Perception

So, after my Randa post yesterday, I started seriously wondering if I'm too negative about everything the Pirates do. I mean here I was at like 2 saying signing Randa is a good idea for $1-2 million and then exactly three hours later (look at the timestamps) saying signing him was a waste of money for $4 million. How much is that extra couple million in the baseball world, really? So I wondered, am I too negative? Has thirteen losing years made me so cynical that I can't look at ANYthing the Pirates do and think it's a good move? Well, the truth is I probably am, but even after a more objective look I'm not changing my mind about this. Just a year ago, Kevin McClatchy was chastising other owners for paying ridiculous amounts of money for middling starting pitching. A year later his own ballclub is dishing out somewhere in the neighborhood of $6.25 million for two guys that are a combined 77 years old and don't offer much more than anyone on the roster already did. Talk about drinking the funny water.

The thing that scares me the most right now is Littlefield and Tracy's vision of this ballteam. Going into the offseason, they had one of those "uncompromising visions of the future" that you hear about whenever the Wachowski brothers make a movie, or you see on the cover of any George Orwell book. Namely, they viewed a team that would have a starting lineup without Brad Eldred, Freddy Sanchez, or Craig Wilson in it. Eldred and Wilson because they strike out a lot and Sanchez because he doesn't have the power you want from a corner infielder. Eldred is understandable, he's never really played a full season at any level in the minors since his power stroke appeared and a full season at Indy would do him a lot of good. Wilson and Sanchez are different, namely because they're serviceable major leaguers and whoever you replace them with would have to be better than them. If the Bucs pulled that off, it would be understandable. Both Sanchez and Wilson have their flaws, and it's certain that neither one is an All-Star. They tried to overpay Mueller, who probably would've been better than Sanchez for a year. They supposedly tried to trade for guys like Glaus and Bradley who would've helped this team out a TON. They failed on all fronts. The problem is that instead of admitting there's no one left and staying in house with guys that are better than anyone available, they're still plugging along with their vision of the team. Enter Joe Randa, who certainly won't be that much better than Freddy Sanchez next year, yet we've decided to give a 186% raise to. And what did Jim Tracy say about Joe Randa in today's PG?

"In a perfect scenario, you'd have Joe hitting sixth," Tracy said. "But if it's not perfect, I could see him hitting fifth, somehow behind Casey and Jason Bay. This is a guy who knows how to keep the offense moving, hit to all fields."

Let's see here, hitting fifth behind Casey and Jason Bay. That's interesting, no mention of Jody Gerut or Craig Wilson at all. Is Littlefield planning some blockbuster move to pick up a right fielder? Maybe he is, maybe he'll pull a trade that will shock and amaze me and put everything into place and make me feel stupid for everything I've said this offseason, but that's doubtful. No one's left and we'd have heard something by now. So who's playing right field next year? Not Eric Byrnes, he's signing with Arizona.

Even with Byrnes gone, I'd be willing to bet it's someone who isn't currently on the roster. Why? Because chances are quite good we're going to be a losing baseball team next year. You know it, I know it, Jim Tracy knows it, Dave Littlefield knows it. I also have a suspicion that Littlefield also knows that the only way he's getting fired is fan outrage. It was the only thing that got Bonifay fired, after he dumped $50 million or so down the drain on that terrible 2001 roster. The Nuttings don't give two shits about what anyone does with this team so long as it's under budget and I don't think McClatchy knows good baseball people from his ass from a hole in the ground. Littlefield's perception is that most Pirates fans will be more happy losing with Sean Casey at first base, Joe Randa at third base, and someone else in right field. Craig Wilson is the convienent target because he strikes out a lot, on-base percentage and OPS be damned. The problem here is similar to the Ty Wigginton problem. He's not an everyday player, he's a 4 day a week player. Since he's not an every day player he's viewed as being useless. Instead of working on replacing him, we should be working on a platoon partner more reliable than the most brittle man alive, Jody Gerut. It's true that when you strike out a ton, you inevitably strike out in key situations, and that's what makes him an easy target for management, while his rally-starting walks and HBPs (which despite what Jim Tracy may tell you, are just as good as singles)get ignored. My mom jumped around the house cheering that Joe Randa was back last night because he's "cute" and a "hard-worker." Most of Pittsburgh did the same when Sean Casey got traded here because he's from here and he's a great guy. The truth is, I feel bad when I write things like that about those two because I do think that Casey genuinely is a good guy and I really did like Randa a lot in '97 and I wanted to see him back here in the right role in 2006. The problem is that instead of building a real baseball team, good guys like Randa and Casey are being used as tools in the perception game that is constantly being played by our front office, and I'm sick of it.

EDITS (3:42 PM): I edited this a bunch to add some more Craig Wilson stuff in the last paragraph, to fix a bunch of grammatical mistakes, and to make it flow better. Nothing major though, just a heads up.