cruz and Bixler. A Cedeno/Andy DP combo could be fine for now, but we can’t go with Young at 2B much longer. Really, he’s a supersub-utility guy, not a starter. I think it all hinges on Pedro. If he blows us away in Bradenton, then he’s up June 1, and we can deal with Walker, Cedeno and Andy for the first few months. If not, then Walker learns a position like 2B in Indy, Pedro plays in Indy for the year, and Andy stays at 3B.
What really puzzles me is where newly acquired slugger Clement fits into this team. My gut tells me he’ll be tied to Capps in an offseason trade (but where and why?). Or maybe he can push Doumit behind the plate (maybe beyond to right field?) if they decide 1B isn’t a viable option (then moving GI Jones to RF) …. Whew, there sure are a lot of options, which is GOOD! The 2010 team should be better, could be an 81 win type, but could also be much worse, be a 110 loss type. It’s premature to guess, as so much depends on the Free Agent season. The front office says they have $$ to spend, and I think they need to do just that, but carefully. There are some very calculated moves that could really help this team contend in 2011. Later in the fall, I’ll dig thru the lists and see how it all fits, but for now …
The most important thing to remember from 2009 is that I got to see about 20 games in Indianapolis, the last Bucs game of the year in Cincinnati, and I finally made my haj. I got to see my first game (and Bucs win, Skyblast to boot) at venerable PNC Park, in beautiful downtown Pittsburgh, me in my Clemente jersey, my lovely wife in her Stargell. And I have my Prospects t-shirt ready for next year!
GO BUCCOS!
