Brewer Nation SPS '08: Pittsburgh Pirates

By: Big Rygg

Pittsburgh Pirates
2007 Record: 68-94
Last place in the NL Central

2007 Review

In their defense, the Pittsburgh Pirates did improve on their 2006 record. However, they didn't improve a whole heckuva lot. They finished one game better. At that rate they'll break the 90-win barrier in 2029........that's a long way off.

The Pirates' longest losing streak (though they had streaks of 8 and 7 games as well) was a lengthy 9-gamer in September. They lost three games to the Cubs during the stretch which didn't help the Brewers at all. Save for back-to-back wins against the Diamondbacks on September 25th and 26th, they would've lost 15 straight to end the year.

Their best winning streak was a mere 5 games which they only accomplished once. Between April 22nd and April 27th, they beat the Dodgers once, swept Houston in a three game series and beat Cincinnati in the first game of a weekend set. They did have a handful of four-game winning streaks, but the fiver was their best in '07.

Comings and Goings

Last year I wrote about the Pirates' biggest off-season acquisition who was in the form of 1B Adam LaRoche. This year? Well, when your biggest-name acquisition is...um...Doug Mientkiewicz, maybe...yeah, let's just move on.

There were a couple of notable departures, however. Salomon Torres, the over-worked relief pitcher that actually began 2007 as the Pirates' closer, was traded to Milwaukee for some minor league players. Thanks, Pittsburgh!

The Rest of the Additions...

Hector Carrasco - RP
Elmer Dessens - RP
Casey Fossum - RP
Chris Gomez - SS
Byung-Hyun Kim - SP
Luis Rivas - 2B
Jorge Velandia - IF
Jaret Wright - SP

Those that left:

Tony Armas - SP
Jose Castillo - 3B
Shaun Chacon - SP
Humberto Cota - C
Brad Eldred - 1B
Cesar Izturis - SS
Matt Kata - RP
Don Kelly - UTIL
Dan Kolb - RP
Marty McLeary - RP
Josh Phelps - 1B
John Wasdin - RP

25 Man Roster

Click here to see the Pirates' 25 Man Roster. This will save space and reading time if you don't care.

Potential Starters

Here's the way I see the starting eight and five-man rotation as of opening day this season. This is not in batting order by any means.

C - Ronny Paulino
1B - Adam LaRoche
2B - Freddy Sanchez
3B - Jose Bautista
SS - Jack Wilson
LF - Jason Bay
CF - Nate McLouth
RF - Xavier Nady
P - Ian Snell
P - Tom Gorzelanny
P - Paul Maholm
P - Matt Morris
P - Zach Duke

Extras on Players

The only two differences between this list and last year's list (other than a reordering of the rotation) are that Tony Armas is gone from the team (having been replaced by Matt Morris whom the Pirates traded for during 2007) and that Freddy Sanchez is listed as the starting 2B. Castillo started 2B last year because Sanchez was hurt to start the year.

Therein lies my biggest concern with this team...they barely did anything to try to improve on a division-worst 68 wins.

X-Factor

Is there one? If anything this team's successes and failures will come down to their ability to produce runs. They've got a decent enough top of their rotation in Snell, Gorzelanny and Malholm. Morris is basically over the hill. If Zach Duke could regain part of the form he showed in 2005, this team would look a lot better still.

Having said all that, they'll need to produce runs to compete with anyone on most nights. Former All-Star Jason Bay had a down year and I think the team's performance as a whole reflected those struggles. If he rebounds, maybe the Pirates have a shot at 70 wins.

2008 Predictions

Record: 62-100

As I mentioned before, the Pittsburgh Pirates did nothing in the offseason to attempt to improve their ballclub. So why the fall back to becoming MLB's first 100-game losing ballclub since 2006? Well, the other teams in the division all improved themselves in certain areas, as did most other teams in baseball. Pittsburgh did not. If your opponents, you know those pesky teams that directly influence how many games you win, all get better and you don't...how would it be safe to assume that you'd do the same let alone better?

It wouldn't be.
 

Final Thoughts

It was my opinion last year, and it holds true today...the Bucs aren't close yet. In all fairness, they've probably regressed. Their young pitching is starting to come of age a bit more, and a lot of their limited success will ride on the arms of Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny. Unfortunately, those two (and maybe Paul Maholm), can't pitch complete games every other day...and even if they could, Pittsburgh still needs to find offense.

I'm still glad that the Pirates play in the Central.

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Agree/Disagree? As always, feel encouraged to leave comments.