Alright, call me crazy, but I watched and attended an awful lot of pirates games this past season and I think this team has some fight. Yes I am well aware of their 17-37 finish,  BUT that does not translate into a 17-37 start for next season. If it does then there will be a huge fire sale, needless to say of course.

         I have a lot of faith in the new management team, I think the Xavier Nady-Damaso Marte deal was an absolute steal. Jose Tabata is a budding superstar, Ohlendorf has hit 97 on the gun, scouts like Dan McCutchen, and lest we forget Jeff Karstens took a perfect game 7.2 innings! Karstens slumped after said game and had PNC Park-itis, but that should not overshadow such a feat. Ohlendorf had trouble at the very end but the experience should help him a good deal.  Marte concluded his stay with the Yanks posting a gentleman's 5.40 ERA and Nady finished his stead with .268 avg 62 points lower than what it was in Pittsburgh. With that in mind us getting anything would make this deal a win. I like both of those guys and hope they rebound but just once I'd like NY to look really bad in a trade. The Bay deal was flop. Moss appears to be the odd man out in a crowded outfield and only hit .222. Andy LaRoche, well .... he did not so well.  Hansen was utter failure despite a great BAA (low .200s i believe). Bryan Morris will take a while to come up.  Jason Bay has only been a colossal win thus far for the Boston postseason.

          Alright, now comes  the optimism. Let's start with the outfield: Nyjer Morgan long been labeled a Quad A prospect for his success in the minors and failure in the bigs hit .347 upon return in late august. He stay within 50 points of that next season he's a lock for the start. Pearce showed some power late but the outfield is crowded so he is a longshot at this point. McLouth looked strong and his numbers would've been even stronger had he not wore down in the stretch, lock to start. Brandon Moss needs surgery but is not supposed to take as long as expected probably won't be ready opening day but who knows. Jason Michaels is likely to come back on the bench. McCutchen will need a strong spring training for management to start his clock, he'll probably come up in May/June or sept sepending on how well he plays. Probable Starters LF Morgan CF McLouth RF Moss 60% Pearce 10% McCutchen 30 %.

           Infield: 1B Adam Laroche hit .341 since the end of June and if he can snap his april slump heads will turn. I think this could be his breakout year, I really do. Sanchez will come out strong and hit over .310 easy he finished very strong. I think he was hurt at the start of the season, he'll rebound. Andy LaRoche was touted by the Dodgers for a reason, what that reason is we have yet to find out. Management would be foolish not to give him a shot, but we'll see if he makes any noise. Mientkiewicz will be approached with a contract, but with his strong finish (330 or 340 I think during second half) he could be offered a starting job/more money elsewhere so he's iffy. Gomez is gone. Management "claims" to have no plans to trade wilson but many doubt that. If he doesn't get traded it will be because his stock may be at an all time low for hitting a very avg .272 last season and missing half of it. I have a feeling he'll be back though. Cruz and Bixler were garbage which makes a trade of wilson likely go after a AAA SS which would be kinda dumb. Probable Starters: 1B LaRoche 2B Sanchez SS Jack Wilson 50-50 (trade 40% within 10%) 3B LaRoche

            Pitching: Okay I'm gonna lose some people here but with what I'm going to say I'm not surprised. No I'm not calling for Johnny V to win Cy Young, but I am expecting a lot of rebounds. Ian Snell showed a few signs of goldenness (word?) he'll look like he did in 06 and 07 more than he did in 08. Gorzelanny and Duke, especially Duke, are great, but they lack toughness. How many times did Zach come out with a perfect game through 3 innings explode in the fourth and finish with a line 4 IP 5 ER or worse? The Pirates are looking for high end options for their new pitching coach (It was in the Post-Gazette a few weeks ago I forget who they mentioned but they were impressed)  who could help him with that. Gorzo had a great stint in AAA and came back with 2 straight starts against red hot Milwaukee and then even hotter Houston. I know you have to pitch against the best, but not coming back from exile! Look what happened to Brett Myers. I was at the late May game with Phil Dumatrait against Myers and he looked awful, and look at him now! Maholm will need overcome the curse of the pirates ace and I think he's in the best position to do so. He is very consistant and much tougher than the rest of the staff. I think those four are a very solid bunch with potential to be like the Rays rotation, more or less. The fifth is likely to go to Dan McCutchen or Kastens. The loser will go to AAA or Long Relief I think Ohlendorf will go back to Mid Relief in the bullpen as will Dumatrait where they will excel. Some guys are just relief pitchers. Grabow will play set up and Capps is closer, those are easy. TJ Beam despite his pitiful start (I think he had a 36.00 ERA at one point) looked good at the end in long relief. Sean Burnett eh I dunno. Yates and Bautista were better than their ERAs especially Bautista.

I predict a 3rd place finish if the brew crew keep sheets 2nd if they don't

 EDIT: I'm predicting a third place finish not a trip to the NLCS like the Rays. I just said that to catch some eyes. This is a better ballclub than people think. A new start could do wonders if they can bring it all together. The Cubs' collapse could carryover to next year. No Sabathia and Sheets will hurt the Brewers. The Astros were an Aberration. We're better than the reds. Cards could go either way