Failure™ Magazine

17 going on 18

After setting a record for most consecutive losing seasons, what’s next for the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Written by Charlie Wilmoth   Filed under Sports

Coonelly and Huntington’s task is a difficult one. Fixing a broken baseball franchise isn’t the same as turning around an NFL team, which sometimes requires little more than a handful of shrewd personnel moves. And the organization Coonelly and Huntington inherited is even more badly broken than its long losing streak suggests.

Most lower-echelon major league teams utilize the draft to accumulate top prospects and attempt to rebuild through their farm system. One reason Tampa Bay GM Andrew Friedman was able to lead the Rays from the cellar to the World Series in less than three years was because Tampa’s otherwise incompetent former stewards at least had the sense to collect quality prospects.

But Coonelly and Huntington have had the misfortune of starting from rock bottom. It’s too early to say their first two years have been inspiring, but they appear to be on the right track. Pittsburgh has become one of the most aggressive teams in the draft, and they’ve reestablished the Pirates as suitors for talented Latin American youngsters by building a $5 million facility in the Dominican Republic. And this season they traded the core of their big-league club for young players with varying degrees of ability.

Unfortunately, now is a bad time to be looking to trade for youth. Historically, contending teams undervalue prospects, but today virtually every team is hoarding minor leaguers that have big league potential. And the old adage “You get what you pay for” seems apropos. Most of the players Huntington traded this year can be considered average major leaguers, so the youngsters he acquired in return aren’t among baseball’s best prospects.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Coonelly and Huntington’s rebuilding plan will work. But for a club in the Pirates’ position, it’s the only plan that can possibly succeed. And while the turnaround figures to take a while, if the Bucs are lucky they’ll be spared the indignity of a 20th consecutive losing season, or a 21st, or 22nd. But for the next year or two—at least—the Pirates are likely to continue their spectacular run of bad baseball.

Charlie Wilmoth is a musician and writer who lives in San Diego and covers the Pirates at http://bucsdugout.com.

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