Just another dreary day for those in Pirates Nation
The Pirates saw their one- game winning streak snapped Wednesday, but that was merely a footnote to what struck me as one of the more depressing baseball days I can remember — and with the exception of a three- year respite that now seems like a dream, I’ve been chronicling depressing baseball days for as far back as I can remember.
What’s it like to be a devoted follower of this
team? My guess is that while you’ve probably learned to numb yourself for months at a time, the hopelessness, when it hits, drops you like a Keone Kela beanball.
I’m thinking Wednesday might have been one of those days, even if it’s difficult to pinpoint a single, primary cause.
Maybe it was beholding the bizarre reality of the Pirates keeping veteran free agents- to- be Francisco Liriano and Melky Cabrera.
Shouldn’t a team that loses all the time be in the business of auditioning young players down the stretch, even if the GM says, “Technically, we’re still in it”?
Maybe it was looking around and realizing, yet again, how many light years separate the Pirates from the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs and even the Astros. Those teams and others are simply playing a different game.
Seriously. The Astros now have a rotation featuring Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. The Pirates might go to a six- man rotation featuring the likes of Dario Agrazal, Steven Brault, Home Run Archer and To Be Determined, who actually looks pretty good compared to Jordan Lyles and Nick Kingham.
Maybe it’s the subtly annoying way people just accept and even celebrate losing a very good player in Corey Dickerson for nothing. Like it was a fait accompli that Dickerson, a pending free agent, was going to be moved and there was nothing anyone could do about it, so let’s all gratefully accept the used batting tee the Pirates got in return and wish him well.
How about making Dickerson an offer and trying to trade Gregory Polanco before next season? I mean, Dickerson’s only 30. He’s a .300 hitter and a good defender. He’s not making silly money, and if recent history regarding 30- something free agents is a guide, won’t be highly coveted on the open market. He doesn’t hit many home runs, but he carried a slugging percentage of nearly .500 here.
Maybe it’s constantly hearing “We want to play meaningful games in September” and knowing they haven’t played such a game since 2015.
Maybe it’s the Felipe Vazquez situation, even if information was scant Wednesday. I have no idea whether Huntington was presented with a spectacular offer. I do know the Pirates had the rare opportunity to parlay a relief pitcher into a young talent influx of some sort and that Vazquez will never be more marketable.
I also know that relief pitchers, no matter how good, are a volatile, plentiful and ultimately replaceable ( Congrats in advance to the Los Angeles Dodgers, by the way, for losing another World Series on account of shoddy bullpen work; maybe they should have acquired Scott Norwood at the deadline instead of hoarding top prospect Gavin Lux).
Maybe it’s not even Vazquez at all but rather the brutal truth revealed through negotiations between the teams. Namely, that the Dodgers, who are significantly better than the Pirates every year, somehow own a far superior minor league system.
Maybe it’s hearing that Dickerson’s departure will create playing time for … Pablo Reyes and Jason Martin?
Maybe it’s Huntington pushing back on the suggestion that the Pirates face a potential starting pitching crisis and a starting catching crisis.
Maybe, ultimately, as in a dysfunctional family, it’s being forced to live in this alternate reality where those in charge pretend everything is fine.
I mean, did you not find it infuriating, amid the mediocrity surrounding him, that Huntington repeated this line: “Our goal and our plan is to have Felipe Vazquez closing our next playoff game.”
’ Cause from here, that game seems like a long way off.