Some midday reading

In case you missed it, Jeff Passan at Yahoo wrote up the Pirates in Yahoo's Hot Stove Daily earlier this week. Here's a fun excerpt: I

t's not so much that the Pirates are in a bad situation. Their new ballpark is beautiful, their fans still devoted, their history rich. It's just that the systemic losing has worn thinner than the enamel on the loyalists' teeth, ground down by the frustration of bad management and worse ownership.

An overhaul of the front office ought to help in the first respect; the second is a horse pill without water to ease it down. The Pirates might increase their payroll, but not to the level needed to compete when the big league club is so downtrodden. New general manager Neal Huntington has already recused the Pirates from bidding on any of the high-profile free agents, so instead the focus turns to how Pittsburgh can improve itself with spare parts and trades.

I love being reminded how hopeless my fandom is!!! It seems pretty fair to say that Passan comes off as dubious that Huntington is going to turn things around here, though that's with some reading between the lines on my part.