It’s unacceptable to refuse to take advantage of opportunities to improve the organization so that it might contend in the future. Passing the McClatchy means achieving mediocrity! Why would this be a goal?

So far NH has shown himself to pretty sharp and he has a plan. I think he will trade Bay and Marte by 7/31 but only if he gets something for them that will help the future. “But an official of one team…My feeling is…” is just speculation. I think the sportswriter is helping this team to drive the price down on these guys.

I take that article with a grain of salt.

To me the worst case scenario was that they’d be hovering within reach of .500 but not be in the race. Since the Cubs and Cards (although I don’t see them lasting) have been way better than expected, the Pirates aren’t likely to get in contention. But if they don’t do their usual lay-down for the AL teams, they’ll probably stay within reach of .500. That leaves NH and Coonelly with the choice of trading players from a decent team. They can deny it all they want, but I have no doubt at all that breaking the losing streak is a major priority. So the end result could be a modified version of the usual McClatchy/DL foolishness of keeping the team together (or even worse, adding to it) for a big late-season run. Except instead of just hoping that a terrible team finishes well to save the GM’s job, they’ll be hoping that a team that’s not in contention can reach .500. Either way, the chances of ever contending drop once again.

Of course, if the AL teams, as usual, kick the Pirates around like a tin can, this will be a moot point. Then they’ll be facing the exact same scenario that their idiot predecessors faced every year. If they come to the same conclusion, we’ll know nothing at all has changed.

I guess I just think differently about this. The chances of the Pirates receiving something interesting for the future for any of these guys seem pretty remote to me. A few deals would look good (i.e. if we could get Kemp for Bay/Marte or something like that) but teams don’t trade good prospects anymore. I guess I just think that it’s more than likely that the packages won’t be great, and the guys we get back won’t be much of a part of the future anyway, so why not try to finish .500? I would love, from a selfish standpoint, to play somewhat meaningful games in August and September. Keep the team focused toward the real prizes, the draft and international scouting.

gives you any idea what our guys are worth, but the Mets picked up Trot Nixon from the Snakes for, AP says, cash or a PTBI. Well, actually from AAA Tucson. Sheesh, they could have done better (cough Nady cough).

If he wants to try and build a market by implying that we don’t need to deal, that’s fine with me. We’ll see whether he’s really serious about doing the right thing for the franchise (i.e. making a deal) when we get to the deadline.

Marte has pretty much been unstoppable for the last 2 years. Why would you trade him? I know we probably won’t be in the hunt at the end of the year, but .500 would be a good start for this team. The only two guys I would trade would be Nady and LaRoche (if anyone would want him).

this year and next may be as good as it gets for the Bucs for a long time. Maybe it is against the odds but if Snell and Gorzo start pitching the way they did last year and the rest of the team plays as they have we’d have a very competitive team; maybe not with the Cubs but we’d have a shot at a wild card slot.

I’d be all for a Bay/Marte-for-Kemp deal but I think it is very unlikely the Dodgers would go for that; would you if you were the Dodger GM? Kemp could easily be a superior player to Bay as early as next year. And the idea that another team will give us the type of prospect(s) we want with Nady as the center piece of the deal is simply wishful thinking, far less likely than the possiblity that the current crop will gel based upon the resurgence of Snell and Gorzo.

What might give Nady a little more value than he has now is if he can stay healthy the rest of the year and continue to perform at the level he has displayed so far this season. Any GM interested in him now would have to be concerned about his tendency to tail off the second half of the season and would, therefore, be unwilling to part with a prospect with much potential.

If they do indeed finish below .500, and it will only tie the Phillies’ record. Next year would be the record setter if they lose this year and next.