2012 Pittsburgh Pirates: Where Should Our Focus Lie?

This post was inspired by all the talks about Pedro Alvarez and his spring training struggles. It seems to me that most people want Alvarez up to start the year with the big league club, but there is also a good amount of people that would rather have him start in AAA.

The reason that the people in the second group think what they do is simple: they want the Pirates to win as many games as possible this year. Those people do not believe that Pedro Alvarez gives the Pirates the best chance to win games this year, at least not at the beginning of the season. That is perfectly understandable. In fact, the way things are looking right now, I would say there's little doubt that having a Casey McGehee or a Yamaico Navarro in the lineup makes the Pirates a better offensive team right now. My question is, should winning as many games as possible in 2012 be the focus of this team?

Neil Huntington and company have been working on rebuilding this team since they took over, and for all intents and purposes they have done a pretty good job thus far. The focus hasn't been the present for a few years now, and people are sick of that being the case. I understand that, fans want to win right now, this year. It doesn't help that our division is much weaker than it has been in the past and the Pirates look to have some semblance of a chance to compete, if everything goes right. So most of the people in Pittsburgh want the Pirates to do everything possible to compete for a playoff spot this year. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, however...

I think the focus should still mainly be on the future. Not the distant future, but the future of having a roster that can legitimately make the playoffs. I don't want to write about a team that needs some crazy stroke of luck to make the playoffs every year (which is probably where we are right now). The Pirates are getting better, but they are not there yet.

Pedro Alvarez is a huge key in the Pirates getting to that level. Andrew McCutchen is just as big of a piece, and guys like Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, James McDonald, and Charlie Morton have large big hands in it as well. However, I'm not even sure that core of players is good enough to really get the Pirates to where they want to be.

The good news is that the Pirates have those players in the minor leagues that can get us to that level. Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole are hugely instrumental into getting this roster to look like a World Series contender. Obviously, those guys aren't ready yet. They won't be for at least another year, and probably beyond that.

So in my eyes, the focus should be on the 2013 and 2014 teams, that's when I think the Pirates have their first legitimate chance to make a real run at the division and eventually the World Series. I'm not saying that they can't make the playoffs this year, because I do think they have at least a small chance. However, we should be playing the odds here and doing everything we can to make the 2013 and 2014 teams look as good as possible.

That means playing Alvarez at third base in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform as often as possible in 2012. It doesn't matter to me if he hits .150 in April, he needs to be there. The Pirates need the guy to get to where they want to be, and the best way to get him there is giving him Major League at-bats. This year isn't a rebuilding year by any means, they be looking to make more significant strides like they did last year. However, the goal of 2012 is not to win as many regular season games as possible in my eyes - it is too set yourself up best for 2013 while not still trying to give yourself the outside chance of competing in 2012.

I hope that all makes sense, and I know it's hard to swallow another post that says be patient with a team that you have been patient with for 19 years now. We're closer than we have ever been to breaking the streak and really competing for something important, it just might take another year or two to really have a legitimate chance at that. The best thing the team can do RIGHT NOW to bring a World Series to Pittsburgh is start the year with Pedro Alvarez in the major leagues.