Check out this article from ESPN.com in which >Pittsburgh Pirates players blast their management for the constant trading away of their best players:
Shortstop Jack Wilson -- himself the subject of trade rumors -- said he was "beyond, beyond tired" of the Pirates' deals the past few seasons, the newspaper reported. "We know that they're looking to the future, which doesn't say much about 2009," Wilson said, according to the report. "That's probably what's so shocking. We're five games out, and we lost two or three of our everyday players" in the trades that sent McLouth and Morgan out of town.
"They're businessmen. They're trying to achieve winning baseball in Pittsburgh. The biggest question is: When is that going to be? When do things start turning around?" Wilson said, according to the report. "It's just hard for guys who have been here and seen these exact same trades happen and seen it absolutely do nothing. I've been here nine years. I've seen two or three of these trades every year and still haven't had a winning season."
Now I know Pirates fans are not among this blog's readers (usually), but those are some very strong words.
For all of Brian Cashman's faults, and there, one might presume, are many, one needs to only see something like this to remember that the situation can be a lot worse.
There's building for the future, but at some point a team can't just be building--they have to be doing as well. The Pirates are only five games out this season in a rather weak NL Central--so such moves as moving Morgan and McClouth so soon after each other have to upset Pittsburgh fans.
At least they've got the Steelers and the Penguins, I guess.
