I always get in trouble when I criticize the Pirates, but...

You can never accuse Pirate fans of being apathetic... at least not the ones who read what I write. As I've said before, I like the Pirates and want them to do well. And I hope that Neal Huntington helps assemble a winner and Clint Hurdle manages them back to the post season.

But whenever I point out that their trades have left something to be desired or the team doesn't look that good for next year, MAN do I get hate mail.

My article for The Hardball Times got a FLURRY of people trashing me for insinuating that the Pirates weren't in great shape and that GM Neal Huntington's trades have been a mixed bag at best.

So I tip toe cautiously in pointing out something bad again... but I can't help it.

Zach Duke was designated for assignment. He's gone. If they get anything in a trade for him, it will essentially be the equivalent of a bag of donuts.

Andy LaRoche is also heading out the door. Now I understand the economy of baseball (and the economy for that matter) and that Huntington had to clear some roster spaces.

But man I couldn't help but think of one trade that was made and one that wasn't... and more missed opportunities to make the Pirates better.

In 2008, Jason Bay was a prime trade chip. The Red Sox thought highly enough of him to make him Manny Ramirez's replacement.

The Dodgers thought highly enough about Ramirez to deal for him and sell lots of tickets and Dreadlock wigs.

And the Pirates got LaRoche... a young right handed third baseman who did exactly nothing in the bigs. They also got Brendan Moss and Craig Hansen, both busts and Bryan Morris who hasn't exactly impressed in AA.

All for Bay.

Meanwhile Duke, who looked like a young potential ace in 2005, had his ups and downs. But by 2009 he was eating up innings and pitching to a good ERA. He was a 26 year old left handed pitcher on the All Star team.

If he wasn't going to be a cornerstone for the franchise, I bet he would have been a good trade chip.

I wonder if any team could have used a young left handed starter in the 2009 stretch run. Are teams EVER looking for young left handed starting pitching?

Oh yeah. ALL the time.

So instead of dealing him... or making him part of their long term plans... they did neither and will get gotch for him.

This reminds me of Matt Capps, the Pirates reliever who Pittsburgh let walk away at age 25.

The got absolutely nothing for him.
But 1/2 a season later, the Nationals were able to flip him for Wilson Ramos... a catcher who is just about ready for the bigs.

So once again, I shake my head at the praise of Neal Huntington.
He blew the Jason Bay deal.
He botched Matt Capps.
And he wasn't able to turn Zach Duke into anything.

OTHER teams can pull off trades, but the Pirates can't for some reason.
OTHER teams can get talent back, but not Pittsburgh.

Now I will no doubt get a ton of negative comments for this post and I am expecting it.

And I'll get a lot of revisionist history.
"Bay has been a flop with the Mets!"

Yup. But nobody knew that in 2008... and Bay wasn't a flop in Boston.

"Duke fell apart after the 2009 All Star Break."
But nobody knew that in 2009 when he was young, left handed and pitching to an ERA in the 3's.

Unfortunately like before I have facts on my side.

I want to see the Pirates succeed. And maybe Huntington will build a good team through the draft.

But wouldn't it help if he made a good trade or two?

Maybe I'm wrong.

My first article for The Hardball Times

Today at The Hardball Times I have posted my first article. It's about the Pirates and no doubt Pirate fans will hate me for it because I imply that they weren't good last year and that there is no excuse for 18 straight losing seasons.

Shooting the messenger will be in the cards today.

CLICK HERE to give it a read.
I'll be doing articles for them from time to time.

But don't worry. I'll be writing Sully Baseball every day as well.

Circling the bases with Bill Mazeroski 50 years ago

Today is the 50th anniversary of Bill Mazeroski's homer that ended the 1960 World Series. I've seen pictures and clips of it since I was a kid. And I've always been struck by something in this famous celebration picture.

There were kids running up to congratulate Mazeroski. There were also his teammates. Then there is a blue collar guy right behind Mazeroski.

Then... there's this guy.

The guy in the suit and tie, running along side the kids.

The guy dressed like someone who should be at work that Thursday afternoon.

The guy who is balding with a bit of a belly, but is as happy as can be rushing the field.

These days, they get the tazer gun out when you rush the field.

Back then? You can be a business man and no one will stop you.

It's an early 60s business man. Clearly not a Don Draper, but possibly Freddy Rumsen (before he peed his pants.)

I figured out that in 1960, this guy was probably old enough to remember the 1925 World Championship season for the Pirates and the 1927 NL Pennant winners... and probably never thought he'd see another Pirates champion again.

And when they did win... he was a kid again.

He's probably not with us anymore, but if he did pass, he no doubt savored the Pirates titles in 1971 and 1979.

I wonder what he expected to do when he caught Bill and was part of the group hug at home plate?

Watch the video of the homer... you can see him at third base and running right into the scrum.

If you know who he is... shoot me an e mail at info@sullybaseball.com.

The Pirates should TRY to sign Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is going to be a free agent at the end of this year and it is a foregone conclusion that he will resign with the Yankees.

He's given the Yankees 16 seasons and is only 102 hits away from being the first Yankee to reach 3,000.

And of course he is the most beloved New York sports star in the last quarter century. (Seriously, who has come close?)

All of that being said... this should not be a free agency where he gets no other bids.

The Pirates need to throw in a bid.

Yup. I am dead serious.

So all of you Pirate fans who think I am picking on you guys... I am not. There is some logic to my insanity.

The Pirates have been bad for so long that there are Pirate fans who can legally buy a drink and have no memory of their team winning 82 games in a season... and not because they are drunk.

And guess what? That is now the identity of the team. In Buster Olney's great book The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, he wrote about Luis Sojo's brief time in Pittsburgh. Sojo was stunned how there was complacency in the clubhouse that they are simply not going to contend.

That was 10 seasons ago. They haven't come close to relevance since and are currently the worst team in baseball.

But as I wrote before, there is some hope for the 2011 team. They are cobbling together some nice talent, including Pedro Alvarez at third and an outfield of Jose Tabata, Andrew McCutchen and the grizzled 25 year old veteran Lastings Milledge. Plus there are some decent arms that are going through some growing pains.

I was thinking about teams that made and unexpected turn arounds over the years.
I can think of teams like the 1986 Red Sox... 1988 Dodgers... the 1991 Twins and Braves... the 2006 Tigers... the 2008 Rays.

Each of those teams had a new comer who had post season experience and simply wouldn't tolerate losing. And it rubbed off.

Don Baylor came into the Red Sox clubhouse and helped turn a fractured team into almost a World Series winner.

Kirk Gibson stormed out of the Dodgers spring training when he felt there was too much joking. He led by example and even homered when he couldn't walk.

The 1991 World Series was between teams that were in last place the year before. Charlie Liebrandt helped anchor Atlanta's rotation and Terry Pendleton had an MVP season sparking the line up. Meanwhile the Twins imported Jack Morris to the rotation and 10 innings in Game 7 later, the Twins were champs.

Jim Leyland turned the 2006 Tigers around with some help from Pudge Rodriguez, who started the change in the culture a few years prior.

And importing some veterans like Cliff Floyd transformed Tampa from the laughing stock of baseball to a pennant winner.

Now of course each of these teams won because their talent clicked... but you can point to those veterans who helped turn the proverbial rag tag bunch of also rans into contenders.

Which brings us to the Pirates.
They desperately need someone to help change the culture and stop the "They haven't been above .500 since 1992" clock.

They need someone to tell Milledge and Alvarez how to play the game and not let the Pirates be content with losing.

And we're not even pining for a World Series winner. An 82-80 record will get the monkey off their back.

Who commands more respect than Jeter?
Who do you think would be LESS tolerant of a clubhouse that has all the peppiness of a Droopy cartoon?

The players would play UP to his level... or at least try to the same way any of us try to do a good job when someone we respect is watching us.

The Pirates NEED to go into this free agency period and put in an offer for him and do it publicly.

Now do the Pirates have a shot?
Of course not. Jeter is a Yankee for life. We all know it. And the Yankees will out bid the Pirates in a matter of nanoseconds.

And in the end the Pirates won't have to spend the money they bid.
But at least it would be a positive gesture.

And telling their fans "We see what part of the problem is" is a start.

(But man, wouldn't it be cool to see him in Gold and black?)