Pirates Talk

Yes, I know I declared a moratorium on Bucco talk a few weeks back, but with the turning of the calendar and the flurry of deadline deals yesterday, what the heck?

As for the trades....

• Seems to me that for the second year in a row, injuries have prevented the Pirates from dumping Ryan Doumit. The Chris Snyder acquisition, the comments surrounding it, and the fact that Doumit is due to make $5+ million in 2011 make it clear that there isn't a future for Doumit in Pittsburgh.
• The rest of the deals fall in the "Ho-Hum" category. Who knows if these guys will amount to anything, and with the possible exception of Octavio Dotel, what did the Pirates really give up?
• That said, wouldn't it have been nice to get a starting pitcher who could help the team now?
• After reading the Nealspeil in the PG yesterday morning, I am stunned that Paul Maholm is still on the team. When you cut through the GM's comments, it seemed that what he was saying was, "We really want to get Maholm's salary off the books for 2011."

More Pirates. Remember my "Numbers Crunching" post of July 5, wherein I proposed that we track a "Second Season" for the Bucs, beginning July 1? Well, the results aren't so promising.

• On June 30, the team was 27-51 (.346), on pace for 106 losses.
• In the Second Season, the team is 9-16 (.360), a rate that would produce 104 losses over a 162 game season.
• Aside from that homestand with the Astros and Brewers last week, not much of an improvement.

The good news is that the 1952 Pirates 112 loss season is not in danger of being surpassed. To lose 112 games, the current squad would have to go 14-45 the rest of the way. I think - I hope - that this bunch can play at better than a .267 clip for 59 games, but you can never underestimate what the loss of Ryan Church and Bobby Crosby will mean.