Pittsburgh Pirates

For all of the doubters, take a look at where the Pirates' overall organizational depth is right now compared to where it was at this point three seasons ago.

While it doesn't currently show at the major league level, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington and staff have done a tremendous job of loading up the organization with young talent.

The Pittsburgh Pirates spent nearly $9 million to draft two high school pitchers, Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie. Throw in $2.6 million for 16-year old Mexican Luis Heredia, and the total tops $11 million.

Less than half of first round draft choices become established players (playing more than a few games) in the majors. For long shots like high school or teenage pitchers, the chances may be as little as one in three.

Sometimes the best roster moves are cutting the ones that DON'T belong on the roster. Such a move was the dumping of former Pirates' catcher Ronnie Paulino.

Paulino was just suspended for 50 games for substance abuse. While he appears to be contrite about the matter, and perhaps honestly didn't believe that his weight-loss drug was not banned, he is now an embarrassment to his team.

Fortunately, that team will no longer be the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chan-Ho Park has been their most inconsistent pitcher so far of the year, posting a 10.80 ERA in five games for the Bucs.

Before he was claimed by the team, he was pitching with an ERA of 5.60 with the New York Yankees.

Manager John Russell and his team hoped that the veteran could turn things around and be effective out of the bullpen like he was when Park was with the NL Pennant winning Philadelphia Philles.

As a Pittsburgh Pirates fan myself, the last thing I want to do is throw a wet towel on a great week.

With the signings of Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and Luis Heredia, the Pirates have added three power arms.

They signed the best American high school arm, arguably the second best American arm, and the top international arm of 2010.

For a team like the Pirates, this is a major step in the right direction. Every year they get slammed for not spending money at any level.

What can Brown do for you? For the Pirates, they can certainly do a lot; the Buccos finished off their horrendous six game road trip, mailing in the final game. 

To describe the play of the franchise over the past three games doesn't even reach the disparaging label of "going through the motions." Houston fans raved about how they wish they could play the Pirates every game, as the Pirates finished their final series with the Astros by finishing a dismal 0-9 in Houston.

Ryan Doumit is not the X-factor that the Pirates want him to be. It is that plain and simple.

Doumit is serviceable with his bat when he is a catcher. He is a defensive nightmare this year at catcher though.

They decided he should try the field and put him at first base. His .257 average, eight home runs, and 34 RBI are very average for a first baseman.

Dan McCutchen throws hard. Maybe too hard. That could be why he can't seem to last long enough in games to be a viable starter.

McCutchen reminds me a little of a Baltimore Orioles kid from a few years back named Adam Loewen. That 6'5'' lefty was a hard thrower who struck out nearly one batter an inning, and was basically unhittable for up to four innings. But by no later than the fifth, he would weaken, because he was tired. Beyond that, fughedaboutit.

James McDonald had a brilliant outing with six innings of shutout ball in his first appearance with the Pittsburgh Pirates. This caused one reader of my previous piece to fear that it might be a fluke. "I wouldn't get my hopes up yet," he wrote resignedly.

And his remark carried a point: Just because McDonald put up a Cy Young-caliber showing in his debut outing doesn't mean that he will be the next Cy Young candidate.

But it's not devoid of meaning, either, because the Pirates have already gotten more than they could reasonably expect.

Not that it matters much for the rest of the season, but the last two months could go a long way to determine jobs for next season. One job being auditioned for is next year's closer between Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek.

Both have had outstanding seasons in set-up roles. Meek made the All-Star team. Hanrahan leads the entire team in strikeouts, despite throwing only 48.1 innings on the season.

You can make a strong case for both; I will make my case for Hanrahan.