Vitals:
| PITTSBURGH PIRATES (44-50) | LHP PAUL MAHOLM (6-5, 3.93 ERA) |
| COLORADO ROCKIES (39-57) | RHP UBALDO JIMENEZ (4-9, 4.22 ERA) |
| Game Time | GAME #95 - 9:05 EDT |
| XM | XM 185 |
| TV | FSNP |
Second Half:
I don't know why, but calling it the second half has always annoyed me. It is the 95th game of a 162 game season. How is this the start of the second half?
Post-All Star Break:
The next couple weeks should determine what the Pirates will look like in the near future. In the next two weeks, the Pirates will play at Colorado (4), at Houston (3) before returning home for San Diego (4) and Colorado (3). These are 4 series the Pirates could very well win and possibly change the minds of management that is looking to deal Nady, Marte and a host of others in an attempt to rebuild the franchise top to bottom.
If the team responds with something near a 10-4 run, the team is back to .500 and could be considered part of the wild card hunt. Will this change the minds of management, or possibly ownership who wants to prove he is wanting to win?
The key part, this all happens prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. A second key, this could be this first season in recent memory without a June/July swoon.
So, does this change the minds of Coonley and Huntington? Do they go for the winning season or stick to their guns to fix the minors? My bet is on fixing the minors. Both are good baseball men who know the importance of building a strong farm system. Ownership on the other hand will want to see what could happen hoping for the elusive winning season in Pittsburgh.
If no deals happen and the team wins, Nutting is the one putting the nix on any potential deals. Is this good or bad? At least the Pirates wouldn't rewrite the record books, but the franchise will hurt in the long haul. Nady will never be more valuable than he is now. Bay may never be more valuable. Marte is likely a class A free agent, which will at least fetch a few draft picks after his option is not renewed.
While I would like nothing more than to see this team with a winning record, it is more important for this franchise to fix itself. Let's hope Nutting keeps his hands off and let the experts do their jobs.
New Format:
I have been wanting to post more often, trying to find time and do the daily Pre-Game posts and get my thoughts online were becoming more and more difficult. Let me know what you think of this format.
Links:
The latest Pittsburgh Pirates Round Table is up at MVN.
Visit the BTW Forum to discuss this post.
Register for the forum here:http://forum.bucstradewinds.net/index.cgi?action=register
No comments:
Post a Comment