2012 is the Year of the Bucs

19 consecutive losing seasons...One of the worst records to claim ownership of in professional sports. As a fan, it's been a long and grueling process to endure such a horrendous streak. However, all of that is about to change. The new management group has effectively changed the culture of the organization and is executing a viable rebuilding process. The Pirates have outspent the rest of MLB over the last 3 drafts and the strong prospect list is something foreign to the organization.


It wasn't long ago that Daniel Moskos was drafted to give the Pirates "hope" to build around (LOLittlefield). Here we are a few years later and we are now counting on Jameson Taillon, Garrett Cole, Luis Heredia, etc. etc. etc. The Pirates are building a deep and talented farm system that will hopefully be providing big league talent in the near future.

But enough of the future...Let's take a look at 2012. The Pirates have lost key players such as Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit, Jose Veras, and Ronny Cedeno (In that order of importance). However, those players have been replaced by the likes of Rod Barajas, Clint Barmes, Erik Bedard, and Nate McClouth. The Pirates young, inexperienced core is no long inexperienced. Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, and Jose Tabata could all have productive seasons and provide the offensive and defensive stability the club needs to continue moving in the right direction.

The pitching staff received a shot in the arm with the addition of Bedard. The organization hopes James McDonald, Charlie Morton, Jeff Karstens, Kevin Correia / Brad Lincoln can all build off of last season and contribute this season.

I hope that the Pirates are willing to make at least one more move that will help the club compete in 2012. For example, what if the Pirates (who have 9 or 10 mil available to spend) would reach out to ---Roy Oswalt? He would be the staff ace and would complement the rotation perfectly and buy time until our future aces are ready for the bigs.

Clint Hurdle is making his mark on this club and I like the direction they are going. This is the year that the Pirates finally have a winning season. I believe they will have 85 - 86 wins, but it won't be good enough to win the division or make the playoffs. They will likely finish 3rd in the NL Central, but that would be a huge improvement over the last......19 years. The 2012 season will turn the organization around and give the city of Pittsburgh optimism for 2013 and beyond.

Josh Bell - Steal of the draft?

Keith Law stated before the draft the Josh Bell, the 6'3, 200lb slugger committed to the University of Texas, was a top 15 talent and was virtually unsignable. Supposedly, the Red Sox had great interest in taking him in the first round, but the letter Bell sent to MLB teams prior to the draft requesting that they did not draft him because of his college committment was enough to scare off all major league teams in the first round. Law also stated that if a cool 6.5 mil and a chance to play for the world champion Red Sox couldn't persuade Bell to enter the draft, then nothing would...

So, the progressive, high rolling Pittsburgh Pirates decided to roll the dice on Bell with the 1st pick of the 2nd round....and they were successful on signing bell to a 5 million dollar deal. Although the deal wasn't completed until a few minutes before the signing deadline, the Pirates were victorious in securing two highly touted draft prospects (Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell).

At Texas Prep, Bell was an advanced switch hitter that offers tremendous power. He started switch hitting at the age of 5 and hits equally as well from both sides of the plate. In Bell's senior season at Texas Prep, he hit .584 with 13 HR's, 50 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. Bell projects to be a middle of the lineup type of hitter that will likely play either left or right field.

Athough Gerrit Cole stole the show as the first pick of the draft, Bell might have a greater upside as an every day contributor to the offense. Kudos to Bob Nutting and the Pirates organization for putting together a financially record setting draft and following the sustainability plan they discussed early on. Bell might be more of a "sure thing" than anyone else the organization drafted this year. Pirates fans have a reason to be excited for several years to come.

Steelers to Set Their Own Salary Cap

Even though the 2010 NFL season is going to be uncapped, the Steelers have decided to set their own salary cap.

Steelers Dir. of Operations, Kevin Colbert, said "We will operate as we always have. We will operate as if we have a cap. You don't know what you're going to be dealing with. First of all, no one's been in an uncapped year since 1993, so it's a whole different era and no one knows how this will play out. We don't know, if there is a new [labor] deal at any point, what the new rules are going to be".

I believe most teams in the league will take a similar approach. Nobody knows what the future of the NFL will look like and the two sides (NFL & players) do not appear anywhere near a new labor deal. The off-season will likely business as usual in Pittsburgh.

Steelers Contract Talks to Begin

The Pittsburgh Steelers are planning to begin negotiating with their top 3 priorities: Unrestricted free agents Casey Hampton, Ryan Clark, and Jeff Reed.

I have been saying for a very long time that the Steelers poor drafting would eventually catch up with the team. The time has come. The organization has been hitting the ball out of the park in the first round...However, the Steelers have missed on too many picks after the 1st round in 6 of the last 7 years.

The Steelers usually let free agents over 30 years old to sign with a team like the Redskins or Cowboys that are willing to over-pay for older free agents. Pittsburgh has always had enough organizational depth and players ready to slide into the starting vacancies created from letting the over-the-hill, over-priced free agents walk. Beacuse of the poor drafting, the Steelers will likely have to over-pay for guys that are passed their prime.

Don't get me wrong, Casey Hampton is still very capable and he does a great job stuffing running lanes in the 3-4 defense. Ryan Clark is a nice complement to Troy Polamalu as well. However, they are both very expensive and we have no choice but to sign them. We have nobody ready to step in!

Speaking of older vets, the organization is also interested in bringing Charlie Batch back to be the #3 QB. I do like this move. Batch is capable of playing in an emergency role, but he has become a great leader and almost another coach on the field for the black and gold. He will likely play for the vet minimum as well.

James Harrison to attend off-season workouts

Steelers LB James Harrison is having difficulty getting a new deal with the Steelers. The 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is due to make a measly 1.4 million dollars (base salary) in 2009. He is largely underpaid and nobody disputes that.

The problem: In May, James Harrison will be 31 years old. Many could argue that he is simply a product of Dick LeBeau's 3-4 system and may fail in a different environment. Given that Harrison is on the wrong side of 30, I do not think a blockbuster deal is in the future. The two sides are said to be pretty far apart.

When Harrison's agent was asked if James would be attending the "voluntary" off season workouts, he replied, "Yep, James will be there."

Harrison seems to be handling the situation with class right now, but I wonder if his mindset will change as training camp nears.

I could see Harrison holding out for a new deal if a deal cannot be reached.

On the other side, it may be in Harrison's best interest to not be greedy and accept what the Steelers are offering. If he holds out the 2009 season, he will be a 32 year old free agent LB next year. How many teams are going to break the bank for that?