Is this really happening? Did we really just eek 2 out of 3 from the Reds and win yet another series? Are we seriously in first place on July 20th? The short, and correct answer is yes. Yes it is, yes we did, yes we are. And thus we start the most important month of Pirate baseball in the last 20 years. The Cards, Braves, and Phillies looming large in the next couple weeks and if they can even manage to go .500 through that stretch it's looking like we have a legit shot.
So the big question arises in the Yinzer fan's mind... What do we do before the trade deadline? As I have mentioned before, we 'Burgh fans tend to have knee-jerk reactions to things, and for the most part this seems to be no different. People seem to want to go after a rental player almost as bad as they wanted to trade Fleury for a winger ten games into hockey season. And although it is tempting, I think it's a bad idea. Believe me, even I get a little excited thinking about names like Beltran or Willingham on the back of a Bucco Jersey, but I don't think we can afford to give up the prospects we would have to lose.
There are two ways of thinking about this, and I am definitely on the fence at times. You have to ask yourself; are we overachieving? Could this be our only shot? Maybe it's time to go big or go home. What if we try to stay the course and turn back into a 50 win team next year? It will seem like we blew our only shot to go after a big name. My goodness, for once we should be buyers at the deadline!!!
But then there's that other side. The side that says stay the course. Keep our prospects and watch them grow. You can't give away your future for a 3-month player. We are getting some guys back off the DL that should bolster what is right now a pretty shaky offense. Solidify th bullpen, hope the starters keep pitching the way they have all year, and ride the horses that got us here. The Walkers and McCutchens that we are loving so much this year could be the same prospects we could trade in the next ten days. In my opinion this season has already been a huge success and we should stay the course.
They told us for years that building the farm system was the way to go, and we waited, usually impatiently as we put a bad baseball team on thefield year after year. Now it turns out they might not have been bullshitting us as much as we thought. So I hope they decide to pass on the big fancy name and keep the young talent. It's gotten us this far and it should only get better. And I now that I personally would rather see a solid future than one big push. Ask yourself this; Would you trade one good playoff run for 18 more losing seasons? I know I wouldn't.
Sir:
ReplyDeleteA lot of what I call 'bandwagon fans' want to add a bat to solidify our lineup, or at least make it a little bit below average offense. These are the same fans that watched 10 games in the past 18 years and don't care about the future of the ball club because they just won't watch them again when they are bad. Those of us that have suffered through the bad times don't want to make a trade that might put us into the playoffs this year but put us back in rebuilding mode for the next 5 years. Everybody wants to see the buccos in the playoffs (and why wouldn't you) but it might be entirely too soon. If we add a good bat like Beltran that's still not going to make us a World Series team no matter how you look at it. Keep the core of the team going (meaning resign them always and forever) and continue to develop the talent in the system that will one day make us that World Series competitor. Even if the team tanks and never has a run like this again I'd rather take my chances on that not happening than adding a bat for one year and still lose in the wild card or divisional rounds.