pirates open against the phils

[bison2bagger25]

Kip wells now moves his record against the phillies to 3-0 and moves the bucs to a 1-0 start. Extremely impressive start by wells 7 k's he had his stuff workin! see if bucs can go for 2 in a row

[HYNDMANWRESTLING]

good job to kip wells he did awsome

[packerfan]

it saddens me that this team, whenever it shows promise, will trade off any talent they develp. giles, shmidt, etc, etc. you can be a top contenderif your not gonna pay the players.

[voncap]

It's great being above .500. Let's enjoy it while we can because if Mesa continues to go 3-2 on every batter he faces things will get ugly in a hurry for this Bucco squad.

[packerfan]

yeah, lets soak up the being tied for first while we are there.

[Sports999]

Packerfan, there was no way the Pirates could keep Schmidt when he left. He was asking top dollar, and wasn't worth it at the time, and we had just inked Kendall to a huge deal. Giles was gone after this year anyway if we didn't trade him, atleast we got 2 guys with bigtime potential for him. Perez, 21 year old lefty throwing in the 97-100 range, could turn out to be a Randy Johnson some say. Jason Bay, 22, has all the skills to be just as good as Giles, but from the right side.

McClachy lost $20 million+ last year and just couldn't keep all the big contracts, but they are moving in the right direction. Every one of their farm teams made the playoffs and their farm system was rated #1 by Baseball America. They are rebuilding in the way that the Oakland Athletics did, through starting pitching and with a solid farm system.

[AUSTIN_22:22]

u got it '999

if anybody finds distaste w/ the pirates this year, as im sure i will, go to BCB to see a winning club that is the future of the pirates.

[deliverance]

They'll be good in the future as long as they raise the payroll a bit. I don't see them doing that though. They do have some really good players in the minor leagues and some young ones in the major leagues now. I don't think that will cut it without some veterans with leadership on the team.

[Sports999]

It's not like they're going to go with an all out youth movement like the Tigers did. They will always keep vets like Mondesi, Simon and Kendall around. Some people forget that Kendall is a veteran now who has been around, 9 straight opening days, he's been there, done that. Kip Wells has proven that he can anchor a pitching staff and hopefully will teach some of the youngins what it's all about. Until the guys prove themselves, Littlefield will always bring in some grizzled guys to show the others the ropes.

[voncap]

You guys make some solid points. I whole heartedly agree with needing veterans on the squad to help the young players unless those veterans are terrible on the field (i.e. Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Rick Reed). Hopefully a few guys like Redmen, C.Wilson, and Wells will have enough experience to be considered the veterans by the time the younger talent arrives.

The biggest concern for the future of the Pirates is finances. I don't think it will happen, but this team needs a big money investor. Someone who can "throw" 50 mill around without a concern. A good revenue sharing program by MLB wouldn't hurt either. Granted an improved record and playoff race would help put bodies in the seats and improve revenue on that end, but a baseball team can't survive financially on gate receipts alone.

If they don't find a way to improve their financial situation, any success will be short lived and the winning ways will quickly be replaced by another rebuilding program. Unfortunately until MLB gets it head out of the sand that is the life of small market teams.