OnlyBucs

At the risk of being overly dramatic, I would say that if the Pirates don't win tonight, they could really go down the tubes. I am not talking about possibly contending versus not contending; I am talking about maintaining respectability versus total and utter chaos with 95-100 losses. Too many tough losses destroying confidence at a frightening pace. The Mets are in worse shape than we are, so if we cannot take 2 out of 3, a real devastating impact.

I’m with you. I don’t expect this team to get back into contention as I’ve stated before but I agree they need to win these two series in both New York against a terrible Mets team and in San Diego this weekend against a Padres team below them in the standings. We will be at game 81 on Friday night in San Diego and halfway through the season and the Pirates are at a point now in the standings as we reach July where treading water and staying right at or a little bit below .500 is not gonna be good enough to stay in contention for any race realistically. And with an 11 game homestand coming up after the 4th of July and right before the All Star Break the crowds are really gonna suffer big time at PNC Park if this team continues at the current pace they are at now. Nothing management is gonna be able to say that will be able to spin that.

I agree as well.



The thing I see right now, there are other teams with worse records but I think the Pirates could be the worse team in baseball. Since about the mid-May point, I suspect the Pirates have the worse record in baseball.



The impact of a 95 loss season on next year can’t be overstated. The cycle just gets more and more desperate.

I can't understand anyone using the word "contention".   Regardless of what we do vs the Mets and Padres coming up.



We're a team playing some very bad baseball and have been doing so for a long, long stretch now.    It would take a miracle to contend.

I will take mediocre at this point; they are not even there yet. Baby steps.

474E465759230 wrote: I can't understand anyone using the word "contention".   Regardless of what we do vs the Mets and Padres coming up.



We're a team playing some very bad baseball and have been doing so for a long, long stretch now.     It would take a miracle to contend.




That miracle would have to include firing NH, then firing CH, then hire John Mozeliak type GM and the odds of all this are astronomical.

515F5A53454C5353360 wrote: I will take mediocre at this point; they are not even there yet.  Baby steps.


I'm with you. They aren't average. The signs are there for continuing struggles.

736B696E6E79686F727365000 wrote: I can't understand anyone using the word "contention".   Regardless of what we do vs the Mets and Padres coming up.



We're a team playing some very bad baseball and have been doing so for a long, long stretch now.     It would take a miracle to contend.




That miracle would have to include firing NH, then firing CH, then hire John Mozeliak type GM and the odds of all this are astronomical.
We know that won't happen after NH and CH just signed 4 year extensions. That would require BN to be paying 2 GMs and 2 mgrs. NH and CH already stunk when they were extended. Obviously the ability to preside over a competitive team was not a job requirement. Both are more than adequate for BN's purposes.

615C515641475C01020B330 wrote: At the risk of being overly dramatic, I would say that if the Pirates don't win tonight, they could really go down the tubes. I am not talking about possibly contending versus not contending; I am talking about maintaining respectability versus total and utter chaos with 95-100 losses. Too many tough  losses destroying confidence at a frightening pace. The Mets are in worse shape than we are, so if we cannot take 2 out of 3, a real devastating impact.


the players know that the owner, gm and manager don't care about winning. The players will still try to do their best (at least most of the time) but other teams will have more of an edge.



There is no one in the clubhouse (at least that I know of) that is pushing everybody to play and win as a team. I could see players playing for themselves and wanting to pad their stats more than I can see players trying to win games.

An off day coming up tomorrow I wonder who Clint will rest tonight and what his excuse will be for not using a certain guy to pinch hit for Rodriguez. Maybe he can use the ridiculous 17 inning excuse for resting Mercer that he did the other day which was utterly absurd. That above anything else proves Hurdle’s first priority is not winning games it’s resting guys.