Pittsburgh Pirates: McLouth, Maholm, Doumit Signings Move In The Right Direction

For years, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been the poster children for bad free agent signings (Jeromy Burnitz), poor trade acquisitions (Matt Morris, Mark Redman), and poor drafting (Bryan Bullington, Bobby Bradley). 

No more.

With long term deals now signed by OF Nate McLouth, C Ryan Doumit, and SP Paul Maholm, the Pirates are finally a team looking to be headed back in the right direction.

I know—you've heard this song before.

This time maybe—just maybe—they're for real.

A lot of analysts are trying to spin the club's low-risk,high-reward signings of Eric Hinske and Ramon Vasquez as more of the same by the Pirates, but if you look at it, this is a very different management approach.

Take all five signings listed above as a group. None of them are sinking too much money or time into any one player. Doumit's deal is for $26.5 million, by far the highest.  McLouth is next in line at $15.75 million, and Maholm is right behind with $14.5 million. Hinske and Vasquez are each signed for just over the league minimum on one-year deals, making them very low-risk.

Each of the three long-term deals negotiated this offseason will get the Pirates through the players' arbitration years. This is a great move because it keeps the player salaries from inflating due to one extraordinary season.

Beyond the finances, these signings signal that the Pirates are identifying their foundation of young players with major league success and locking them up.

This—for those fans who don't know the formula for a winning team (and who can blame younger Pirates fans who haven't seen the home team come out a winner for over a decade)—this is called building a core.

Hinske and Vasquez are stop-gap players, but also players with significant upside. 

Hinske is a super-utility player who could potentially fill in all over the diamond and provide power in the batting order.

Vasquez is a young middle-infielder with significant upside as a bench player. He will likely be a nice upgrade over Luis Rivas and Chris Gomez.

Beyond the five major signings of the off season, the Pirates are building a nice farm system. 

Top prospects Pedro Alvarez (3B) and Andrew McCutchen (OF) are only a year away, if not sooner. There are a host of other high-ceiling guys playing in the mid- and upper-minors, too. 

Shelby Ford (2B), Daniel McCutchen (SP), and Jose Tabata (OF) all project to be good major leaguers and should be on the majors roster by 2010 or 2011.

The Pirates front office is making smart long-term deals, smart short-term deals, and smart trades. Add that to one of the best drafts in the last decade, and you have a recipe for success.

Finally!

Say what you will about the Pirates failing to make a splash in the winter. They certainly didn't make any mistakes this time around and they have helped the long-term picture much more than any management team here ever has in the last 17 years.

Maybe its time to stop booing and start believing.