The Pirates sucked even with those guys on the roster, so what's the difference if they are gone? Giles and Ramirez make too much money, Williams has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that last year was a fluke, Sauerback can't pitch in clutch situations and runs off at the mouth. Not sure why they dumped Simon as that was a bit of a surprise, but then they do have Carlos Rivera that they want to get the reps at first base. Lofton was really just signed on the off chance that this year would be the year, and when it was proven that it wasn't he was dumped on a team that needed him for the playoffs. The irony is that he will likely be available to be signed by the Pirates for the same $1 million next spring. Suppan would have been nice to hold on to as well, but if the Pirates have anything, it is an abundance of arms. Now, if Littlefield can just dump Benson and Kendall...
Until Steinbrenner dies and the rest of the owners can get a sensible collective bargaining agreement with a real salary cap in place, the only thing a team like the Pirates can do is hope that they can get enough players from the farm system to mature at the right time for a 2-3 year run of quality baseball. As long as the farm system produces the players 1-2 at a time, the have-nots will be destined to just shipping them off to the haves.
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