Another opinion from the crowd...

Regular reader, first time poster.  Since the bomb was dropped on all of us last night, people seem to have clearly split into one of two camps.  I've read a lot of good points on both sides of the argument.  Here are my thoughts....

Nate was a good player....but not a great player.  I loved him as a Pirate, and we'd be hard pressed to find anyone on here that didn't like the guy (Jim Tracy isn't a reader here, is he?).  But you have to take emotion out of the equation.  That's why we are fans and not running the team.  Nate was not going to make us a contender this year, or in 2010.  We are nowhere even remotely close yet. Be honest with yourself.  Jesse Chavez is our best reliever right now.  We have about 7 good players on our 25 man roster.  There are even less in Indy.  We need a ton more help.

Now the point that we didn't get enough in return is certainly valid.  I personally don't know anything about these 3 guys. And I can also buy the argument that we could have sat on this for a while and let multiple teams bid the price up.  That is fair.  But every argument that starts with "We have been a terrible organization for 16 years"...is completely pointless.  The last 16 years are gone.  We can't do anything about them right now....sunk cost.  Making baseball decisions in the present to somehow try and undo what different people in different situations did in the past is irrational. 

Every player needs to be assigned a value.  With a team in a position like we are in, if you think you are getting more value than you are giving up then you make the trade every time.  As some people have suggested, I would not be upset if Doumit goes next.  Again, try to think objectively and block any emotional attachment you have to Doumit. If another team would give us a similar deal with 2 of their top 10 prospects (probably not realistic for Doumit, but stay with me), I would take it in a heartbeat.  If we lose Doumit's bat, which like Nate also good but not great, and have to temporarily live with a fill-in like Jaramillio?  I think that is worth the minimal pain during a season or two when we already have no prayer, to help give us a legit chance in 3-4 years.

We live in an instant gratification society.  Everything is at our finger tips. Giving up a good player now for something that we won't have any return on for 3 years does not sit well with a lot of people.  But just ask yourself what your ultimate goal is?  Do you want us to ride the guys we have, and hopefully be an 85 win team who sneaks into the playoffs once ever 5 years?  I personally prefer the approach to stock pile talent, and try to build something special.  Look at what Tampa has done, why can't we?

And for all the angry people out there....why not get behind the organization?  We are all passionate Pirates fans or we wouldn't be here.  Current management has NOTHING to do with the pain that has been caused in the past.  Let me say that again. Current management has NOTHING to do with the pain that has been caused in the past. (This is meant to be said about 4 more times in a row like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting).  Since neither you nor I have any idea how things are going to pan out....why not take the optimistic approach?  I think you’ll be happier people in general if you at least consider what could be, instead of automatically saying this can't be.

Let's go Bucs