and a good place to admit I was completely wrong about Duffy.

and tell me how much $ now comes off the books next year? And count Matt Morris.

I don’t know, there’s just something about Duffy and Osoria being pointed towards the egress, if not through it, that has the whiff of Turning The Corner about it.

Let’s not fool ourselves; the Pirates haven’t put themselves in position to be playing in October 2009. They are arguably further from that than they were on July 22. But Huntington wasn’t going to have the opportunity to put the team in a place where that was a realistic option. So he’s done what he could, and what has he done? He’s traded 3 guys that we’ve won 73 games a year with, and were going to lose after winning 76 games in 2009, and replaced them with 8 guys—two of whom are hugely legit prospects, a few of whom are likely to be solid, a few of whom are … how does one say it?... intriguing.

Like any trade, it’s going to take a while to evaluate. This and the Nady trade. But this is where tomorrow starts. The merits of these trades - and I’m bullish on the Bay trade, slightly less so on Nady/Marte - is almost beside the point. It’s the philosophy they represent.

There’s one player left from the Pirates who opened PNC. Otherwise, this is a new club. I don’t know what comes next. But that’s OK. Last year on July 31, I was shaking with rage; other years, just disappointment. This year, there’s just nothing but road ahead. Morris, Paulino - gone. Duffy, Osoria - DFA’d. Gorzo, sent to the minors when he started to suck, even though the result has been a parade of horribles. Bay, Nady, Marte, traded for potential—not present-day mediocrity.

Nothing but road ahead; off we go.