Do We Really Need Changes?

News just came out that the Pirates will not be making any managerial or front office changes this offseason. After possibly the biggest collapse in Major League Baseball history, a lot of people are questioning that decision.

As for me, I don't think it's really a bad thing. I've never been one to believe that manager's really do much to a team's win-loss percentage. They certainly have some bearing on how a team performs, but I don't think hiring a different manager is the answer here. That doesn't mean that I think Clint Hurdle is the best man for the job, I just don't think that bringing someone else in will make any significant difference.

In terms of the front office, I'm less confident talking about it. I really do like the job Neal Huntington has done. You would hard pressed to find a General Manager that's done a better job in the draft since he's been with the Pirates, although the jury is still out on almost all of his picks. He's gotten a lot of talent for the Pirates money and things are certainly looking up right now. I also appreciate his understanding of how and when to spend money. Despite the collapse, I still think he did a very good job at this year's trade deadline. Who knows what would have happened if he had gone a different route, but regardless of that we still have a player in Travis Snider locked up for a few years that could really impact this offense.

I'm not too clear on what Kyle Stark and company do and how it affects the Major League team, but it's hard for me to believe that this collapse is in anyway his fault. We don't have a lot of organizational depth, there's no doubt about that. A lot of that you can chalk up to bad luck, but it certainly doesn't seem like the Pirates are the best organization at developing minor league players. Is that Stark's fault? Could be. Could someone else do a better job? Possibly. Does that mean you HAVE to fire him right now? I don't think so. You can't blame this collapse on Stark; I mean you can do whatever you want, but I think it would be foolish to say he's the main culprit.

To me, this collapse happened because we had a team that wasn't as good as we thought in the first place, and that team certainly wasn't capable of playing anything close to a full 162 games of baseball at a Major League level.

Personally I think it's time we stop looking for someone to blame and start looking forward to next year, while taking what positives we can out of 2012. That's probably easier said than done, so maybe just try saying it over and over again.