Just think how terrible these guys would be if they weren't trying?  Losing 100 games means nothing.  What is meaningful is the realization there is no talent on this team.  I believe that Neil owes it to the fans to spend some serious money ($25 million saved on salary dumps) during the off-season to acquire some badly-needed free agents and that should start with Rick Ankiel who will not be signed by the Cardinals if they ink Holliday to a contract.  Ankiel's left-handed power would look great against the Clemente wall as would his terrific arm which would allow Neil to dump both Pearce and Moss and play Jones at 1B.  Next, spend the money to re-sign Grabow and then cut Capps loose.  Third, forget about Kerrigan and sign Dave Duncan when he leaves the Cardinals.  Hell, sign his son and let him occasionally platoon Jones if that makes the father happy.  As bad as Duncan was as a player, he's still better than Moss and Pearce.  Next, see if there is any interest in trading Doumit and get what you can.  Jaramillo is a much better overall catcher than Doumit.  Finally, use some of the salary saved to sign a FA pitcher such as Marquis or Tim Hudson and cut Karstens and Dumatrait lose.  We've got everybody's dead-wood from all the shrewd trades made by Neil and they must be let go.  Finally, investigate the cost to sign either Joe Crede or Troy Glaus and cut LaRoche loose.  He'll never be a hitter.

If something drastic doesn't happen in the off-season then Neil can expect to see more crowds like the 500 that stayed to watch the debacle against the Padres.  Of course, if he doesn't sign anybody new then he saves money on bobbleheads next year because other than McCutchen nobody else's face is recognizable by the fans in Pittsburgh.

More fans shift over to football to find entertainment rather than watch a collection of AAA players go through the motions of finishing another losing season.  Maholm stopped pitching.  McCutchen stopped hitting.  LaRoche stopped fielding and Doumit never started either one, leaving us leaving us wondering why Jaramillo doesn't play more.  Hell, even our infield coach wants out refusing all offers so far to return next year while Tracy continues his quest for the playoffs in Colorado.  Is it possible Hill sees the writing on the wall and doesn't want his reputation tarnished by this collection of miscreants?  After all, our "pitch-to-contact" style of pitching only works if he has the talent that can be molded into successfully fielding ground balls and turning them into outs while anybody who has followed the Cubs knows the fielding problems encountered by Ronny Cedeno. 

Other than the Nady trade, the rest (McLouth, Bay, LaRoche, Morgan, Wilson, Sanchez, and Grabow) can be best summarized as Salary Dump 2 painfully reminiscant of the circumstances leading to the exit of Aramis  Ramirez and Jason Schmidt (Salary Dump 1).  Our we really supposed to believe NH has not completely destroyed the moral of the team by trading fan-favorite McLouth causing everyone terrific insecurity all the way from Doumit to Perry Hill?  How can the destruction of team moral possibly be analyzed as anything other than unsuccessful when the only other saving grace (increases in salary) is not an option? 

As I said before, trading all our veterans for guys with only "potential" was just one way to rebuild a team and did not have to be viewed as mutually exclusive to all the other options (free agency, veterans, etc.).  However, we are now left with virtually no talent to trade, a management team that won't spend money on veterans, and a group of players barely eligible to vote with a cumulative negative VORP.  The only possible good news that we can hope for is the signing of Sanos which may not even happen leaving us with a Spring Training roster of guys who most certainly will lose 100 games this year.  For the first time in over a decade, I'm left fearful of what is to happen next year since we don't have summer football. 

The article of the day in Baseball Prospectus is entitled "Pirates Adrift" in which the author, Kevin Goldstein, analyzes the team fire sales leading to the record 17th consecutive losing season and has very little praise for any of the players received other than Lastings Milledge who he declares could be a potential star. 

Jeff Clement: he doesn't see where he fits into our system, believes he will not live up to original draft status, and could end up blocking Pedro Alvarez's progress.

Gorkys Hernandez: feels his inability to hit for average and impatient approach with little power will end up another Nyjer Morgan.

Tim Alderson: his below-average velocity will hurt and they feel his chances of ever becoming an impact player are slim.

Charlie Morton: they believe his 5.43 ERA will improve but only slightly and that because of his age and skillset they don't believe any significant improvement will follow.

Kevin Hart: their scouts believe he is destined to pitch out of the bullpen and that he doesn't have the stuff to be a MLB starter

Ronny Cedeno: their summary of his skills are that of a valuable utility player or starting SS but only on a second-division team.

In summary, they don't feel as if we got much in return for our players and likened our deals to a garage sale which basically involves trading our junk for someone else's junk.  GIGO: garbage-in, garbage-out.

It has become readily apparent that we lack any power at the infield corners when Jones plays RF.  Pearce, Moss, and LaRoche simply have no extra-base hit power and it's killing us.  I certainly hope management allows Walker a chance to play 3B, Jones at 1B; and Tabata in RF so we can try to inject some offense into the lineup.  This would at least allow us to try other permutations in the lineup in an attempt to finally score some runs.  I'm fine with the rest of the guys, although I would like to dump Doumit but I doubt his perceived value is very high and so we would be trading at the bottom of his value.  We need to monitor his hitting closely and if he even remotely begins to have a half-year like Nady then dump him quickly.  I just don't think he adds much to the lineup.  Jaramillo is a capable backup and together with our AAA catchers provide adequate catching.  Oh, yeah...ditto for Capps.  If he has a couple of good months I think we should dump him, too.

The Pirate broadcasters last night were talking about this being Pearce's last chance to prove himself believing that management will bring up Clement in September and then give him a chance to play 1B for the remainder of the season.  I think I am willing to give up on Pearce believing that he just doesn't have it and so I hope they are correct and that management does allow Clement a chance to play in hopes of showing us what we can or cannot expect from him next season.  It sure would be fun to see him perform well because it would give us all something to talk about during the off-season and provide plenty of fuel for fantasy fans.

I was very pleased to read that the Pirates had spent so much money in signing bonuses but somewhat confused to learn that we were at the bottom in total signees.  One would think that because of all of the uncertainty surrounding the potential of young talent that it would be in our best interests to draft and sign as many prospects as possible realizing that most of them will never reach the parent club.  Has management said why they chose not to play the numbers game and concentrate just on signing so few players?

Should management consider bringing up Alvarez, Tabata, Walker and giving them a chance to see if they are ready for MLB pitching?  How much longer are we going to give Moss, Pearce, LaRoche to try to develop into hitters with a little pop in their bats?  We have almost no extra-base hit ability, which coupled with a weakend defense and generally poor pitching, has caused the Pirates to be both boring and lousy.  What will it take for management to try something new?  I can't believe we are going to be force-fed this collection of stiffs for the remaining 50 games with no changes.  Can we trade Neil?

7 hits and no runs in the past 18 innings at Coors Field all the while giving up 19 runs.  We're now 22 games under .500 and things are getting worse instead of better.  It seems as if we are no better than a AAA team when McCutchen and Jones aren't hitting.  Plus, our pitching is deteriorating--both starting and relieving.  I've looked and looked trying to find a bright side, something upon which I can pin my hopes, but I just don't see it.  Karstens is dead; Maholm is on life-support, Duke is beginning to resemble himself from last year, and Capps is throwing batting practice...and that's the good news.  I can't tell if Jones or Young can continue to hit or if they are just  aberrations; Doumit never did return to his previous self;  only Cedeno and LaRoche have lived up to expectations; and will somebody please shoot both Moss and Pearce so we can all be put our of our misery and give their playing time to the guys in Indy?

Enough is enough.  Please quit whining about "having" to leave the Pirates and the City of Pittsburgh you "loved" so much.  Nobody stuck a gun to your heads and refused to allow you to sign your lucrative 2-year contracts offered by NH.  The reason you two were traded is because you demanded more money than management felt they could afford to pay you.  It wasn't that you weren't wanted.  So, please quit telling the PPG press and anybody else who will listen how badly you wanted to stay in Pittsburgh but you couldn't do so because they insulted you with their offer.  I wish someone would insult me with a 2-year contract for $10 million dollars.

McLouth	Gorkys Hernandez OF
	Charlie Morton SP
	Jeff Locke
Nady	Jose' Tabata OF
Marte	Dan McCutchen SP
	Jeff Karstens SP
	Ross Ohlendorf SP
Bay	Andy LaRoche 3B
	Bryan Morris SP
	Craig Hansen RP
	Branden Moss OF
LaRoche	Hunter Strickland SP
	Argenis Diaz SS
Morgan	Lastings Milledge OF
Burnett	Joel Hanrahan RP
Hinske	Casey Erickson RP
	Eric Fryeer OF
Wilson	Jeff Clement C
Snell	Ronnie Cedeno SS
	Aaron Pribanic P
	Brett Lorin P
	Nathan Adcock P
Sanchez	Tim Alderson P

I had to create an Excel spreadsheet just to be able to track all of the players going/coming.  So far, the only trade I'm upset over is the Jason Bay deal in which everyone got what they wanted but us.  I really think NH got taken to the woodshed on that one but the rest of his deals sort of make sense and I'm willing to support him.  However, I will watch closely to see how he spends the money saved by not having to pay LaRoche, Sanchez, Wilson, and Snell next year.  Assuming he properly reinvests the money then I guess I'm ok with his deals.  I just wish he hadn't  traded Snell who I believe will prosper.