The Pirates are on the 3rd (I think) iteration of the proverbial '5 year plan' to return to winning.  All is going to plan, except for the part about returning to winning.  The Pirates are a laughingstock, an embarrassment to the city and to the sport.  So I tend to ignore every move they make, and treat them with utter disdain.  So it's a little surprising to me that I'm actually going to write something about them, and this in a semi-positive tone.

One of the Pirates past failures is that they would start down the path of a particular plan, and for reasons known only to those in power, would stop moving down that path and suddenly jump to another one.  This led to the Pirates trading top talent - some for prospects, some for cash - and putting the fanbase firmly in 'rebuilding' mode.  Then, the blasted idiots would turn around and sign some veterans (usually past their prime and for more money than they were really worth) and see if they could somehow cobble together *something*.  The only thing this did was destroy the franchise completely, and what's worse it was really done from within.  The Pirates facade of a major league team was bad enough, but the cupboards were so bare in the minors that there was utterly no hope.  None.  Even their drafts were panned.

So why is this year different?  Why are all of these trades - essentially, if my math is right, a full 1/2 of the starting fielders - providing some semblance of hope, however small that hope may be?  Because the Pirates seem to have a plan, and in the face of withering criticism from the still-loyal fanbase, they are sticking to it.  The Pirates have a starting team that has some nice players, but no cornerstones.  They don't have anyone around whom the team can build.  Look at St. Louis with Albert Pujols - that's a player that a team can build around.  Since the Pirates don't have that particular player, they have to take a slightly different tactic.  They have to get as much value from their starting players that they can.  The 2009 season is already lost, and they are now virtually assured of their 17th straight losing season.  So why bother to put on airs?  Why not blow up the whole stinking mess and start over?  That's exactly what they are doing, and while it'll take a few years to really know the value of these trades, they are at least sticking to a plan.  It might be flawed, it's certainly dangerous and filled with the possibility of a huge backfire, but it's a plan.  The Pirates have a PLAN!  We should all rejoice.  The point is that the Pirates are working to rebuild a bare minor league system.  They are working to get as much value as they can, and in return are working to build up a solid system.  This does not necessarily mean that in 2011 the Pirates will win the World Series.  No one is *that* delusional.  But a return to competitiveness?  That's not asking a whole lot.  And if the Pirates make a key draft pick, or get lucky somewhere, well, who knows. 

The point is that for the first time in some time, there is hope.  It's not for 2009, or not really even 2010.  The team sucks, and there's no sugar-coating that fact.  No one on that team is untouchable.  Not a single player.  Therefore, making these trades, getting younger players with higher upsides makes more sense than doing nothing at all.  After all, nothing at all brought us 17 losing seasons.  Doing SOMETHING might reverse that misfortune.

I hope.