Pirates Start Second Half of 2009 Headed in the Wrong Direction.
We all know the major’s only sixth place team is expected to have a difficult second half. We also expect there to be a revolving door at the PNC Park for the next few weeks. The Pirates seem to be getting worse instead of better as they’re 61-95 since last year’s All Star Game. The players they have traded away this season are performing better for their new teams. The players the Bucs have received in trades since last season have yet to produce much in the majors, and most the players are still trying to find their way in the minors. While the process of trading players for younger prospects looks good on paper, you actually have to get good players in return, something the Pirates haven’t proven they’ve done. If they trade 3 or 4 more of their establish players, chaos will reign at PNC Park.
So what else is new? No matter how much change there is on paper, the fact remains that this is still a Nutting team; an organization that’s been making big bucks over the last few years, while fielding a AAA team. As long as the non-baseball fans continue to flood PNC park, there will be no end to this travesty. People talk about the need for a cap in MLB. What would make better sense for this situation, is if MLB passed a minimum payroll requirement, like 80 mil. or so. Then you’d see the Pirates up for sale real quick, maybe even to a (dare I say it) legitimate baseball-person owner.