[head_strong]

Not that the Pirate fans have had much to cheer about since the Bonds, Bonilla, and Van Slyke days....but to see your future traded away again has to be depressing. After trading Nady, Marte, and Bay for below average talent they should give away McLouth and petition the league to allow them to combine with the Nationals for the remainder of the regular season. That team still wouldn't finish .500

[head_strong]

This thread will have no response, due to the scarce amount of Pittsburgh Pirate fans.... that is until they make the playoffs or win the World Series and the country will be full of them.

[Bullajami]

I have no idea what Pirates management is trying to accomplish with these trades, unless their ultimate goal is to get the payroll down to $6/week.

[fifawcs]

I agree that the Marte and Nady deal wasn't as good for them. But I think they got a lot of good guys for Bay.

[Chi_archie]

i'm a pirate fan, a very cynical one...

but I actually liked this last trade...

You can't judge these trades for a few years. Looking at the 4 players the buccos got in the bay deal.... they all have pretty substantial upside. to say they traded away their future is untrue unless you are talking about the next 1.5 seasons as all the further the future extends. There is no way the pittsburgh or most small market teams are able to hold onto players of bay and nady's caliber anyways. The new GM has to get both quality and quantity of major-league and close to major league ready prospects NOW or he won't have a job in 3 years. The cupboard is currently empty in all levels of the minors for the pirates... With these recent trades, now they have some depth and POTENTIAL...will any pan out.. time will tell.

a few years back many were down on trading brian giles for an unknown bay and erratic oliver perez... that turned out pretty good, as perez got us nady... so basically the pirates traded Giles past his peak for bay and nady.... now they have to start over again and hope their return of multiple #1 round picks, top prospects along with their current 2-3 actual prospects gives them a shot in '10 or '11... sad but current reality with a small market team with horribly tight-wadded ownership...

[Bullajami]

sad but current reality with a small market team with horribly tight-wadded ownership...

Plenty of other small market teams out there that are not about to set the MLB record for most consecutive losing seasons. Pittsburgh fans are ludicrously loyal. They could fill PNC Park routinely (and sell $400K worth of IC Light) with a .500 ball club that might have a shot if they got hot at season's end. Pirates management has more cranial-rectal inversion problems than market problems.

[mtneer1212]

This was a VERY good trade for the Pirates. I like where they are headed.