It's been a while since I've posted here.  I still read from time to time, but the offseason loses my interest some as other sports grab my attention.  Well, I'll cut the chit-chat and get to the point.

Here is the outlook I see for the Pirates going forward

• Neal Huntington was hired as the GM of the Pirates following the 2007 season
• In his 3+ years of being GM he has

1. Traded away most of our team receiving a mixed-bag of prospects in return
2. Avoided signing high-priced aging free agents (notable exception - Aki Iwamura)
3. Spent a total of 30,599,800 on the draft over the last 3 years - highest in the majors (not to mention  a big international signing - Heredia)
   

• By doing all this

1. The Pirates have been abysmal, especially last year
2. Which in turn gives us the first overall pick in next years draft
3. Allowing us to continue stockpiling talent into our substantially deeper (compared to 2007) farm system

• Going forward we can expect to

1. Be only marginally better, considering no free agent signings or impact farmhands looking to come up in 2011, at least to make a major impact
2. But improvement will still be key as McCutchen, Tabata, Walker, and Alvarez will be going into their 1st (or 2nd in McCutchen's case) full big league season.

• From our farm system we can expect to see

1. Brad Lincoln make it back to the majors, and guys like Bryan Morris, Jeff Locke, Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, and Tony Sanchez will all (hopefully) see action at the top of the minor leagues or even in the big leagues before season's end
2. Even more talent injected into the farm system with another high draft pick in next years (2012) June draft.
3. Low minor's talent to percolate up through the farm system, which if in turn is replenished through the draft and international signing will give us a deep system and a system with ML ready talent (think a pyramid - the wider and stronger the base of the pyramid, the "better" the top can be)
   

• Since unfortunately 2011 should be another down year, when might hope arrive?
• 2012

1. When McCutchen will be in his 3rd full season and Walker, Tabata, and Alvarez will be in their 2nd full season - BIG but often understated factors (players need to mature and learn the ML game - another full year should help all four players
2. When Brad Lincoln will be ready to be ML pitcher and James McDonald may have come into his own.
3. When guys like Morris, Wilson, Locke, and Owens may be ready out of spring training (if they come up June of 2011) or be ready by June to contribute. Guys like Lambo and D'arnaud may be ready as well
   
4. When all of these factors together may encourage NH to get a significant piece in the free agent market

• However the real party begins in 2013

1. When McCutchen (4th full season) and Walker, Tabata, and Alvarez (3rd full) will be entering their primes
2. When optimistically Taillon, Sanchez, Marte, and Rendon will be ready to make impacts in the major leagues
3. When NH sees the core in place and is more compelled to add an extra piece or two to the puzzle

• But NH keeps talking about a Dynasty? What happens when these core players start inching closer to free agency?

1. We may resign some of them - McCutchen for example
2. Or we may trade them - Alvarez should command a high price in his prime, giving NH the opportunity to get returns better than what he could get with the likes of Jason Bay etc.
3. And then we replace them from our farm system - I'll just put a list of guys out of I haven't mentioned that should/could be legit prospects in the high minors going into 2013-2014 -               Allie, Heredia, Von Rosenberg, Cain, Stevenson, Dodson, Mel Rojas, Cayonez, Kingham, Grossman, and few/several guys from the 2011 and 2012 draft. 
   

So, it may still be a few years, which may make it sound like another 5 year plan doomed to fail, but I believe the depth that has been created in the Pirate's minor league system will ensure ultimate success.  Be patient and enjoy the ride starting as early as next year, just don't give up hope when the line is long and we miss it this year.