Pittsburgh Pirates

Reality can really be a drag at times. Especially when your reality is that of a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. For almost two decades now they have suffered at the hands of mismanagement, cheap ownership and doing whatever they can to pass off a group of Quadruple-A players (some not even that advanced) as a major league ball club.

That’s not what any organization’s fan base deserves. Especially one with as rich a history as Pittsburgh’s.

Earlier this week, the Pirates lost their 82nd game of the season, thus assuring that their record will be under .500 at season's end.

Astute fans have noticed that this is no ordinary losing season--this is the Pirates' 17th consecutive year of mediocrity.

Perhaps it is unpopular with the fans and the players in the clubhouse, but no one can accuse Pittsburgh Pirates' General Manager Neal Huntington of being without vision and purpose.

Huntington, who has recently been almost vilified in Pittsburgh by fans and players who have nothing but disdain for his trades of popular major league players for high-ceiling talents and loads of prospects, maintains that he knows exactly what he's doing.

A quick note before I begin.  I will only be looking at players selected within 10 picks of each Pirate pick.  Keep that in mind when you read this.  At the end of the article I will put together the Pirates 2009 Opening Day roster with the adjusted picks.

It all started in 1997 when the Pirates, with the 8th overall pick, selected J.J. Davis.  Davis was an OF from California who was a 3-sports star.  He also had scholarship offers from USC (Basketball), and Oregon State (Football). 

Buy low, sell high.

It's a maxim that serves Wall Street investors well, and over the test of time, it has proven true in baseball as well.

When Mark Shapiro of the Indians traded Bartolo Colon and got Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Lee Stevens, he was bashed mightily by Indians fans. How could they give up on Bartolo Colon? He was coming off of two consecutive 200-strikeout years! And all they got were prospects?! They got hosed!

Or at least that's what the fanbase thought.

How do you think that trade looks to Cleveland now?

You know, I have a lot of respect for Pittsburgh Pirates fans. I really do. They have had nothing to be happy about for the past 17 years. The pitching has been awful, offense mediocre, and front-office moves questionable. And then, of course, the losing season after losing season.

But this year really might have been the one. There was a definite chance that this team could finish at .500, maybe a game or two over.

John Paul Morosi of FOX Sports is reporting today that the Minnesota Twins are interested in three Pirates: 2B Freddy Sanchez, closer Matt Capps, and lefty setup man John Grabow.

This has nothing to do with Wilson's baseball abilities, which are basically average. But he is stellar in another respect that is often overlooked: citizenship. Pirate greats like Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell weren't just great ball players, they were great human beings as well.

Clemente died at the tragically young age of 39 in a plane crash while personally flying relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Stargell's contributions are a bit less dramatic, but he has been active in local charities since retiring from baseball.

After watching his club trade away three more players on Tuesday, Jack Wilson questioned when the continued practice of trading proven players for "good prospects" was finally going to pay off.

"The biggest question is, when do things start turning around? It's hard for guys who have seen these exact kinds of trades happen before and seen it do absolutely nothing," Wilson told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  "For nine years, I've seen these trades two or three times a year, every year, and we still haven't had a winning season."