Pirate ship sinking

Poor J-Mac.

The last 20 years of Pirates baseball can be best described with one word: lifeless. Think about it, a franchise like this has to TRY to be as bad as they are. It seemed like the Buccos were at least trying to move forward (for once) this past off-season with the money they spent in the draft, the signing of A.J Burnett, and the re-signings of Nate Mclouth and Andrew McCutchen. Also, they were buyers last year instead of sellers at the trade deadline, so it appeared (and still does) that they are really trying to win and do things the right way. They are sitting at 14-18 right now and although it seems unlikely that this will be "the year", I think the general outlook of this franchise should remain positive. That being said, the offense is so bad to watch that it actually gives me headaches. Now I know the Pirates have always been bad, but the reason It pains me to watch this offense is because the pitching has been good this year. It's been such a long time since the Pirates had good pitching and now that they have it, they can't get any help from the batters. James Macdonald gives up 1 run through  8 innings and they can't even give him a run.

Greatness eh?

I'm really disappointed  in McLouth and I know he really didn't do much in Atlanta, but a .186 avg is ridiculous. The guy won a Gold Glove and made an All-Star game last time he was in the Burgh, so it's very sad to see what is going on with his performance. Pedro Alvarez hasn't done much recently. It was very promising to see him hit the way he did so I am not going to give up on him just yet. I also want to point out that the booing Andrew McCuthen recieved last night was completely ridiculous on behalf of the Pirates fans in attendence last night. The dude is an All-Star, signed a 6 year deal, and WANTS TO STAY IN PITTSBURGH and the fans decide to boo him. Good call there Pirates fans. Some people have said to me that the fans were booing the entire performance of the Pirates hitters, not just McCutchen. I was in attendance last night, and I confirm that there were plenty of Pirates fans booing and name-calling McCutchen. Jagoffs.

It's Hammertime! But for how long?

This brings me to my last topic: Joel Hanrahan. Even though he hasn't been as dominant as he use to be these last few games, I really don't want to see him leave Pittsburgh. He really is a commodity but if the Pirates are 20 or more games under come the trade deadline, don't be surprised if he does in fact get traded. If the Pirates really are 20 games under come the deadline, then most likely they wont have used him  (or need him) that much anyway. I suppose I wont be that upset if they get players with value for the hammer. Some hitters or big time prospects would be nice I guess but if they really want to compete in the next view years, then they really need to find a way to keep him. I would just hate to see him go because if they really can add some batters, keep the solid bitching, and their star closer, then I really do in fact vision this team competing for that oh so coveted .500 record, very soon.