No Win(d)s For The Pirates' Ship

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

You need to walk before you can run; you need to grow wings before you can fly; and, in the case of the Pittsburgh Pirates, you need wind before you can sail.

Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh's lone All-Star representative in 2008, was traded to Atlanta last Wednesday. The Pirates' GM, Neal Huntington, recently explained his rationale for the trade to season ticket holders in an e-mail: "Tough decisions are not always popular. However, we have a singular focus on our goal of building an organization that can consistently compete for championships, not simply finish above .500."

That's honorable enough, but considering the team hasn't finished over .500 since 1992, I think most of those season ticket holders would settle for "simply finishing above .500."

In fact, if I was a season ticket holder (and God bless them, they truly need to be "die-hard" to hold tickets to show so saddening, not even a well placed Johnny Depp quip could cheer them up), I'd be pretty pissed that Huntington so easily dismissed the simplicity of finishing over .500.

Then, again, this is about the average wind speed in these doldrums. The Pirates have not finished within 10 games of .500 since 1999, when they went 78-83, and this deal won't put any air in the sails anytime soon.

McLouth was a complete player. He won a Gold Glove in 2008, while stealing 23 bases and belting out 26 home runs. At only 27, he was expected to build on that this season while serving as a figurehead for the organization. The Pirates finally appeared to take a step toward steering the ship when they extended his contract through 2011 (with an option for 2012) this Spring Training. His deal was a modest $15.75 million over the next three years, and Huntington said the decision wasn't about money.

Clearly, it wasn't about the money, Neal!

In fact, it's obvious that the financial ramifications weren't even considered in this deal, because, for a team with the lowest attendance figure in the league, trading your most popular player will most only cut down on your revenue!

Huntington's rationale was that by trading McLouth, it allowed the Pirates to promote top prospect Andrew McCutchen to the helm. True, but was the outfield really that jammed up by players like Nyjer Morgan, Brandon Moss, Craig Monroe, Eric Hinske and Delwyn Young that McCutchen needed to stay below deck? Seriously! Have you ever seen more of a rag-tag lineup who's who of "WHO!?" in your life!? Pittsburgh certainly didn't need to trade McLouth to find space for McCutchen to play in the outfield.

Huntington also stated that by bringing in these prospects, the team planned to "build and sustain a championship caliber organization" and listed the prospects the Pirates acquired as being tossed out in offers between Atlanta and San Diego for ace Jake Peavy last off-season. On further examination, it's easy to see why San Diego didn't accept these players. Pittsburgh would be lucky to "build and sustain" a fresh water sailboat for a youth regatta with the players in this deal.

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