A 16th consecutive losing season is virtually assured. Their actual finishing position in the National League Central standings is unimportant.
This year, people (and especially Pirates fans) should be previewing the folks who pull the strings, who have the power to turn this club around, and see if they will do things intelligently, patiently, and, most important of all, consistently.
Spending big money on a player is one thing. When that player is Matt Morris (a.k.a. 2008's version of 2007's Tony Armas), you can't help but slap your forehead (since former General Manager Dave Littlefield's, or Bob Nutting's, wasn't available).
You can sign an aging, back-of-the-rotation pitcher (and not a very reliable one) for $10 million, but you can pass on Matt Wieters, a top-hitting catcher who's expected by many to be a star in this league for years because he's represented by superagent Scott Boras?
But, not only that, you draft a relief pitcher instead?
Yes, I am one of many who are still sore over that.
The point of the above is that, while I feel sorry for the players who don the baseball black and black, and while it's still too early to be throwing the brass' new employees under any buses, you have to believe that as long as Nutting is the Master Puppeteer, the Pittsburgh Pirates will continue to be a laughing stock.
A fallen franchise.
A parasitic business, profiting off the misguided hopes of others.
Three years ago, I wrote another article urging Pirate fans to not "give up the ship before we set sail."
To my 27-year-old self, I say, "Man, we don't even have a boat."
(Including this sentence 957 words)
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