Pirates Second Half

[Crimson's Ghost]

Haha, Polanco is arguably their second best offensive player. He has some rough patches, but he's still a nice asset for this team and he's on a team friendly deal. 

I think Harrison is their worst regular starter, I'd like to see him move on. 

[EaglealumsGhost]

I don’t care if polanco hits .400 the 2nd half.i. Can’t stand the same base running blunders for years now, questionable defense, and utter lack of hustle.... he just gets under my skin like nails on a chalkboard

[Coach]

I really don't like all the hate toward Huntingdon and Hurdle.  
Here is what the Pirates are:  A baseball club that desires to be competitive in a system where it is difficult to do so year in and year out if you are a small market club, as they are.  They want to be a team that plays decent ball and can contend here and there. 
Here is what the Pirates aren't: New York, Boston, Chicago, LA
What people wanted in 2013-15....go all in and try to win a World Series.  Even if they went all in, it would have been very difficult to win it all.  If they had gone all in, you wouldn't see Josh Bell at first.  You wouldn't have Austin Meadows any more.  Glasnow would be gone.  Other prospects we had that we now will depend on for the next 3-5 years...would have been gone.  What happens then?  You are Kansas City.  They actually won the WS, but now will they be dead and off the radar for the next 10-15 years? 
Pittsburgh was off the radar completely for 2 full decades.  Too many people seem to forget that.  We followed along, but the team was never a contender at any point in almost every single one of those seasons.  The current regime does not want to see that happen again...ever. 

So, what is it that you want?  Go all-in and then fall apart?  This team isn't going to be one of the big dogs...EVER.  Are you ok with them being like Oakland?  They want to be like Oakland, San Fran, etc.  They don't want to be like Miami or Baltimore.  
Is it so bad to want to constantly stay in the middle, hoping for a week like they just had to give fans something to be excited about?  Maybe we would only be happy to have gone all in, lost in the NLCS and have 32 wins right now?  At the beginning of the season, I think that's what everyone expected.  However, the haul for Cole has been nice.  Yeah, he has been a stud...but the Pirates improved overall by making that trade.  The pieces they got filled more holes than a guy going out there once every five days.  In trading Cutch, the team got Crick.  He's been very good.  They signed Dickerson...he has been better overall than Cutch at this point in the 2018 season.  
I will add...if people didn't want this blown up...the Pirate players caused it.  Marte got suspended for half a season.  Kang got hammered and became reckless.  Cole wasn't a reliable ace.  Players didn't grow as much as people expected them to (Glasnow for example).  

As it sits today...if you told fans in March that the Pirates would be one game below .500 at the break after experiencing an awful month of June, everyone probably would have thought you were crazy.  They aren't terrible...but they aren't great. What do you do?  What do you expect?  Look at what Boston, NY, and Houston run out on the field every day.  Look at Anaheim and Chicago and LA.  I'm glad the Pirates aren't completely terrible.  I will fondly remember the playoff runs and I'm glad they never went all in to be honest.  Their best season...one of the best the league had to offer...they still ended up as a wild card team.  If they went all in, we never know how it would have turned out, but to win it all is very, very difficult to do and I don't think this team ever had the pitching to do it.  
I'm happy with where they are.  I wish Nutting spent some more money, but I'm not sure where it would go to be honest (other than starting pitching).  They are playing young guys...Moran, Bell, Marte, Musgrove, Vazquez, Crick, Glasnow, and Taillon.  They are playing Mercer and Harrison and Cervelli and Polanco.  What upgrades do you think they could have made?  Who would have come to Pittsburgh and at what cost? 

[konjo78]

But the pirates are off the radar now... So why not get that world series if youll be off the radar anyways????

[Wrasslerfan]

So coach has a problem with people being critical of hurdle and butting well coach its our right to be critical of hurdle and nh and what gives you the right to tell us what to do

[Coach]

You can feel how you want dude. I’m not telling you how to feel or what you should like or what you should want. I just said I don’t like all the hate from Pirate fans who seem to have become spoiled pretty quickly after 2 years of misery. 
At one game below .500 the Pirates aren’t off the radar. They have the same number of wins as Washington, a team that was supposed to be one of the best in the league. Baltimore, KC, Texas, Miami, CWS. Currently the last team in the wild card spot has 4 more wins that Pittsburgh. 
Even if they got in a position where they keep winning and they contend. Are they really in contention with their pitching staff compared to the pitching staffs of 5-6 other teams that will probably improve even more?
Overall, I just think people have some unrealistic expectations just because of the way baseball is set up. 

What do people want?  
1. Win for 2-3 years going all in and rebuild completely for 5-7 after that....hoping the rebuild works. When it doesn’t, you keep starting the rebuild over time and time again  (Pittsburgh from 1993-2012)
2. Win and try to stay competitive even when not making playoffs?  Build around a core and try to constantly trade people for major league type players when it doesn’t pan out in an effort to stay young and relevant. 

[EaglealumsGhost]

Coach I get what you’re saying and agree to a point. I’m critical of hurdle, and nutting but not so much Huntington. He’s doing his job as instructed and 100x better than Dave littlefield. My criticism isn’t based on wins/loses as much as on player development and not caring one bit about the diehard fan base. The “young guys” a few years back are still fundamentally terrible and the veterans of the group... why let the newest batch of young talent turn out to be underachievers too? The only guy to come through the system and excel in recent memory has been Cutch.. Cole was a moody prima Donna barely over .500..... goes with another staff and putting up Kershaw numbers. As a person I love Hurdle... as a coach, not so much. Gimme Lloyd McClendon anyday

[knowitall]

What a difference a week makes.  Last week the Pirates were playing embarrassing baseball giving up 17 runs twice in losses.  They were the KC Royals.  Now after winning seven of eight, the future is so bright.....

The KC Royals won the World Series.  The Pirates won a Wild Card game.  Neal Huntington should have been fired in 2016, if not in 2012 or in 2010 when John Russell was let go.

[konjo78]

Personally bad seasons arent torturing... Whats actually torturing is having roster almost good enough to make a deep run, but instead of adding 1 or 2 strong pieces to push it over you dish 1 or 2 away and miss the chance.

Coach Pirate fans arent spoiled they are tired of getting conned by management. Sure they have 4 less wins than the team leading the wild card but they also have played 3 more games! So take their last 3 games away and theyd be 7 less wins

[crfball]

The whole thing is, it wouldn't matter what prospect they got they probably wouldn't pan out. You read about all these prospects for other teams coming up, they get to the majors and live up to the hype. Last hyped Pirate prospect to live up to it? Cole? Eh Polanco? Glasnow? Alvarez? Cutch is really only one everyone else just pretty much stayed average. I guess Marte you could throw in too. But their prospects never seem to develop. It don't matter who they'd get back prospect wise. On another point, who was available at the 2015 deadline to improve that team other than Cueto? Can't quite remember that far back.