MLB preview: Pittsburgh Pirates
I'll say this for the Pirates as they near Decade 3 of their rebuilding plan — tearing everything down and building from the ground up, which they've done, was the right move. Fans in Pittsburgh that are already very, very weary of losing probably shouldn't hold their breath on the ship being righted.
2009 record: 62-99 (28.5 games back in NL Central)
2010 projected record: 58-104 (40 GB)
Probable starters:
C — Ryan Doumit
1B — Jeff Clement
2B — Akinori Iwamura
SS — Ronny Cedeno
3B — Andy LaRoche
LF — Lastings Milledge
CF — Andrew McCutchen
RF — Garrett Jones
SP — Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Kevin Hart, Carlie Morton
CL — Octavio Dotel
RP — Joel Hanrahan, Brendan Donnelly
Strengths: There are strengths? One has to be McCutcheon, who as a rookie in 2009 showed signs that he could develop into a true star before too long. If Jones builds on his breakout season and Milledge finally starts to put his tools to use, this actually could be a pretty productive outfield. Doumit took a step back last year, but in 2008, he looked like one of the best young offensive catchers in the game. While the rotation is badly lacking at the top — Duke and Malholm would be middle to bottom-of-the-roation guys on most teams — its depth actually isn't that bad.
Weaknesses: Ask a White Sox fan how comfortable they'd feel with Dotel serving as closer at this stage of his career. If he, Hanrahan and Donnelly actually have any leads to protect late, they hardly seem qualified to protect them. Clement failed in Seattle — it's tough to expect he'll excel in Pittsburgh. LaRoche and Cedeno have been around far too long to be considered prospects and have produced far too few results to be considered quality starters. None of the starting pitchers should be more than a No. 3, at best, on a big-league staff.
