2008:67

2009: 67

2010: 57

2011: 72

2012: 73 (Currently)

Those numbers indicate the amount of wins by season the Pirates have accrued. There's no guarantee that the Pirates will win the desired 82 (or 81) this year, but there are still 17 games to be played. Even if the Pirates go 4-13 over that span, they will have improved their win total by 6 from last year to this year.

There's no reason to think that next year won't bring even more of an improvement. The Pirates will still have McCutchen, still have Walker, still have Alvarez. Yes, there will be potential losses (Hanrahan, Grilli), but hopefully there will be upgrades (upgrades over the likes of Barmes, Barajas).

Zooming out for a second, let's look at the Pirates from 2013-2015. Not specifically at 2015, but that 3 year range. The Pirates will still have McCutchen, Walker, and Alvarez. They also could and should see contributions from some part of the set of names containing (in no order), Marte, Sanchez, Locke, Cole, Taillon, Wilson, Morris, Black, Curry, Dickerson, Polanco, and Hanson, not to mention two first round picks in the 2013 draft. Notice I said "some part"; not all of the names on the list will pan out, but there is serious potential in that group and a large enough sample size that the Pirates will receive meaningful contributions from the farm system over the next few years.

Granted, 2015 will/would be Neal Huntington's 8th season at the helm of the Pirates. A strong argument can be made that a 8 year turnaround is too long. That said, we're about to finish year 5 and go into year 6. It's too late to hope for a quick turnaround. We're at where we're at. Maybe it's time for a change when it comes to the front office. At this point, I won't argue against that. As long as Neal Huntington's or his successor doesn't royally screw it up, the Pirates will find success and it'll be on the backs of the Pirates current talent supplemented by the farm system, a farm system I truly believe in.

I'm not worried. 2012 was a success and 2013 and on will bring even more success.