The Central

On Sunday (I'm getting to it a bit late, but cut me a break here people), Dejan's Hot Stove column hit a topic I've been meaning to go into depth on for a while, the drop off in the two good teams at the top of the division.

The Cards lost Reggie Sanders, Larry Walker, Matt Morris, and Mark Grudzielanek, while replacing them with Juan Encarnacion, Larry Bigbie, Sidney Ponson, and Junior Spivey. They will get Scott Rolen back, which will be a plus, but Jim Edmonds will also be 36, which is not a plus (only one of his Baseball Reference comparable players put up decent numbers after the age of 35, and it was Willie Stargell). Don't get me wrong, the Cards will still be a good team, it's just that I'd be surprised if they're as good as they've been the past two seasons.

Moving down the ladder, the 'Stros will probably be without Clemens (I'd be SHOCKED if he came back after they non-tendered him, he's way too proud, family be damned, I'm seeing pinstripes in his future...), Pettite is a year older (though I won't pretend that most of his comps didn't have good seasons at age 34, because a lot of them did), and Bagwell will probably be gone. They made the Series mostly without him last year but they were a pitiful offensive team and without Clemens I'm not sure they can catch lightning in a bottle twice in a row.

As for the rest of the division, well, the Cubs are still the Cubs, they're putting most of their eggs in a basket that's out in the middle of a road with Wood and Prior. Sure, it might not get run over, but I wouldn't count on it. And when it does, well all that's left is Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez and... screw it, that's all I got. I thought maybe the Reds new owner was going to start turning the ship around when he fired O'Brien, but I don't see how hiring Beattie helps their case at all (if that is what they're doing). The Brewers, you could argue, are the only team in the division on their way up in 2006 because they're doing what the Pirates are constantly trying to do, only they're doing it right. The only question is whether or not they'll be ready to compete this year (kind of like the Indians last year).

So what's my point? It's that, despite all my bitching, the Pirates' moves in the offseason made them a better team for 2006. Not the signing of Burnitz or Randa or Hernandez, but the dropping of the Redmans, Wigginton, and Fogg, the progression of Duke, Maholm, Bay, and Gonzalez, and the impact that I think Jim Colborn might have on Perez and Wells. I'd be shocked if they lost 67 games again (though I'd be equally as shocked if they won more than 75-77) and if they hang around .500 for a while, I don't think the NL Central is going to be a runaway this year.

That being said, the very reason they won't compete is directly under Dejan's article in the "Buried Treasure" section:

The Pirates' marketing department is planning to make the most of broadcaster Greg Brown's victorious postgame cry, "Raise the Jolly Roger!" A skull-and-crossbones flag will be raised at the start of each game beyond the PNC Park outfield. If the Pirates win, it remains up overnight. If they lose, it comes down. The team also will have a second mascot, Jolly Roger, working with the Pirate Parrot.

More time is spent on crap like a new mascot and a new flag gimmick (which inexplicably will be raised before games, we can't even get inane details right, how can we "Raise the Jolly Roger" if it's already up?) because somehow the impression is that shit like that excites fans just as much as winning. Here's a newsflash guys, a quarter of a million people weren't in downtown Pittsburgh yesterday because the Steelers got a new mascot. Put a winning team on the field, though, and I think they might be surprised at how the 'Burgh reacts.