Pittsburgh Pirates 2003 Season Preview

Kenny Lofton - This is not a youth movement

The Pirates have a new GM, Dave Littlefield, who I believe will turn things around in time. However, I question the additions of Randall Simon, Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton. On the surface it might please the fans for about a second, but once you take a long look, these moves didn't need to be made. This team will be lucky not to finish in last, and yet instead of giving their young players who deserve playing time jobs, they are either going to be sent back to the minors or spend the year gathering pine. You only pick up veterans like these guys if you need one guy to help you get over the top or to make your bench stronger, not to take at bats away from the players that will be your future. I love Littlefield's move to pick up Jeff Suppan and his trade last year of Todd Ritchie to the Chisox for Kip Wells and Josh Fogg. Again, until the Pirates are willing to build from within and give their kids an opportunity to play, expect them to get used to the cellar.

At catcher will be Jason Kendall, who is still looking to get back to the level of performance that he had achieved before that devastating injury back in 1999. He had a terrific year in 2000, but his last two years he has slipped. He's not running as well as he did before the foot injury. He hopes to bounce back and will be batting second behind Lofton in the order. Randall Simon comes over from the Tigers, and even though he hit .301 with 19 homers and 82 RBIs this was an unnecessary pick up. They had Craig Wilson and Kevin Young, who could be a platoon situation that would have been more feasible and definitely makes more sense than adding Simon. Last year in Detroit his coaches wanted to strangle him on more than one occasion for his horrible base running and his me-first attitude. Nothing personal against Simon, but this is the last type of player you need on your team. Pokey Reese comes back at second, and if he can stay healthy will help make the bottom of the lineup better, and his glove is special. He only had 12 steals last year and needs to improve on this because the Pirates need his speed. Jack Wilson who is an above average fielder and not a bad bat hit over .250 with 47 RBIs will handle shortstop. The best power hitter on this team besides Brian Giles is third baseman Aramis Ramirez. After hitting 34 homers and driving in 112 runs in 2001 he had an off year, slipping to 18 homers and only 71 RBIs. This team needs to have Ramirez bounce back and have a year like he had in 2001. He's an ok glove, but don't look for him near the top for the gold glove award.

Where I have a problem is how the addressed their outfield. They went out and added two 35-year-old outfielders in Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton, at the expense of Craig Wilson, Rob Mackowiak and Tony Alvarez. All three of these guys are young and have shown the ability to hit major league pitching and yet they will get no playing time because of Lofton and Sanders. Let's start off in left field where there is no question who will be there, and that's because of Brian Giles. He came to the Pirates through one of the worst trades in the history of baseball for Ricky Rincon. All he has done in his four years is shown a consistency that is unmatched. He has hit 39,35,37, and 38 homers, all while averaging 110 RBIs. He has hit 33, 37, 37 and 37 doubles again while hitting over .300 in three of his four years. You're also talking about one of the best eyes in the game with an OBP of over .400, and he scores over 100 runs every year. In center will be Lofton who has seen his outfield range slip and he has no arm. In fact he couldn't throw out my mother. Last year he hit only .260 with an OBP of just over .340, which is nothing special. He still has some legs with 30 steals, but is nowhere near the hitter he was five years ago. The Pirates have 25-year-old Tony Alaverz ready to step in and he should be the starting CF. He hit .308 in his short stint with the club last September and in the minors has over a .290 career average with good power and speed. He'll go down to Triple A, but to me it's a waste and a mistake by Littlefield. As far as right field goes, Sanders can't ever stay healthy enough to put up great numbers. He's a solid player, but again this is a team who is going to finish near the bottom with or without Sanders. They had Craig Wilson who hit 16 homers and drove in 57 RBIs in just over 350 at bats and he needs at bats. He's not the greatest fielder, but he can get the job done in RF and at first base. Also Mackowiak had 38 extra base hits in his 366 at bats. He also has a pretty good glove and can play all three-outfield positions.

This is where the strength of this club shines and that's with starting pitching. They're all young and with the addition of innings eater Jeff Suppan they have the chance to be respectable. Kris Benson bounced back in the second half of the season to have a solid year after sitting out all of 2001 because of an arm injury. He ended up 9-6 with a 4.70 ERA. Look for him to win close to 15 games this year, as he was just getting into a groove when the season ended. Kip Wells who came over in a trade last year ended 12-14 with a very respectable 3.58 ERA and showed he could be a number one starter. Josh Fogg who also came with Wells in the trade went 12-12 with a 4.35. He throws a nasty slider and can sneak the fastball by you. The only veteran pick up that made any sense was Jeff Suppan, who at 1 million is a good pick. He's what they call an innings eater. He's gone four years in a row with over 200 innings pitched in each and at least 10 wins except for last year when he won 9. He's not a great starter, but instead of having to face the best pitcher on the opposition as the number one starter for the Royals he'll be the number four starter. Look for him to continue being a horse, winning his 10 games and getting his 200 innings. The fifth starter will come from the trio of Salomon Torres, Jeff D'Amico and Rolando Arroyo, who was with Boston last year. It's not a great staff, but it's better than average and has the potential to be pretty good.

The bullpen will be solid with Mike Williams and his 46 saves. The steady Brian Boehringer (3.39 ERA) will be the right-handed set up guy and has shown the capabilities to be very good against right-handed batters. Lefty Scott Sauerbeck did a pretty good job when called on to get out the tough lefty hitters, but he got hit when he stayed in past that. Julian Tavarez comes over to help out in long relief, but ever since he left the Indians he has stunk it up. Brian Meadows, Dennis Reyes, Matt Herges, Mike Lincoln and Mike Holtz will help make up the rest of the pen. It's not a great bullpen, but it will do.

This team is a work in progress, but it will take a couple of years for Littlefield to put his stamp on the organization. In the end I feel he'll make them more competitive, but it just take some time for him to correct all of former GM Cam Bonifay's mistakes, which there were many. If they can finish fourth in the division they should feel like it was a successful season.