I just wrote this post about the Pirates trade for Travis Snider. For as long as it is, you may be surprised to know that I didn't say all that I needed to say there.
The main beef with the move, and the comments I've been getting all morning are about the "win now" attitude. "I've heard enough about future, I want to win right now". That's what Pirate fans everywhere are saying this morning. Let's talk about this.
Baseball is an unfair game, small market teams are at an extreme disadvantage from the beginning. Because of that, they have to play the game much differently. To teams like the Pirates with smart management (which is what our management has been since taking over), "win now" means something a bit different than what you might think.
To you, "win now" means find a competent core group of players that shows that they can compete for a couple of months, then do whatever you can to make that year's team better without any regard to the future. If that means trading top prospects for players with a year or less of control, you do it. It's all about finding one year to make a push and going for it 100%. That's what it means to you. Now let me tell you what it means to Neal Huntington.
"Win now" means fill up your system with enough talent that it's going to be hard for you to ever be really bad at the major league level. It means constantly having a farm system that can absorb losses at the major league level, because you simply can't afford to pay all of your good players after they've reached a certain stage in their career. It doesn't mean coming into every season with a top 5 team on paper, you'll rarely see small market teams come into a season like that. "Win now" to Neal Huntington means getting your team a chance every year and hoping that things click and luck is on your side to the point where you get into the playoffs, where anything and everything can happen. The Pirates are never going to be a top team in the league on paper, they simply don't have the funds to do so. We need to stop thinking like the Pirates can operate the same way as the Cardinals, Yankees, Red Sox, etc.
If the Pirates would have take the first "win now" philosophy I introduced this year and failed to do anything extremely significant, they would have a future that looks very dim because of their lack of talent in the farm system. This isn't a deep system; it's talented on top and good enough to be competitive, but by no means can they afford to trade guys like Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, Starling Marte, etc. for guys that come for a short period of time and are gone.
The Pirates are never going to have a really good chance to win the World Series or even go deep into the playoffs. That doesn't mean it won't happen, but the odds will never be in our favor regardless. So what would you rather have? A team with a semi-good chance of doing something big one year, and then just hoping to get lucky down the line? Or a team with a decent chance of being relevant every single year and a hope that one of those years everything will go right and something big will happen. If you're looking for a World Series ring, the second option there is the best one to pick.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a small market teams that have the odds stacked against them every single year. You're best chance at a championship isn't a great one, and if you don't like it, then go be a Yankees fan, nothing is stopping you.
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4 comments:
Nothing but excuses* tired of hearing people cry about being a small market team. Windows are only open so long, NH made a crap deal last night. The team wakes up worse than it was yesterday.
I think getting Snider may be a very good deal and we may begin seeing it as early as tonight. I have been very critical of Huntington in past years, but I don't think this is a bad trade at all. Now, if he could also get Toronto to send over Yunel Escobar to play shortstop and give them Barmes and Correia or Bedard, we could be on the way.
I think Anonymous is on bath salts. That's cool though. To each their own.
That "win right now" attitude was prevalent during the mid-90's is has been the main reason for the team performance (or lack thereof) since then. The moves that have been made this year; save the Wandy deal, look more like off-season deals that have the possibility of a huge upside with limited risk to the club moving forward. It like this move and really like the acquisition of RHP Chad Qualls from the Yankees as a Lincoln replacement. Give it some time and I believe that you will be impressed as well.
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