Understanding the Pirates

Alright. I have had enough. I am sick and tired of hearing about how our organization sucks and we aren't going anywhere. I am sick of seeing people write over and over again that we are never going anywhere with these trades. I am tired of hearing that we are getting nothing in return for these players. Maybe this will help ease your minds.

First of all, as I have seen written only a few times in the past months since the start of the season, GM Neal Huntington and President Frank Coonelly are trying to right the ship. All I hear is how we have been rebuilding for the past 16 years, which is the farthest from the truth. We have been stupid. We finally have some guys in the front office that want to make this team win and the fans are not letting them do this. I understand the questioning, but step back for a second and look at the whole picture.

It took the Penguins five years from start to finish to go from last to first. It required some heartache and a ton of fan loyalty. We almost lost the team to another city as well as bankruptcy as well. We gave up all of our veteran players that weren't going to carry the team anymore for some good prospects. Not all the prospects panned out, but no GM is perfect. They have to take chances. The point is that they got the job done with the continued support of our fans. It is a necessary evil to get a winning team back on the ice.

The same thing is going to happen with the Pirates. The difference is that we have to ignore the 15 years leading up to the leadership change. We have to act as though they never existed. The reason for this is because those leaders weren't building a team, they were just putting enough guys on the field to play. They never drafted well, they never built up a minor league system. They never did anything to make a better team.

Now, we have the leadership to do just that. They are almost like starting a new franchise. They have to rebuild a minor league system first. This is accomplished by learning to draft well. Drafting well requires a plan on what kind of team you want. For example, if you haven't noticed, we are currently trying to build a great pitching, great defending team. We are designing our team with less power and more base hits and speed. Once you have your plan, which this one is the first plan in 15 years, you can start drafting better. They are also forced to trade their current veterans for a couple potential prospects while their stocks are high. This is very necessary to get the minors up to par with the rest of the league.

My overall point to this post is to tell the fans that they have to treat the team as they did the Penguins when they were down and out. Support them any way you can. Trust the leadership for once and be patient. It isn't going to happen overnight. The current leadership has had a year and a half of rebuilding from the ground up. Trust me when I say that we are on the right track. It may not seem like it now, but what do you expect? Would you rather have five more years of mediocre seasons, not making the playoffs and keeping all the fan favorites, or would you want a perennial winning team in the division with a possible deep playoff run in a couple years while getting all kinds of new blood in the system? You tell me what is better.

Now, I figure I will be hearing it for this one, but the only people that respond in a negative nature truly don't understand what is going on here. The supporters are true fans that know what is going on. I just wish that the supporters outnumbered the anti-Pirate 'fans'. We will get a number of bandwagon jumpers when we finally turn the corner and I can't wait to say I stuck with my team through it all and was positive the whole time.