The Biggest Losers

Do you remember Honus Wagner? A member of the inaugural Hall of Fame class in 1936 who had over 3,400 hits and nearly 1,800 RBI in his 20-season career. What about Fred Clarke? Pie Traynor? Paul Waner? The Pittsburgh Pirates actually have actually sent 12 players to Cooperstown, the most recent being Bill Mazeroski who was elected in 2001 for his ability to play infield.

So what the hell has happened? The franchise that has played in 7 championships and won 5 of them have not seen a playoff game since 1992 and are the only major league baseball team to lose 17 consecutive seasons and look to be well on their way to an 18th (23-41 record in 2010). It doesn't matter what side of the ball you are on, the Pirates make your stomach churn. They currently rank dead last in team average, hits, runs scored and second to last in ERA and WHIP.

One problem is that they continue to trade their talent and receive little in return. Over the past few seasons, the Bucs have traded/released:

• (2009) Freddy Sanchez traded to San Francisco Giants - 2006 NL Batting Champion, [.400 OBP in 95 at-bats in 2010]
• (2008) Jason Bay traded to Boston Red Sox - Rookie of the Year, 2x All Star [36 HR and 119 RBI in 2009 with the Sox]
• (2008) Xavier Nady traded to New York Yankees - Posted a .383 OBP in the 89 games he was a Pirate in 2008

When a team is in turmoil, it is important to trade for young talent but the Pirates need to expedite the results. While they have seen glimpses of hope from Garrett Jones, he is already approaching 30-years-old as a result of a long stint in the minor leagues. More than anything, the Pirates need to bring in an entirely new staff. Fans were optimistic when John Russell took the reigns in 2008 but that has since faded and all signs point to his departure by the end of the season. Don Long, the team's batting coach, has seen little production out of his players since his arrival in 2007. The pitching coach, Joe Kerrigan has also had the same fate in the short time he has been with the club since 2008. I am fearful that the problem goes much deeper than that and it's also the coaching staff in the Pirates' farm leagues that have been corrupting their young "talent".

The bottom line is that Pirates fans deserve something to smile about. The city tried to rouse excitement from the fans when they constructed PNC Park in 2001. Anyone who knows sports will tell you that a new stadium is sufficient enough to bring fans to the games...for about a season or two. At a certain point, gimmicks and beautiful architecture end and talent and wins are needed. The Pirates rank 4th from the bottom in average attendance (ahead of Toronto, Cleveland and Florida) at a mere 17,656 fans/game, less than half of the capacity of the baseball-only field.

So now that all of their problems have been brought to light, how can they be fixed? The goal of any organization should be to win games. When games are won, money is made. And since the organization has somehow not improved one bit over the last 17 seasons, they need to completely change the personell. They need to hire coaches and managers who have won in the past and have showed that they are able to turn nothing into something. They need to hit the free agent market...hard...on all sides of the ball. I would suggest:

• Carlos Pena - Made comments regarding his interest of being traded. Arguably the best first baseman available since Albert Pujols has a 0% chance of ending up in Pittsburgh
• Jose Reyes - At least his speed will not go away. While his bat means very little to a MLB club, his consistency with one attribute can do wonders for the club. Why do you think Juan Pierre has stuck around as long as he has?
• Carl Crawford - He still has a little tread left on his tires.
• Manny - Bring a few more fans to the game.
• Vlad - Why not? A big heart for baseball brings production for years and years.
• ANY AND ALL PITCHERS